BlackBerry 8520 Review
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Review: August 2009 |
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Last updated Sep 2012.
Phone rating: 
In a nutshell: An entry-level
BlackBerry Curve, the BlackBerry 8520 offers the benefits of
a full QWERTY keyboard, mobile e-mail, BBM, a basic camera and
a media player, plus good memory and connectivity. It's missing
3G, but it's the cheapest BlackBerry you can buy.
Best buy: On pay as you go for £119.99 from PrePayMania
(Black).
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If you're looking for a mobile communications tool that doesn't cost the earth,
you'd do well to consider the BlackBerry Curve 8520. It may not have the multimedia
excitement of a big touchscreen phone, but for messaging it's got the edge over
its rivals.
The Curve 8520 is an entry-level model and much cheaper than the Bold range
of phones. It's not a 3G phone like the BlackBerry
Curve 9300, but otherwise it does pretty much everything that the 9300 does,
apart from GPS. It's key selling point is its real QWERTY keyboard, which together
with BlackBerry's messaging tools makes it a top choice for texts, email, facebook
and twitter. The touch-sensitive trackpad is a step up from the trackball that
featured in older Curve models.
It does have several strongpoints in addition - excellent connectivity and
some decent memory are most notable. The connectivity includes WiFi and Bluetooth
2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate, plus the benefit of a 3.5mm audio jack for connecting
headphones or plugging into your car stereo. Remember though that it's an entry-level
model, so don't expect too much from the small screen or the clunky camera.
Alternatives to the 8520 that are worth a look are the Samsung
Chat 335 and the Orange Rio II. The Chat
has the advantage of Wi-Fi, and the Rio II has 3G HSDPA and a touchscreen. If
you want the reassurance of owning a Blackberry, and a willing to spend a bit
more, consider the new Curve 9320.
Features of the BlackBerry 8520 include:
- 2 megapixel camera with 5x digital zoom
- Video camera (320 x 240 pixels)
- Internal display: TFT, 240 x 320 pixels (2.46 inches), 65,000 colours
- Media player (MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA formats)
- Messaging: SMS, MMS, instant messaging, push email
with attachment viewer
- Built-in speakerphone
- Voice dialling
- Voice memo recorder
- MP3 ringtones & LED call indicator
- Personal organiser functions
- Vibration alert
- Internet: Web browser, GPRS, EDGE
- Connectivity: WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR, USB, modem, 3.5mm stereo headset
port
- Memory: 256 Mbytes plus microSD memory card slot
- Size: 109 x 60 x 14 mm
- Weight: 106g
- Quadband
- Talktime: 4.5 hours
- Battery standby: 400 hours
BlackBerry 8520 User Reviews
Love your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other
people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review this
phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so
please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive
language, and please, no advertising!
Average rating from 224 reviews: 
Reviewed by Mac from UK on 6th Dec 2012
I have had this phone for 2 years and have used it on various networks
in that time and it has never let me down works great would have another
against any other phone again
Rating: 
Reply
Reviewed by unknown user from ireland on 2nd Nov
2012
ive had this phone for a year and a half now, the battery is great and
lasts a while, the only promblem i have had with this phone is it freezeing,
it would freeze when useing internet etc., i would recommend it because
i have dropped it many times and it has never broke nor has the screen
cracked (maybe that is the cause of the freezing)
i would recommend this phone for mostly teens because its great and
has all the features a teen would want
Rating:
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Reviewed by ABID KHAN from INDIA on 21st Oct 2012
Nice
Rating:
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Reviewed by airmike from philippines on 14th Oct
2012
late acquired blackberry i choose curve 8520, Simply everything! i love
it!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Callie from UK on 2nd Oct 2012
I bought this phone its a bit laggy and it reboots loads its an ok phone
but not the best out there
Rating:
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Reviewed by dpaz from uk on 25th Sep 2012
do not buy this.
Rating:  Reply
Reviewed by johnny from poland on 24th Sep 2012
i love the new phone but its a bit slow and crappy
Rating: 
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Reviewed by sanni from nigeria on 14th Sep 2012
Ilove the 8520 shape but this device is just too slow for me, the camera
is low, the ram is low, application memory too low not enuff camera
effect there shoud be a way to turn off the bis or internet network
to conserve battery sometimes.I hate slow smart fones and computers.I
love bold9900 in 9300 shape yes I love portability and sophistication.its
battery is inefficient
Rating:
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Reviewed by A underwhelmed person from Eng on
3rd Sep 2012
Average at best bbm and qwerty keyboard = a***+++ everything else (no
3G = slow Internet, lagyness , having to restart every time you install
an app (what takes like 5 mins)) = load of rubbish ---- load of rubbish
save up and get a bold!!!!
