If you’ve been in suspense and can’t wait to find out more about that BlackBerry Curve 8520 with the optical trackball in place of the spinner, the folks over at CrackBerry have posted a pre-release review. Overall, it’s a pretty nice phone, and the optical trackball works well. The hardware is well put together and the OS runs smoothly.

Is it as cool as the Curve 8900? Not really. The design in general has been updated, but things like the screen, battery, and camera are from the Curve 8300. What gives? It is EDGE-only and may turn out to be a pay-as-you-go phone. We’ll see

The Curve 8900 is definitely the flagship, but this one is pretty nice all things considered.

[Crackberry]