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The budget friendly option for BBM addicts

If you love the style and features of the BlackBerry smartphones but don’t feel like splashing out on a high-end version, the BlackBerry® Curve™ 9320 could be the right entry-level smartphone for you.

A budget option for BBM fans, the phone includes a dedicated BBM key as well as the BlackBerry instant messaging tool which is built in to Facebook and Twitter. In short, this phone is the perfect solution for someone whose friends are also on BBM and who interacts frequently with social media forums.

People who prefer physical keys to touchscreens also keep returning to RIM and BlackBerry phones, so if you tend to write a lot of emails on the go, with this handset you have the speed and reliability to send out messages in a timely fashion.

Available on pay as you go with prices from £116.95 at Carphone Warehouse, the Curve 9320 is aimed at the budget-conscious, first-time smartphone buyer.

The icons are arranged in colourful grids which you can scroll between quickly and easily, and the apps which you use most frequently can be added to the separate Favourites screen.

The reduced scale 2.44-inch screen is the trade-off for having the QWERTY keyboard on a small phone.

Email is one area where RIM has always excelled, and one reason BlackBerry smartphones have always been popular with business people and are often used as company phones. Push email is handled masterfully on the 9320, as we've come to expect from all BlackBerry models.

BlackBerry Messenger 6 (BBM) comes as part of OS 7 and so can also be found on this phone. This feature will make it especially popular with teenagers who will see the Curve 9320 as an opportunity to get BBM at a low cost.

The integration of BBM into apps and games, including Twitter and Facebook, means that you can continue to chat and type messages to your friends while engaging with other forums.

With an 800MHz single-core processor, the 9320 is surprisingly powerful as the small screen and less complex software don’t drag on the power as much as some other phones.

Battery life on the Curve 9320 will last you over a day with medium use, which is the same as most smartphones.

Design-wise, the handset is cuter, rounder and more chic than previous models, and for a budget phone is a lot more stylish than other phones in the same price bracket.

A lock button on the top of the phone is easy to use and removes the chances of making in-pocket phone calls to contacts in your address book. The only other port on the phone is a micro-USB socket, which is hidden unobtrusively on the left side and handles charging and data transfer.

BlackBerry Curve 9320 comes with a three megapixel camera which is not the best on the market these days but perfectly adequate and as much as you can expect from a budget phone. The camera lens is located on the back of the phone and comes with an LED flash.

All in all, not a bad little phone and certainly one which will be appreciated by all BBM fans out there who use that feature more than email or heavy Apps.