BlackBerry Curve 9360 review

When we reviewed the current Daddy of the BlackBerry range, the Bold 9900, we were disappointed with the 5MP camera (the same offering as we have on the Curve 9360, albeit with a couple more options) but it redeemed itself to a certain extent with the fact that it can shoot HD video.

Sadly, if you want to shoot HD video on a BlackBerry, you'll have to go premium, because you can't do it with the Curve 9360. Video is restricted to a measly maximum resolution of 640 x 480, which is what we had in years gone by with another mode for shooting smaller MMS-friendly files.

Yet that's not to say that quality is bad, because it's actually not at all. Videos suit the screen size perfectly so you don't feel like you're really missing anything by being able to shoot in just SD.

And even when they're transferred to your computer, they're not bad. They're not brilliant, but they're more than adequate.

There are various scene modes included just like in the camera app - although there are fewer of them - and image stabilisation rears its head here again but, also again, we couldn't see what it offered.

There is a video light but annoyingly, you have to decide if you want to have it on or off before you start shooting your video, which is irritating - especially if you're moving around between light and dark or maybe shooting in twilight.

You have to stop recording to toggle it on and off, which can ruin videos, and annoyingly there is what looks like an icon at the bottom of the screen for you to click on to turn the light on and off.

Unfortunately, this is just a notifier, signalling if your light is on or off (like you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at the back of the phone) and is a waste of screen real estate. It's annoying and shows that RIM hasn't really thought this whole bit of the OS through. Some people won't notice or mind, but we did, and it irked us.