BlackBerry Curve 9350 / 9360 / 9370

Available now
23rd August 2011

A straight upgrade to last year's Curve 9300 series, the BlackBerry Curve 9350, 9360 and 9370 devices are all very closely related and offer a useful step up from the previous model.

The differences between the models are in the supported cellular networks - the 9350 is a CDMA/EVDO version, the 9360 is a GSM/HSPA version and the 9370 supports both CDMA/EVDO and GSM/HSPA for US-based world travellers.

Although it looks almost identical to the previous Curve device, there are useful improvements in several areas. The main one is that the Curve 9350, 9360 and 9370 run the new BlackBerry 7 OS, but also the display is much sharper at 480 x 360 pixels instead of 320 x 240, there is now a 5 megapixel camera with a flash on the back rather than the ultra-basic 2 megapixel unit in the old one and NFC support is now included as standard.

The new Curve models support 3.5G connectivity, WiFi, GPS and of course BlackBerry's excellent email and messaging service. The size is identical to the old model, so it's still quite a pocket-friendly device despite the rather useful QWERTY keyboard on the bottom. The new Curve measures 109 x 60 x 11mm and has up to 5 hours talktime on 3G and 12 days standby time.

As with most recent BlackBerry devices, this is an evolution rather than a revolution. It certainly fixes some of the areas where the old Curve was looking a bit on the basic side, and for most BlackBerry fans there really is nothing more that you need that this.

BlackBerry say that the new Curve should be available in Canada this month followed by other markets from September onwards.