5 Responses to “BlackBerry Curve 8530 Phone, Black (Sprint) Reviews”

1. 
   Douglas G. Lally on July 29, 2010 @ 12:43 am

   Review by Douglas G. Lally for BlackBerry Curve 8530 Phone, Black (Sprint)
   Rating:
   Just upgraded to the 8530 last week and wow I love this unit! Nice design, very fast processor, crisp graphics and resolution, and the touch pad is a welcome upgrade from the trackball. The not so perfect – battery life is anemic. It seems to eat a lot of juice. The unit is power intensive with it’s graphic interface and media features so it’s safe to say it’s underpowered. You can buy a more powerful battery but it seems if that exists it should have been pre-installed on the 8530 to begin with. A minor peeve is the keyboard size. Although it has a Qwerty style keyboard the buttons are too small. Easy to hit the wrong ones when typing. But that’s a minor thing and I found the more I use it the more I get used to it. The camera feature is so far the best I have had although there is no flash. Other complaints I’ve read about a cheap design and flimsy battery cover may be based on experiences with previous BB models but I don’t see it. I see nothing cheap about this unit. I do think it’s stylish, reliable, quick, compact, and a lot of fun. I recommend it.
2. 
   M. Akiva on July 29, 2010 @ 1:14 am

   Review by M. Akiva for BlackBerry Curve 8530 Phone, Black (Sprint)
   Rating:
   I have been with Sprint for quite some time now and have found their service to be fairly solid. Prior to the 8530, I had the Blackberry Curve 8330. This phone is a major step forward (see below); however, there are certain features from the old Curve that do not appear on this one. For instance, I was dismayed to find that the phone does not have a flash for the camera anymore. It’s not clear why they removed it, as the old Curve had a flash. In addition, could the battery have gotten worse?? I realize this phone has many more features, some of which drain the batter life (i.e. WiFi), but they have to continue to make improvements to the battery to keep up with these improvements.

   PROS

   *Clearer Screen – I’m not sure if the screen was replaced or upgraded, but it looks much clearer to me than my old Curve. The colors are much more vibrant and the resolution seems better.
   
   *Much faster processor – Sifting through emails or menus is much quicker on this phone than on the old Curve
   
   *Media processing – I’m able to sort through music, pictures, and videos much quicker and easier than with the old Curve. If you’re like me and store a lot of media on the phone, you know how bogged down it can become. I have an 8gb memory chip in this phone and it has not noticeably slowed the phone down. Loading new music on here is much quicker than it was before.
   
   *WiFi – I use the WiFi almost exclusively now to browse the internet. I get download speeds of upwards of 150 kb/sec on my phone!

   CONS

   *No Flash for the camera
   
   *Construction – This phone feels even cheaper made than the old Curve, which is saying a lot. Each time I drop the phone, I think it will be the last time it will work. Should you get this phone, but INSURANCE just in case. The battery cover is a case in point. The old Curve battery cover clasped into the phone and there was a button to release it. The battery cover on this phone snaps in and pops out fairly easily. I’ve only had the phone for a month, so I can’t say whether this will become a problem in the future.
   
   *Battery life – If you turn off WiFi, battery life improves; however, then you lose one of the best features of this phone.
   
   *No GSM capability – This is NOT a world phone. I guess with Blackberry, you have to pick and choose which features you really want. It’s sort of like buying a house, you can’t get everything you wanted. With Blackberry, if you want both a world phone and WiFi capability, to my knowledge, it does not exist (at least on Sprint).
   
   *Keyboard – The keyboard is slightly smaller than the old Curve. So if you are upgrading, this phone may take some getting used to. Otherwise, even if you have bigger fingers, this phone is easy to type on.

   OVERALL

   If you’re looking to switch to the Blackberry family, or upgrade, I’d recommend upgrading to one of the other Blackberries. The Curve is the entry-level Blackberry. The Tour and Bold have faster processors and are much more sturdy in construction. In addition, they have a flash in the back for the camera.
3. 
   Joyce on July 29, 2010 @ 1:57 am

   Review by Joyce for BlackBerry Curve 8530 Phone, Black (Sprint)
   Rating:
   This is such a nice change after having had the Blackberry 8830 (World edition) for 2 years. At first I was a bit worried about complaints I’ve read online – cheap, plasticky feel, like a toy, poor battery life, battery door hard to open, which is why I made sure to see the phone in person before buying it. It did not disappoint at all. The design is stylish, sleek and not cheap looking at all. It’s very lightweight, trackpad is an awesome change from constantly having to clean a dirty trackball, OS is faster and gives the interface a much more sophisticated look to it. Battery life is obviously relative to the amount of time you spend on the phone and amount of stuff you have going on, so if you’re a heavy user you’d probably need to have an extra battery or have the charger with you all the time. As for the battery door, I did not have trouble with opening it for the first time.

