Even though, after a lot of pestering, my parents had only brought me a Blackberry Curve in May, when my contract ran out in September I had to get a new phone instead of going sim only. I didn't even have to think about what brand I wanted, I was sticking with the Blackberry! And after minutes of looking at fake handsets had decided on the Blackberry Torch 9800!

BB Torch 9800 -
The BB Torch has a large touch screen which slides up to reveal a buttoned 'qwerty' keypad, giving you the best of both worlds; touch screen and normal buttons. There are also buttons on the top of the handset (lock and mute) and down the side (volume and camera).
The phone measures at roughly 11cm in height, 6cm in width and 2cm in depth, making it quite big and bulky compared to other handsets. I have the BB Torch in silver (it is available in silver, black and red) however, this does not make it look feminine, it is definitely a 'manly' looking handset.
Unlike my previous BB phone, this one comes with a decent camera! The camera is 5mp and has a flash and face recognition. My previous phone had a 2mp, non flash, camera and the difference between the two in incredible. The photos on this phone come out very clear and bright and look as if they have been taken on a digital camera. The face recognition feature is obvious when used in crowded areas as faces clearly stand out more in the pictures.
As with most phones these days, the internet is built into the handset and can be accessed using either 3G or wifi. The internet is very basic and easy to use and always seems to load pages that I want quickly. Most of the time, writing on the internet is very small and difficult to read, however, if you tap the screen it will zoom in and everything becomes very clear.
If you are, for example, on your local bus services website and wish to view a timetable, the phone will give you the option of viewing the webpage or downloading the timetable. If you opt for the download, it will be stored in a documents folder do that you can access it in future without searching again.
I find the whole internet feature on phones to be a lifesaver in many situations and don't know how I ever coped without it! I am always Googling something, whether it be directions or who that actor is! I also have every bus timetable I will ever need downloaded, incase of emergency.
Aswell as internet explorer, Blackberry App Store is pre-installed. This allows you to download and install apps and games onto your phone. Most of these apps come at a price, but some are available for free. A lot of the free apps are trials and not usually worth paying for anyway, but you can find the odd gem hidden in there. For some reason, the app store doesn't seem to have many popular apps that you see advertised (for example, Special K or Weight Watchers) but I'm hoping they will update it soon.
There is also a built in music store but I have never used this so cannot comment.
Other built in features include:
*Facebook
*Twitter
*Windows Live Messenger
*Google Talk
*Email
All of these can be activated by either logging into an existing account or creating a new one. You can also uninstall any of these if you do not require them and reinstall them if you ever feel the need to.
It is also worth mentioning that 'What's App' and 'Kik' messengers are compatible with the phone, as these seem to be quite popular at the minute for socialising and allow you to message and send photos to anyone for free.
Another key feature on the BBT is Blackberry Messenger, which seems to be the reason why Blackberry phones have become so popular. BBM is basically a 'free' (you have to pay £5 a month on top of your contract to activate it) instant messaging service that allows you to communicate with other people who have a Blackberry and whose 'pin' you have. BBM is preinstalled into the handset, however, you must be paying for 'Blackberry Services' on your plan to use it, if I remember right, Blackberry Services includes BBM and internet services.
Despite this being a new phone, by a company that seems to be taking over the world, it is quite basic (which is why I love it so much). The above features are pretty much the main features of the phone and everything else that comes with it have been included in all phones for the last 10 years! Other features include:
*Text messaging
*Calculator
*Calendar
*Memopad
*Alarm clock
*Music player
However, you can use the App Store to update the phone and add modern features, up to an extent. I recently downloaded a Kobo reader (for free) which has made the phone slightly more beneficial as I don't need to carry books around now!
Although I love this phone, and feel as though I couldn't survive without it, I have come across one major issue which has forced me to take it back to the shop twice already. Almost every time I am on the internet for a long(ish) amount of time, or playing a game that I have downloaded, it will turn itself off and reboot. This gets very annoying when your phone has turned itself off 5 times in the last hour! But I can't bring myself to take it back completely.
It can go through spells of doing this and, sometimes, it can be 2-3 weeks without it happening, but then it will happen every couple of hours the next day. I would say, if you are thinking of getting this phone, it would definitely be worth researching into this and finding out if this is a common problem.
Overall, I do love this phone. The main reason that it attracted me was because it had both a touch screen and buttons. I find this beneficial as I can type faster with the buttons but quieter on the touch screen when working nights. Also, as touch screens have a tendency to break around me, I can still use the phone if this happens.
Also, I love that I can check my Facebook or Google vital information wherever I am, and do it quickly. And the size of the phone means I will never lose it in my huge handbag as it is really bulky and difficult to miss.
My only real issues with the phone are that there isn't much of a selection on the App Store, but I can live with that, and the problem with the phone turning itself off all the time.
A phone that I would recommend a 100000% if the turning itself off is not a common problem. If it is, I wouldn't bother.