Rating:
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Reviewed by maedret pios from philippines on 19th
Aug 2012
Blackberry 8520 amazing!!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Ghouse from India on 14th Aug 2012
Worst worst worst mobile i had evr seen
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Paul Cleare from England on 10th Aug
2012
This phone is an absolute disgrace, I HATE mine. It performs a couple
of basic tasks, i.e. calls and e-mails and everything else takes an
age. I am on my second phone as the first one inexplicably died and
my new one, which I presume is as good as it gets; has a shocking camera
without flash, has a frustratingly slow browser and pathetic performance
with apps. really, shame on you rim.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Bobby Brown from UK on 4th Aug 2012
Love This Phine it's really good for me, ive heard it crashes for other
people, but with me it works perfectly fine. Aha, I caring my my mates
and stuff so I'm not really arsed about the small screen, so yeah- it's
e x c e l l e n t!!! :-) <3
Rating:
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Reviewed by Chloeey from England on 3rd Aug 2012
I must say this has to be the worst phone i have ever
had, i'm extremely displeased with the device and because i'm on contract
i am stuck with the damn thing.
The tracker pad breaks at least twice a week, my phone crashes frequently
resorting to me having to reboot it, it doesn't have 3G which in 2012
is appauling, it cuts out some of my calls, the battery life is terrible
requiring charging every single night, i've had to buy 6 replacement
batteries in the space of 8 months, the camera has no flash, and as
for the constant upgrades well i do not have time to faf around. I would
NOT recommend this phone to anybody, and all these problems the cause
is unknown, it hasn't been dropped, or introduced to water.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by sara milla from france on 1st Aug
2012
i love my phone it coooooooooooooooool
Rating:
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Reviewed by Yan from UK on 29th Jul 2012
I got bought this phone for £160 from Vodafone in January 2011 - It
was all right then. But since then, it kept crashing constantly, and
I had to reboot it at least twice a month.
I changed from Pay As You Go to Contract in March this year. Ever since
I did that; I couldn't add/edit contacts in my phone book, I couldn't
access certain apps like Live Messenger, and I couldn't call/text certain
people.
I took it back to Vodafone for them to fix, but the same happened again.
And so, I was given a replacement phone, but the replacement was just
worse: it kept rebooting itself or turning itself off and I'd have to
remove the battery to get it back on.
WORST PHONE EVER!!!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Paul from UK on 28th Jul 2012
I have had my 8520 for 18 months. It is robust and great for calls and
email, but the browser is slow. Maybe this is because it has not got
3G.
Rating:
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Reply by Greg from England on 6th
Aug 2012
Then the 9300 is perfect!
Reviewed by Rob from UK on 24th Jul 2012
I cannot believe that a phone released in 2009 does not have 3G. Even
other entry level phones in it's day had 3G. I seriously cannot believe
RIM have been successful at all, all of their models are so lacking
compared to their competitors. The stupidly long boot times, slow laggy
OS, proprietary unreliable email system. I've just got this phone, and
it's going straight back on ebay now. I've had a long-standing hatred
for iPhones but even they are better than this.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Daud from Malawi on 19th Jul 2012
Cool staff sure though I have just got it. It's better off sure. I was
previously using OMNIA i900. I just regret my 8GBm I'm enjoying the
instant messaging of curve 8520.
Rating:
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Reviewed by hapney from canada on 15th Jul 2012
well i just got a blackberry curve 8520 in purple but it is hard to
access bbm and app world
i would recommend it though
its a great phone :)
Rating:
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Reviewed by Patricia from ireland on 7th Jul 2012
i only got this fone today
it is excellent for a smart fone bbm is brillant you can search the
internet for £5 a month which is not dear.
i would recomend this fone to anyone who is on a job or who loves smart
fones.
the mouse is amazing its a really nice fone.
Thanks carphone warrehouse!x
Rating:
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Reviewed by Jim from Ireland. on 5th Jul 2012
Can anyone tell me is there any way to select all entries in the phone
book to delete them all at once ? I have nearly 200 entries and have
no intention of going through them one by one. This is the only problem
I have with this phone. Otherwise everything fine so far. Excellent
keypad, so easy to use. As far as battery life is concerned I am still
getting about 4 days from a charge. I would describe myself as a moderate
user.
Rating:
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Reviewed by lauren o from england on 1st Jul 2012
i regret gettin this phone had it a couple of months and bang it all
went pear shaped
battery runs out quick
sometimes dnt let me call out
slow loading
hate it so much
i do not at all recommend it to anyone
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by John B from England on 25th Jun 2012
Good quality reliable phone.No negatives for me after a year.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Shellie from Ireland on 17th Jun 2012
I got my blackberry about 3 months ago I thought it was really good
at first but after about a month the wifi stopped working and it swallows
my credit. I really regret getting this phone now. I don't recommend
it to anyone who wants it to last you a long time
Rating:
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Reviewed by Ellie from Scotland on 8th Jun 2012
I brought my blackberry about 5 months ago. At first it was great; I
called, text and listened to music often. After a while, it was really
slow at loading and always seemed to freeze. I dropped my phone about
a week ago and all across the screen there were white lines. Although
it wasn't very easy to see, it was useable. It got worse and worse over
time and the whole screen is black now. I can't see anything. I called
my insurence and they will only repaire it for £50. I was impressed
but not any more.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Jim from Ireland. on 8th Jun 2012
Bought my 8520 last Monday and must say have been pleasantly surprised.
