Pros: Great speakerphone, reliable service, great user interface
Cons: No Wi-Fi, a little thick / clunky, prone to scratches / damage
The bottom line: The Blackberry 8800 is powerful and fully functional for all your smartphone needs. For those who want a true smartphone buy this one.
Bottom line - the BlackBerry 8800 is a very solid phone. I work in Investment Banking and I have owned my own company. I have owned many variations of smartphones over the past two years, including: the Moto Q, previous versions of the Blackberries, and even the latest BlackBerry Curve. I have found that the characteristics I like about a smartphone are: User Interface, Battery Life, Wireless Performance and General Capabilities.

The User Interface of the BlackBerry 8800 follows suits with previous versions from RIM. Flashier graphics definitely make the 8800 more appealing. Just surfing on RIM’s site to see their promotional videos about the phones makes a user excited to get it. The transition from a track-wheel to a spinball in the center of the phone was a little tricky to get used to – especially after using previous BlackBerrys and the Moto Q. However, after using the phone for the past 3 months, I would not go back. Moving across the screen diagonally and not having to constantly move your thumb up and down saves stress. Veteran BlackBerry users, don’t worry, you will get used to this. I believe that since RIM has adopted this spinball on all of their current versions, we will see the other smart phones following quickly.

The BlackBerry 8800 has an excellent battery life. I recently downloaded Google’s GChat application onto my phone and consistently use it throughout the day. This keeps the backlight on the entire day and in essence is draining the precious battery life from my phone. I have noticed though, that the BlackBerry Curve has a better battery life than the 8800. For whatever, reason I usually have to recharge my 8800 every two days versus the every four for the Curve.

The 8800’s Wireless Performance is very standard for RIM. My 8800 is on the AT&T Edge network. This network is significantly faster than AT&T’s regular wireless capabilities and sets apart a smartphones browsing capabilities. While this may be the case, my Moto Q, with the help of a free Wi-Fi card, allowed me to surf the Internet much quicker than this traditional smartphone. I would much prefer if the BlackBerry 8800 had built in Wi-Fi similar to the iPhone. Additionally, when surfing sites, the BlackBerry 8800 makes it difficult to view certain websites that are not built for PDAs / smartphones. The iPhone’s revolutionary web browsing capabilities obviously dominates this category.

BlackBerry certainly has a grasp of user preferences. The BlackBerry Messenger system built in keeps professionals on track. If you don’t have a BlackBerry and your coworkers do – it will put you at a disadvantage. I love the Google Maps plugin for the 8800 – it allows me to utilize a free GPS service on my BlackBerry. Many applications are being built for them and this will be an advantage of owning this phone. The 8800 is a little clunky for speaking on the phone and sits as if it’s a “skinny” brick in your pocket. While there have been improvements, the Pearl or Curve is much sleeker. The 8830 looks nicer than the 8800 that I currently possess, but the size is still an issue.

If you are looking to make a switch to a smartphone, definitely go with RIM. They have been working with smartphones for a very long time and have been trouble shooting the user capabilities for many years.