The BlackBerry Storm2 has been a highly anticipated phone since the release of the first Touch Screen BlackBerry this time last year, the BlackBerry Storm. The new device hit the streets yesterday, and I decided I would share my thoughts on my first 24 Hours with an official release device with you all.

So let’s start with a quick overview of what has changed on this device compared to its predecessor the Storm:

Revised SurePress – The old SurePress screen system has been replaced with a totally different system. The single button on the old Storm has been replaced with 4 buttons beneath the screen on the new Storm2. But there is more magic to the screen. RIM has added Haptic Feedback to the screen using Piezo technology. But we’ll get to that later.
More memory – The new Storm has double the memory compared to the old device. It has double the RAM, double the Application Flash, double the internal storage and double the size SD Card out of the box.
WiFi – Finally RIM and Verizon Wireless agreed to put WiFi in a Verizon BlackBerry. This is very good news for all CDMA BlackBerry users!
Physical Buttons - The 4 physical buttons at the bottom of the screen have been replaced with touch sensitive buttons.

Build Quality & Feel

This was not the first Storm2 I had in my possession, but the build quality on it is much better than the pre release devices I had touched previously. While the build quality was always good, the retail device was just that little bit more polished.  Holding the device in your hands the first thing you notice is the lack of physical buttons at the bottom of the screen. RIM replaced the previous device’s physical Call, Menu, Back and end buttons with touch sensitive areas on the screen. This should end a lot of the complaints about the buttons on the prior device, but I’m sure some people would have preferred real buttons. Personally I think the “virtual” buttons work very well, and ensure a smoother transition between screen and buttons. Perhaps this was another motivating factor behind them.

The second thing most of you will notice when holding the Storm2 is that it just feels sleeker and smoother in the hand, and dare I say it - “sexy”. The side buttons are all more recessed than before, and the rear contour is a little more rounded on the edges, leading to a more comfortable feel.

And of course, everyone will see the new dark chrome trim on the device, the same dark chrome that was used on the Verizon BlackBerry Tour. I really think the dark chrome brings the whole look to another level.

Lastly, if you press the screen with the Device powered off, or with the screen locked, the screen appears to be solid, yet with the screen unlocked, it “clicks” similar to the old Storm.

Revised SurePress

The biggest hardware innovation on the Storm2 is hidden below the surface of the screen. The previous Storm had a single button under the center of the screen that was used for triggering a selection. The user would touch the screen to highlight, and then press to select. The Storm2 has a very different system. The screen sits on 4 Force Sensitive Resistors, or “buttons”. These “FSR Buttons” only require pressure to activate the selection system on the Storm2. Once the system detects the selection using the FSR Buttons, it triggers a “Haptic” feedback through 4 Piezo Discs. This creates the click that you feel when you press the screen. You can see the buttons and Piezo discs on the picture on the right. Yes, that’s right, the click is only there for feedback!

This Haptic Feedback system is also how the screen appears to be solid when the device is turned off, or when the screen is locked. When in either of these modes, the Piezo Discs are not being enabled, so no click or movement is triggered.

So how does the screen feel? The new screen definitely feels better than the old screen, it does not have the float that the old screen did, but more importantly the screen feels the same everywhere. But what I would like, would be to have the option to turn off the click. Why you ask? For one simple reason, the phone cannot be used silently with the click haptic feedback. People hear you typing and using the phone. If there was a “silent mode” then you could use the phone in a meeting for example without drawing attention.

Memory, WiFi & Browser

As already stated, the Storm2 has double the memory of the first Storm. I’ve used it for 36 Hrs now, installed a bunch of Apps, and I’m sitting at 110MB free memory. Not too bad at all. The extra memory on board will allow for more applications to be installed, without having to worry about running out. Although I’m sure given some time all of us will want more memory.

And that brings us to the Wifi. The Storm2 marks the first time RIM has put wifi in a CDMA BlackBerry. Now we could sit here the rest of the day and talk about why there has never been a CDMA BB with WiFi before, but we won’t go there. Let’s just be grateful for what we get! And what we get, is very useful WiFi.

A lot of people don’t appreciate WiFi in a mobile device, but it servers many useful functions:

Simultaneous Voice & Data – That’s right, the wifi gives you a second link to the RIM NOC computer systems, allowing you to keep contact with your data services even when you are on a voice call.
No Network Coverage – There are many places when you might find yourself having no network service, and because of this you are out of touch with the world. Well if WiFi is available, then you will still have data services available. And with many airlines now offering WiFi on flights, there might not be many places anymore where you won’t have wifi as an option.
High Speed Connection – These days most people have wifi available with a high speed internet connection, which in most cases is faster than the wireless network. Because of this there is potential for faster internet browsing and faster downloads.

The bad news about wifi: The standard BB Browser just isn’t designed well enough yet to take advantage of a fast internet connection. If you visit a complex webpage, it can still take a long time for the browser to render the page, especially if there are lots of images or javascript running. RIM is due to have more advanced browser technology out sometime over the next 6 to 12 months, but that doesn’t help much today. If you want a fats browsing experience on the Storm2 I would recommend the Opera Mini browser.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Opera Mini 5 browser works on the Storm2. I never had luck getting it to work on the old Storm, so this was very exciting! I’ve always been a fan of Opera, having used the previous version 4.2 for a while. So I suggest everyone installs the latest version. It will take advantage of your high speed internet connection if using wifi on

Vibrate Function

One thing that I did not expect, and has taken a lot of Storm2 users by surprise, is the vibrate function on the new device. It uses the piezo discs to create the vibration. The result is a somewhat different vibrate from any other device, but it is also louder than a lot of people like. I have a simple solution to this, set the vibrate function to custom in the profiles options, and set the length for the vibration to short. This should make for a much more satisfying vibration.

Typing

The new screen technology allows for typing that is not only more accurate than the old storm, but is also much faster. On the Storm2 I can type as fast, if not faster than on my BlackBerry Tour. I was very impressed by this, but it will take someone used to a physical keyboard a little time to get used to typing on a touch screen. So if you do switch, give yourself some time to adjust! One of the coolest new features of the typing experience, is being able to press multiple keys at once, for instance you can hold down the shift key, and press another key on the keyboard to get the desired effect. This also allows for faster typing.

Conclusion

Other than everything I’ve talked about there isn’t much different about the Storm2 compared to the Storm1 running the OS 5.0 software. And that’s kind of the point. This is really how the original device should have been a year ago. But that shouldn’t take away from it. When examined by itself it’s a solid device that has a lot of potential to be tapped in the future. There are still some bugs I have ran across on the OS 5.0.0.320 that shipped with the device, and I hope RIM and Verizon get an update out very soon for these small issues.

It seems a few people are having problems with the wifi on the devices not quite working 100%, I do not know why this is, but the wifi on this device has worked perfectly for me out of the box.

So would I recommend the device? Yes. It’s better than the original Storm in every way.