If you find yourself getting frustrated by repeated orders to "Say a command", you can easily change this in the settings. The camera button is housed on the other side of the handset, just below the volume controls.

The top panel features the BlackBerry Curve 9300's media controls – play/pause, skip forwards and skip back.

With BlackBerry's distinctive QWERTY keyboard and optical trackpad, the Curve 9300 is almost identical to the earlier Curve handsets like the BlackBerry Curve 8900, as well as posing as the younger sibling of the popular BlackBerry Bold 9700.

Connectivity is the name of the game, and the BlackBerry Curve 3G offers Wi-Fi and GPS along with its namesake 3G network (by which it's also known).

It's no secret that RIM is keen on showcasing the media features of its handsets, and the Curve 9300 is no exception.

With dedicated media buttons on the top of the handset, the BlackBerry Curve 9300 is clearly intended to be used as a media player, just as you would the iPhone or a Sony Ericsson W395 Walkman phone.

To this end, it's also reassuring to see a 3.5mm headphone jack giving you the freedom of using whatever headphones you like.