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The BlackBerry Storm 2 is an odd phone to mark. When we first started using the phone, there were a number of problems (such as the dropping calls and fiddly to use interface) but these seemed to quickly melt away once we got used to the SurePress technology.
We liked
The sleek and weighty feel of the Storm 2 is that of a quality piece - the SurePress screen needs that around it. It's also busting to the seams with applications pre-installed, and a 2GB card isn't too shabby either. Texting is amazingly easy too, and it excels when actually trying to tap out a message thanks to the intuitive auto-correct.
We also liked the range of musical choice on the Storm2 - the 3.5mm headphone jack facilitated a much easier music experience through 7digital and Media Sync operations.
We disliked
If you haven't noticed by now, you haven't really been reading the article. The SurePress technology just doesn't work in our opinion, as we're not sure why users need this extra level of operability into the text input system. It strains your fingers after a while, it sometimes clicks when it's not supposed to, and it generally doesn't float our boat.
The OS lag at times made the screen hard to use, as it locked itself down thinking it was in sleep mode, which was annoying at times.
TechRadar verdict
We were impressed by the first Storm when we got it into test last year, but that opinion was quickly dismissed over time as we realised it's a lot harder to get used to the SurePress technology.
For that reason, the Storm 2 can't rival the iPhone or HTC Hero on our rankings - we liked it a lot more than we thought we would, but the SurePress technology just isn't for us.
We'll be interested to see what's next in store for the BlackBerry Storm range, as surely the touchscreen will likely be staying around in more devices for a while longer to expand the remit of RIM into the consumer space, but for now, we're not convinced that the Storm 2 is the phone to finally take the fight to Apple and Nokia.
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