BlackBerry Tour announced by Sprint, too: $199.99 later this summer

New BlackBerry models are few and far between -- particularly of the CDMA variety -- so when one is announced, the usual carrier suspects typically fall in line within a few weeks of each other and announce their branded versions in rapid succession. This one was particularly tight, though: Sprint has announced its plans for carrying the Tour 9630 just minutes after Verizon. It'll launch "later this summer" for $199.99 after $150 worth of rebates and a two-year contract, which makes the Pre comparison virtually inevitable. Keep the comments civil, though, alright?

[Thanks, Martin]

[MarkCohen @ Jun 16th 2009 12:41AM]

FINALLY!!! Doesn't overtake the Pre, but it's about time us Sprint people got a new BB!!!

Also first.

[DR House @ Jun 16th 2009 12:45AM]

iphone>blackberry>iphone>blackberry>iphone>blackberry

[DirtyVegas @ Jun 16th 2009 1:26AM]

Good thing House stuck to medicine and not math.

[Dead_Rebel @ Jun 16th 2009 8:35AM]

Photoshop fail with that picture. I've never seen a mirror reflection BEHIND the subject.

[dave @ Jul 6th 2009 11:35AM]

Listen this is what is says on www.sprint.com

Just announced! New BlackBerry® Tour™ coming soon.
The new BlackBerry® Tour™ 9630 smartphone will be available at Sprint stores, www.sprint.com and 1-800-Sprint1 later this summer for $199.99 with a new line activation or eligible upgrade and two-year agreement (and $100 mail-in rebate). Sign up now at www.sprint.com/tour to be among the first to own the new BlackBerry Tour.

THAT CONFUSES ME

[Austin @ Jun 16th 2009 12:49AM]

This is far superior to the Palm Pre.

[2007.frank @ Jun 16th 2009 1:20AM]

Why?

[jjbecerra909 @ Jun 16th 2009 3:02AM]

HOW

[Anonymoose @ Jun 16th 2009 8:44AM]

who?

[Matthew @ Jun 16th 2009 9:04AM]

When?

[zosogt87 @ Jun 16th 2009 9:28AM]

Where?

[Hooterman @ Jun 16th 2009 9:39AM]

What?

[Eric @ Jun 16th 2009 9:56AM]

It doesn't have Wi-Fi, check the BB website. FAIL!!!!!

[weems @ Jun 16th 2009 9:58AM]

because it has a keyboard made for adults

[AndrewNoNumbers @ Jun 16th 2009 12:48AM]

That price is going to fail big time, especially with how expensive BES plans cost.

[reuvypoo @ Jun 16th 2009 1:02AM]

BES is corporate. BIS is $30 usually. Sprint doesn't discriminate on smartphone data, non-corporate is all the same. On Verizon, same thing. The price is perfectly reasonable and even realistic, compared to the $299 the Bold started at on AT&T.

[setinstone31 @ Jun 16th 2009 12:23PM]

wow, would of never noticed that if not for you. Good spot, and very true....FAIL

[ahmedalhani @ Jun 16th 2009 12:52AM]

hey engadget!! keep ur commenting system civil!!!!!!!!!

[Yevon @ Jun 16th 2009 12:54AM]

Damn kids and their lazy Photoshopping. Somebody better fix that reflection before they begin a marketing campaign for this thing.

[AndrewNoNumbers @ Jun 16th 2009 1:01AM]

Nice catch. Reflections are so commonplace now that I don't even notice them.

[2007.frank @ Jun 16th 2009 1:25AM]

Looks damn near perfect to me! Was it fixed?

[Yevon @ Jun 16th 2009 1:27AM]

The phone is overlapping the reflection. Which is not how that works in reality...

[bustabuz @ Jun 16th 2009 11:40AM]

lol that is a nice mirror job thanks Yevon for bring it up.

[Anonymoose @ Jun 16th 2009 8:45AM]

ANDREWNONUMBERS IS A VAMPIRE

[Matthew @ Jun 16th 2009 9:05AM]

@anonymoose LMFAO

[cocoviper @ Jun 16th 2009 12:54AM]

Forgive my stupidity- what's the difference between the Tour and the Bold (besides the addition of GSM and CDMA radios)?
Thanks

[MONKEY @ Jun 16th 2009 1:13AM]

Nicer camera, higher res screen, its smaller...etc...Not much different but as a Verizon customer and Storm owner, I'm pretty pissed. We should have got this FIRST.

