Blackberry Storm 9530 Review

The true center of this device is most certainly it’s screen.  Even when off, it is obvious that the images will be brilliant.  It doesn’t scream plastic, and in fact it’s not: it’s glass, lending a further elegant cue to the already striking phone.  One of the first things you notice about the screen is that it wiggles back and forth ever so slightly – that’s normal, so don’t worry.  And as big as the screen is, don’t be fooled into thinking you’ve got 16:9,  because it’s actually only 4:3 for movie-playing purposes.

The first time you turn on the phone and gaze at the screen, you’ll appreciate just how dazzling it really is.  The reds are deep, the blues vibrant, and the greens mesmerizing.  One of the first things I did was to play the sample video that came on the phone, the trailer for Babylon A.D.  Two things happened:  I didn’t shut my eyes for the duration of the video due to astonishment-induced coma, and after I scooped my jaw up off the floor I realized that I could hear all the music and sound effects perfectly – apparently, that little speakerphone makes for quite an accurate (and loud) center-channel!  It actually took my breath away.  I’ve played on an iPhone and an iPod Touch, but somehow I was blown away by this screen with just one viewing of a short clip.  Perhaps it’s only in comparison to my wretched HTC devices that I appreciate the depth and beauty of this screen, but I cannot overstate how wonderful it looks.

To underscore this point, I’ll say this: on two recent Saturday mornings when I didn’t want to sleep but didn’t want to get out of bed, I have whipped out my Storm and fired up a movie and watched the entire thing start to finish.  On my phone.  Those of you with iPhones and iPod Touches and even iPod Classics may be rolling your eyes, but know that I have seriously loathed the idea of watching a film on a small device up until I experienced this phone.  Even portable DVD players used to leave me strained and uncomfortable, with their poor-quality CCFL screens that leak more than a busted dam.  On the Storm, I found satisfaction.  Casino Royale and Kung Fu Panda were my two test films, and for the following reasons:

Panda is animated, and employs the use of bright contrasting colors as is the norm for a children’s movie; much of the film is “twitchy” action with fast, jumpy cartoon movements – a good test for video response, and the contrast gets a workout with the artificial blacks and blues in animation.  While viewing Panda, I first noticed how fluid the film was; there was no clipping or jumpiness like I’d found on my prior HTC devices, and the clarity was as if were watching on a plasma screen.  Infrequently, a few frames would get crushed together while the processor caught up, but I attribute that to all the applications I run in the background.  While watching Casino, I found that the screen accurately rendered the complex lighting found in the film, and provided more than enough contrast to discern shadows during dim scenes.  All in all, I felt at home watching a film on this brilliant screen, and I look forward to doing so again.

A final thought: many Storm owners have no doubt seen the infamous videos describing how resilient the screen is to being scratched.  I can attest to it’s durability – I tried my best to scratch it with a key and failed.  I’m impressed!  The rest of the device doesn’t share those tendencies, however; the chrome still gets banged up if you’re not careful and the shiny black plastic will gladly show any imperfections.  Also, you might want to keep a cleaning cloth handy, because as nice as the screen is, you’ll notice every fingerprint at a glance.