Was The BlackBerry Storm A Good Phone? Here's What Owners Had To Say

In the modern era, two major phone brands have come to dominate the cell phone market: iPhone and the name behind some truly weird products, Samsung. However, if you're of a certain age, there's a chance that a few other long-forgotten names might jog your memory. One of the most notable is BlackBerry, which first came to fruition in 1999, courtesy of Research in Motion, in pager form. In the following years, the line expanded to include cell phones, though this move did little to keep it around for the long haul. By the 2010s, the rise of the smartphone had begun, and the writing was on the wall for BlackBerry. Not even the most iconic BlackBerry phones in history could prevent the brand's demise.

Despite its demise, the BlackBerry brand was far from a failure. For a time, it absolutely took over the tech world and mainstream popular culture as a whole. Public figures like President Barack Obama and then-Prince Charles famously made headlines for their embrace of BlackBerry tech, and numerous models cemented their place in history. The BlackBerry 5810 was the first model to have mobile phone capabilities with the aid of a headset, and the Pearl was the first BlackBerry to include a camera and media player. Several models made waves with their physical keyboards, which were and are still highly regarded among those who used them.

The BlackBerry Storm is not among these models. The phone was released in November 2008, marking the brand's first foray into full-touchscreen cell phones. All these years after its release, and the death of the brand behind it, it hasn't become lost to time. The question is, almost two decades after its launch, was the phone ever regarded as good? Here's what folks had to say about it.

Even though 2008 feels like ages ago at this point, online reviews from the time are still easy to find. Looking through them, it becomes abundantly clear that many didn't care for the BlackBerry Storm upon release, giving it a hard time for multiple reasons.

"It's not as easy, enjoyable, or consistent to use as the iPhone, and the one place where everyone is sure they have an upper hand — that wow-inducing clickable screen — just isn't all that great," the Engadget review from 2008 of the Storm read, noting that it's a bit too complex for the average user and its hardware was severely lacking. The PCWorld review from the time didn't have much good to say about the Storm either, commenting that the touchscreen pales in comparison to Apple's offerings, the keyboard can be difficult to use, and the lack of Wi-Fi connectivity is disappointing, among other complaints.

Gizmodo was only slightly more favorable to the then-new device, though it doesn't confidently give it a thumbs-up. The site's review gives it credit for what it does right while clarifying that, when compared to the hype surrounding it and the advertising Verizon put into it, the Storm falls flat. The Guardian's review seems to concur to some extent, heavily critiquing the interface as a whole: "The "scroll" doesn't move smoothly; it's stiff, as though it needs oiling. The installation procedure for applications is remarkably annoying: you scroll through miles of legalese, download the application...and then you're left back at the place where you just agreed to the download."

This is just a sampling of the rough response to the BlackBerry Storm at release. At this stage in the game, has the phone's reputation improved? 

As the BlackBerry Storm approaches 20 years old, unfortunately, it seems that users' feelings on the device haven't improved with time. On the off-chance the phone is brought up in the modern era, nostalgia does little to improve its standing.

For instance, Redditor u/Educational_Scar_835 made a thread on the Storm, writing in the title, "I still cant get over how utterly horrible the Blackberry storm is, even with foresight of it being bad it's horrible to use." In a separate thread on the topic, u/nextgeneric went as far as calling the Storm the worst phone they've ever used, recalling it was so bad that they only used it for a few months before they replaced it. "I was a huge blackberry fan at the time and couldn't help feeling cheated. like, with a bit of refinement and more testing, it could have been great. last BB i ever owned," added u/BklynBully718.

With the benefit of hindsight, many have come to believe that the Storm was the canary in the coal mine regarding the demise of the BlackBerry brand. "The market changed here quick after the iPhone. I worked customer service at the time and saw how quickly the BlackBerrys were disappearing here," wrote u/Puglet_7, who recalled a clear negative shift in perception toward the BlackBerry name after the Storm's release. Redditor u/KrombopulosMichael23 even made the bold claim that BlackBerry's failure with the Storm allowed Android to flourish, reasoning that the Storm sent BlackBerry out of the limelight and allowed Android to effectively take its place.

With all of that said, the Storm wasn't a complete miss. Even with all of its drawbacks, there were and are some supporters out there. 

Evidently, there's a lot working against the BlackBerry Storm, hence why it was torn apart in its day and isn't universally loved now. At the same time, it did and still does garner praise by some in a few areas.

"With its easy to type on touchscreen keyboard, the Storm is just as effective as any other BlackBerry for the work day, but with the benefits of a BIG 'ole touchscreen isn't about to call it quits when happy hour begins," the CrackBerry review of the phone read, praising the camera, GPS tools, and more. MobileTechReview found a lot to appreciate about the storm, too, listing off its email suite, multimedia capabilities, and speaker as some of its strong points. "The Storm is a solid smartphone that covers all your business and personal needs...even if typing on it takes some getting used to," HCPLive concluded its review of the Storm.

In terms of modern assessments, there are plenty that skew positive. For instance, u/alg602 on Reddit actually really appreciated the phone's keyboard, especially for work, and u/xxslikmurdererxx went as far as to say they missed their Storms. Meanwhile, u/MaddMaxx636 made a whole thread about their love for the Storm, and very much agreed on the keyboard front. They wrote, "You got the nice smaller screen and being a touchscreen and you got the satisfying clicking of a keyboard. You couldn't fat-finger on it. You couldn't accidentally do stuff. You touched what you wanted. Clicked when you were ready."

Sadly, for BlackBerry Storm fans, the positivity is in short supply. It seems that, despite some love, the Storm is destined to remain one of the biggest flops in the history of smartphones.