This is my first Blackberry so didn't know what to expect, but I find
it reall eaasy to use. Keypad is excellent. So too I must say is the
battery life. I don't want to jinx it but I took it off its first charge
at 10 pm Monday night. Its now Friday morning and I'm still showing
25% left. That's with good usage everyday, although I have turned off
the WiFi unless I need it. Downhill from here ????!!!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Marc from UK on 30th May 2012
Hi. I bought my 8520 a few weeks ago. The problem lies with the system
files.Plus the trackpad replacement parts are available on Ebay or Amazon.
Look for a disassembly video. After repairing the trackpad. Try and
downgrade the software to the next version down. Only to be tried if
the phone has trouble with the system file error displayed on BBM or
email. I found the same problem with the 9105, version 60.0.668 build
2950 had issued where when typing an email or a message in BBM it would
display ""INPUT SYSTEM ERROR THE SYSTEM IS BEING RESTARTED"", obviously
I did try and restart the phone but the same problem remained. Downgrading
can help with this issue. The final build of the OS before the phone
is nearly 2 years old can cause technical problems.
Verdict: Low quality components
Fix: use less apps, upgrade sd card to max capacity supported.
Rating:
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Reviewed by ussain bolt from jamaca on 29th May
2012
blackberry is the best phone in the would
soo buy NOW
Rating:
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Reviewed by ayobami olusanya from nigeria on 21st
May 2012
The phone is very nice but battery is the problem
Rating:
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Reviewed by Jeff from England on 18th May 2012
this phone is okay but the blackberry bold 9700 is a lot better. The
blackberry 8520 has very poor battery life and is known for the sensor
breaking fairly fast. This phone is okay for sound but a bit quiet.
The camera isn't very good but it is okay as a basic phone.
Rating:
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Reviewed by steven from uk on 11th May 2012
good phone but I would of liked a FM radio!!!!
Rating:
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Reviewed by planetlaxy2012 from United Kingdom on
10th May 2012
even though its a basic phone theres something about it that i still
like even though its now 3 years old and the latest phones have more
on them!
this is great for messaging and is worht buying if you dont want to
spend much!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Mel from Wales UK on 10th May 2012
Love my 8520 - prefer it to the 9300 in some ways as the screen seems
brighter and better somehow. I have wi-fi at home so can use that and
hot spots and can get 2 days use out of a charge, and thats with a fair
amount of use. Got mine for less than 60 second hand, but it was like
new and is great. Im not a business user so cannot comment on certain
aspects. But to have my emails, texts, messages, memos, calls and bank
app etc etc all in one easy to use place is brilliant and suits this
40 yr old woman just fine thanks!
Rating:
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Reviewed by james from uk on 8th May 2012
poor phone..even a basic bottom of the range android phone is better
than this
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Veena from India on 8th May 2012
Hi ,
I have a blackberry 8520, i have used it for about a year and there
are problem in the same.
Keypad is not working , wrong key press happening. Given to repair at
blackberry service center after n number of follow ups got a reply that
the mother board is damaged as it has been exposed to water. Absolutely
non sence RCA done by Blackberry team. I am a user and i am not aware
of this exposure. Now i have asked for Rs 6K for the repair. How do
you believe in these people. Suggest people should not buy blackberry
from their hard earned money.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Graham from Scotland on 30th Apr 2012
Hi guys having now owned the BB8520 for about 8months I still love it.
The messaging along with bbmessenger Facebook etc is all excellent with
the qwerty keyboard. I bought a 2gig memory card which was very cheap
and allows me to have a full catalogue of my fav songs so that's definetly
a big plus point. The only one thing that I have constant problems with
is getting you tube videos to play. They always freeze and buffer but
never play. So if its you tube ur wanting on your phone don't get the
BB8520 but for messaging social networking and easy use then its a great
phone.
Rating:
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Reviewed by BlackBerryCompany from UnitedStates on
29th Apr 2012
is you blackberry going slow ,well you need to try this!
1)unlock you blackberry
2)hold alt
3) keep hold of alt and press l g l g l g and then and event log will
come up delete all the events and you blackberry will now go faster
and wont lagg as much.
go onto youtube and type in 'how to make my blackberry faster' and lots
of videos will come up
HOPE IT HELPED
Rating:
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Reviewed by Lilly magwick from england on 19th
Apr 2012
I LOVE this phone I think it is the best phone I have ever has the internet
is quick and the messaging is brilliant I think the people who think
this phone is rubbish are ether jelous customer they can't afford it
or have never been on one custom this phone is amazing
Rating:
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Reviewed by andy pandy from UK on 17th Apr 2012
i've had this phone for two years, and it's been hard work.
just got a galaxy s2 and it's 100 times better. this blackberry is slow,
annoying, glitchy, internet is slow, no flash, blah blah blah.
i could go on, but if you're looking to buy a new phone why would you
even consider a blackberry? they're a dying brand. they need to start
again, rebrand, diversify... something, anything else.
