The smartphone market is non arguably the fastest growing segment in the mobile handset market and is set to take on the overall handset market for quite some time. From a telecom giant to a small player in the market, all are geared up to dish out new and better smartphones everyday. This makes the market extremely competitive with everyone getting a share. Coming to individual players and specifically RIM  It’s no secret that it has been struggling to compete in today’s ultra-competitive smartphone market, and the real deal has been grading both hardware and software catch-up to the likes of Android and iOS.

With the launch of its first full-capacitive-touchscreen smartphone, the BlackBerry Torch 9860, Rim is trying to create a niche in the smartphone segment by hitting the strings of media consumers. A bright 3.7 inch screen, new OS7 along with BBM email and a redesigned virtual keyboard  are sure to enhance the browsing experience. Let’s get further into the analysis and find out whether this one is worthy of a blackberry tag….

HARDWARE and DESIGN

The very first thing that would strike in Torch 9860 is how light it is. It weighs in at 135 G. This thin black beauty with its curvaceous lines is for sure an item of display. The BlackBerry Torch 9860 runs on a 1.2 GHz processor with 768 MB of RAM, and has a 3.7-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen. The usual Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth are included, and also added is a magnetic compass to support augmented reality apps.

Blackberry torch 9860 is  very similar to other blackberry phones – a plastic black body with chrome accent . Like the Bold 9900, the new Torch has repositioned the mute/play/pause key between the volume keys on the right side, but the button style is much more different. It has a camera with continuous autofocus, and to accommodate the added width, the rear has a little contour near the top. The bottom has a slight arc too, which provides a nice grip .The slim 11.5 mm profile helps there too.

Although the BlackBerry Torch 9860 might be missing the stainless steel bezel of the Bold 9900 / 9930, the rear battery door is solid metal. The phone is very sturdy and will not conform to wear and tear soon. The four keys on the front are almost merged in with the device providing an easily identifiable nature in the dark and also saves from accidently pressing on.

CAMERA

With continuous autofocus the 5 megapixel camera on the blackberry torch 9860 is a winner. There’s no front-facing camera. The camera app is fairly simple and has a lot of setting options for close ups, face detection etc.

 SOFTWARE

With a 1.2 GHz processor and 768 MB of RAM the Blackberry Torch 9860 is a smooth and refined experience. OS7 brings a few new types of third party apps like 3D games and BBM connected apps which are refreshing. Though there are not a lot of apps, all the important apps are present. Blackberry has managed to deliver beyond expectation in its forte, i.e.  fast and unified communication through messages or on any available channel. By coordinating all online contacts in a native address book one can very quickly get I touch with another online.

MULTIMEDIA

The BlackBerry Torch 9860 is the phone for video and with a screen size of 3.7inches, it turns out to be a delight. It retains the same degree of sharpness as the other OS 7 BlackBerry devices at 800 x 480 resolution.

Coming to music, there isn’t a lot of change , there still is the playlist support and universal search integration along with podcasts, Amazon MP3 store and new BBM music service. The hardware music keys work to an advantage.

BROWSER

. The big screen suits the browser well, and the upgraded processor makes panning, zoooming, and general navigation smooth. There’s no Flash support, but on a single-core device, it’s probably for the best. The browser supports multiple tabs, and actually does pretty well on web compatibility benchmarks. The BlackBerry Torch 9860 has been rated higher than iOS 4.2 and Android 2.3Besides missing Flash, there’s very little to complain about the mobile browser now.

CALL QUALITY AND BATTERY LIFE

The call quality is decent on the BlackBerry Torch 9860. The bottom speaker is definitely good enough for conference calls, and there’s some great beta software available to manage dial-in numbers and passcodes if you take those calls regularly.

The BlackBerry Torch 9860 comes with the same 1230 mAh. It provides one with the luxury of using the battery tension free unlike in Androids. The battery doesn’t have to be micro managed and also the display doesn’t consume as much. The real deal though is ,its 6.8hours of talk time.

 THE FINAL TAKE

With a really enjoyable media and web experience this baby is for any media fanatic. The only glitch is the lack of a physical keyboard. Otherwise, It is a wonderful device to watch movies and browsing. Though the OS generally operates just as smoothly as on other recent BlackBerry devices, it does have its share of hang-ups. If you find the virtual keyboard quite sufficient then it’s a steal deal beautiful device.