Powerful and refined, the BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphone for AT&T includes built-in support for both AT&T’s fast 3G network as well as access to the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network with more than 20,000 U.S. hotspots–including approximately 7,000 Starbucks locations. The Bold 9700 offers fast data delivery and an enhanced Web-browsing experience that lets you connect quickly to social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. And, of course, you’ll enjoy all the communication and connectivity features you’ve come to expect from a BlackBerry phone–including email served up by the BlackBerry Internet Service and a full menu of messaging options (SMS, MMS, and IM).
The BlackBerry Bold 9700 runs on AT&T’s fast 3G network, and it offers free Wi-Fi access to more than 20,000 U.S. hotspots. |
Other features include access to BlackBerry App World, a 3.2-megapixel auto-focus camera with video capture capabilities, and Bluetooth connectivity for stereo music streaming and PC tethering. |
This phone can quickly download video, music and more over AT&T’s lightning quick HSPDA 3G network. Additionally, it offers support for HSDPA high-speed networks (2100 MHz) around the world–enabling you to enjoy voice and data access in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. This GPS-enabled phone can access the AT&T Navigator service for turn-by-turn directions. It also comes pre-loaded with AT&T Visual Voicemail at no extra cost.
Offering top-of-the-line performance and functionality, the Bold 9700 features a sophisticated, high-gloss black finish, chrome highlights and leatherette back. It also includes a distinctive, highly tactile full-QWERTY keyboard for fast and accurate typing, and an innovative touch-sensitive optical trackpad, which makes for a great navigation experience. And you get easy access to BlackBerry App World, the official app store for BlackBerry smartphones, enabling you to browse and download fun and functional mobile applications to their phone.
A hot-swappable microSD/SDHC memory card slot provides additional storage for multimedia files and archiving applications, with a 2 GB memory card included and support for optional 32 GB cards. Other features include a 3.2-megapixel camera/camcorder, and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity for hands-free devices and stereo music streaming.
With BlackBerry’s push email technology, your email will find you without having to initiate a connection. BlackBerry devices are designed to remain on and continuously connected to the wireless network, notifying you as new email arrives. In addition to the text, you can also receive and view attachments in a wide range of popular file formats, including Microsoft Office, Corel WordPerfect, and Adobe PDF.
Browse the web with the integrated, full-featured browser, which quickly and efficiently displays HTML pages as well as enables you to set up RSS feeds to stay connected to up-to-the-minute news and blog posts. And keep up with your contacts using a variety of instant message (IM) networks, including the integrated Blackberry Messenger as well as downloadable clients for Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, and Lotus Sametime.
For corporate users, this BlackBerry device delivers all the enterprise email and messaging capabilities you’ve come to expect. It’s supported on the BlackBerry Internet Service, giving you access to up to 8 work or personal email accounts (including most popular ISP email accounts), as well as BlackBerry Enterprise Server, enabling advanced security and IT administration within IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise environments.
Vital Statistics
The BlackBerry Bold 9700 weighs 4.3 ounces and measures 4.29 x 2.36 x 0.56 inches. Its 1500 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 6 hours of talk time, and up to 456 hours (19 days) of standby time. It runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE frequencies as well as AT&T’s dual-band 3G network (850/1900 MHz; HSDPA/UMTS). This phone is also compatible with 2100 MHz 3G networks (HSDPA) in foreign territories.
What’s in the Box
BlackBerry Bold 9700 handset, rechargeable battery, travel charger, USB cable, wired 3.5mm stereo headset, swivel holster, quick start guide, User Tools CD
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High-speed data connectivity via AT&T’s 3G mobile broadband data network: The dual-band 850/1900 MHz 3G network provides up to 3.6/7.2 Mbps of download speed, making it possible to enjoy a variety of feature-rich wireless multimedia services, and it gives you the advantage of offering simultaneous voice and data services.