Like the last Amstrad in the 1990's toystore, it is an ageing dinosaur.
especially this one. plastic-y and unattractive.
GOOD POINT.... i have dropped this phone several times down several
flights of stairs, and only once did it stop working. and that was only
because the battery fell out.
It's durable.
but then so's a housebrick. and that takes a better photo.
Rating: Reply
Reply by jasmine Langley from England on
28th Apr 2012
Does it really matter if it dosnt have a flash for goodness sake if
u desperately need a flash go and get a actual camera! God I got a blackberry
and the camera is amazing who cares if it dosnt have a flash!!! God
seriously get a life mate.
Reply by Stevey from UK on 30th Apr
2012
I think the original poster meant that the browser does not support
flash - more of a problem than no camera 'flash' :)
Reply by georgia from england on 6th
May 2012
i respect your review of the blackberry 8520, but many people think
differently... i also do! i have had many opertunities to have a go
on the bb8520 and i thought personly that it was amazing. and you cant
really say that blackberry needs to start again because they are always
bringing new things out. im not saying there is anything wrong with
your review, it is your personal oppinion, and the world would be boring
if we all liked the same thing!!! but it was a bit harsh. i would give
it 4 stars. FROM GEORGIA AGE 11
Reviewed by Dan Turner from UK on 13th Apr 2012
it is incredibly shocking! the web browser is slow. if you have to many
apps on it it slowes it down. bbm is good though, facbook and twitter
apps are really slow. really the phone is really laggy, i would advise
you not to get this phone.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Amanda from UK on 8th Apr 2012
Really excited when i first got this phone, but sadly as many other
people have said, its just not good. It gets extremely slow after a
while and i encounter the loading clock multiple times a day, It crashes
and has to reboot a lot (pretty much has a mind of its own). I have
to charge my battery everyday, Bluetooth half works and is irritating,
reboot takes forever, sometimes wont let me recieve messages or phone
calls unless i ring out first, Deleted all my BBM contacts and wouldnt
let me re add them, No flash for the camera, all the silver logo stickers
on the back fell off, Freezes or gets seriously laggy when i try to
go on app world (including downloading apps too), cant change my theme
or it constantly displays loading clock, Last august the whole internet/bbm
went down for a good 3 days (everyones blackberrys, not just mine).
Had this phone for a year and 3 months and will never buy a Blackberry
ever again because i now detest them. Wouldnt mind but ive still got
9 months on contact with this. Already bought another phone and am expecting
it this week, so i'll never have to use it again :D There overpiced
rubbish and im not supprised Blackberry reported a sales loss for last
year...
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Danny Jay from UK on 8th Apr 2012
overall the phones really good, easy to use - BBM is one of the best
thing and is the currently the cutting edge. Deffo recommend to others..
Especially pricewise it is very cheap!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Elle king from Tyne and wear on 28th
Mar 2012
I love my phone but I really want 3d blackberries to come out !!!
Rating:
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Reviewed by leboliciuos from south africa on 25th
Mar 2012
We'll cnt complain much cuz I enjoy evry moment of it especialy BBM
Rating:
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Reviewed by thameez from india on 24th Mar 2012
In my opinion its a good phone for chatting with google talk and others.
This is my first time using blackberry and now I like it very much now
I am going to buy blackberry bold.
Rating:
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Reviewed by futuristic from South Africa on 22nd
Mar 2012
To me the Curve 8520 is for people who can't realy afford a blackberry,
I mean its realy a rubbish phone
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by GeorgieBoy from England on 18th Mar
2012
The phones not the best cus it dus has its downfalls becuz sometimes
wen you go on the internet it goes fairly slow but overall i would defo
recommened this phone becuz its easy to contlrol with its querty keyboard
and its just the thing you need. I know some people can get falty but
ive gotta say its a verry good phone and i deffinately recommened it
Rating:
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Reply by ladyofthestorm from United Kingdom
on 8th Apr 2012
By the way you have written your review, I think your QWERTY keyboard
is not working. I couldn't possibly think that you may have missed one
or two days at school when you was younger.
Reviewed by who eva from wwhoeva on 18th Mar 2012
Right cant fault much but it hasno android or touxh as all bbs dont
have tht so i think it is sad. Sum1 in th company sud make an android
bb and they would wipe of the shesgeleves but..... I thibk bb 8520 is
xute and loooks gud thanx for readin
Rating:
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Reviewed by paul from libia on 17th Mar 2012
This phone is cool. But if you don't have internet acsess on your phone,
it isb a flop.
