DIGITAL PARK

The BlackBerry Torch 9800 White is a totally new design concept for a BlackBerry - a touchscreen phone with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard - and is being pushed as a flagship phone with initial prices even higher than the Bold 9700. At launch, this is the most expensive BlackBerry on the market - almost in iPhone territory. So it had better be mind-blowingly good. Is it? We'll check out each aspect of the phone in turn, starting with hardware and moving on to the new operating system and user interface. Despite the new shape, the Torch is very recognisably a BlackBerry, and in some ways looks ever so slightly dated compared with other recent additions to the BlackBerry family. Nevertheless, the new form factor gives it a design edge, and it retains the solid build quality that we've come to expect from the company. The solid feel is reflected in the weight of the device, because at 161g it really is a heavy phone, even compared with the Bold 9700. And it's larger than the Bold too, even before you open the slider. Slide open the keyboard and it dwarfs the iPhone 4, even though the Torch's screen is smaller. All this is sending a strong message - that the Torch is designed to appeal to people who really like QWERTY keyboards. Fortunately, at Mobile Phones UK we do, and so do most BlackBerry users.