I recently stopped using this BlackBerry and switched to a Samsung Galaxy Ace 2, and although it had some OK features, I was only too happy to be rid of it.

When I first got the BlackBerry, it was contemporary and offered a range of features and apps comparable to the other smartphone giants, Android and Apple. However, it rapidly fell behind the times in terms of the operating system and its capabilities.

In terms of positives - the BlackBerry is simple to use and navigate once you get used to the basics. The menus are logical and you can organise the phone's apps and features as you wish. If you're not a fan of touch screens, you will probably like the full QWERTY keyboard which is a customary feature of BlackBerries - although this does make it easy to input text, the keys are very tiny so it's easy to make lots of typos and this can be frustrating.

However, I found that using data and the internet when not connected to WiFi painfully slow, and the phone would often freeze or crash if you try to run several functions or apps at the same times. The basic features of the phone, such as calling and texting are straightforward enough, but the camera quality is appalling. BlackBerry Messenger (an instant chat app) was novel and enjoyable when I first got the phone, but soon most of my friends switched from BlackBerry to iphone or Android anyway, and many sleeker, more impressive chat apps are available on these systems. My honest opinion would be to avoid BlackBerry - opt for Android instead if you are looking for a true smartphone.