BlackBerry Storm 2: Hands-on with the happy clacker

RIM doesn't want BlackBerry fans to be left behind in the tap-happy touchscreen frenzy, and it's hoping the BlackBerry Storm2 will succeed with touchscreen lovers where the original Storm failed.

Yesterday we told you about the specs of the Storm2, including its 83mm (3.2-inch) capacitive touchscreen. Now we've had a chance to be bold with it, and we liked the improvements BlackBerry has made to the phone.

The SurePress screen is still there, which means that when you want to click an icon you press the whole screen, which depresses slightly and gives your finger physical feedback. But unlike the original Storm, the Storm2's screen is seated in its case without any gap, so you can't peek through and see the gubbins inside the phone. The click is very subtle and the movement is controlled by electronic actuators, instead of mechanical levers like the first Storm, so it won't click at all when the phone is turned off.

The new SurePress screen also supports multi-touch, so you can click more than one keyboard button at once, for example. BlackBerry says this should make typing much faster, because you don't have to wait for the screen to pop up before you can type the next letter.

Click 'Continue' to read our hands-on impressions of the BlackBerry Storm2 in the flesh.

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