Price: $450 direct
The new BlackBerry Torch 9800 with BlackBerry 6 keeps RIM in the smartphone game. It’s the first truly usable touch screen BlackBerry, and it’s packed with new features: a new Web browser, apps, interface, and social networking hooks. Messaging is still clearly at this phone’s core, though, leaving the Torch a strong bet for those who type and chat all day, and still behind the leaders for those who prefer to play games, surf the Web, or watch videos.
The 4.4-by-2.4-by 0.6-inch (HWD), 5.7-ounce Torch is black and silver, with a soft-touch back and a comforting heft. The screen slides up to reveal a BlackBerry Bold–like keyboard, which I found to be flat-feeling but still very useable. And the 3.2-inch, 360-by-480 capacitive touch screen is very responsive. The device has 4GB of on-board storage and comes with an additional 4GB MicroSD card. The new BlackBerry 6 OS offers a great balance of keyboard, track pad, and touch-screen input. You can do almost everything two or three ways, which makes this the best AT&T phone for people who are more comfortable typing on a hard keyboard than on a touch screen.