[kjb434 @ Jun 16th 2009 8:36AM]

They are the same except for the radios. There's nothing to hide. The names Bold and Tour are carrier and not Blackberry names.

9630 is the actual name of the phone.

[bassdog65 @ Jun 16th 2009 9:40AM]

This looks more like the BB 8900 than the BB Bold if you ask me. I think a batter comparison would be to say its a CDMA variant of the 8900. I think everyone is comparing it to the Bold just because of the 3G. But every other spec matches the 8900 for the most part...and it's looks are dead on with the 8900.

[Eric @ Jun 16th 2009 9:57AM]

The Tour doesn't have Wi-Fi. -1

[Josh @ Jun 16th 2009 1:00PM]

too many effin blackberries, streamline your production!!!!! someone needs to make one of those eeepc comparison charts for blackberry models

[Manuel @ Jun 16th 2009 1:22AM]

So will this phone work on a Sero plan?

[m3nphls @ Jun 16th 2009 1:38AM]

Nope, it won't. Sero plans don't work on BB's, Pre, Instinct and prolly some new PDA/Smartphone in the future.

[Nicky 2 Times @ Jun 16th 2009 9:28AM]

Yes Blackberries work on Sero plans, always have and always will. If you want the Blackberry Service it is $30 extra, but it is not required if you don't care about the Blackberry email service. There is even a hack out now to use the Blackberry browser without the BB service, in the past you would have to hook up your BB to a computer and load Opera on it to use the internet, but now you can use the BB browser if you so choose.

[elanbaram @ Jun 18th 2009 4:14PM]

nicky, can you tell me where i can go to find information on activating a BB on Sero and also how to hack the browser to work?
Thanks!

[Miles @ Jun 16th 2009 12:57AM]

What a small screen

[Michael @ Jun 16th 2009 3:34AM]

It's all about pixel density.

The iPhone has a 3.5" screen, 480x320 resolution, 163 ppi (pixels per inch, number found on Apple's site)

The BlackBerry Tour has a 2.8" screen, 480x360 resolution, ~214 ppi (a number I calculated)

Images on the Tour will have more detail, but there's less screen real estate.

[Nick Silvestri @ Jun 16th 2009 1:03AM]

hey engadget! you should actually read your post before you post it and find allll of the mistakes that i keep finding.
you are a business! make it professional!

[Cameron @ Jun 16th 2009 1:06AM]

"allll of the mistakes"

Kettle, meet pot. He thinks you're black.

[Nick @ Jun 16th 2009 1:09AM]

im not the business that needs to have perfect grammar and spelling buddy

[AndrewNoNumbers @ Jun 16th 2009 1:30AM]

OMG part of his identity was stolen!

[Chris Ziegler @ Jun 16th 2009 1:42AM]

Nick, sorry, what's the mistake? I've got a mental block here...

[Gad Get @ Jun 16th 2009 2:00AM]

"...and a a two-year..."

Double-a. That's the only mistake I could find though. Not a big deal.

[Chris Ziegler @ Jun 16th 2009 2:06AM]

Man, I seriously read and re-read that thing like 10 times. Thanks.

[logicbomb.de @ Jun 16th 2009 1:14PM]

Try reading it backwards.

Your mind is predicting the sentence structure and filling in the gaps.

Its one of the best ways to proof read for spelling errors.

Grammar, not so much.

[Dragonfly @ Jun 16th 2009 1:04AM]

Feature for feature the Pre wins hands down. I'd say the Pre is more of a Blabkberry killer than an iPhone killer.

[Gad Get @ Jun 16th 2009 2:03AM]

It's not really an anything killer, just an excellent competitor for pretty much the entire range of smartphones.

[Dominik @ Jun 16th 2009 1:40AM]

m3nphls:

I have a SERO plan, and a blackberry, all my shit works, BES, BIS, PAM? Gets your facts right.

[tweak @ Jun 16th 2009 1:52AM]

This is the CDMA variant of the Bold, right? Or something close to it?

[Miguel @ Jun 16th 2009 1:59AM]

Basically.....Yes.

Curve Sized, with a Bold Keyboard