Additionally, this phone is also compatible with 2100 MHz 3G networks found in international territories. (For use outside the United States, an AT&T international data plan is recommended.) When traveling outside the U.S., you can enjoy wireless voice coverage in more than 215 countries and wireless data coverage in more than 185 countries–as well as access ultra-fast 3G mobile broadband services in more than 100 countries. In areas where the 3G network is not available, you’ll continue to receive service on the AT&T EDGE network, which offers availability in more than 13,000 US cities and along some 40,000 miles of major highways. Providing average data speeds between 75-135Kbps, it’s fast enough to support a wide range of advanced data services, including full picture and video messaging, high-speed color Internet access, and email on the go. |
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The full-featured, premium AT&T Navigator GPS navigation application includes audible turn-by-turn directions, real-time traffic updates and re-routing options, and 3D moving maps (additional charges applicable). AT&T Navigator offers several other features to make your commute more enjoyable and reliable, including mobile access to Yellowpages.com. Additionally, AT&T Navigator is the only mobile phone-based GPS service that provides integrated speech recognition for address entry and points of interest search. |
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AT&T Visual Voicemail provides an easier way to check voicemail. No more dialing into complicated voicemail menus. Visual Voicemail delivers messages directly to your handset, so you can review your voicemail messages anytime, anywhere, and in any order you choose. Getting to important messages is simpler than ever:
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AT&T Mobile Music enables you to buy tracks while on the go, access the Napster and eMusic subscription music services, stream music video, discover what’s playing with Music ID song-recognition software, and find out what’s hot with The Buzz music news portal. |
Rating: 
(out of 27 reviews)
List Price: $ 499.99
Price: $ 0.01
DeShaun
Rating: 
As a person who is accustomed to the Blackberry interface, but has minimal experience with some other smart/mediaphones (iPhone, Nokia e71, Nokia N97) I can say with confidence that this is the best phone I have ever handled, and definitely the tip-top when it comes to Blackberry devices.
I upgraded to the 9700 from a Curve 8310, and the form factor is nearly the same. This is a joy, considering the original Bold was a little too large for my tastes. In fact, it’s only a tiny bit taller, and a little thinner. It combines the best of the devices before it: It has 3G like the Bold, a great keyboard like the Tour, and a trackpad like the Curve 8530. They really brought it all together in a way that is perfect.
The keyboard is responsive and provides good feedback, but it quieter than say, the Cuvre’s keyboard. The trackpad might take a little getting used to, but once that awkward phase is over it works like a dream. No more dirty trackballs! It doesn’t light up, but that’s not really a big deal, as the call, send, menu, and escape buttons always stay lit when you are using it, so brushing your thumb over the dark space in the middle is all you need.
Excellent camera with autofocus and very good color balance. The speakers are loud and clear. The screen on this thing is absolutely gorgeous. I didn’t think the additional resolution would make much difference on such a small screen, but it really is head and shoulders above previous models like the Curve. The media player handles a large number of formats and video codecs, which is fantastic, as I found previous models lacking in that department.
It comes with a standard headphone jack and a set of in-ear headphones that are really stylish and easy to use. Also I was pleasantly surprised to find a case that could clip to my belt (as opposed to the slip-in case they used to give) and a 2GB micro SD card already in place.
Battery life is superb: I have done heavy texting/email with my alerts on vibration, and streamed music via Pandora, and it still takes a few days to fully discharge. Excellent.
The browser is faster than previous Blackberry models, but it still needs work. It doesn’t come close to the likes of mobile Safari. However, there are alternate browsers you can use for free, such as Opera Mini.
Texting is a breeze, and it keeps a log of the conversation as if it were a chat in an instant messaging client. It also has visual voicemail, so if you are moving from an iPhone, you’ll still have the feature. Get this phone, you definitely won’t regret it.
Venu
Rating: 
Hoping to replace my older curve 8310, I was leaning towards the 8900, instead of the Blackberry Bold. The Bold had 3G. 8900 didn’t. But the 8900 had better battery life. And that was an important factor for my usage patterns.
Boldly enters the new Bold 9700. Has 3G, has the higher resolution of the 8900. Has WiFi. It also boasts a better battery life than the 8900 on the spec sheet. I ordered it and got it overnight and at two days of usage, I am VERY happy with this model.
Fantastic screen.
