Review: BlackBerry Tour 9630 built for globetrotters

Now available through Bell Mobility, the latest BlackBerry smartphone in Canada addresses your needs as a mobile professional, while also helping you let your hair down after hours. It’s not perfect, and it’s not cheap, but we’ve enjoyed our hands-on time with the device. Here’s our full review.

Now available through Bell Mobility and TELUS, the latest BlackBerry smartphone in Canada addresses your needs as a mobile professional, while also helping you let your hair down after hours. It's not perfect, and it's not cheap, but we've enjoyed our hands-on time with the device.

Consider it the successor to last year's BlackBerry 8830 "World Edition" smartphone: the new 3G BlackBerry Tour ($249.95 on 3-year Bell Mobility contract with data plan) was designed to operate on both CDMA/EVDO in North America and around the world via GSM/EDGE and HSPA high-speed 3.5G networks.

Therefore, the BlackBerry Tour (model # 9630, and previously code-named "Niagara") is ideal for those who, like me, spend a lot of time traveling, especially outside of Canada, as it can be used to roam globally unlike most BellMo phones. Add other Research in Motion hallmarks such as long battery life and reliable "push mail" service – which sends messages to your device instead of having to log on and "pull" them down from the server – and this is one handy travel companion.

The Tour also features a full QWERTY button keyboard, which somewhat resembles the one found on the BlackBerry Bold, though a bit smaller (the Tour is considerably thinner than the Bold, too). Personally, I still prefer the separated buttons on the BlackBerry Curve rather than these touching ones, but typing proves intuitive after a short learning curve. The predictive text, however, was turned off by default, therefore I noticed a few typos and spelling errors on the screen. Speaking of which, the Tour's HVGA+ (480 x 360 pixel) high-res display offers sharp and bright text and images.

Thanks to speedy emails and messaging, and support to view and edit documents (Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, for example), the Tour might be considered a business tool – and that's a fair assumption – but it also houses a few features for some fun, too. This includes an improved media player for music, photos and videos; expandable microSD card slot behind the battery to store all your digital media (up to 16GB); integrated social networking links to sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Flickr; Bluetooth stereo (for use with compatible wireless headphones); support for downloadable games (five already included); and BellMo services such as Live TV and GPS Nav.

RIM has also upgraded the camera, now offering 3.2-megapixel quality (decent enough for 8 x 10 prints) and support for auto-focus, image stabilization, video recording and geo-tagging to import a photo's GPS coordinates into supported mapping software.

While it's pale in comparison to Apple's awesome App Store, this smartphone also links users to the BlackBerry App World for many downloadable apps for work or play. Seriously, this App Store needs some more content and better navigation if it wants to compete against the iPhone (and Android smartphones, too, for that matter).

Another issue: no Wi-Fi. As someone who spends a lot of time reading emails, surfing sites and downloading apps on other smartphones, the lack of a Wi-Fi chip in the Tour is a serious oversight. Using data services over a wireless network is not only faster than cellular connectivity, but is more reliable and (usually) free.

Shortcomings aside, however, the new BlackBerry Tour is a marked improvement over the "World Edition" 8830 and offers the best of both worlds in two respects: it's great for in-Canada use and around the world, as well as an ideal smartphone for business and pleasure.
 

Filed Under: Handhelds > Mobile Apps > Portable Devices > Reviews