Rating:
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Reviewed by miss wesley from england on 13th Mar
2012
it started off great, then it started reebooting....and reebooting....and
reebooting. At least every half an hour it reeboots and drains the battery.
ontop of that it doesn't even have a flash so now when i go out at n
concerts i have to take my phone, my ipod (beacause the quality of the
photos and the internet speed is rubish) and my camera because it doesn't
show up in the dark! oh, and on BBM my contacts keep on deleting ! so
i defonately do not recomend this phone and next i am getting th iphone
4s!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Ade from UK on 13th Mar 2012
Absolute rubbish. Deletes apps, contacts, messages, id. keeps losing
wifi connection, hangs when browsing, keeps freezing. Absolute piece
of rubbish. Never under ANY circumstances buy a Blackberry.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by miss bellamy from northern ireland on
12th Mar 2012
I loved this phone at first because it was so fast to get on facebook
but now it takes half an hour and I downloaded the. Free youtube app
from app world and it doesn't even work. I went to the o2 shop and was
told that its not a g3 phone thats why its slow and that youtube don't
work? My question is why have apps on the damn phone if they can't be
used? Not happy with this phone or the customer services from O2!!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Andrea from Ireland on 11th Mar 2012
The only reason i like this phone is because of BBM, apart from BBM
the phone freezes all the time, and the internet is really slow. Also
my wi-fi wont work, and when ever i try to turn on wi-fi it wont let
me. I like the design of the phone though, it looks clean and modern,
although the battery on the blackberry is awful, and mine only lasts
about 6hours. Overall I would recomend Blackberrys, just not the 8520.
Rating:
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Reviewed by jay from scotland on 10th Mar 2012
The phone is not bad the internet is a bit slow when browsing an also
freezes sometimes but its really easy to use and the email an messaging
is great its also quite reasonably priced don't expect miracles out
off this phone but overall I like it
Rating:
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Reviewed by Youdontknowmyname from England on
9th Mar 2012
absoloutly rubbish!!! I compared this phone to my iPhone and the BB
diddnt stand a chance. Lets start with the problems:
Slugush
Hard to use
Clunky
Usually requires a reboot after an app install
It is also lacking in features and needs a touch screen.
You cannot update it to the newest BB software either, if you want the
latest sotware you have to buy a new one!
And lets say you want to connect it to your WIFI, well to do that you
need to be registerd and have a subscription with the BB serverice,
I mean come on, you have to pay to use the built in WIFI???
The software is too old aswell, it has been added to over the years
and BB just need to start again. On all there phones it is the same
software pretty much.
Overall dont buy this, get an android phone or an iPhone, you wont regret
it, trust me.
Rating: Reply
Reply by Mobile Phones UK from UK on
11th Mar 2012
Um, iPhone costs about 5 times as much as this BlackBerry ...
Reviewed by seshveer from england on 7th Mar 2012
I totally do not recommend this phone. The features and os is so obsolete.
It was a good phone 3 years ago. Now its not, put a lil extra, get a
newer one! Btw. Don't expect this phone to last. Its really cheap quality.
If ur getting 1, get a pouch too
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by anonymous from uk on 5th Mar 2012
Not worth your money, defiantly a bad phone, the battery power is so
bad, freezes most of the time and also to trackpad freezes time to time.
I would recommend a later version :)
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Mister B from kent,England on 5th
Mar 2012
A good all round phone.Web browsing poor though and not recommended
(9300 model a better bet).
Camera is adequate ,but not the best,so don't buy if you want any good
photo's.Email is excellent,as is call connection time and sound quality.Cheap
now ,but like I said ,so is 9300.
Rating:
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Reviewed by usman from pakistan on 5th Mar 2012
Love this phone..I just upgraded os5 and downloaded os 7 theme
Really enjoying this phone
Rating:
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Reviewed by bob from united kingdom on 26th Feb
2012
Im used to using touch phones but i think id prefer having this phone
even though im not used to using buttons. It has outstanding features
and is easy to use when you know how to use it.
Rating:
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Reviewed by KetanParmar from India (Mumbai) on
24th Feb 2012
I had Bb 8520 befor 1 month. It's Good, Nice evry think.Specially track
pad.....m hppy to connect with Bb world.
Rating:
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Reviewed by scott from england on 20th Feb 2012
I had a blackberry 8520 previously for about 7 months or so unfortunatly
as others have stated it did start to freeze etc so i decided to get
rid. I am now 4 months down the line and i must say i miss my 8520.
Yes it has its downfalls but when you can pick a new 8520 up for £100-120
on PAYG its a steal. I do love BB and yes its a budget BB but for the
price absolutly outstanding and I am buying anther 8520 tomorrow because
i can 100% say i am a BB addict.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Sidney Bellend from england on 20th
Feb 2012
Great phone when it's working, but suffers from long delays when switching
on, guess it's best to keep the phone charged at all times, nice screen,
nice easy to use interface, lots of features and a good price.
Remember you are also buying a piece of styling, it's a design classic
that has big appeal.
