There are loads of smartphones on the market at the moment, all aimed at ‘regular consumers’. One of these is the Blackberry Torch from Research in Motion, who are generally more familiar with making business-friendly products. How does the Torch stack up? Well, user options have been increased with the installation of a touchscreen alongside the normal Blackberry trackerpad. Another good feature is being able to arrange your apps however you want and the look and feel of the phone is improved by superior iconography.

Another new feature is the fact the Torch slides open but in most other respects it looks similar to other Blackberry devices and is quite attractive. It’s not as streamline as the iPhone and feels a little bulky to use, largely because of the full QWERTY keyboard. The keyboard, though, is very useful and easy to operate, as it generally is on the Blackberry. You can choose to operate the phone via the 3.2inch touchscreen or by regular Blackberry methods depending on which you prefer.

Another bonus is the excellent call quality and great signal, which is always useful when looking to make phone calls. This is often seen as one of RIM’s best features and the Torch doesn’t disappoint. The main qualm is the slightly shrill sound of the speakerphone if you have the volume up too high, but other than that it’s a god feature. The sound on calls is excellent and it’s extremely quick and pain free to make calls, which is always a good thing.

One area that lets the Torch down is the camera. This has an LED flash and 5 megapixel camera, but if left in default mode, the picture quality isn’t great and the photos don’t look that steady. There are a range of options to choose from though, and the single shot mode is where the camera is at its best, rather than the ‘continuous’ mode that comes as pre-set. The photography process is better than it has been on previous Blackberrys but there’s nothing that special about the lens.

The mail and messaging options were expected to be good on the Torch as they have long been seen as one of Blackberry’s key features. While it’s undoubtedly really easy to set up your email on the phone, it then takes ages for the phone to pick up on any changes you subsequently make to your account online. This means that if you’re already a fan of the Blackberry, you’ll probably love the updated facilities, but if you’re not you may not be convinced by the Blackberry Torch.

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