BlackBerry Storm 9500 review

And that push email support, as ever, is excellent. Setting it up with multiple email addresses (up to 10) is very simple using the online setup web page, and the messaging display is clear and easy to read. Searching is a breeze, too.

There are some small drawbacks. As with the Bold and HP's Voice Messenger you don't get the ability to create Word and Excel documents, you can only read and edit them. You don't get an awful lot of storage in the box as standard - just a 1GB microSD card to add to the 128MB of built-in flash memory. And the BlackBerry web browser isn't as responsive or as good at accurately rendering web pages as the Windows Mobile-based Opera Mobile 9.5 or the iPhone's Mobile Safari.

But these are not enough to put a major dent our appreciation for the BlackBerry Storm. The only reason it doesn't walk away with a recommended award is that the Bold has a slightly more complete feature set, is easier to use by dint of its excellent keyboard and is better value overall. Other than that the Storm is an excellent handset and one we'd like to get to know more intimately.

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Verdict

The BlackBerry Storm 9500 is luxurious and innovative in equal degree. But the Bold is better value and better to type on.

Display: 3.3in, 360x480 pixels Storage: 1,000MB (ROM) Camera: 3.2 megapixels Dimensions: 63 x 15 x 113mm (WDH) Weight: 155g Battery: six hours' talktime, 15 days' standby