The new Blackberry Style has been in my hands for about two weeks now, so I think it's time for a short review.
Background
I have always been a fan of the 'clamshell' style of phones, going back to the Motorola Razr and even farther back to the StarTac, so I was excited about the Style from the first time I saw it online. A few years ago I had a Blackberry with the keyboard layout that had two letters per key (the name of that type escapes me and right now I'm too lazy to look it up). I hated it with a passion because I couldn't type on the thing with any efficiency whatsoever.
Previous phone
The phone I had prior to getting the style was a Samsung Exclaim. I liked the dual sliders and hidden full QWERTY keyboard (that wasn't virtual). My main problems with it was that it did not push emails to me in a timely fashion, sometimes 12 hours later. I live for email so it was a huge problem. After a year of usage, the battery started dying a quick death and a combination of that with the email problem and the poor OS of the phone it was time for something new. Plus I LOVE new phones and new technology in general.
Now on to the Style!
Form
Love it. Feels good in my hand. Not too big or small. Does not feel cheap in any way. Due to the clamshell design, I won't wreck any buttons by having it in my pocket with my car keys. Fits easily in my cycling jersey pocket or micro saddle bag (that is very important to me).
Call Quality
Call quality (me talking to you) is a huge improvement over the Exclaim. Due to how I hold my phones, I was told at least every other call that I was fading out until I brought the mouthpiece right in front of me. This has not been the issue with the Style. Quality as far as me listening to you is about the same as with the Exclaim, a little tinny but no big deal.
Battery
So far so good. I am not in the habit of web browsing on my phone, as I usually have my iPad, iPod Touch, or one of my laptops with me where ever I go. I did test it out and while it works pretty well, it will kill the battery in short order and is kind of slow. I have not tested it out over wifi yet. Just having it on, making calls and getting a ton of emails forces me into charging about every three days. Note that I also do not play games on my phone or listen to music. The only applications I use are Facebook and The Weather Channel. I was very scared to get a phone that I would have to charge before the day is even over. Makes it hard to be any sort of a road warrior when the phone dies before you are done using it for the day.
Email
Great stuff. Email is my own personal notepad. I constantly send emails to myself as a reminder for things I need to do in the office or at home. Emails from others arrive quickly. The keyboard is fine for me as I don't have sausages for fingers. If I did, this would be a problem!
Overall
Great! One minor complaint is that the trackpad or whatever they call it doesn't work when my thumb is even the slightest bit damp. If this is the worst complaint I have, I guess I am pretty lucky. The camera is in a funky position as reviewed just about everywhere else, but I got used to it quick and really it's no big deal. The outside screen is useless to me though except the clock and caller id. Scrolling through emails feels incredibly pointless, just open the stupid phone! This could have been eliminated and replaced with a tiny screen for caller id/time to help even more with battery life.