But sadly let down by to many bugs, freezing, start up issues etc
Rating:
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Reviewed by - from - on 20th Feb 2012
I'm grateful to have the phone,however I'm very disappointed when it
comes to the camera and the keyboard. The buttons are uncomfortable
to use and I miss having flash on my camera. How am I suppose to take
good pictures in the night???
Rating:
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Reply by David from UK on 18th Apr
2012
Use a proper camera, maybe?
Reviewed by manu from india on 15th Feb 2012
try to be updated with other companies.it is fate to hav this phone.dis
phone is not at all user friendly
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by andrea from UK on 14th Feb 2012
Looks so nice but, it actually gets you a bit depressed and bored!?
overall a nice good, excellent phone
Rating:
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Reviewed by Unknown from Untitled on 10th Feb
2012
This is my 2nd bb curve 8520, as the other one went corrupt.
Very dissapointed with the phone.
Rating:
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Reply by Chloe from Uk on 12th Feb
2012
What happened to it? Need detail. This is a review website, could you
tell us what you think of it please!?
Reviewed by BB Hater from uk on 9th Feb 2012
Disappointed. Will be switching to iphone.
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by Morgan from England on 7th Feb 2012
this is the best phone ever
Rating:
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Reviewed by alex from england on 5th Feb 2012
Had the phone for little under a year, the qwerty keyboard is really
useful, makes texting so much easier. The BBM is also extremely useful
to get in contact with friends/family easily. The phone also features
essentials like music player and internet browsing. Now the bad, the
phone feels cheap. Too cheap, the casing is really tacky, the trackpad
is bad, and messes up on occasions, screen brightness is bad, camera
is AWFUL, and the phone often freezes. Internet (even connected to my
wifi) is painfully slow,I've had the white screen many times also. overall
the phone is incredibly addicting and useful/enjoyable too say the least.
However it does have many issues and annoyances but you have to remember
this is an entry level phone. I would recommend the 9300 as its a little
more dearer, but your definitely getting your moneys worth!
Rating:
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Reviewed by Megan from UK on 4th Feb 2012
Oh my gosh, this phone is amazing, the phone itself is absolutely brilliant!
The trackpad is so much better than the Curve 8900's one, its so much
easier to use, i compared them both as my friend has the 8900 and to
be fair this one is so much better, even though its the younger one
of the two, the 2.0 megapixel camera is alright, its not the best but
i guess you'd expect that, its not with flash which is a shame but like
it says you don't want to take very important photos if your in the
dark. I love the qwerty keyboard its brilliant, I love the rubber around
the phone, which protects it from scratches which is a great idea. I
love this phone its amazing, its fast internet (not 3G) but still fast
and the bbm is outstanding its great for messaging your friends on the
go! I would definetly recommend this phone to a friend.
Rating:
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Reply by Felix from UK on 20th Jul
2012
I pretty much agree with you. Except I would rate it five stars. I've
had dis fone ever since it came out and it is awesome!!!!!"!!
Reviewed by Ryan Cawsey from UK on 1st Feb 2012
This phone is an amazing entry level blackberry it features the brilliant
qwerty keyboard and the new trckpad instead of the infamous trackball.
It also has a mini USB 3,5mm headphone jack 2.5 megapixel camera, and
its all built into a tiny little phone that sits comfortably in your
hand the glossy plastic is nice but the back does get fingerprints so
I would suggest buying a cover/case for it.
Enjoy this amazing phone
I recommend to: High School teens
Buisness men/women
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Reviewed by Melly from UK on 1st Feb 2012
For the price this is great. if u have wifi at home and dont NEED fast
internet outside, great. BBM etc fine, battery life great, got my 12
yr old son one as a virgin media customer for £8.99 a month he gets
unlimited BBM and BB internet, 500 GB on top, 3000 mins to other virgin,
250 texts and 100 anyone anytime mins. Flimsier than a 9300, so keep
it protected. i would use one no probs, but do prefer the 9300. Dont
moan about no 3G - it clearly states it hasn't got it!!!
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Reviewed by barry from n.ireland on 20th Jan 2012
i have the blackberry curve 8520 just over a week now and i've spent
most of that time in a very confused and frustrated state. i got it
from phones4u, where, upon asking if android phones were better for
the internet, i was told that a blackberry, in fact this blackberry
was the best for the internet.i got it home and after a lot ringing
o2 and registration and system downloads tried the internet. i tried
it on wifi which was fine, it played youtube videos instantly and page
loading while browsing was very quick. when using through o2 cellular
connection it may as well be non-existent. the tunein radio app took
5 mins of buffering to load and played for 5secs before another 5mins
of buffering. i was told this is because of no 3g availability in my
area but hav found out now that the phone isn't capabale of receiving
3g anyway. also, i can't believe that all the cheap dirt, bottom of
the range phones i've had in the past have fm radio access as a basic
feature, but on a magnificent smartphone you hav to go online and download
an app(which must be done at home because of the wifi only internet)
that eats 100mb of data per hour while streaming radio.
