There are currently nine versions of the BlackBerry Curve 8530 for sale in the US. But the ones offered by Cricket, MetroPCS and Virgin Mobile demand special scrutiny. All three carriers sell this smartphone for a very low monthly rate, with no contract. Virgin's plans are a little more expensive than Metro's and Cricket's, but Virgin's network is both 3G (which Metro isn't) and available nationwide (which Cricket isn't). This is the only smartphone available for Virgin Mobile right now, and combined with the plans we think it's a very good buy.If you didn't know, by the way, Virgin Mobile is Sprint; it's just one of Sprint's prepaid brands. So you should expect the same coverage, call quality and speeds on Virgin Mobile as you get on ordinary Sprint phones.
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BlackBerry Curve 8530 (Virgin Mobile) : Front and Porfile
BlackBerry Curve 8530 (Virgin Mobile) : Front
BlackBerry Curve 8530 (Virgin Mobile) : Angle
BlackBerry Curve 8530 (Virgin Mobile) : Profile
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Design, Call Quality, and Plans
By this point, you know what makes the BlackBerry Curve 8530 tick. It measures 4.3 by 2.4 by 0.5 inches (HWD) and weighs 3.9 ounces. The Curve 8530 doesn't look exciting, but that's fine given its understated mission. The 2.4-inch, 320-by-240-pixel LCD screen looked bright and colorful, but it wasn't particularly sharp because of the low resolution. Typing on the QWERTY keyboard felt great, and I prefer the 8530's new trackpad to the unreliable old trackball, even if it's a little on the sensitive side.
The Curve 8530 is a dual-band EV-DO Rev 0 (850/1900 MHz) device. That means it hits 3G data speeds, a boon for Internet browsing, streaming radio, and other data-heavy apps. There's also an 802.11b/g radio for connecting to Wi-Fi hotspots. Voice calls sounded warm and clear, but not particularly loud, in both directions. One caller said my voice was a little choppier than usual. That's turning out to be a recurring theme with the 8530, which doesn't have quite the same top-notch RF reception as the older BlackBerry Curve 8330 (4.5 stars). It's just something to be aware of if you live in an area with marginal Sprint coverage.
Calls also sounded fine through an Aliph Jawbone Icon ($99, 4 stars) Bluetooth headset, and voice dialing worked well over Bluetooth. The speakerphone was nice and loud, as befits a BlackBerry. Battery life was disappointing at just four hours of talk time; oddly, that's more than an hour shorter than other Curve 8530 variants, even though the battery is the same size.
As always, the real draw here is Virgin Mobile's lower monthly prices. Plans range from $35 to $70 per month depending on the number of voice minutes; all include unlimited texting, e-mail, Web, and other data. None require signing two-year contracts, either.
Apps, Multimedia, and Conclusions
Virgin preinstalled dedicated Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google Maps apps. There's also a link to BlackBerry App World, which contains thousands of third-party free and paid apps. Like all BlackBerrys, the Curve 8530 supports push e-mail for up to 11 accounts, and hooks into Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes. Unfortunately, your company still needs a BlackBerry Enterprise Server to sync Exchange calendar and contact info over the air; individual subscribers are stuck syncing with a cable to their PCs. The stock Web browser is OK for WAP pages, but the free alternatives Opera Mini and Bitstream Bolt are better for the full Web.
The standard-size 3.5mm headphone jack is a boon for music lovers, because it makes it simple to find aftermarket ear buds. Virgin throws in a tinny sounding pair to get you started, along with a 2GB microSD card. The card slot underneath the battery cover is relatively easy to access, and accepts 32GB cards. My 16GB SanDisk card also worked fine. Music tracks sounded clear and punchy over Motorola S9-HD ($129, 3.5 stars) headphones. The music player displayed large album art and was very easy to use. The included BlackBerry Desktop Software works with Macs and PCs, and syncs various kinds of media including iTunes playlists. Standalone MP4 and 3GP videos played smoothly in full screen mode, even at 30 frames per second.
The 2-megapixel camera has neither an auto-focus nor a flash, and it takes middling photos both indoors and out. Crank the lights or take pictures on a sunny day, and it will do in a pinch. But it fell down hard in dimmer environments, with barely legible test shots. The camcorder maxed out at 320-by-240-pixels and 15 frames per second, but did the job otherwise.
We're fans of the Curve 8530 on all carriers. But the handset makes especially good sense on Virgin Mobile, MetroPCS, and Cricket, thanks to the balance of power and reasonable monthly fees. The Curve 8530 makes less sense on AT&T and Verizon, because you might as well pay another $50 or $100 at the retail counter and get something truly high-end, like a Motorola Droid X ($199, 4.5 stars) or an Apple iPhone 4 ($199, 4.5 stars).
For now, the BlackBerry Curve 8530 is America's go-to budget smartphone. Over on the main Sprint network, you'll pay around $20 more per month, but you'll have access to top-notch smartphones with hardware keyboards like the Samsung Epic 4G ($249, 4 stars) and the budget Samsung Intercept ($99, 3 stars. The new LG Rumor Touch promises to be another good option, since it now has a dedicated Virgin Mobile version in addition to Sprint's. It's not an actual smartphone, but it offers a quality combination of touch UI and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Stay tuned for a full review of that model.
Benchmarks
Continuous talk time: 4 hours 0 minutes
