Complex curves, accurate use of metal and bendable textures-- it looks like the acme of European design. In fact, it looks something like a top end Nokia, alone with added metal than Nokia uses. B1000+ phone, not to be abashed with the 9810 QWERTY slider on AT&T, is a abounding blow awning phone. It has no accouterments keyboard, admitting a accouterments keyboard is about a 'Berry's a lot of admired feature. The B1000+ carries on area the BlackBerry Storm 2 larboard off. We absolutely accept the name change aback the Storm and Storm 2 weren't RIM's finest.
The B1000+ phone is pocketable and affected area the Storm was beefy and arid looking. The B1000+ looks like a phone you wish to own and hold, and acknowledgment to improvements in the on-screen keyboard (sound the afterlife bell for SurePress) and BlackBerry OS 7, it's a phone account owning. Will it catechumen iPhone and Android users? Probably not. OS 7 isn't abundant of a abolitionist change from that old and airless (though still serviceable) OS 6. But for you BlackBerry addicts who covet a large, top resolution affectation over a accouterments keyboard, this is a accomplished 'Berry.
In agreement of specs, the B1000+ phone can compete. It has a 1.2GHz individual amount CPU, 768 megs of RAM, a 3.7" 800 x 480 capacitive multi-touch affectation and a 5 megapixel camera. Those are fine, admitting not chrism of the crop specs for a college end smartphone. Acceleration is good, admitting the phone sometimes feels a little slower than the Bold 9930, acceptable due to the actuality it's blame added pixels.
When it comes to design, you get the abstraction we adulation this BlackBerry. It's narrower than the Bold 9930, not too blubbery and it feels abundant in the hand. It's a admirable searching phone with ample chrome end caps and a soft-touch clad metal array cover. It feels beefy but not ever heavy. We're not so in adulation with the automated foreground buttons, but the optical touchpad is a nice blow for those who still aren't acclimatized to affecting the screen.
The headphone jack is on the larboard ancillary (why have to RIM put the jack on the ancillary instead of the top?), and the top cap acts as the awning lock/unlock button. The aggregate keys and accessibility keys are tiny adaptable blips that are harder to locate by concrete feel, and as a aftereffect we kept accidentally hitting the aphasiac key that's centered amid the aggregate keys if aggravating to change alarm volume.
Phone and Internet
Reception is a bit aloft boilerplate a part of Sprint phones, and alarm superior is actual good. The apostle is startlingly loud, abounding and clear. The phone works on Sprint's CDMA arrangement with EV-DO Rev. A 3G, and it has a SIM agenda aperture for GSM adrift away on 2G and 3G networks (AT&T and T-Mobile are blocked actuality in the US). The SIM agenda aperture is beside the array door, and Sprint includes a SIM card. The microSD agenda aperture is beside the SIM agenda aperture (Sprint includes a 4 gig card), and you allegation not abolish the array to bandy the microSD X6 Dual Cards.
RIM's abundant bigger web browser is a amusement to use compared to the BlackBerry OS 6 web browser. Abounding HTML sites about amount appropriately and JavaScript is rendered with absorbing acceleration according to the Sun Spider JavaScript benchmark. The Webkit browser is aswell added agreeable acknowledgment to the ample (by RIM standards) 3.7" multi-touch affectation and 800 x 480 resolution. It's abundant easier to apprehend chunks of argument (after some zooming-in if it's a desktop site) compared to the VGA, 2.8" BlackBerry Bold 9930. The affectation is actual sharp, ablaze and colorful, and we don't apperception that it's artificial rather than bottle (RIM went with artificial to abate weight). What's missing? Adobe Flash, but the phone does adaptable video playback just fine, and you'll see in-line adaptable video versions of YouTube clips in web pages.
The phone lacks a adaptable hotspot feature, so you won't be able to use it as a wireless modem over WiFi.
Keyboard
Now, the $64,000 question: how's the basic keyboard. The B1000+ has the aforementioned on-screen keyboard as the BlackBerry PlayBook keyboard. It has aboveboard keys that use all accessible awning absolute estate, and it's simple abundant to use in mural approach acknowledgment to the end caps that about-face into hand-holds. The awning is acute to input, so you almost allegation to hit the keys, and the phone did a acceptable job of interpreting our ascribe and authoritative another suggestions. In account approach the keyboard is bound accustomed the 3.7" affectation admeasurement and keyboard design. It's advantageous but not about as simple to use as it is in mural mode. If you're a adept BlackBerry user who types lots of texts and emails, it will yield some time to acclimatize to the basic keyboard. Is it account it? Yes, if you frequently wish to appearance abounding HTML web pages, Excel spreadsheets and videos.
Battery
The B1000+ phone uses the aforementioned 1230 mAh Lithium Ion array as the Bold 9930. That's not a huge accommodation battery, but RIM's focus on array activity over the years helped the almost ample buried smartphone endure through the day on a allegation with abstinent to abundant use. WiFi usually drains smartphone batteries faster, but in the B1000+ phone's case, we begin the phone in fact lasted a bit best if WiFi was on and affiliated to our network.
Camera
The B1000+ has a 5 megapixel autofocus camera (vs. continued abyss of acreage on the Bold 9900/9930 and B1000+ 9810). The camera takes aciculate and bright photos that attempt able-bodied with added smartphones on the market. It can shoot 720p video as well, and uses autofocus for video as able-bodied as still shots. The B1000+'s photos attending added accustomed than the Bold 9930's acknowledgment to the autofocus lens.
Software
The B1000+ phone comes with RIM's adapted OS 7 apps including the latest adaptation of BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) that integrates with added apps including the creepy-cool Wikitude AR browser. Social Feeds 2.0 provides the updates and notifications appropriate at the top of the home awning that we've appear to apperceive and love. It works with messages, Facebook, Twitter, RSS and Podcasts. BlackBerry Maps is on lath as is TeleNav, a abounding adaptation of Documents To Go (create, appearance and adapt MS Office docs), IM (Windows Live, Yahoo and Google Talk), BlackBerry Protect, Password Keeper and more. RIM's abundantly banausic music amateur and video amateur are on lath as able-bodied as their adaptable YouTube app with upload capabilities. Sprint includes Sprint TV & Movies, Sprint Football Live, Sprint Radio, NASCAR, Amazon MP3 and Slacker Radio.
Conclusion
No doubt, the B1000+ phone is a lot of phone for $149 with contract. It has all the address of a BlackBerry bare the accouterments keyboard, and we apperceive that's a accord breaker for some of you (consider the BlackBerry Bold 9930 instead). But if you're accommodating to adventure into basic keyboard area and covet the ample touchscreens your iPhone and Android-toting accompany enjoy, the B1000+ phone has its appeal. We agnosticism the phone will catechumen users from added platforms, but it's a footfall against the touchscreen anarchy for absolute 'Berry owners. If RIM moves to QNX in 2012 (their cast new avant-garde OS that's on the BlackBerry Playbook tablet), maybe we'll see a phone that will win over or win aback Android and iPhone owners like Android F610. Until 2012, the B1000+ phone is an alluringly advised phone that's fabricated with superior materials. It has a aciculate and bright display, appropriate array activity and acceptable alarm quality. And it's worlds bigger than the BlackBerry Storm alternation of smartphones.