BlackBerry Curve 8900

When Techbyte was invited to an exclusive preview of the BlackBerry Storm at the company's Canadian headquarters, I put it to CEO Mike Lazarides that some earlier handsets had been too wide for easy use as regular phone. 'A BlackBerry? Too wide?' he replied incredulously. But it's true – some models are just too big to make for comfortable use as a main phone and so are relegated to being secondary devices.

This new model, due out soon from Carphone Warehouse, puts things right. It's noticeably slimmer than the Bold and Storm, but still squeezes in a full QWERTY keyboard, unlike the super-slim Pearl models. So it's easier to compose emails and you don't need the predictive text found on Pearls and other mobile phones.

This model is much more stylish than earlier Curve models (already far and away the most popular devices in the BlackBerry range), taking on the gleaming chrome frame of the Storm and Bold. Despite its slimness, the keyboard is great for speedy typing, though perhaps not as simple as the more expansive Bold keyboard.

And unlike the Storm, this phone has wi-fi built in, which is great for downloading larger files, such as video, which shines on the high-resolution screen.

So why no fifth star? After all, the lack of wi-fi was the Achilles' heel on the Storm, left out, Lazarides claimed, because there just wasn't any room?

Because this time there's no 3G. Sure, a 3G antenna takes up space but it's a disappointing omission. BlackBerry's maker, RIM, has come late to 3G because it's a north American firm, and 3G is not so well deployed across the pond. But I was hoping that that was all in the past, not just because faster data transfer when you're out of wi-fi range is useful, but because 3G offers greater compatibility with foreign networks. If you travel to Japan regularly, you need 3G.

That aside, and it's a pretty big thing to leave aside, this is a tremendous phone, certainly the most comfy-to-use QWERTY handset from RIM, thanks to its slim size, and doubtless the omission of 3G will improve battery life, and at least meant there's room for GPS