I bought this phone recently on contract because my old phone was starting to break down.
Having never used a smartphone before, I was a little nervous about venturing out, and decided that the qwerty keyboard was more my style rather than the touch screen.

I have not been disappointed by this phone. It has a very easy to use qwerty keypad, designated BBM (Blackberry messenger) button, camera side key, volume control keys, and much more.

Despite having read poor reviews about the screen quality, I have found it to be really good and it does not look pixelated at all. However, as the camera is 3.2mp, those who are used to taking high quality snaps may be a little disheartened by this. As someone who used to have a phone with a 5mp camera, it took me a while to commit myself to this phone. But all the other features make it worth it.

All the keys on the kaypad are at a good distance away from each other to ensure that you don't press the wrong key. Those new to qwerty keypads will find that you text a little slow at first because of the way you have to press the capitalise key to get capitals, and then the 'alt' key to get symbols. But after about a week or so, I'm texting at the same rate as I did on a normal phone, if not quicker.

One of my favourite features of this phone is the flashing LED light at the top of the Blackberry. In most of my previous phones, if someone had sent a text, my screen would light up for a second and that would be it. Whereas with this phone, the LED light will keep flashing red for a certain number of minutes after a text has come in. This makes it so much easier to keep track of things. It also flashes when you get a phone call, facebook message, email etc. I would advise that you download one of the LED light apps in order to get more than just the default red light. I have different colours for different types of messages.

The sound quality during phonecalls is pretty good, much better than in previous phones. Nice and crisp.

Phone security is good, with the option of both a pin and a phone/keypad lock to stop people from snooping.

The screen of the phone gets dusty pretty quickly though. I use a screen protector on mine and it took me ages to stick it on because dust was so attracted to it. The back of the phone has a pretty glossy finish. Looks very nice but will also scratch easily so I have a phone cover on mine.

Email and BBM is pretty straightforward to set up. If you have trouble, their website is useful for helping you out. They pretty much have an online manual to help you with your new purchase.

Battery life is really good, which was one of the more important deciding factors for me before making the purchase.

This is a fairly new Blackberry but it is also a 'budget Blackberry' to introduce newbies to the brand. So it's great as a first smartphone. The features and quality will not match up to some of the others in the range, but I think this is a brilliant phone.