Beautiful fonts and rendering(It’s night and day compared to 8310)
The touchpad is really nice and I am completely converted away from trackball use.
WiFi is good and connects quickly to my home network.
3G network is fast.
Each of the above connectivity options can be turned off/on individually.
You also have the option to turn off 3G and just use Edge (advantage: longer battery run time?)
The unit came with a 2Gig Micro SD card already installed. (What’s the world coming to? Are TV manufacturers going to include free HDMI cables along with the TV now?)
The box came with a wall charger, a micro-USB cable to connect to the PC and a nice holster.
Browser is fantastic. With the touchpad, it is easy to move around the screen. “i” and “o” work as shortcuts to zoom in and out of a web page.
Google Apps work great (you may encounter a “Cross Application Communication” Error) (My workaround/fix at the end of this)
I had some issues with the browser not connecting (Resolved now. Workaround below).
I was stumped when initially configuring WiFi to my home WPA2 network (Workaround below).
Blackberry “Appworld” is great. Download it as soon as you get this device. Does not have millions of apps like the iPhone, but has a decent set – free and paid – that you will find useful.
Lots of nice improvements in the Mail, Clock and Calendar applications.
A few problems I encountered and my workarounds:
I have WPA2 security on my WiFi network at home. In the 9700, when you configure your WiFi connection, you will not see “WPA2″ as an option. Just select “Pre Shared Key” option and enter your WPA password; The 9700 will do the rest and will connect. (BB design team, take note. You might as well highlight this in your documentation clearly… or, just add WPA2 and WPA to the options list)
I had intermittent problems with the browser. It would connect to some sites and simply refuse to connect to others. Workaround: Open the browser, go to options (by pressing the key immediately to the left of the touchpad) and in the “Browser Configuration” page, for the default browser, change it to “Internet Browser”, from the default “Blackberry browser”. Do the same change in the “General Properties” in the browser options. This should fix browser connectivity issues.
When I started Google Maps, I got a “Cross Application Communication” error and it refused to connect. My workaround (and I am not sure why this works): Go to Blackberry settings. Select Applications. And in the “Applications” page, select “Google Maps”. Then “Edit permissions”. Here, I basically expanded all the configs, and made sure they are set to “Allow”. The “Interactions” setting by default will be “Custom”. This cannot be changed, but I simply expanded this selection. In this what seemed to be a pointless exercise, I didn’t really change any permissions other than what they were defaulted to. But, after this, the “Cross Appl…” error went away. Maybe, if I rebooted the BB after installing Google Maps, I wouldn’t have had to resort to this.
That’s it. It’s working great now. Hope the above workarounds will be helpful to some. Activating my BES account was straightforward. If you don’t have a corporate account, the setup should be even more simpler.
I’d give it 5 stars, but if anyone at BB is reading these reviews (and I know they are…), I want them to keep doing the great work and come out with more winners such as this. So, this 4 star rating is to tell you that no one can achieve perfection, but can always choose to strive to become even more perfect than before. Great product folks. Keep it up!
UPDATE (Jan 30, 2010):
After close to two and a half months of use, I’m still very happy with the Bold 9700. The battery life is exceptional and I can go without charging for 3 days if necessary. For a couple weeks, I noticed the battery was losing a couple of bars within 12 hours. I think this was because I had the “Blackberry Messenger” app running in the background. After closing that app, the battery life is back to normal, and I lose a notch in 24hrs. I have the WiFi option always ON and this doesn’t seem to affect the battery usage adversely.
Apps that I use most, and these are very easy to use on the Bold (there are plenty others available): WSJ Mobile Reader, Poynt (Business, people, restaurant, movie lookup), Dictionary.Com, Amazon for Blackberry, Google Maps, Gmail and Google News.
Always Samsung
Rating:
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R33POZ1LWX83O7 I’ve been a long time AT&T costumer. I thought I could live without having an actual keyboard when it comes to texting, but after a week without my Sidekick Keyboard – I decided to ditch my Samsung Eternity for the Blackberry Bold 9700.
