BlackBerry Bold 9700 hands-on and impressions
By Laura June 
posted Nov 5th 2009 12:00AM
posted Nov 5th 2009 12:00AM
As we already mentioned, we were serious fans of the original Bold's hardware, and it would be pretty hard for a successor to live up to it. As far as we were concerned, it really had no close competitors in terms of mobile phone design and, you know, attitude. What we liked most about it aesthetically was its fearless defiance of conventional phone stylings at the time of its release. Faux leather and chrome edging rather than plastic all combined to produce a phone that was just a little off the beaten path, that felt substantial in our hands, and that definitely caught and kept our attention. The 9700 has kept some of those details -- there's still bits of chrome and leather here -- but it's also dropped nearly any flourish of attitude from the original design. RIM's chucked out the weird metal surrounding the camera on the back, and the full, old timey-looking leather battery cover, in favor of what essentially amounts to a Tour with an optical trackpad. Honestly, we recognize our own personal oddities, and understand that a lot of RIM's choices here favor modernization of the handset, which we heartily support. However, we also sort of wish the designers had had some exciting new ideas to add to this Bold -- but it feels like they didn't. The new Bold is all about, well, normalizing the handset and bringing it up to speed with other new RIM offerings, a la the 8520 or the Tour, as we previously mentioned.
We do, however, love the smaller, more sleek form factor of the whole package, and the device feels nice in the hand. Much more streamlined than the previous Bold, the 9700 feels light without feeling overly cheap, though it does feel a little less substantial than older BlackBerrys to us. We prefer the leather-strip on the back's feel over the slightly more rubberized Tour, and the rubberized volume rocker on the right side is preferable to the 9000's variation.
RIM's gone ahead and popped its new optical trackpad into the 9700, too, and this is one modernization we can really get behind. Yes, it takes a little getting used to -- but in our opinion it makes a far superior navigational tool and provides a smoother experience. Regardless, we were also big fans of the old trackball, but this is probably the right direction for RIM to move its hardware in. All of the 9700's other hardware buttons feel great and clicky, and we have no complaints about them.
The 480 x 360 display on the 9700 is up from the 480 x 320 of the original Bold, but in practical terms, it looks very much the same -- also terrifically clear, crisp and beautiful. The colors are bright, but we find ourselves wishing for a bit more screen real estate, (which is par for the course in our experiences with BlackBerrys), especially in the increasingly sad browsing experience. More on that in a moment.
This brings us to the performance of the 9700 in terms of user experience. Although the processor is clocked at the same 624MHz as its older sibling, the 9700's obviously got some special sauce under the hood, because with no interface changes in sight, this device is much snappier overall. Navigation, which has always been pretty quick on a BlackBerry, is tightened up a bit, and we found that opening up a bunch of applications stressed our device out a lot less than the original Bold, which was sometimes inclined to give us the dreaded clock. Thankfully, we haven't seen much of the old lag here -- and the fact that the 9700 ships with BlackBerry's OS 5.0 probably helps it along a bit, too. The battery -- which RIM says gets about 6 hours of talk time -- seems like a real strong point on the phone, and is more than adequate to get through a full day's heavy use.
Call quality is good, and the volume is nice and loud, though we can't help but feel the speaker phone is a bit weaker than the 9000's, but that could just be our weakening hearing, of course. RIM says it's enhanced the browser on this newest device, and we'll admit it's a bit faster, but as we said earlier, we are left with the feeling that browsing on a BlackBerry will not be satisfactory until there's a serious updating of the software.
Hm. Too bad there's no update as to the processor - I really love the Bold, and currently own the Tour on Verizon... Definitely could stand to lose this finicky trackball though....
I finally broke down after reading all the posts on crackberry and opened my Tour and replaced the ball with a curve trackball. Fixed everything 100%. I want the optical now tho. :)
Trackball/Trackpad UI is too old and awkward for modern smartphone apps.
Try panning the map display with a trackball. :)
i, too, have the tour. i also had trackball issues but thought it was normal, but after reading through forums and saw examples of how a good trackball should work, i realized mine was defective, and mine was not the only one, plenty people had the same issues. i decided to give verizon a call and got mine replaced even though i was way out of my 30 return period because it was a known issue. do yourself a favor and call verizon to get your tour replaced, trust me, the difference is day and night (no exaggeration).
