Blackberry Kickstart Review
This is a handset that rocked the mobile blogosphere about four months ago. And now, although it has not been launched officially by its manufacturer RIM, Crackberry had reviewed this first clamshell ever in the history of Blackberry line up.
And guess what, Kevin Michaluk reviewed this flip with his thousand of words. It will be heavy for most readers to digest it all so I would better abridge it here.
Blackberry Kickstart Facts
Originally branded with a device model number of 9100, this has now changed. The BlackBerry “KickStart” is now the 8220 and will feature WiFi, while the BlackBerry “SeaWolf” is the 8210 and will feature GPS. Several new policies in BES 4.1 SP6 refer to the 8220 and 8210 and make reference to the “external display” and “flip”, providing further validation this is the case.
Target launch price for the KickStart has been rumored to be cheap (as low as $49.95 on T-Mobile with a 2 years contract). Should feature lots of accessories and personalization options. And like the 8320 and 8120, it should support calling via UMA.
Blackberry Kickstart Form Factor
With the BlackBerry KickStart it seems RIM has managed to achieve a form factor that is both Small yet BIG. It will be slimmer than Treo 680 yet thicker than iPhone 3G or other BlackBerrys.
Busting out the measuring tape, with the flip closed the KickStart comes in at ~ 4″ long, just under 2″ wide and about 11/16ths of an inch thick.
Blackberry Kickstart Keypad
On the base, the KickStart’s “Next Gen” SureType keyboard features oversized keys — we’re talking literally twice the size of the keys on the Pearl — and also features the same guitar-fret inspired row separators as the BlackBerry Bold.
Blackberry Kickstart Dimensions and Weight
Busting out the measuring tape, with the flip closed the KickStart comes in at ~ 4″ long, just under 2″ wide and about 11/16ths of an inch thick.
On the kitchen scale the KickStart weighs in at 100 grams (~3.5oz), which places it firmly in the lightweight division of smartphone competitors.
The convenience key and volume control buttons and microSD card hatch seem a little on the plasticy/cheap side and the sliding action on the battery door release leaves a bit of room for improvement.
Blackberry Kickstart Phone Specifications (unofficial yet)
- Clamshell / flip phone form factor
- Quad-band radios: GSM/GPRS/EDGE (no 3G)
- 240 x 320 internal LCD (think Curve/8800 display flipped to portrait)
- 160 x 128 external display
- 2 megapixel camera
- 3.5 mm headset jack
- externally accessible microSD card slot
- OS version 4.6
- “Next Gen” SureType keyboard
- 8220 will feature WiFi; 8210 will feature GPS
Anyway, still Michael remind you with this statement.
As with our BlackBerry Bold review, keep in mind the device we’re working with here is pre-release. While the hardware of our KickStart seems to be pretty close to (or perhaps actual) production caliber, and the OS is “close”, it’s possible (and in the case of the OS version guaranteed) things will change-up a bit by the time you can walk into your local carrier store and buy this device.
On the next chance, Michael promised you the way he use this Kickstart. Can’t hardly post it into this blog.
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Source and image by Crackberry
