Review: BlackBerry blossoms in hotspots

RIM’s BlackBerry 8820 smartphone has a comprehensive list of features, including Wi-Fi support, satellite navigation and an optional capability for voice-over-IP (VoIP) calls.

Available since August through Orange, the BlackBerry 8820 is essentially an updated version of the BlackBerry 8800 that RIM launched in February. Like that model, it features a more smartphone-like appearance with smaller keys than a traditional BlackBerry and the miniature Pearl trackball in place of a thumb scroll wheel.

The major new feature in the BlackBerry 8820 is support for 802.11a/b/g wireless, which enables the device to browse the web and get push email via a speedier Wi-Fi connection when within range of a suitable hotspot. Users must otherwise rely on a GPRS data link, as the 8820 has no 3G network support.

However, RIM has made setting up Wi-Fi connections much simpler than on some other devices we have tested. Users can scan for available connections, or manually enter and store an access point profile. Even this latter option, however, only requires the network name (SSID) and security key. In Mobile Network Options, users can set their connection preferences, choosing whether the device uses the mobile network or Wi-Fi network for data transfers, or which of the two is preferred if both networks are available.

We found web pages loaded appreciably faster in the BlackBerry browser when using Wi-Fi, but oddly, this boost only seemed to happen if we configured the device for Wi-Fi only, rather than Wi-Fi preferred. Much of the Orange mobile content is also inaccessible if the browser is operating over Wi-Fi instead of the cellular connection. Using Wi-Fi had no noticeable impact on sending and receiving emails from the device.

An optional feature on the BlackBerry 8820 is a VoIP client using Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology. Unlike the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) used in corporate IP telephony products, UMA is designed to route calls back to the carrier that supplies the handset.

Orange supports this feature, but only for subscribers of its domestic Orange Broadband service operating Orange’s own Wi-Fi router equipment, and so we were unable to test it. VoIP on the BlackBerry 8820 is thus better suited for professionals looking to use their BlackBerry at home. However, Orange said it may consider including a SIP client for enterprise customers in the future, and firms may be able to provision their own client if voice-over-Wi-Fi capability is desired.

In most other respects, the BlackBerry 8820 matches the BlackBerry 8800. Both models weigh 134g and have a good quality colour display. Both are also rated at the same battery life of five hours talktime, although this will obviously be reduced on the 8820 with prolonged use of the Wi-Fi interface.

Although the BlackBerry 8820 has the built-in GPS hardware that was introduced on the 8800, on our test unit Orange had replaced RIM’s BlackBerry Maps application with its own navigator software, Orange Sat Nav. In addition to the usual route-finding features, this enables users to search for addresses held in the BlackBerry Address Book. This is a service that Orange licenses separately, however.

As with the BlackBerry 8800, a button on the side of the handset is con figured by default to launch the Voice Dial application. We disabled this, as it is easy to trigger by accident when grasping the device. A memory card slot is located behind the handset’s slide-off back cover, next to the removable battery. This takes MicroSD Flash storage cards to expand on the handset’s 64MB built-in Flash.

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