Customer Reviews

BlackBerry 8830 Smartphone (Sprint)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Great device but some minor challenges, October 25, 2007
By Dennis Bosman "bozhed" (Napa, CA) - See all my reviews


I have had my 8830 now for about 4 months and I must say that it is the best phone I have had in a long long time, and I have tried and own a lot of cell phones. Below are some of the items I have noted over the last few months:

Pros:
- Good reception
- Excellent call quality on my end
- Syncs with my mac computer with Missing Sync
- Love the applications and games available
- Syncs with my paid yahoo mail account
- Speakerphone

Cons:
- Call quality on the other end for listeners is occasionally not good. It is like the mic is too sensitive
- No camera and can't receive picture messages
- Occasional issues with syncing with yahoo account. Have had to call support three times due to some emails coming through but others not.

First of all, let me preface this by saying I LOVE my phone. The reception is usually stellar. It's far sleeker than other models of its kind, especially the original bulky BlackBerry - you feel like you're carrying around an actual phone rather than a computer. I can use it overseas, and as a travel writer, this is vital. I've never had another American phone that I could enable when I left and disable when I came back into the country - most phones don't have that option. Before, I've always been forced to buy a foreign phone and SIM card each time I traveled, but it's so nice knowing I'll be able to get on the Internet whenever I need in nearly any country I'm in. For a PDA, the battery life is amazing. I use my phone a fair amount, and I usually only charge it ever third night. Coming from the Motorola Q, which would die halfway through the morning every day, this is an awesome asset. Also, the case that it comes with has some sort of function that turns the LCD off automatically when you put it in there and saves battery life. It's compatible with PCs and Macs, so you can upload your pictures, videos and music. There's no longer a need to carry around a wrinkled photo of your toddler in your wallet, when you can automatically bring it up on your phone.

All that said, there are definitely some drawbacks you should know about if you decide to go with the 8830:

-If you do a lot of talking outside of your own home, this is NOT the phone for you. The 8830 picks up every bit of background noise and often gives the person on the other line a severe headache. I tend to use this phone more for texting and Internet; however, when I'm phoning my mother and boyfriend while walking around New York, they always complain they can't hear a word of what I'm saying. I used to think this was just them being fussy, but then a friend got the same phone and when she called me on the way to work, it sounded like she was in a wind tunnel. I couldn't make out what she was saying at all. Other 8830 users have complained about the same thing. And there is no way to adjust the mic sensitivity. When I called BlackBerry's customer service, they acted all shock, like this was the first complaint of that kind they had gotten. But I'm 100% certain it's not. I've now had two different 8830s (first one was stolen) and each was just as bad. They said there is no way to adjust the mic sensitivity. If you generally just talk on your phone in a silent home or car, this shouldn't be a big issue. But if you're often in places with even the slightest background noise, it will be a problem.

-This isn't a big issue, but there is no predictive text function. For someone who texts a lot, this is pretty annoying. However, to make up for that, the 8830 automatically punctuates and capitalizes for you, which is nice if you care at all about your texting grammar. It also has a spell-check function.

-No camera. I didn't think this would be a problem, as I never used my old camera on my phone much, but when I receive picture messages, I have to look at them online.

-You can just start typing a name and the number of whomever you are trying to reach will come up, which is nice, however if you then highlight the name, it automatically starts dialing, which is annoying, especially if you're just trying to look up a number. I often do this to send a message, and I have to quickly press end because it's already calling the contact. A minor annoyance but still.

-It freezes an awful lot. Mostly, it seems, when I have just finished writing an insanely long e-mail and have yet to push send. Then I have to turn it off, wait for it to boot up again, etc. But I think this is how it is with all PDAs (or so I'm told).

-The overseas function is often iffy. Before I went to Iceland and Germany last month, I called to make sure I could use it in both places. I was told that I could call and text from Iceland and not get on the Internet and use all functions from Germany (it varies by country). However, it turns out I couldn't send texts from either country, but I could receive them - both from people in the country and people from the US. I also could call and get on the Internet from both places, so I was a little baffled. It is expensive, though, at $1-$1.50 a minute, I believe, to talk and use the Internet, and $.50 a text. Know the rates before you go! I don't even want to see my phone bill from those three weeks!

So if you can get past all of that, then definitely buy this phone. To me, the pluses far outweigh the minuses!

Have had the 8830 for about 2 weeks. So far, I have been happy with it. Took me a whilte to get used to the ball.

Pros:
-Spell check (which is awesome)
-Looks nice
-Better phone than my old bbery (better audio quality, more logical phone output)


Cons
-No camera (don't really care though)
-Takes some getting used to

The other reviewer is correct - very poor call quality, especially outside or in a car. Keyboard hard to use.

My 8830 worked flawless here in the United States, but failed overseas. Several days before traveling overseas, I contacted Sprint International desk to have my phone provisioned for use in United Kingdom. Sprint International Customer Service hung up on me. I then went directly to Sprint store and supposedly activated the phone.

When I got London, the phone did not operate on the GSM network. I contacted Sprint International desk from overseas and was greeted by a phone message that Sprint International was unavailable, please call back later. I called the Sprint International via their local phone number and got right through. The customer service agent stated my phone was not provisioned for overseas.