I was hesitant about purchasing this smart phone because I was never a fan of Blackberry’s (RIMM). I had a BB during their initial boom in the early part of the new millennium. However, the poor browser, poor cell phone network, lackluster screen color, non desirable keyboard, awful battery life, whack OS, & lack of T9 predictive text just couldn’t win me over.
After I realized that I couldn’t text on a touch screen phone, unless it was the iPhone. I decided that I must have a cell phone device with an actual qwerty keyboard, if I expect to survive my text message & email addiction.
I picked up the Blackberry 9700 with my corporate discount and walked away with a nice high end phone at a very reasonable price. I have to say that I really enjoy the web browser on the new BB. You can zoom in & out with ease. I thought no browser could compare to the iPod Safari besides the Android G1, but after getting this device – I can safely say that this browser is also one of the best. Its right behind the safari and G1. Prior models were confined to small screens, thirty-five dollar internet only data plans, and no ability to zoom in or out. You were subjected to a small screen and reading small text till your eyes was squinting like grandmas.
Pros:
3G
New Optical Trackpad (Over the old Trackball)
Big vibrant screen
Threaded Text Messaging
3.5 MM headjack
New OS (Runs a bit quicker without the lag time)
Decent call quality
Excellent new broswer
Mini SD up to 32GB
Use your songs as ringers
Wi-Fi
Personal Email (Up to 10 accounts can be added)
IM
Themes
App Store
My Favs
Full HTML Web Browser (Sometimes)
Excellent Multimedia Player (Accepts every format possible)
Includes 2 chargers (Wall Charger & USB charger)
Includes ear phones and carry case
Cons:
For long time BB users, this device is really just a cosmetic upgrade with a new OS (Flashier Icons)
Micro USB (No more Mini USB)
Video & Camera (3.2 Megapixel as oppose to 8.0)
Cheap plastic rubber casing
Non RIMM Consumer Changes Mind!
For anyone who has wanted a BB but held off on getting one and want an entry level Blackberry at a decent price – this is the model to get. Everything about it is an upgrade. The device is basically the BB Bold with a different casing. The battery life could still use some more juice. With excessive email checking & non stop texting, the phone usually needs a charge after a day and a half of usage (Sometimes i can go a charge for 2 days before a charge so thats not bad). I did set the brightness of the phone to the lowest brightness available and it has lasted for a little over 2 days with no charge needed. Even on the lowest brightness, the screen is still very bright, sharp, & crisp. And i still do unlimited texting & web browsing. However, AT&T doesn’t offer the best mobile minute plans on earth & their data plan is probably one of themost expensive around. They are fully aware that their signal is one of the best & in doing so, make up for it by charging their non-friendly services at non-friendly prices, which usually doesn’t offers an abundant amount of minutes, unlimited data, internet, email, text etc will end up costing you a lot!
Only downside is that AT&T minute and date plans are expensive.
Related posts:
DeShaun
Rating:
As a person who is accustomed to the Blackberry interface, but has minimal experience with some other smart/mediaphones (iPhone, Nokia e71, Nokia N97) I can say with confidence that this is the best phone I have ever handled, and definitely the tip-top when it comes to Blackberry devices.
I upgraded to the 9700 from a Curve 8310, and the form factor is nearly the same. This is a joy, considering the original Bold was a little too large for my tastes. In fact, it’s only a tiny bit taller, and a little thinner. It combines the best of the devices before it: It has 3G like the Bold, a great keyboard like the Tour, and a trackpad like the Curve 8530. They really brought it all together in a way that is perfect.
The keyboard is responsive and provides good feedback, but it quieter than say, the Cuvre’s keyboard. The trackpad might take a little getting used to, but once that awkward phase is over it works like a dream. No more dirty trackballs! It doesn’t light up, but that’s not really a big deal, as the call, send, menu, and escape buttons always stay lit when you are using it, so brushing your thumb over the dark space in the middle is all you need.
Excellent camera with autofocus and very good color balance. The speakers are loud and clear. The screen on this thing is absolutely gorgeous. I didn’t think the additional resolution would make much difference on such a small screen, but it really is head and shoulders above previous models like the Curve. The media player handles a large number of formats and video codecs, which is fantastic, as I found previous models lacking in that department.