BlackBerry ftw!
Too. Many. Blackberry. Models.
Which is the QWERTY Blackberry for Verizon with the optical trackpad? I can't keep them all straight...
there are really not that many smartphone models from BB ... http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/
Yeah, it seems like most of their phones are similar enough for them to shave off a few models, but I guess more choices cant hurt.
@JimboJones >> "there are really not that many smartphone models from BB"
Right... but it seems like there is a Blackberry XXXX article on gadget blogs all the time.
And I found the one I was looking for... it's the upcoming Verizon Blackberry Curve2 8930... so add that to the list.
Curve 8310 GPS but NO WIFI
Curve 8320 wifi but NO GPS
Curve 8900 wifi gps good camera but NO 3G
Tour 9630 3g gps good camera but NO WIFI
Curve 8520 wifi gps but NO 3G
Bold 9000 wifi 3g gps but Bulky with crappy camera NO AutoFocus
Bold 9700 wifi 3g gps but only 256MB internal storage and 3.6 Mbps HSDPA, No digital compass, No Radio
@Travis
Yes... and add the Storm2 and other upcoming models. And older models that are still being sold... ie Curve 8330
It's a little overwhelming. But, when you go to your wireless store... they only sell the ones you can use.
Still, thanks for the conversation.
That list on RIMs website is not inclusive. There are in reality 23 current BB models in the U.S. alone.
@)ROFL(
Thanks...... I knew it was a huge number!
Travis,
Don't be a jackass, Bold 9000 is old model, it's like comparing old iPhone to iPhone 3G a week before it goes out.
First, not all versions exist on all providers, second it's good there is a choice. If a company buys 3000 BB phones and they dont need GPS, they can save. It's Verizon dumb f idea not to include WIFI.
Look at Nokia site or Samsung site ....
@JimboJones >> "Don't be a jackass, Bold 9000 is old model, it's like comparing old iPhone to iPhone 3G a week before it goes out."
Yes... but you can still buy a Bold 9000 today... I doubt it's being EOL'd anytime soon.
And you can still buy a Curve 83XX... and that series started in 2007....!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlackBerry_Curve_8300
those jackasses at RIM reduced internal storage..should be 2 Gb now but NOOO!! 256MB.
Sure, 256MB is awfully small if you're comparing it and it's uses to say the iPhone. But on a BlackBerry, all you're using the internal memory for are the basics (text messages, phone data, e-mail, etc.) and apps which isn't so much a problem because BlackBerry apps aren't even that big, few hundred kb's, rarely over 1 MB. For other media, you would be using an microSD card. So ultimately, in a BlackBerry world, 256MB isn't that bad.
But if you compare it to the iPhone and other media-centered phones, yeah 256MB is awfully small.
bold 9000 had 1 Gb storage.
@Travis
Yes but only 128MB of that 1GB was available for applications which is what you would use it for anyway since you can't save and run applications off the microSD card. I don't know anyone who actually uses the internal storage (not incl. applications use) rather than the SD card. I guess if you prefer to do so, yeah can't argue, it's small.
There are only two models Engadget has been posting about frequently over the past few months: this one and the Storm 2. Just because they post about BBs often doesn't mean all those posts are about different models.
@Andy Anonymous
It was just a observation... I'm not really confused by all the Blackberries. :)
There is a long news cycle of a particular Blackberry device. For instance... the leak of the codename "Niagara"... the model number Blackberry "9630"... and finally the product name "Tour"... all refer to the same phone.
Multiply that by a few models released during a year, each on a different carrier, various blog posts, unboxings and hands-on reviews... and it all adds up to quite a lot of press.
I was just pointing that out. There are many Blackberries... past, present and future... that's all I was saying.
@travis
For your list: I don't think the Curve 8520 has GPS.
@nougat885: thanks for the error..you're right curve 8520 DOES NOT have both GPS and 3G in this day of age. Its :(.
@Andrew T.: apps run faster if installed on internal storage. Would you run apps from external drive on your PC?