The Sprint representative supposedly provisioned my phone and advised my account would now work overseas. When she performed that function, the phone sputtered and responded with a message, "App Error 205." The phone never worked again. Two weeks later, when I returned to the US, Sprint had to replace the Blackberry 8830 with a new one, but they did not provision my email, so my email did not work.

Last night, I dropped the Sprint 8830 and went back to my Treo.

I switched from the Verizon Q to the BBerry 8830 because I wanted the push email (which is probably protected by some absurd patent) and because the OS is supposed to be more stable. Now, I want my good old Q back.

Overall, I had some minor complaints and one very major complaint: the bluetooth has a very weak signal, especially for the person on the other end. I pretty much have to hold the phone 1 ft from my head. Sure sometimes it will seem to work 10' away, but I can't get a clear signal with the phone in my pocket or in the passenger seat of the car. I tried two different H700 headsets and a Plantronics Voyager 510 and even returned my original 8830 to Verizon for a new phone.

Googling for "Blackberry weak bluetooth signal" it sounds like other people have the same problem. Since I'm now stuck with a $450 phone that doesn't do what I need it to do, I have hard time appreciating the good features, but since I already gave the worst possible review (Bluetooth is very important for me), here is the full picture:

Pro:
+4 Push email (apparently only available on the BBerry)
+4 Good battery life (Q was a joke without buying the bigger battery)
+2 Sleek, solid design
+2 Stable OS (compared to Microsoft-based Q)

Con:
-10 Horrible Bluetooth signal
-2 Average sound quality
-2 Weirdly shaped keys make it harder to type on than the Q
-2 Can't use me Bluetooth headset to listen to sound files
-1 No camera, although I'll gladly trade camera for better battery life
-1 Kept hitting the talk button accidentally until I figured out how to move the "Lock" icon to the top row

So if you like the handsfree option, avoid this phone at all costs. Otherwise, it's not bad.

We LOVE the Blackberry 8830, especially for its multitudinous settings. It does have a few issues, but compared to the previous 10 different mobile phones we've had over the years, we are very happy with this model.

This USA model is unique and we also appreciate its World Wide International feature. We have no need for a camera or video phone because we use separate devices for that purpose. It does have a music feature, but we rarely use it because cell phone sound quality does not compare to using an iPod with portable Bose speaker.

Since nothing in life rarely stays the same, we expect the future - newer 8830 model to improve. Hence, this design is only a beginning to even better devices in phone evolution.

N.B. We use an extended-life battery; keep the backlight to the lowest setting possible; clean cache regularly; and use basic business applications that are not left running in the background, which greatly increases time usage.

Let me get this straight. You rather use a phone that takes forever to charge, with tiny keys, with an os that crashes, a bulky battery over the 8830 Blackberry? SERIOUSLY

The 8830 Blackberry is the slimmest to date with the most stable os in the business. The email capablities are legendary. The screen has improved a 1000%. And now that Sprint has a 3G network its even faster.

Heres what I don't like: There's not a camera. But I dont know what everyone is talking about I get my pictures fine. Maybe because the os has gotten an upgrade now. Being a designer I have to have a better camera than a pictures froma camera phone. No biggie.

No wifi...to compete with verizon and apple we implore you, add it.

I love the screen, GPS and now I'm able to get itunes on my phone! and it feels good in my hand. Very cool. I LOVE my Blackberry.

This phone is great; it handles all of my e-mail addresses seamlessly, my address book is large, custom phone tunes, easy to use media player with large access via card, etc.. etc..

Best of all, world edition UNLOCKED. Travel around, buy a SIM, throw it in--I can go anywhere. Unlike other carriers 8830's which are locked to Vodaphone or another foreign company.

This also has a wide array of third-party applications which work well, some of which are actually enjoyable.

In addition, the net coverage is quite quick. Overall, this is a great phone with wonderful sound quality, coverage, features and it is also surprisingly durable.

Albeit, it was a learning curve for me as this was my first "smart phone". I won't go into all the details of what it took to get this phone to fully function correctly (some me, some Sprint).

I've had to deal with Sprint on a few occasions for issues ranging from:

1) I'm no longer receiving email
2) Internet function is not working (but email was)
3) The device would not power down
4) Cannot power the device

Depending upon whom I spoke to of course I received what I would rate overall as below average customer service.

I've also had to replace the phone after 9 months use due to the power input breaking off ... They did replace the phone for $55 (I didn't purchase the optional insurance), remember to back-up your device! Luckily, I had just a week or so ago. Restore worked perfectly.

What I do like (a lot!)

1) Speakerphone (loud and clear)
2) Internet is usually reliable and crisp response
3) Good variety of applications available for all different needs
4) Desktop Manager easy to use - backup, load apps and media
5) Fit and finish of device

Blackberry network was down once since I've had it, I didn't occur any major interruption.

I sync three email accounts, two personal and one work, this I think is one of the devices (Blackberry) strong points, configuration and delivery is seemless. Also, attachments, pdfs, ms office files, adobe... display easily and quickly.