   Great great phone! They say it’s entry-level but I definitely consider it as an upgrade!
4. 
   Ziggy Ziggmuff on July 29, 2010 @ 2:53 am

   Review by Ziggy Ziggmuff for BlackBerry Curve 8530 Phone, Black (Sprint)
   Rating:
   Used to have a Pearl with numerous problems, finally had enough of it and decided to upgrade. Sprint has a deal going on right now where you get [...] for your old phone, and since I was over a year due, I got a $[...] rebate too. So my opinion may be a bit skewed as I got this phone for free. Gotta be honest I HATED Blackberry and didn’t understand the attraction to the company when I had my Pearl as it was over-overwhelmingly disappointing since day 1.

   Well I’m happy to say that I am probably a permanent fan of the BB thanks to this phone. 1st: Thank god BB got rid of the ball, as the sensor-tracker is 100 times better. My ball would go bad, get dirty, etc. This is probably the best tracker I’ve seen on any phone including the iPhone. I love the BB Messenger capabilities, love the qwerty pad, love the speed of the phone. I have yet to find one flaw regarding the mechanics of this phone. Have downloaded 2 apps thus far for free–Pandora Internet Radio and Google Maps which are must haves (don’t even bother using the Maps app loaded on the phone, its terrible) and both have worked like a charm.

   The only thing I miss is the flash for the camera, as it seems my Pearl took excellent photos compared to a lot of other phones. I haven’t had great luck with this one so far, but like I said, its a very small issue compared to the other flaws that have gone away since my upgrade.

   Not sure how this phone works on other networks, but Sprint is EXCELLENT. I was with AT&T for years and hated it, and I will never understand its popularity except for the fact its the only network with the never-ending praised, over-rated over-priced iPhone. Sprint may not be popular with the “hip” kids these days (but who cares) however I have nothing but good things to say about Sprint, as its coverage and its service are the best I’ve ever had.

   If I had the dough, I might saddle up for the Bold, as it seems to be just like this phone but has a couple better features like a better operating system, a higher mega-pixel camera, better speakers for music, ability for a 32G card, and might last better in the long run. But again, the going price for that is $[...], and how can I complain or compare the 2 when I got mine for free? This Curve is probably the best phone deal of my life.

   If you’re a person who hasn’t owned a Blackberry before and you’re looking to get into it without breaking the bank, this IS the phone I recommend. I have friends who have BB’s and like I said I’ve owned one previously too, and this is BY FAR the best one I’ve come upon for the price. These things will be unstoppable when they start supporting Flash, which will blow iPhone out of the water, so hopefully isn’t too far off.

   You will love this phone!
5. 
   J. Chou on July 29, 2010 @ 3:07 am

   Review by J. Chou for BlackBerry Curve 8530 Phone, Black (Sprint)
   Rating:
   Besides the lack of a camera flash and a couple other small annoyances, this phone is the perfect entry level BB for myself and my friends. Blackberry has definitely produced a winner in the mass consumer market for their phones.

   This phone has pretty much all the features that its competitors have along with its storied and well developed blackberry e-mail system. The fact that it can be had for less than $50 after mail in rebate is an excellent value.

   If you’re looking for a phone that keeps you organized, connected to all your family and friends, entertained, and more, this is a great phone. The e-mail, contact lists, and the way all messages are combined into shared boxes is truly efficient and easy to use. The keyboard is responsive and fast..and much better than any touchscreen out there. The only annoyance was the sometimes short battery life, but this is remedied by turning off the WiFi and Bluetooth radios and closing extra applications. In terms of cellphone service coverage, Sprint has truly vastly improved over the last 5 years. I along with my friends took our BB 8530 phones up and down the East Coast and had excellent service the entire way: e-mailing, chatting, texting, sending pics, receiving pics, facebooking, etc. There were a handful of dead spots, but coverage and reliability was rivaling Verizon Wireless (former VZW subscriber of 10 years!)

   The fact that unlimited use of their voice command GPS network (LIVE traffic updates and rerouting!) is truly amazing and at least worth $200 in my opinion. Their Sprint TV network is not bad either with various channels that include LIVE ESPN.

   Please be aware that Sprint’s Family plans are the best currently on the market. To be able to have unlimited mobile to mobile calling, unlimited texting, unlimited data, for less than $45 per person per month is freaking amazing. If you don’t want to burn your cash on flashier smartphones, get this phone. You won’t regret it