RIM BlackBerry Curve 9360 (T-Mobile)

                    The RIM BlackBerry Curve 9360 is the first of the Curve line to run BlackBerry 7 OS. The $79.99 Curve 9360 also includes UMA-based Wi-Fi calling, which works great, and makes us wonder why it was left off the higher-end Bold 9900. If you're not smitten with Android, and think (as we do) that the Bold 9900 ($299.99, 3 stars) is overpriced, the Curve 9360 is a solid smartphone. It even pleasantly surprised us several times during this review.
Design, Call Quality, and Apps                   The Curve 9360 measures 4.3 by 2.4 by 0.4 inches (HWD) and weighs 3.9 ounces. It looks trim and classy, with a flush LCD panel, glossy black plastic, and a smoked chrome accent band around the edges. It sports a 2.5-inch, non-touch screen with 360-by-480-pixel resolution, a significant jump from older, 320-by-240-pixel Curves, although it still trails the latest Bold 9900's 640-by-480 (full VGA) capacitive touch screen. That's fine, though; the Bold 9900 series offers a hit-or-miss touch experience, and if you're looking at a Curve, you're likely already acquainted with the trackpad (or at least an earlier trackball). The four-row, slightly curved QWERTY keyboard features well-separated, raised keys. They're quite small, but I've never had a problem typing on any Curve from the past several generations; this one is no different.
                  The Curve 9360 is a quad-band EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and dual-band HSDPA (1700/2100 MHz) device with 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi. It also supports T-Mobile's awesome, UMA-based Wi-Fi calling, which is an excellent fallback in areas with less-than-optimal T-Mobile coverage. There's no 4G (HSPA+) support, though. Reception was average, but voice call performance on the Curve 9360 was nearly flawless. Calls sounded great, both in UMA and cellular modes, with seamless handoffs between the two as I wandered in and out of my home's Wi-Fi range. 
Multimedia, Camera, and Conclusions                There's a memory card slot underneath the battery cover, and behind a small, rubber door; my 32GB SanDisk card worked fine, and RIM throws in a 2GB card to get you started. There's also 170MB of free internal storage.The standard-size 3.5mm headphone jack on top makes it easy to find good earbuds, and RIM includes a tinny-sounding set in the box.The 5-megapixel, continuous focus camera sports an upgraded feature set, and includes geotagging, image stabilization, and an LED flash.
                I'm rating the BlackBerry Curve 9360 higher than the Bold 9900, just because the Curve 9360 is markedly less expensive and includes the Wi-Fi calling feature the Bold 9900 should have had. The Bold 9900 adds HSPA+, a sharper touch screen, HD video recording, and a faster CPU, but otherwise delivers more or less delivers an identical user experience. And for its astronomical $299.99 price, you can get one of several Android handsets that are far superior, including our Editors' Choice, the $100-cheaper T-Mobile myTouch 4G Slide ($199.99, 4.5 stars). The HTC Wildfire S ($79.99, 3.5 stars) is a good budget Android option if you don't need a keyboard; it will still let you run far more apps than the Curve 9360, and it will deliver a better multimedia and Web browsing experience to boot.