BlackBerry Torch 9810

From the Novus Vault: BlackBerry Torch 9810

For nearly two decades, Novus Labs has been constructing an extensive interoperability library and collecting remarkable devices. This week we revisit the BlackBerry Torch 9810 — a slider that tried to carry the physical-keyboard faithful into the touchscreen era.

Released in August 2011, the Torch 9810 was BlackBerry's hardware refresh of the original Torch 9800. It kept the distinctive vertical-slider form factor — a 3.2-inch touchscreen that slid up to reveal a full physical QWERTY keyboard — but paired it with a faster Qualcomm Snapdragon S2 (MSM8655) processor and the newly launched BlackBerry OS 7. Aimed squarely at enterprise and messaging-first users, it was RIM's attempt to bridge its keyboard heritage with the touch-centric interfaces that were rapidly becoming the industry norm.

Highlights

• Slider form factor combining a touchscreen with a physical QWERTY keyboard
• Upgraded hardware for the Torch line, running BlackBerry OS 7
• Targeted enterprise and messaging users transitioning toward touch interfaces

Key Specifications

• 3.2-inch TFT display (480 × 640)
• Qualcomm Snapdragon S2 (MSM8655) chipset
• BlackBerry OS 7.0
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with hotspot, Bluetooth 2.1
• 111 × 62 × 14.6 mm, 161 g
• Released August 2011

Significance

The Torch 9810 arrived at an inflection point for BlackBerry. By 2011, the touchscreen-first world defined by iOS and Android had reset user expectations, and RIM's traditional strength — a best-in-class physical keyboard and rock-solid messaging — was no longer enough on its own. The 9810 was the company's transitional bet: keep the keyboard loyalists happy with the familiar slider while modernizing the display, the silicon, and the operating system.

BlackBerry OS 7 brought a faster browser and a hardware-accelerated "Liquid Graphics" interface, but it proved to be one of the last major releases before BlackBerry pivoted entirely to the QNX-based BlackBerry 10 platform. That makes the Torch 9810 a compelling artifact — one of the final flagships of the classic BlackBerry era, and a snapshot of a company navigating the industry's shift from tactile keyboards to all-glass touch devices.