BlackBerry Curve 9320 review

Keep in mind what we said about needing a memory card - because you'll soon regret it if you're planning on using the BlackBerry Curve 9320 for media-related fun. The 512MB of storage will not go far at all.

Once you've got one though (and you can expand by up to 32GB officially), you'll be in a better place, because media is really one of the BlackBerry Curve 9320's saving graces.

RIM has slowly been building up BlackBerry phones' media capabilities over the last few iterations of its operating system, and it's reached a level now that makes it better than many other alternatives. It keeps the BlackBerry relevant to a younger audience who love nothing more than blasting out some tunes on their way to and from school.

Podcasts are provided via a separate application to music but, unlike the BlackBerry Curve 9360, we couldn't seem to find a way to search and subscribe to them directly from the handset. All we could search were ones already loaded on.

RIM has included the excellent Amazon MP3 store in the BlackBerry Curve 9320, which provides a credible alternative to iTunes (and is often cheaper). But be warned, if you use it, your purchases aren't backed up by Amazon like they are with Apple, so if you lose them, you'll have to pay to download again. We learned this the hard way.

However, music can be synced straight back to your PC or Mac using the excellent sync software provided, so pain should be avoided easily. Speaking of the software, it also syncs iTunes playlists perfectly. This shouldn't be undervalued, since lots of other non-Apple handsets struggle.

There is also an option to enable you to download music apps, which takes you to the relevant section in the App World.

Funnily enough, BlackBerry Music is not included by default in the OS, and you have to go out of your way to download and install it, which is bizarre. Seems a very strange way to promote what is a new service.

Playing music is a pleasure, with tracks sorted by a variety of means within the player. Sound quality was not bad at all, and we were fairly happy.

Videos are kept in their own sections, as are music and photos, and you're even given options to search BlackBerry AppWorld for apps that will work with them. It's all really well integrated and we are sold on this. We can confidently say that, media-wise at least, we think the BlackBerry Curve 9320 is a worthy (and cheaper) competitor to the iPhone, even if it falls down in certain other comparable aspects.

Like the screen. And lack of memory. Have we mentioned those two before?

Watching video is adequate. It'll do for viewing your own short clips back or showing someone a YouTube video of a cat doing Jedi mind tricks. Don't expect it to replace a PMP though, unless you want to end up with a migraine.

One great new addition is the FM radio. We're pretty sure this is the first time RIM has included an FM radio. Nokia's been doing it since the days of the 8310, but RIM never bothered.

Seems odd to start now but we're not complaining - this is one of the elements we love having on a phone and saves having to worry about the signal dropping out if using TuneIn or a similar app to stream.