BlackBerry Storm 2 (1)The Storm 2 follows on from the successful BlackBerry Storm, one of BlackBerry’s most popular handsets to-date. While taking much of the same design cues the second generation Storm has also learnt lessons from the original Storm’s failings. For one, BlackBerry has done away with the SurePress technology that many Storm users had complained made an otherwise flawless phone uncomfortable to use.

Another development is the inclusion of Wi-Fi for the new Storm. Wi-Fi is becoming more and more relevant today, especially for phone of the BlackBerry Storm 2’s nature, and it is a wonder why so many phone companies are willing to omit it from their handsets. Sure there is 3G, but as Wi-Fi hotspots are becoming more and more ubiquitous it feels a shame to own a phone lacking this feature.

Both the Storm and Storm 2 are quite noticeable for being handsets without the trademark BlackBerry QWERTY pad that has become a visual icon for the Canadian company. Instead all functionality is provided through the touch sensitive screen, and while for some this may seem to defeat the point of having a BlackBerry, it still provides the same exceptional level of messaging functionality as other RIM handsets – albeit with an onscreen keypad. The onscreen keypad is much easier to use on the Storm 2 than the original Storm due to the new screen design and inclusion of multi-touch input. Plus, the added benefit here is that having a larger screen makes the display a great deal more viewable, and actually far more conducive to the tasks that one associates with BlackBerry phones.

The original Storm was tied exclusively to Vodafone but the sequel will fortunately be moving to other carriers after Christmas. The move to a full-frontal touchscreen away from the stereotypical QWERTY BlackBerry phone was a big gamble for RIM, and with the Storm they didn’t quite pull it off as there were technical issues that still needed ironing out. However, with the Storm 2 it seems that BlackBerry has done a far superior job, and in many ways it seems that the Storm 2 is probably the handset the original Storm was meant to be.