Digi1Com Australia Daily

he Torch is a different BlackBerry than anything you've seen. Its developer, Research in Motion, has clearly put a great deal of thought into the device design, operation, and even its packaging.
This smartphone boasts a touchscreen, optical trackpad, and slide-out QWERTY keyboard giving it a unique form factor. It also features a revamped operating system complete with new browser designed to be more social media centric.
At $200 on AT&T's 3G network, the BlackBerry Torch is designed to be RIM's flagship device.

BUILD & DESIGN
The Torch is a Touchscreen slider with a full keyboard and optical trackpad, a design that Research in Motion has never used before.

Like all of the newest harvest of BlackBerrys, there is plenty of faux chrome finish to go around. Also like the current generation of BlackBerrys, the styling becomes boring after approximately one second of looking at it.
This is RIM's first slider, and the company has done a fairly good job with this design. The sliding mechanism is smooth with the right amount of resistance. But there are a couple of issues: the device lacks a designated touch point to slide open the device, resulting in thumb smudges on the screen, and using the mute/lock rocker button on the top is awkward when the screen is extended.
Despite these minor detractions, RIM's designers did a good job of allocating enough space above the top-row of the keyboard with the slider open, which has been an issue on other sliders.
Overall the Torch feels well built, and is about as heavy as the competition. With the slider closed, it's 4.4 x 2.4 x 0.6 (111 x 62 x 15 mm).
ScreenThe 480x360 3.2-inch Touchscreen is lacking in both size and resolution. It's about par for the course compared to other BlackBerrys, but compared to Android OS devices and the iPhone 4 the quality of the screen seems almost an afterthought. If there were one deal breaker about the Torch, it might be the screen.
The touch aspect is comfortable. It is not as responsive or as smooth as the iPhone 4, but it proves usable for any application. Unlike RIM's failed attempts at touchscreens with the Storm and Storm 2, the device is more responsive when shifting from landscape to portrait, and is otherwise reliable and predictable.
KeyboardsThe portrait-oriented sliding QWERTY keyboard is reminiscent of one on the the BlackBerry Bold 9700 -- it's a joy to use, and has almost no learning curve. Typing speed and accuracy is phenomenal compared to the virtual keyboard of other devices, like the iPhone.

Its virtual keyboard, on the other hand, is less impressive than other devices'. Despite offering interesting customizations such as AZERTY, QWERTY, QWERTZ layouts and predictive, corrective, and direct input modes, the Torch's on-screen keyboard's typing speed and accuracy pales in comparison to the competition. Still this isn't as big a deal as you might think -- beyond the occasional website or email address, I found myself switching the physical keyboard for almost all of my typing.
Other Buttons & Controls
The optical trackpad below the screen works as promised with no surprises or complaints. While some may wonder why it's included at all, I find it enhances productivity and efficiency while using the device. While scrolling through long lists is easier with the touchscreen, quickly and accurately selecting a few characters to copy is made easy via the trackpad. Furthermore with the option of using the keyboard and the trackpad exclusively the Torch suddenly becomes a great reading platform for longer emails or web pages.
The Torch retains the traditional volume buttons and convenience key on its right side, and a mute/lock rocker button on top. There is no left-hand convenience key which is a little frustrating -- how else will BlackBerry nation accidentally trigger the "Say a command" prompt?

PERFORMANCE
One of the things that sets the BlackBerry Torch apart from the others is the new OS 6.0 operating system. This takes the Torch's hardware advances and wraps them in a new user-friendly user interface.

Current BlackBerry users may find some of the menu layouts and options settings to be confusing. To overcome this issue OS 6.0 boasts a search bar that allows users to quickly find what they're looking for. There are a slew of new sounds, and editing ring profiles is easier than ever.
Where the OS really shines is in its interfaces. Users can just as easily manipulate the phone via the keyboard and trackpad as they can the touch screen.
There are now several homescreens that users can swipe between (or toggle between with the trackpad). Tapping a screen will enlarge it and reveal all of its contents.
Wireless and Call QualityRIM has fully equipped this device with what are now basically wireless necessities: 802.11 n/g/b, Bluetooth 2.1 with file transfer profiles, and support for GSM, EDGE, and 3G bands on AT&T in The States.
Another aspect of the iPhone RIM (happily) failed to replicate was the antenna issue plaguing its rival, the iPhone 4. Wireless signal quality was consistent in all environments tested. By now good call quality with balanced sound and plenty of oomph in the speakerphone department has become old hat for RIM. The Torch proudly upholds these qualities.
Browser
The new BlackBerry OS 6.0 web browser is a much faster, more feature laden, and better looking browser than any of its predecessors. With additions such as tabbed browsing, pinch-to-zoom, and faster queries, the browser is arguably the biggest improvement in this new operating system.
I found that although it still occasionally hung while trying to chew through difficult sites, it was a much rarer occurrence than in previous versions.
RIM claims its newest web browser is media rich, but it doesn't really stand up to that claim.
Entertainment
RIM has included a dedicated Media homescreen, revamped the user interface on some of its classics like BrickBreaker, and has added a YouTube shortcut, but otherwise the entertainment options have remained largely unchanged.

With a 4 GB microSD card and headset included, the Torch is definitely easy to put media on and enjoy on the go. Despite this, this is still not a purpose-built media device, so power users will not want to ditch their iPod just yet.
The BlackBerry social feed is a new feature that integrates updates from several social media sources including Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and several messaging clients including BBM. There's an additional option to add RSS feeds which give users one display to see all the things they'd otherwise cruise multiple apps for. A nice addition, but its notification settings should be tweaked to allow fewer interruptions with what some may consider "unimportant" updates (sorry NewsFeed fans!)
ProductivityWith its push email filtering and message-flagging options, RIM is at the top of its game in the email department. The options are so plentiful that going back to email on the iPhone feels like going back to sending paper letters.
BlackBerry OS 6.0 maintains its over-the-air (OTA) contact synchronization via providers such as Google's Gmail.
The standard DataViz DocumentsToGo suite for viewing Microsoft Office Documents is present, and handling file types in attachments is easier than in previous BlackBerrys.

BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) and SMS/MMS messages enjoy a revamped user interface, with the former getting a few improved features such as chat-like windows, group messaging and easier attachment options. There's also a group SMS option. Although these features are interesting, their practical application is fairly limited.
CameraThe Blackberry Torch has a 5.0 megapixel camera with flash and video. It doesn't have a way to easily focus pictures, however, which is a shame, as pictures end up seeming like they were taken on a smartphone rather than a 5 megapixel camera.
Pictures are shown from the Torch and the iPhone 4 for illustrative purposes.
Battery Life
The Torch manages to get decent battery life out of a relatively small battery. With casual use I was able to get more than one day without having to recharge. As a primary phone however, you will want to charge it every night.
The battery charges via micro-USB located on the left hand side of the device that allows for comfortably charging while talking.

CONCLUSION

If RIM set out to create an iPhone/Android OS competitor, it's probably failed. It's unlikely that someone considering one of those devices would see the BlackBerry Torch and think "this is for me."
What RIM has succeeded in doing however, is creating a BlackBerry that BlackBerry users will want and enjoy. Although it might not gain RIM marketshare, it will definitely aid in retention.
I'm hoping that the next version of this will have better styling, a front facing camera (think video BBM), a bigger and higher resolution screen, and more innovative pairings between the updated operating system and the updated hardware.
As a BlackBerry user who added an iPhone to its arsenal primarily for its gorgeous display, the Torch teases me -- it's good, but it could have been so much better.
Pros: