I was due an upgrade and wanted a phone that had a keyboard as I was sick of the touchscreen on my old Samsung. Many of my friends had a Blackberry and it had tempted me to get one and try them out. Touchscreen would always annoy me because nothing that I wanted it to do seemed to happen and this is something I didn't want in my new phone.

The Blackberry Curve 9360 is a smart phone and is one of their latest designs. It has many features present in other smart phones such as an internet browser, social networking feeds, a multi-functioning media player, Wi-Fi and all the general standard features that come with a modern day mobile phone. Features unique to Blackberry which are included with this phone are Blackberry Messenger (BBM), Blackberry App store. The instructions included with the phone for once aren't in a novel for once and are in an easy to read pamphlet which easily explains all its functions and features which is a bonus if you aren't good with technology like I am! It has a

I've had this phone a good month now and have kind of deciphered it's strengths and weaknesses. As someone who's never owned a smart phone before I am very impressed with this phone. I find the featured on it easy to use and the menus have a user-friendly interface. I find the QWERTY keyboard a massive improvement on any touchscreen phone and although the keys seem small they are easy to get used to even for those with bigger fingers! The tracker ball which is used to scroll around the menus is difficult to get used to at first but very easy to use once you get the hang of it. I'm particularly impressed with the 5MP camera as it's features may be basic but the quality is perfect, and the fact it has a flash is also an extra bonus. An App can be downloaded to use the flash as a torch which is another little handy feature. The fact it has Wi-Fi is useful meaning you don't have to use up your data limit around the house or in a public space with Wi-Fi.

Unfortunately nothings perfect, and this phone does have its cons. Every so often it will freeze up and a little timer will appear, which is OK if you have the patience but it stays for a good 30 seconds sometimes and frustrating when you're in the middle of something. It's lack of application compared to its rival smart phones such as the iPhone and Android is another disadvantage. If you like watching little news snippets such as the ones on BBC News Blackberrys currently don't support flash so they don't play, although a lot of YouTube videos work on the YouTube application. If you use this phone as much as I do, the battery life doesn't last long and I often find myself charging it up to twice a day, though you can extend the battery life by closing down applications that are running in the background, such as Wi-Fi and BBM.

If you wanted to but this phone it retails around the £275 mark if you were to buy it standalone and have it on pay as you go, but is available for free on a contract, which is what I have. I currently pay £21.50 a month on Vodafone over a period of 24 months, and for that I get 100 minutes, 300 texts and plenty of data usage which is essential if you are to use a smart phone in this day and age, though Wi-Fi downloads and BBM are free of charge. I am happy with my price plan and having been with Vodafone for 8 years I'd recommend it.

The phone itself I think would make any persons life much easier. I find it easier to manage things such as Twitter and Facebook and I'm not stuck on a laptop all the time like I can be sometimes! It's a neat little phone and I'd recommend it to anyone as an upgrade or if you just want a new phone. It'd make a great Christmas present for anyone. 4.5/5