It comes with a standard headphone jack and a set of in-ear headphones that are really stylish and easy to use. Also I was pleasantly surprised to find a case that could clip to my belt (as opposed to the slip-in case they used to give) and a 2GB micro SD card already in place.
Battery life is superb: I have done heavy texting/email with my alerts on vibration, and streamed music via Pandora, and it still takes a few days to fully discharge. Excellent.
The browser is faster than previous Blackberry models, but it still needs work. It doesn’t come close to the likes of mobile Safari. However, there are alternate browsers you can use for free, such as Opera Mini.
Texting is a breeze, and it keeps a log of the conversation as if it were a chat in an instant messaging client. It also has visual voicemail, so if you are moving from an iPhone, you’ll still have the feature. Get this phone, you definitely won’t regret it.
Venu
Rating:
Hoping to replace my older curve 8310, I was leaning towards the 8900, instead of the Blackberry Bold. The Bold had 3G. 8900 didn’t. But the 8900 had better battery life. And that was an important factor for my usage patterns.
Boldly enters the new Bold 9700. Has 3G, has the higher resolution of the 8900. Has WiFi. It also boasts a better battery life than the 8900 on the spec sheet. I ordered it and got it overnight and at two days of usage, I am VERY happy with this model.
Fantastic screen.
Beautiful fonts and rendering(It’s night and day compared to 8310)
The touchpad is really nice and I am completely converted away from trackball use.
WiFi is good and connects quickly to my home network.
3G network is fast.
Each of the above connectivity options can be turned off/on individually.
You also have the option to turn off 3G and just use Edge (advantage: longer battery run time?)
The unit came with a 2Gig Micro SD card already installed. (What’s the world coming to? Are TV manufacturers going to include free HDMI cables along with the TV now?)
The box came with a wall charger, a micro-USB cable to connect to the PC and a nice holster.
Browser is fantastic. With the touchpad, it is easy to move around the screen. “i” and “o” work as shortcuts to zoom in and out of a web page.
Google Apps work great (you may encounter a “Cross Application Communication” Error) (My workaround/fix at the end of this)
I had some issues with the browser not connecting (Resolved now. Workaround below).
I was stumped when initially configuring WiFi to my home WPA2 network (Workaround below).
Blackberry “Appworld” is great. Download it as soon as you get this device. Does not have millions of apps like the iPhone, but has a decent set – free and paid – that you will find useful.
Lots of nice improvements in the Mail, Clock and Calendar applications.
A few problems I encountered and my workarounds:
I have WPA2 security on my WiFi network at home. In the 9700, when you configure your WiFi connection, you will not see “WPA2″ as an option. Just select “Pre Shared Key” option and enter your WPA password; The 9700 will do the rest and will connect. (BB design team, take note. You might as well highlight this in your documentation clearly… or, just add WPA2 and WPA to the options list)
I had intermittent problems with the browser. It would connect to some sites and simply refuse to connect to others. Workaround: Open the browser, go to options (by pressing the key immediately to the left of the touchpad) and in the “Browser Configuration” page, for the default browser, change it to “Internet Browser”, from the default “Blackberry browser”. Do the same change in the “General Properties” in the browser options. This should fix browser connectivity issues.
When I started Google Maps, I got a “Cross Application Communication” error and it refused to connect. My workaround (and I am not sure why this works): Go to Blackberry settings. Select Applications. And in the “Applications” page, select “Google Maps”. Then “Edit permissions”. Here, I basically expanded all the configs, and made sure they are set to “Allow”. The “Interactions” setting by default will be “Custom”. This cannot be changed, but I simply expanded this selection. In this what seemed to be a pointless exercise, I didn’t really change any permissions other than what they were defaulted to. But, after this, the “Cross Appl…” error went away. Maybe, if I rebooted the BB after installing Google Maps, I wouldn’t have had to resort to this.
That’s it. It’s working great now. Hope the above workarounds will be helpful to some. Activating my BES account was straightforward. If you don’t have a corporate account, the setup should be even more simpler.