@ Michael Scrip - "I was just pointing that out. There are many Blackberries... past, present and future... that's all I was saying."
Um, is that any different from saying "There are many Nokia's," "There are many Samsung's," There are many Motorolla's," etc???
I'm just saying...
@lilcoop2 >> "Um, is that any different from saying "There are many Nokia's," "There are many Samsung's," There are many Motorolla's," etc???"
True... but since I was commenting on this Blackberry article, and other people have added their thoughts about the number of Blackberry models... does my original statement still hold true?
You're right... all cellphone manufacturers make a lot of phones. But I was addressing the number of Blackberries in this Blackberry article. Things like... the Blackberry Tour came out in July... and the upcoming Tour2, which is the exact same phone with WIFI and the optical trackpad, was announced just 2 month later. I'm a Blackberry user, so I notice how many different models of Blackberries there are.
The fact that Samsung makes 2 dozen flip-phones didn't affect my analysis of the number of Blackberries.
Oh fuck up.
You defend Engadget when people say that there are too many Apple articles.
@Travis.
IIRC, you can't install applications on the Bold's internal memory, only on the memory assigned specifically for applications which on the Bold 9000 is 128MB and on the Bold2 9700 256MB.
E72 vs bold 9700..heat is on!
meh... blackberry all the way
Why is that?
I've been using an E71 for a week or so now, and would have to concur. I've used Blackberries before and never really liked them. The O/S is really clunky, the camera is absolutely awful and they feel like really cheap toys. The E71, on the other hand, shares none of those traits and has about 10x the battery life!
Unless your life revolves around Blackberry Messenger, I don't see why anyone would use a Blackberry.
yeah, but when is the E72 coming out?
Any takers?
man funny thing was I was just looking for a a messaging phone to go along with the ipod touch I am going to get
and this come up
to a certain degree
I have a love hate relationship with Apple
one minute i want to buy their stuff next minute i don;t and find an alternative
but my main grip with the iphone is that it is with AT&T (and dnt get me started with them)
so what better to just get a ipod touch and a cheap messaging phone or a BB for the keyboard
That's what I went with, best of both worlds.
In a nutshell, everything that sucks about the iPhone is excellent on the Blackberry, and vice versa, and almost everything that's great about the iPhone is available on the iPod Touch. It was an easy decision.
@JehxOne
I'm doing the same thing. Just got my iPod touch and LOVE it. Great wifi experience. Too... I don't mind keeping my phone simple... and I don't want all my eggs in one basket (so to speak) because two baskets are still pretty light (what's the difference between taking a phone on travel and taking a phone and a iPod touch? Negligible).
Caution... I was lusting after this phone for awhile.. but it feels very very fragile (to me..YMMV). I'm going with the Curve 8900... the keyboard feels better, the phone feels more substantial, I have less need of wifi b.c. I have the touch and I don't even really care about 3G.
Too.. there is still only one real 3G phone out there, it's on the worst 3G network (there's a MAP for that) and I'll wait to buy a 3G phone when the 3G market gets serious (and cheaper... I don't want to pay the verizon rates).
1) Why can't they bring more cool Blackberries to VZW and Sprint?
2) Why can't they make their OS more new age?
2004 called. They want their smartphone back.
Ok. Now how do i send it?
Agreed it looks like the last dozen BB's
2004 called, they want their joke back.
Is that the Centro?
i have iphone, but every time I see BB Bold, I'm really jealous how cool the phone looks like
Nah, it's the Pixi, but the version without a webkit browser.
You. Started. Using. Voice. Recognition. On. Your. Computer. Question Mark?
They definitely need to hit up touchscreen + keyboard, and slightly update the OS. They're already the tits though.
They are... It's called the Dakota/Magnum and has been in development for a while now. It is the size of the Bold 9000 but is slightly slimmer. It uses a hybrid touch-screen and qwerty keyboard. It also is rumored to have a new flash-capable browser and a new camera with liquid lens technology.
upranked for the tits comment
So now they're using Dodge truck/mystifying offensive/amazing wagon thing names?
I don't get BB
^^^^Jimbo I am in the same boat.