The RIM BlackBerry 9000 is the handset to watch within BlackBerry circles. With the 480 x 320 and improved QWERTY keyboard, RIM’s still unofficial BlackBerry 9000 is definitely gunning to take back some of the market share that certain other smartphone offerings have started eating away.
So, how does the BlackBerry 9000 measure up? Well, thanks to the CrackBerry afficianados over at CrackBerry.com, we’ve got some hands-on impressions of the BlackBerry 9000 that was up for auction on eBay not too long ago.
After plunking down the right old sum of $828 USD, the BlackBerry 9000 ended up in the hands of Kevin Michaluk. He comes away incredibly impressed with the newest RIM offering. The keyboard is apparently much improved over the 8800 series’ QWERTY keys, and the display is enough to make you seriously consider purchasing a BlackBerry 9000 of your very own.
Interestingly, the metallic bezel surrounding the device isn’t metal. It’s plastic. How a plastic bezel made to look like metal fits in with RIM’s “high-quality, high-end” mantra isn’t clear – perhaps the final production version of the BlackBerry 9000 will sport an actual metallic bezel?
And, BlackBerry OS 4.6 is all that it’s been cracked up to be. The UI is “pretty,” but more importantly, it’s fast and smooth. With support for different UI themes and high-resolution icons, BB OS 4.6 makes full use of the generous display.
Oh, and did you catch the little “3G” logo in the upper-right corner of the display? Yup, it was enough to bring a tear to Kevin’s eye.
Read the full hands-on review over at CrackBerry.
[Via: CrackBerry]