I’d give it 5 stars, but if anyone at BB is reading these reviews (and I know they are…), I want them to keep doing the great work and come out with more winners such as this. So, this 4 star rating is to tell you that no one can achieve perfection, but can always choose to strive to become even more perfect than before. Great product folks. Keep it up!
UPDATE (Jan 30, 2010):
After close to two and a half months of use, I’m still very happy with the Bold 9700. The battery life is exceptional and I can go without charging for 3 days if necessary. For a couple weeks, I noticed the battery was losing a couple of bars within 12 hours. I think this was because I had the “Blackberry Messenger” app running in the background. After closing that app, the battery life is back to normal, and I lose a notch in 24hrs. I have the WiFi option always ON and this doesn’t seem to affect the battery usage adversely.
Apps that I use most, and these are very easy to use on the Bold (there are plenty others available): WSJ Mobile Reader, Poynt (Business, people, restaurant, movie lookup), Dictionary.Com, Amazon for Blackberry, Google Maps, Gmail and Google News.
Always Samsung
Rating:
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R33POZ1LWX83O7 I’ve been a long time AT&T costumer. I thought I could live without having an actual keyboard when it comes to texting, but after a week without my Sidekick Keyboard – I decided to ditch my Samsung Eternity for the Blackberry Bold 9700.
I was hesitant about purchasing this smart phone because I was never a fan of Blackberry’s (RIMM). I had a BB during their initial boom in the early part of the new millennium. However, the poor browser, poor cell phone network, lackluster screen color, non desirable keyboard, awful battery life, whack OS, & lack of T9 predictive text just couldn’t win me over.
After I realized that I couldn’t text on a touch screen phone, unless it was the iPhone. I decided that I must have a cell phone device with an actual qwerty keyboard, if I expect to survive my text message & email addiction.
I picked up the Blackberry 9700 with my corporate discount and walked away with a nice high end phone at a very reasonable price. I have to say that I really enjoy the web browser on the new BB. You can zoom in & out with ease. I thought no browser could compare to the iPod Safari besides the Android G1, but after getting this device – I can safely say that this browser is also one of the best. Its right behind the safari and G1. Prior models were confined to small screens, thirty-five dollar internet only data plans, and no ability to zoom in or out. You were subjected to a small screen and reading small text till your eyes was squinting like grandmas.
Pros:
3G
New Optical Trackpad (Over the old Trackball)
Big vibrant screen
Threaded Text Messaging
3.5 MM headjack
New OS (Runs a bit quicker without the lag time)
Decent call quality
Excellent new broswer
Mini SD up to 32GB
Use your songs as ringers
Wi-Fi
Personal Email (Up to 10 accounts can be added)
IM
Themes
App Store
My Favs
Full HTML Web Browser (Sometimes)
Excellent Multimedia Player (Accepts every format possible)
Includes 2 chargers (Wall Charger & USB charger)
Includes ear phones and carry case
Cons:
For long time BB users, this device is really just a cosmetic upgrade with a new OS (Flashier Icons)
Micro USB (No more Mini USB)
Video & Camera (3.2 Megapixel as oppose to 8.0)
Cheap plastic rubber casing
Non RIMM Consumer Changes Mind!
For anyone who has wanted a BB but held off on getting one and want an entry level Blackberry at a decent price – this is the model to get. Everything about it is an upgrade. The device is basically the BB Bold with a different casing. The battery life could still use some more juice. With excessive email checking & non stop texting, the phone usually needs a charge after a day and a half of usage (Sometimes i can go a charge for 2 days before a charge so thats not bad). I did set the brightness of the phone to the lowest brightness available and it has lasted for a little over 2 days with no charge needed. Even on the lowest brightness, the screen is still very bright, sharp, & crisp. And i still do unlimited texting & web browsing. However, AT&T doesn’t offer the best mobile minute plans on earth & their data plan is probably one of themost expensive around. They are fully aware that their signal is one of the best & in doing so, make up for it by charging their non-friendly services at non-friendly prices, which usually doesn’t offers an abundant amount of minutes, unlimited data, internet, email, text etc will end up costing you a lot!
Only downside is that AT&T minute and date plans are expensive.
