RIM BlackBerry 7290

DESIGN
The 7290 sports a tweaked version of the QWERTY keyboard that helped put BlackBerry on the map. The familiar side-mounted thumbwheel is there, but it’s a matter of taste whether it’s more user-friendly than the center-mounted, five-way navigation key found on many other smart phones. The screen has a much brighter backlight than the 7290’s predecessors, but the resolution and colors are weak compared to most other smart phones.

FEATURES
The 7290 is one of the few BlackBerries to include Bluetooth, so if you’re concerned about the geek factor of talking into what looks like a scientific calculator, a wireless headset is now an option. You get nearly worldwide access to voice and data with the quad-band GSM/GPRS radio. The 7290 ships with viewers for displaying attachments in popular formats such as Word and JPEG (editing them requires additional software).

E-MAIL
The BlackBerry gained its cult-like status for its e-mail support, particularly the ability to have new e-mail automatically pushed out. Recent models, including the 7290, make it easier to access multiple e-mail accounts. Instead of forwarding your personal ISP e-mail to your business address, you can send and receive messages with up to ten separate accounts. The 7290 doesn’t break any new ground in terms of e-mail, but that’s because BlackBerry was ahead of its time to begin with.

PERFORMANCE 
Battery life is an impressive four hours or longer when you’re e-mailing instead of talking. The 7290 doesn’t support EDGE, which would be handy for Web browsing and downloading attachments, but its absence is excusable since T-Mobile won’t start offering EDGE until later this year.

VERDICT 
Yet another solid BlackBerry that belongs on every e-mail addict’s wish list. Be sure to shop around; we’ve seen the 7290 for as little as $50 under recent promotions.
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