As one of the five new OS 7 handsets released by RIM recently in the Philippines, this all-touch device sure deserves a good, second look from us at BBManila.com. In actual fact, the BlackBerry Curve 9380 is the first in the Curve family to sport a 3.2-inch capacitive full-touch screen. With this giant leap from its predecessors, let’s look at what this NFC-enabled, budget gizmo has to offer.

THE LOOK

It’s just been recently that RIM decided to join the touchscreen bandwagon after a decade of making its QWERTY keypad an art-form. Although most of the BlackBerry handsets still bear the iconic keyboard (like the famed Bold Touch 9900), the Curve 9380 completely did away with the alpha-numeric buttons and left basic navigation/control keys on the device. In front, the handset only has 5 physical keys, which include the Call, Menu (BB logo), Optical Trackpad, Back and End buttons.

Right on top of the device is the lock button, with the 3.5mm headset jack beside it.

On top of the screen, above the BlackBerry insignia, are the earpiece and the BlackBerry staple LED indicator. The phone, unfortunately, does not have a front-facing camera.

The right-hand side of the phone bears the volume rocker, in between which is the mute key. A little further down is the right-side convenience key.

On the left-side of the device, right at the middle is the MicroUSB port.

Flipping the handset at the back shows a glossy, plastic battery cover which bears the BlackBerry logo. Above that, flanked on opposite sides are the 5MP camera and the LED flash. Down below the back cover is the loudspeaker.

Sliding off the battery cover reveals the 1250 mAh Li-ion battery pack, underneath which is the SIM card slot. The MicroSD card slot is situated right above the battery pack. The battery is reported to give as much as 360hrs stand-by time.

THE SCREEN

BlackBerry Curve 9380′s 3.2-inch screen may not get at par with the AMOLED or Retina displays of its competitors, but with a screen resolution of 360×480 pixels it does the standard job of providing clear enough videos and photos. Pinch to zoom works on still photographs, with a little lag as the pixels adjust to the size. The screen resolution is the same as the Curve 9360 (which has the physical keyboard)

THE KEYBOARD

As was stated earlier, this is the first in the Curve series that does not have a physical keyboard. It relies completely on a virtual QWERTY keyboard that works on both landscape and portrait mode. Although with the screen cramped at 3.2 inches, it is more comfortable typing away on the landscape mode.

THE CAMERA

The 5MP camera at the back of the device should now be minimum requirement to any smartphones in the market. This is perhaps not a very good replacement or alternative to your own digital cameras as the lens is limited to fixed focus setting, and only has the one LED flash beside it. Photos can be taken by either using the right convenience key or the virtual shutter on the screen. It still has the same lighting settings as the other BlackBerry handsets, which include settings for close-up or landscape mode, sports, etc.

Video recording is at a measly 640×480 VGA resolution. Although it would be really good to remember that this is an entry-level smartphone, which means some features might be compromised.

The camera interface automatically offers geo-tagging options, together with LED flash switcher and the scene settings.

MEDIA PLAYER

Music/Audio played via loudspeaker on the phone exhibit some clarity issues. Although there is always the headphones available as an option, the audio quality could be a big deal when using the phone at a noisy location, where a headset may not be readily available.

Video playback on the phone, however is good, with regard to the screen resolution. It supports the standard video files including MP4 and WMV.

UI PERFORMANCE AND BROWSER SPEED

Since phone runs on an upgraded processor, running at 806MHz clockspeed, the OS 7 interface, with the Liquid Graphics technology operates pretty smoothly on the device. With Augmented Reality also working on the phone, the processor does a good job in delivering the platform and the new OS 7 apps to the optimum.

Browser on the handset works with all expected touchscreen features like pinch to zoom, panning, and text selection, which RIM has in other BB handsets as well. But like the other BlackBerry smartphones, this unit also lacks Flash support.

If you think this handset suits your taste, wait until you know that it is PRICED at an AFFORDABLE 18,600PHP at the BBStore. Check it out here: http://store.bbmanila.com/featured/blackberry-curve-9380.php