Compare Storm2 9520 Deals

The RIM Blackberry Storm 2 (or 9520) has come on leaps and bounds since its highly criticised predecessor (more a heavy shower than a Storm). The dimensions are identical: 112.5 x 62.2 x 14 mm, but No2 weighs slightly heavier at 160g and the device is altogether more streamlined with touch-sensitive keys beneath the brilliant 3.25-inch 360 x 480 display. An accelerometer ensures automatic switching between portrait and landscape as you turn the device.

RIM offers a new system based on four piezo-electric buttons beneath the touchscreen for excellent response compared with its old SurePress system. The Storm 2 is a quad-band device with HSDPA for fast internet connectivity, Wi-fi for hotspot/WLAN working and Bluetooth for short-range wireless data transfer.

There is a 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash, autofocus and electronic image stabilisation. The music and video player supports all popular formats and delivers excellent quality - a standard 3.5 mm jack means you can use your own headset or, via A2DP support, a wireless headset.

Among the generally excellent messaging capabilities, the Storm 2 is a great device for heavy emailers – the BlackBerry email service gathers up email from your accounts and deposits it neatly to the phone and the typing experience is slick.

With around 2Gbytes’ internal memory and a microSD slot for up to 16GB, the Storm 2 is well provisioned. Battery life is rated at an optimistic 5.5 hours’ talk time or 12 days on standby from a full charge.