PhoneArena managed to get hold of a pre-production BlackBerry Storm 2, also known as the 9550 and take it for a quick test to see how it compares to the original. The first BlackBerry Storm was described as a bit of a failure although it still shifted a few million devices. The second version was designed to get around the faults and failings of the first version. Lets see if it succeeded.
The screen has had a big upgrade which now houses 4 sensors instead of 1 like the predecessor. This does improve the touchscreen and specifically while typing, a lot fewer errors were found. However, the buttons running just below the screen only seemed to work 1/3 of the time which is quite bad. Remember that this is a pre-production model that was being tested though.
Design wise, the Storm 2 phone is quite similar to the original except the buttons under the screen and the buttons that run down the side which are now rubber rather than silver.
The pre-release Storm 2 appears to be running the version 5.0 operating system which doesn’t have too many significant changes that stand out other than the inclusion of threaded text messages, nicer transitioning menus, as well as a polish up of the contacts screen. Overall it runs prettier, but doesn’t offer too many new functions.
The web browser has got a little better and although the browser doesn’t support multi-touch to zoom in and out, it does support multi-touch for copying and pasting text. Flash support is not included on the phone, but you are able to play videos at the mobile youtube site.
One downside of the pre-production model was that it crashed several times and reset it’s self. Hopefully the production models ship with a newer OS version to fix that flaw as that could really impact sales if this is still a known issue at launch.
Camera quality on the BlackBerry Storm 2 was said to be poor but as with previous problems, that might get fixed with a firmware update if the problem is software related.
Overall, the Storm 2, or BlackBerry 9550 as it’s officially known as, is better than the first (assuming firmware fixes the software problems found in the pre-production model).
For a full preview including images, check out PhoneArena.
love the phone, much better than the first. a big up grade from my old nokia phone. even my old iphone. got a couple for me and the kid off of gsm and we love them. good email, fast processor, nice touch screen, love it. 7 out of 10 stars