Key specs
Critic reviews
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“I was a very big fan of RIM's original mainstream consumer device, the BlackBerry Pearl 8100. It offered good functionality in a nice form factor, and had a great trackball for navigation. For as much as I loved that device, though, I love the Curve even more. It is neither the thinnest or most compact of the QWERTY smartphones on the market, but it could well be the best of them.The keyboard is one of the best I have ever used, and I still love trackballs on phones as much today as I did last year. The Curve is missing 3G and WiFi connectivity, which will be a problem for some people, but in spite of that, I still find it to offer the best mobile email experience available today. It also offers all of the multimedia functionality that people crave, including the elusive 3.5mm headphone jack. With all of that functionality and its great physical design, it should be of no surprise that I give the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8300 a Highly Recommended rating.”
“Out of the box, the BlackBerry offers a rather thin array of productivity features in comparison to those you get in Windows Mobile PDA/phone hybrids. For serious word processing or spreadsheet support, you must turn to the growing number of third-party apps. Overall, however, I found the Curve a seductive alternative to other candy-bar phones with wide-aspect-ratio screens, such as the Samsung Blackjack and the T-Mobile Dash. If AT&T's price is right, the Curve could well become the hot PDA/phone of the moment.”
Watch before you decide
What people say
I have owned a blackberry now for 3 years and will never go to another phone type. I love the blackberry messanger function and the email capabilities of the phone. Plus the new updated web browser is awesome. Very quick and functionable. I did own the pearl at one time and never had any problems...
Its a pretty cool phone i always had this one but i recently won the newer version with the touchpad from https://www.epicdraw.com and i can easily say the new one is much better
I bought this phone not even 2 months ago. It worked perfect for about a month then the ball kept sticken. I tried everything to fix it and clean it but nothing worked. The ball was so terrible I had to switch back to my old phone. VERY pissed. Wish I woulda known the difference between the ball ...
In Depth
The BlackBerry Curve 8300 smartphone is the smallest and lightest BlackBerry smartphone equipped with a full QWERTY keyboard. The rounded design of the Curve makes it pleasant to handle and it is small enough to hold for voice calls or use with single hand.
Text entry requires some concentration but the trackball navigator works perfectly and makes you feel in control of every movement. The bottom third of the unit is occupied by the QWERTY keyboard. At the top is a colourful 320 x 240 pixel display with a smart sensor that automatically adjusts its brightness depending on the light.
The BlackBerry 8300 comes with the downloadable BlackBerry Maps application and has built-in Bluetooth. Note that maps aren’t stored on the device, so you will have to upload them over the air which will likely mean downloading costs from your carrier.
The Curve supports two options: BlackBerry Internet Service and BlackBerry Enterprise Server. If instant email doesn’t fit, customer can also use SMS, MMS and BlackBerry Messenger services. Unfortunately the 8300 still can’t show full HTML emails, displaying a text-only version instead. The onboard GPRS and EDGE data are good for synchronising an email inbox, but they’re not fast enough for applications such as mobile video. 3G and Wi-Fi are not supported by the phone.
A 2-megapixel camera with flash LED can be found on the 8300 but the quality of pictures leaves much to be desired. Organizing your picture is a relatively nice experience with the Curve’s Desktop Media Manager software. To store the photos, you can use the Curve’s built-in flash memory (64MB) of take advantage of the microSD card slot on board.
Overall the BlackBerry Curve 8300 is friendly, neat and comfortable to use but the lack of 3G data capabilities or WiFi are disappointing.
What people actually want to know
When was the BlackBerry Curve 8300 released?
The BlackBerry Curve 8300 was released on June 12, 2007.
Does the BlackBerry Curve 8300 have a headphone jack?
Yes, the BlackBerry Curve 8300 has a 2.5mm headphone jack.
Where can I download the BlackBerry Curve 8300 manual?
You can view and download the BlackBerry Curve 8300 manual on our dedicated manual page.
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