RIM may have scored a bull's-eye with the Pearl. But it was the Curve that brought multimedia enhancements to corporate and power users who needed a full QWERTY keyboard. Alas, Verizon and Sprint subscribers were left out of the action—until now. Curve fans finally have CDMA versions available on both carriers. (Also check out our of the Sprint 8330.) Last year's BlackBerry 8830 is a powerful handset but lacks a camera and a standard headphone jack, among other things. By comparison, the new Curve 8330 piles on the features, including a 2-megapixel camera with an enhanced LED flash, stereo Bluetooth, a 3.5mm headphone jack, video recording, and a microSDHC-compatible memory card slot.

We've seen a lot of Curves: the original Curve 8300 on AT&T, the Wi-Fi-enabled 8320 on T-Mobile, and the updated AT&T BlackBerry Curve 8310 with GPS. Like the others, the 8330 measures 4.2 by 2.4 by 0.6 inches and weighs just 4.0 ounces. The 2.5-inch, 320-by-240-pixel QVGA screen is sharp, bright, and includes a light sensor for use in darker rooms that keeps it from blinding everyone in sight. Verizon's version of the Curve sports a two-tone silver-and-black design, with black keys and white backlighting. The look is suitably professional and a bit classier than BlackBerrys and Treos of old. Rubberized sides make the handset comfortable to hold for long periods.

On the left, there's a mini USB jack that works with the included charger; a standard-size 3.5mm jack that accepts third-party stereo headphones; and a button to activate voice dialing. On the right, there are two chrome hardware volume buttons and a camera button. You'll find the signature BlackBerry trackball on the front panel, bracketed by Send, End, Menu, and Back buttons. There's also a near-perfect, four-row, backlit QWERTY keyboard, with keys that feature just the right amount of resistance and give.

For voice calls, the Curve 8330 is simply stellar. Callers sounded as clear and natural as I've heard on any cell phone, both indoors and outdoors. And when paired with the Plantronics Voyager 520 and the Aliph New Jawbone Bluetooth headsets, the 8330 sounded superb. Also, the speakerphone was powerful enough to use outdoors.

The dual-band 800/1,900-MHz Curve 8330 works with both 1xRTT and EV-DO Rev 0 data networks. You can also tether it as a modem for your laptop to get speeds of around 500 to 700 kilobits per second. The handset isn't upgradable to the faster Rev A, however. As with most other Verizon smartphones, the Curve 8330 doesn't let you take advantage of the carrier's over-the-air V Cast Music and V Cast Video services; go with Sprint's 8330 if you need those features. Also, SlingPlayer Mobile still isn't officially compatible with the BlackBerry platform, but you can stream video for free at m.youtube.com.

Being a BlackBerry, the 8330 gives you the best mobile e-mail options available today, delivering push e-mail for up to ten accounts, including POP, IMAP, and Web-based services using BlackBerry Internet Solution (BIS). Meanwhile, BlackBerry Enterprise Solution (BES) users can take advantage of single mailbox integration and other features, such as remote address lookup on corporate networks. Unfortunately, the Curve 8330 still can't edit Microsoft Office documents. This was supposed to have been remedied with BlackBerry OS 4.5, which RIM announced back in January—but the company has since put the OS upgrade on hold indefinitely. Worse, your instant-messaging options are thin: All you get is a moldy copy of BlackBerry Messenger.

The Verizon 8330 Curve has RIM's upgraded browser, which offers a zoom mode, a "mouse" cursor, and better page formatting. It's a nice improvement over the clunky old browser that's still offered on the 8830. The built-in GPS radio works with Verizon's optional $9.99 per month VZ Navigator service. It worked well enough on my tests, but it lacks a 3D map view and traffic information, and it wasn't as forthcoming with spoken directions as my benchmark Garmin nüvi 350 GPS device. Oddly (and annoyingly), the GPS chip works only with VZ Navigator—not with the phone's BlackBerry Maps application.

The Curve features the usual RIM lineup of hardware specs: a 312-MHz CPU and 32MB of internal RAM, along with the aforementioned LCD screen. BlackBerry OS is just as good as always: It responds quickly to commands and makes getting around the 8330 very easy. (If you want a real bump in performance, you'll have to wait for the release of Verizon's version of the BlackBerry Bold 9000.)

The Curve's microSDHC card slot is still inconveniently located beneath the battery—that's getting old—but an 8GB SanDisk card worked fine. There's a 2MP camera sensor along with an enhanced LED flash and autofocus capability. This adds up to surprisingly detailed and balanced pictures, though it's still not the equal of a low-end point-and-shoot camera. It also captures decent-looking 240-by-176 videos at 14 frames per second.

Full-length movie files played smoothly and delivered clear stereo audio, even in full screen mode. The included, slick Roxio desktop suite can transcode video as well as manage photo and music synchronization. Meanwhile, the Curve sounded crisp and clear when playing MP3 and AAC files through a set of wired Creative Zen Aurvana earphones, as well as through the Bluetooth Etymotic Ety8. Battery life was excellent: The 8330 lasted 5 hours 59 minutes on a talk-time rundown test, which is one of the best showings I've seen for a CDMA-based smartphone.

I won't knock the device for this, since it's a universal Verizon sin, but this is worth mentioning for those shopping for a carrier along with their Curve: You'll pay significantly more per month for this device on Verizon than you would on Sprint. That's despite the fact that the Sprint version has more built-in software (notably, Handmark Pocket Express and AIM, Google Talk, and Yahoo! IM clients), as well as genuine mobile TV and over-the-air music buying options.

Despite this, the BlackBerry Curve 8330 easily nabs our Editors' Choice for top Verizon smartphone, taking it away from the BlackBerry 8830. The 8830, however, is still a good option if you plan on traveling to Europe, since you can make use of its GSM slot to retain your phone number. Verizon also offers a bevy of Windows Mobile smartphones, each with its own virtues. But until we see a CDMA-compatible version of the BlackBerry Bold 9000—which is still months away—the Curve 8330 is your best bet on Verizon.

Benchmark Test Results
Continuous talk time: 5 hours 59 minutes

Compare the BlackBerry Curve 8330 (Verizon) with several other mobile phones side by side.

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