BlackBerry Kickstart 8220 Hardware Review

The guys at crackberry.com have got their hands on the latest Blackberry but this one is a first. The Blackberry Kickstart 8220 is a flip phone type form factor never seen before in the Blackberry range. Originally branded with a device model number of 9100, this has now changed. The BlackBerry "KickStart" is now the 8220 and will feature WiFi, while the BlackBerry "SeaWolf" is the 8210 and will feature GPS.

8220 and 8210 Key Features:

Clamshell / flip phone form factor
Quad-band radios: GSM/GPRS/EDGE (no 3G)
240 x 320 internal LCD (think Curve/8800 display flipped to portrait)
160 x 128 external display
2 megapixel camera
3.5mm headset jack
externally accessible microSD card slot
OS version 4.6
"Next Gen" SureType keyboard
8220 will feature WiFi; 8210 will feature GPS

Flip the KickStart open, which by the way is easy to do with one hand, and the KickStart looks MASSIVE. The internal LCD is big (a good thing), but there is a lot of "border" surrounding it which makes the top half of the phone appear large. On the base, the KickStart’s "Next Gen" SureType keyboard features oversized keys — we’re talking literally twice the size of the keys on the Pearl — and also features the same guitar-fret inspired row separators as the BlackBerry Bold. Even those with the biggest of hands (or is it fattest of fingers?!) should be able to text and email at speed on this thing, assuming of course they are willing to learn SureType. But below the spacious keyboard there is a lot of dead space, and above the trackball the flip’s hinge takes up quite a bit room, making the base of the flip feel a bit empty. Holding the KickStart up to my ear, the phone’s resting position feels natural – the angle of the phone sits well with my ear/cheek/mouth and the unit is easy to hold.