The All-touch BlackBerry Torch 9860 is here to astonish you with its stunning multimedia experience! With a 3.7″ capacitive screen of 800×480 resolution, this crispy-display beast will abnormally force you to grab those lifetime moments in Full-HD wherever you are. Sporting a Snapdragon 1.2GHz high end processor underhood makes it blazing fast & with BlackBerry OS 7 pre-installed the touch response is vastly improved with RIM‘s newly added ‘Liquid Graphics’ technology which smooths overall experience at user end. The BlackBerry Torch 9860 aims to multimedia loving consumers those can bear on-screen keyboard for larger display.

Design

The new Storm Torch All-touch phone is by far one of best Smartphones in market today! The curvy top & below edges on front panel gives a new feel and comfort whether in hand on in pocket. We are in love with the sleek design and again sits very comfortable in our pockets, feels different. The device material quality is better than BlackBerry Bold 9900 in some manner and a lot better than any other BlackBerry Torch available today. The functional keys on the front panel are physical which may or may not be appreciated by everyone. Using the optical trackpad on BlackBerry Torch 9860 might settle uncomfortableness due to size of device.

Image source: CrackBerry

Front Panel

Sporting the best visual of 3.7″ high-end 800×480 resolution display will stun anyone the moment you grab it! The stylish curvy ‘Water-fall’ effect given over display screen is designed on plastic but its beautification will definitely blow your minds off. Overall the face of Torch 9860 is very smooth until it comes down at functional keys; That was the first thing I didn’t like about the device. They somehow gives a cheap look & Yes the BlackBerry Storm 2 was smart at this point.

Body

This big BlackBerry weighs just 135g which is remarkably lighter than old Storm series. The iconic bezel corners are designed impressively well around edges & bending on behind gives extraordinary feel when positioned in landscape. Moreover, Torch 9860 can be called one of perfect handheld for gaming.

Sides

The device is pretty plain designed with minimal slots and buttons involved. The left side panel just has one opening for Micro-USB port used by charger & PC Sync. And on right we get a slim, sharp yet very responsive volume rocker with addition of a tiny bump in middle which acts as a mute/pause key. A user convenience key is also positioned below which launches the camera application by default.

Top & Bottom

The lovely curvy top comes with an unlock button & no it doesn’t gets pushed very easily. It is placed perfectly in the middle to avoid accidental pressings. The curve below reveals a microphone & a good loud speaker opening.

Camera

Torch 9860 is truly multimedia rocker! With its 5MP camera along recording capability upto 720p HD videos will forcibly engages the mood to capture. The lens applied to this BlackBerry is Auto-Focus unlike the Bold 9900 which advance results in still shots. The auto-focus continuously does its job while recording a video too.

for mobile viewing pleasure

Battery & Slots

With a sober 1230mAh battery, the BlackBerry Torch 9860 resulted to last ~14hrs undergoing around 35 calls, normal browsing & heavy messaging. Users who doesn’t use car chargers will probably give a second thought. Above the battery, a usual memory-card slot is positioned along unusual tiny yellow slider which actually slides out SIM card when pushed. Pretty slick!

Size Comparison

BlackBerry Bold 9900 vs BlackBerry Torch 9860

BlackBerry Torch 9800/9810 vs BlackBerry Torch 9860

Software

BlackBerry OS7 follows the built to its inferior operating system OS6. With total revamp in performance, this new OS have a lot to blow your mind with powerful new features and innovative apps. Augmented realityintroduces exciting new ways to interact with the world around you instantly. Additional feature is BlackBerry Balance – It transforms the workflow by separating your work life and private life & letting you use your BlackBerry smartphone for whatever life throws at you. BlackBerry OS7 devices are also equipped with OpenGL video graphics for ultimate 3D gaming experience.

Browsing experience on large 3.7? screen is by far the best found on any BlackBerry! Web browser is super fast now with improvements at JAVA end coding & HTML5 additive; that means you can play the newly adapted Youtube embedded player on webpages. Though it doesn’t support Flash as on BlackBerry PlayBook, the smoothness on pinch-to zoom & scrolling is simply phenomenon. RIM says the new browser on OS7 is 40% faster than OS6 and 100% that off OS5 – We totally agree!

Conclusion

BlackBerry Torch 9860 is one brilliant device, has its own flaws and advantages which we leave on you to decide. Not a perfect OS 7.0.0.353 on what we tested on. If you haven’t used any touch screen & pulling yourself back to face the on-screen keyboard, we’ll recommend a demo ride as it may surprise you with its easy-to-use hefty keys. Its comfortable in hands and even in pants as its low broad compared to other BlackBerrys.

This huge curvy stunning multimedia powerhouse is a must phone to look out for. The BlackBerry Torch 9860 is available in India for Rs. 28,450 with 18months warranty.