Rating: Reply
Reply by laura from n.ireland on 1st
Mar 2012
wow thanx 4 sharing that i was going 2 buy one but not anymore u just
saved me alot of money thanx =]
Reviewed by Molly from England on 16th Jan 2012
At first this phone was brilliant and was fast and had good audio quality
and photo quality. After a few months the bettery started to die faster
and the battery started to swell. After buying a new battery a few weeks
ago, the battery is still dying quickly but no longer swelling. The
price of the apps and games are too expensive so I oonly go on the App
World for updates on important apps, the phone also takes around ten-twenty
minutes to re-start after downloading an update. Overall its a good
phone if you don't use it very often and don't need it for important
buisness reasons, But I would definitely buy newer versions of the Blackberry
Curve. Not for me or many people for that matter.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Emma from Wales on 16th Jan 2012
Got this phone a little over a year ago, Cons: Takes AGES to switch
on when fully switched off, freezes alot, when trying to change my theme,
the message tone stopped working for months, slow internet, search bar
on internet broke, rubbish camera with temperamental zoom option. Constantly
making connections so comes through speakers, bluetooth can be awkward
to use, poor blackberry apps. PROS: good keypad, bb messenger, large
expandable memory, good for playing music. So the Cons outweigh the
pro's by far. Not the worst phone Ive had but certainly not the best,
trading it in for a smartphone this week, will not be going for blackberry
again!
Rating:
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Reply by Ryan Cawsey from UK on 1st
Feb 2012
This is a smartphone!
Reviewed by Devonte from UK on 14th Jan 2012
I must say after owning this phone for nearly 3years now i must say
its below average. The keyboard is so good, that now i dont have to
even look at the keyboard when texting. BBM is a good way to text people
on BBM of free. Feels nice in the hand. Speaker is loud. HOWEVER Very
bad internet, becomes very slow if not connected to wifi sometimes it
donestn connect at all. Battery life seems to drain out after a while.
BLACKBERRY CURVE is too unrelaible and breaks easily. Takes 5minutes
to load up. Constant freezing and clock appaears. Very breakable. BBM
sometims slow and unreliable however, its a good phone but its so old
now, and if u want a more relaible BB this one aint for u.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Ellie from Japan on 14th Jan 2012
Cool
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Reviewed by chismass from scotland on 14th Jan
2012
when i got this phone i thought it was really good, when connected to
a wifi hot spot the internet worked really well and txting is really
easy once you get used to it. making a call is easy aswell. But on the
down side the battery life is rubbsih iy dosent even last a day. i have
only had mine for about a year and after about 7-8 months it started
playing up. now it keeps crashing about 4 times a day and it takes about
20 minutes to load again. it rejected my sim card so i had to get a
new one,the little clock that comes up when its taking its time to load
to get onto anything comes up all the time then resets its self. and
everymorning it dosent switch on so i have to take the battery out.overall
its a really annoying phone and i wish i hadnt got it to be honest,but
it dose look smart i'll give it that.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Mark from UK on 13th Jan 2012
I got this phone free on Virgin Mobile for only £10.99 a month and that
gives me 300 minutes, 2500 texts and 1 gig of data. The phone is excellent
for calls, texts and banging off emails. Blackberry messenger is excellent
and the phone is an excellent music player. On the negative side the
camera is not much good and only suitable for snaps outside in good
light conditions. Lack of 3g is another drawback with internet being
pretty slow but you can connect via wifi which is very fast. Overall
this is a good phone as long as you aren't bothered about a great camera
or super fast internet.
Rating:
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Reviewed by myrtle gregory from jamaica on 12th
Jan 2012
I cannot download a flash player for my blackberry curve 8520 phone
Rating:
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Reviewed by JustJode from Birmingham on 7th Jan
2012
It is a brilliant phone apart from the battery :/ and the trackball
freezing then the whole phone freezes on me... wanted a phone which
didn't do that and now its worse than my old phone :/
Rating:
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Reviewed by Laurs from England on 6th Jan 2012
I have had this phone for a little over a year now and personally i
think it is a massive let down and would advise anybody thinking of
buying this phone to not buy it! For the first few months i had it,
the phone was fine but now its forever playing up. Its very slow and
you wait ages for it to sort itself out and then an error comes up on
the screen and you have to wait for it to restart. Also the camera quality
is very poor! And there is no flash so that makes it even worse. You
can upload your photos to facebook or myspace which is good though,
but you can do this on most up to date phones! Also if you ever need
to take the battery out for some reason (eg to get to the memory card
or to restart it when it has hung up and nothing else will work), it
takes foreverrr to restart.. you have to wait at least 5 minutes before
it comes back on. The internet is very slow and the screen is small
so i always have to zoom in and then you have to scroll around the page
which is annoying. Iv also had a lot of trouble with the keyboard letters.