Hoppaguy
Rating:
As a quick background, I am a heavy user of Blackberries and have owned almost every incarnation. I can say hands down, this is the best Blackberry to date. The screen is high resolution and the overall size of the new Bold is amazingly compact. It is smaller than my old 8310 Curve and much smaller than the previous generation Bold 9000. The most noticeable difference in this new phone is the speed. The processor is much faster and with the 3G capability, it is not as painful to surf the web. While the web browser is still not as good as the iPhones, it is much more useable than previous versions.
Speaking of the iPhone, the sales representative at AT&T kept asking me if I didn’t want an iPhone 3GS instead. I have already owned an iPhone and returned it because of the simple fact that it does not have a QWERTY keyboard. I cannot type with the same speed that I can on my Blackberry. The keyboard layout on the new Bold does not disappoint in that the key layout is slightly tighter than the Curve but you get used to it after typing about 5 messages. If you are a previous Blackberry user that is looking to upgrade, then the new Bold is a worthy of the upgrade. In addition if you are the type of user that wants your phone to handle voice and messaging well, then I would also recommend the Bold as a phone to checkout!
AAlt
Rating:
I have been using this phone for about a week now. And while this device beats previous bold 9000 in many aspects there is still much to be improved. So let me first say things that I do like about the phone. Of course the greatest improvement was the addition of the trackpad, at first it was kind of unusual to navigate with it but I got accustomed to it very quickly. Second thing is the screen resolution, it was improved from the old bold by 480×360 vs 480×320 pixels. The screen is really crisp and bright and sunlight legibility is very decent. The camera also experienced an improvement and while I was taking pictures outside on a bright day and later comparing them to the previous bold, there is a very noticeable change, pictures look somewhat close to my wife’s 10 megapixel canon camera. I was also surprised by the improved quality of the videos this device shoots. Much better and less pixelated than the original bold! Now for the things that I don’t like or wished to be improved. Despite of the fact that everyone raves about “amazing” battery life on this device, I must say I am disappointed. At best, the battery lasts me a day and a half but not two day as many reviewers say. Perhaps I do extensive web browsing and chatting via instant messaging. I usually like to read various blogs and news on opera mini 5 browser and I noticed that this application along with IM+ drains battery like crazy! Of course at least now I don’t have to carry a spare battery with me like it was with the previous bold since I am sure this one will last me for the full day. But most often I still have to charge it every night. Which is kind of a disappointment and not what I expected after reading various reviews. Now about the browser: It sucks…. It simply sucks so much that any other smartphone’s browser will put it to shame. But another annoying problem now that I noticed is that I can’t get to mobile version of citibank online at all! No matter how I would reconfigure the browser… So it means no banking online for me as I used to do on my previous bold. Very annoying… The browser is still slow as hell and only the fact that I have opera on this phone doesn’t make it a deal breaker. I must say though that I am running a latest .405 version of the software and perhaps the issue with banking online maybe be fixed in later versions. Which I again, doubt very much. Now another disappointment is the absence of many supported languages. For example there is no Russian support whatsoever. But than again, it may be released in the later versions. I hope so. And now last but not least is the speaker quality. In the first day of use I noticed that the speaker has been downgraded. Instead of the three speakers which previous bold had, this device has only one and when you bring the volume all the way up you can hear a rattling noise. Not a very nice experience… Overall I like the device especially it’s size, I was skeptical about it as I liked the bold 9000 big screen. But this one seems to be slim and looks more eye appealing. also I like the battery cover design, you can not accidentally open it and whole device seems sturdy and has a look of a professional tool. Hopefully with next updates there will be support for more languages. But as of now I am giving it only 3 stars.
UPDATE:
Couple of weeks ago I noticed that phone would randomly delete data, but today was the worst: In the morning I discovered that all my contacts were completely wiped out!!! by itself! And when I tried to restore them from the backup file it would not do that saying that the file is read only. I tried this file in my old curve 8310 and it worked flawlessly. So I suspect that there are serious bugs in the OS 5.0 and AT&T is not coming up with any updates as of yet. In a mean time I am lowering score for this phone because i am very disappointed by the poor implementation.