BlackBerry mobile phones have always been thought of as primarily business devices, but have been gaining popularity amongst mainstream consumers, particularly 18-25 year olds. Is a BlackBerry mobile still the best for business?

Whilst BlackBerry very much dominated the business mobile market for many years, in recent times just about every manufacturer has brought out SmartPhones with at least comparable specs and features, and many of them have left the average BlackBerry behind.

RIM's attempts at touchscreens (the Storm and the Torch) have received very mixed reviews, to say the least, and their high end phones struggle to compete against the best from Apple, HTC and others.

Where BlackBerry have done well is in the middle market with affordable models such as the Curve 8520 and Curve 9300 3G (pictured above). These are very affordable handsets which still provide the best of BlackBerry's email and messaging service, which is the main reason to buy one. Unlike more expensive phones, these two can be obtained on lower tariffs free of charge making them ideal for small business users seeking to keep costs down.

Whilst they may not be feature packed, a lot of the "missing" features are not needed by the average business user so why pay for them?

For larger business users the attraction of BlackBerry is the control they have over their company mobile phones. By using a BES server their IT department can enforce strict security policies which protect business data. Should a BlackBerry be lost or stolen the device can be wiped remotely.

Whilst a BES server has a host of corporate features ideal for large companies it can be expensive due to licensing per user. Smaller businesses can still access BlackBerry email via BIS or BES Express, both of which are free of licensing costs.

BlackBerry's data compression remains the best on the market meaning that the amount of data you are consuming is reduced considerably. This makes them ideal for travellers overseas who can keep on top of emails with minimum extra costs.

For a comparison between BlackBerry and other manufacturers handsets get in touch to see the tariffs we can offer you, whether you want a single BlackBerry mobile or a hundred plus.