Right now the backspace button is not working at all so it is very frustrating
when texting! Iv had trouble with other letters too that just wont work
or it puts too many of them in.. I will say the speaker is good on it,
i use it as my alarm and it does play music quite loudly. I also like
the BBM (Blackberry Messenger) but sadly thats all i can say is positive
about this phone!
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by hannah from uk on 5th Jan 2012
i luv my berry i would be lost without it however my battery only lasts
2 days but who cares BLACKBERRYS RULE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating:
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Reviewed by moabi from south africa on 4th Jan
2012
my berry 8520 is good, only upset me with one thing the battery is bad
and i am game addict, so it has very few games compitable to it, but
i love my berry.
Rating:
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Reviewed by preolin from south africa on 4th Jan
2012
blackberry a very popular outstanding software but can it beat google's
Android -->the only problem i have with a blackberry is that most of
the apps are not free from the blackberry app world and there is to
little to choose from -->android most of the apps are freeand theres
alot to choose from but other than that blackberry rules!!!!!!!
Rating:
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Reviewed by charlotte :) from England on 3rd Jan
2012
this phone is rubbish to be quite honest i was very dissapointed with
mine i had it about 3 months and it was constantly running out of charge
i got new batterys new chargers everything but then at the beggining
of december it stoped working and i then found out that it had a system
error... the camera is okay when you are out and about in the day but
come night time its rubbish because there is no flash... over all i
didnt like this phone i am now saving up for a HTC or and iPhone i think
i will wait till the new model comes out... thanks for reading
Rating: Reply
Reviewed by zaki from united kingdom on 1st Jan
2012
i love my blackbery curve because i enjoy communicating with people
around the wold using the scoial networking and the blackberry messenger
and get in touch with any of you find.
Rating:
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Reviewed by david from england on 31st Dec 2011
Well I'm on it now and I must say outdated as it is this is a very nice
phone for the lower end in pricing for a phone however its laque of
3G is very annoying for internet apps usually the internet although
jagged is nice to browse on.
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Reviewed by Jake from England on 31st Dec 2011
its a brilliant phone i love it but the battery life is rubbish :) hope
it helps
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Reviewed by rania from canada on 29th Dec 2011
nothing is perfect ,people should say they want an upgrade,it is a great
phone
Rating:
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Reviewed by Abi from England on 27th Dec 2011
My name is Abi I'm from Phones4U, Bristol. In my opinion this what I
think of this phone....... The BlackBerry Curve has something for everyone,
a full qwerty keyboard, document applications allowing access to Word,
Excel and pdf files should keep the corporate among us happy; for everyone
else there’s a 2 mega pixel camera, up to 32gb external storage
and a brand new music player complete with that all important 3.5mm
audio jack and media sync to hook up to itunes. This model is clearly
the flagship of their non-3G range. But with Wi-Fi Bluetooth and Edge
technology at hand I dare you to notice it’s missing. The Curve
is sleek, simple and practical. And being the lightest BlackBerry yet,
it won’t weigh you down........... Thats why teens desire this
phone
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Reviewed by Johny from bulgaria on 27th Dec 2011
This is one incredible phone. It have more functions than i ever needed.
Rating:
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Reviewed by Unknown from Malaysia on 23rd Dec
2011
PROS: Worth the money. Durable. Trackpad. CONS: Battery life. Internet
speed (2G). Keyboard. To those hating on the 8520, remember, this is
a pretty cheap phone. There isn't anything special to it. If you guys
are comparing this to the Bold 9700, you're pretty stupid because that
phone has a superior CPU, keyboard, camera, screen and so much more.
Rating:
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Reviewed by maruf from austria on 22nd Dec 2011
It is a good phone bit since i updated it to os 5 it started to hang
up when i open 2 apps at the same time by showing me a clear white screen
then i must remove the battery to make the phone work what's the problem?
Rating:
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Reviewed by asdfghjkl from england on 20th Dec
2011
had this phone nearly a year now. It was brilliant at first, always
worked, loved it, now it's not so brilliant, i have had it sent off
for repair a few months ago, i got it back and it was still broken.
I recently, well this morning, updated it through my laptop, unplugged
it after- My bbm had disapeared, then when i got onto the computer i
loaded it back on- i'd lost my contacts! Luckily i saved them a few
days before. I now have my contacts back but a really old version of
bbm, i cannot make statuses or anything. So get a newer blackberry,
this one will soon mess up:-/
Rating:
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Reviewed by Irfan ali from India on 18th Dec 2011
Beautiful handset
Rating:
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Reviewed by md manzar hussain from india on 13th
Dec 2011
nice cell thanks from md manzar hussain anjuman construction jamshedpur
Rating:
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Reviewed by Rachel from England on 13th Dec 2011
OMG, how are you people saying this phone is bad?? It's amazing! If
you don't want one of those new, fancy EXPENSIVE Blackberries, this
is the way to go. Its a greaat BB. Its one of the cheapest, with a trackpad.
Its just...amazing!
Rating:
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