Full Review: Blackberry Storm 2 9550
The new Blackberry Storm 2 fixes the first Storm’s touch screen, and introduces RIM’s new Blackberry OS 5
The Storm 2 comes with a 1,400 mAhr Lithium cell battery. When connected to CDMA/EVDO networks, the battery is rated for 5.5 hours of talk time (11.2 days standby); the rating bumps up slightly when connected to UMTS/HSPA networks (6 hours of talk time, 11.7 days standby). According to the specifications listed at www.blackberry.com, the battery performance for the Storm 2may be slightly decreased from that of the Storm 9530.
The Blackberry OS 5’s built-in Web browser is more usable than previous versions were, but it’s certainly nowhere near the industry vanguard. JavaScript is now enabled by default. The tabbed browsing that was rumored earlier in the year is nowhere to be seen—at least not yet—but the browser does come with built-in support for Google Gears.
Blackberry OS 5 offers additional benefits for enterprise customers that have already moved to the latest version of RIM’s enterprise management offering, Blackberry Enterprise Server 5.
Better Exchange support
During tests, I activated the Storm 2 from eWEEK Labs’ BES 5.0 for Exchange implementation and found a few changes of note that were not accessible when using legacy Blackberry devices.
For instance, when using a Curve 8900 running Blackberry OS 4.6, I could only open and view the contents of an Exchange folder. When using the Storm 2with OS 5, I could also rename, move, create and delete Exchange folders directly. These changes were reflected quickly in Outlook and Outlook Web Access.
With the Storm /Blackberry OS 5 combo I could also now view and open attachments to Outlook calendar entries—a function not possible on 4.x-based devices such as the Curve 8900.
When viewing a calendar entry on the Storm2, the list of attachments appears at the bottom on the Appointment Entry in the Notes section. From there, I could select and preview supported attachment types. During tests, I was able to view Word and PowerPoint 2007 files, as well as a PDF.
Interestingly, the PowerPoint presentation could be viewed only in landscape mode on the Storm2, while both the PDF and the Word document could be viewed in either landscape or portrait mode.
Conclusion
The Blackberry Storm 2 9550 provides reliable performance, touch-screen technology that delivers new on-screen capabilities, and more connectivity options both domestically and abroad. The Storm 2 9550 is also the first device RIM has shipped with the Blackberry OS 5, which adds a number of enhancements.
