Group test: what's the best BlackBerry phone?

5. Blackberry Bold 9900

• Reviewed on: 28 October 11
• RRP: £450 inc. VAT
• Rating:

The Bold series gets a much needed facelift in design and extra power under the hood. The Bold 9900 holds a lot of promise.

 

 

4. BlackBerry Curve 9320

• Reviewed on: 28 May 12
• RRP: From £10 a month; around £150 SIM-free
• Rating:

Is it possible to get beyond the poor web browsing experience and the generally dated feel of the Curve's display, OS and camera? Well, yes: just look at the price. The BlackBerry Curve 9320 is not for those who demand the latest and the best, but it is well put together, offers a decent feature set and is priced to shift. If you want a smartphone principally as a communications device, and multimedia and style are less important to you, the BlackBerry Curve 9320 will offer everything you need at a good price.

3. BlackBerry Bold 9900

• Reviewed on: 8 September 11
• RRP: Price depends on contract
• Rating:

The BlackBerry Bold 9900’s superb keyboard, fantastic design and great display make it without a doubt the best BlackBerry ever produced. However, it's still very tough to recommend this over iPhone and Android alternatives when you take into account the software, and the lack of third-party apps available.

2. BlackBerry Q10

• Reviewed on: 25 April 13
• RRP: £579 inc. VAT
• Rating:

BlackBerry's Q10 is filled with many creative features but its ultimate success will come down to one basic question: Do you want a qwerty device? I don't think the era of the qwerty is over, since I have met users who prefer a physical keyboard. But they are in the definite minority. What Q10 users will get with the new smartphone is a distinctive-looking device with a vivid display, an easy-to-use physical keyboard and touchscreen interface and an inventive approach to user security and management. In the most optimistic scenario, BlackBerry's Q10 sales will out-do its Z10 sales, which BlackBerry claims have gone well, critics notwithstanding. If BlackBerry can continue to attract developers to build more apps for BlackBerry World and if BlackBerry can propel its Messenger app into a fuller social networking experience, then there is some basis for believing BlackBerry has a solid long-term future, well above its current 5% global smartphone market share. Just about everything -- hardware to software -- in the Q10 (and the Z10) is good, but the market is crowded with great products that will make BlackBerry's marketing more vital than ever.

1. BlackBerry Z10

• Reviewed on: 5 February 13
• RRP: From £36 per month
• Rating:

The design and build quality of the Z10 just makes it seem like a cheap plastic iPhone to us. Hardware is reasonable with the screen being the stand out feature and the BlackBerry 10 software makes this the most attractive BlackBerry smartphone to date. However, given the price, the iPhone or a decent Android handset is still a preferable option.