Visual Avenue's Joe Appio reviews the BlackBerry Tour 9630

In this video, Visual Avenue's Joe Appio reviews the BlackBerry Tour 9630. Shot with a Canon T2i / 550D with a 50mm f/1.8 lens 

http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/blackberrytour/

The Blackberry Tour 9630 is hands down the best BB that I have ever used.  Pound for pound it is probably the best all around phone that I have had as well.

CLARITY

Sound clarity is second to none and rarely do you get dropped from a call on the Verizon Network.

The speaker phone works very well and you can connect to Bluetooth Car Systems such as the one offered in the Mercedes Benz ML 350 SUV.

APPS-

I initially had an issue with the stock YouTube Mobile App. This has been widely reported.

No worries as third party apps like Xenozu give you excellent full screen YouTube capabilities.

www.xenzu.com.  There is also an excellent VZW Music App that allows you to quickly purchase music for download from their vast selection.  Games and useful apps like VZ navigator will assist you on the roads and walking in unfamilar neighborhoods

Camera

You can take wonderful stills and video thanks to the 3.2 MP Auto Focus lens.  Apps like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr provide a seamless intergration for uploading video, text and pix.

Battery Life

The device beats the battery hog Iphone quite easily.  Shutting the Bluetooth feature off when not in use, lowering the brightness and shutting the device off overnight will also increase life substantially.

I use the device constantly during the day for emails, phone calls, facebook and photos and usually give it a full charge every other day. 

 Storage

A Sandisk Micro SdHc card will run you about $60 for a 16 gig version.  

Cost

The subsidized cost for a Tour is about $99, while the internet non-contract price will be about $400.

Accessories

For a list of must haves, I like the list that Crackberry.com has compiled.  For the list go to:

http://crackberry.com/must-have-accessories-blackberry-tour-owner

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the GPS and excellent mapping feature as well.

I wholeheartedly recommend this unit for corporate America, a blogger or anyone who puts voice clarity and ease of use on top of their requirements.

The design is also sleek, professional and sexy.