The BlackBerry Torch 9800 is a smartphone that just works. It features a responsive touchscreen, seamless data transfers and fast processing. It doesn’t offer as much in the way of apps or social networking – but it’s not meant to. RIM has continued to focus on emailing and other business-related tasks with this new BlackBerry phone.

One of the most distinguishing features of the BlackBerry Torch 9800 is the slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It slides out smoothly and clicks into place, allowing the screen to sit securely as you thumb your way through those lengthy emails. Although the keyboard is slimmer than the BlackBerry Bold 9700 keyboard, Torch holders can choose to use the virtual keyboard instead.

The BlackBerry Torch includes a 3.2 inch capacitive touchscreen, which is an improvement from the touchscreen which featured on RIM’s Storm series. The touchscreen is responsive, supports multi-touch and also offers a landscape viewing option. 

The 5-megapixel camera isn’t the best on the market, although users don’t generally choose BlackBerry’s for the phones’ photo taking abilities. There’s no tap to focus, and the pictures the camera takes don’t have the same detail or saturation of those on an iPhone 4. While video capture is possible with the BlackBerry Torch, don’t get too excited – the 640 x 480 videos are captured at only 24 frames per second, while other smartphones capture at 30 frames per second.

BlackBerry OS 6 operates efficiently and offers a few extra tweaks than BlackBerry OS 5. Dropdown menus speed up some tasks, while gestures can be used to zoom and zoom out, and BlackBerry fans will notice the home screen on the Torch is more customisable. The browser on the BlackBerry Torch is a huge improvement on RIM’s previous phones – the pages load correctly, new tabs can be opened and users can pinch to zoom.

The lack of apps, the quality of apps, and the poor gaming that the Torch offers is what really let this smartphone down. Although RIM’s focus has never been so much on the entertainment factor, the quality of the gaming is well below the standard evident on today’s smartphone range.

To finish on a more positive note, the battery life on the BlackBerry Torch 9800, much like almost all of RIM’s previous handsets, lasts longer than other smartphones. When the Torch is busy receiving emails and messages, it barely seems to run the battery at all.

Apart from the attractive slide-out keyboard, the BlackBerry Torch 9800 doesn’t do anything really new or exciting. However, if you count on solid performance, long battery life and convenient emailing, the BlackBerry Torch 9800 will blow you away with its reliability and fast performance.