Sprint BlackBerry Bold 9650 goes on sale a little early
By Nilay Patel 
posted May 17th 2010 9:17AM
posted May 17th 2010 9:17AM
[Thanks, Geo]
posted May 17th 2010 9:17AM
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As evident in the comments here at engadget, some people prefer one OS over another no matter what, Nilay. Why do you have to hate?
@sweet greggo
some people also perfer physical keyboard… and I also thing the evo is an ugly phone
@sweet greggo
God stop being so senstive you android bitches.
He's allowed to "hate". Its his damn article. Its his damn opinion.
If you don't like it stop coming to Engadget. Stop reading articles. Stop commenting.
In short STOP BITCHING and go visit another tech website or even better START YOUR OWN so that all the Apple Haters can go flock to it.
@TheLondonExchange If you don't like the bitching turn the comments off or go find another blog.
$200 for a Blackberry? Talk about overpriced.
$199?? I'll take an EVO.
@Snarf101
Ditto. As a current BlackBerry user, I'm just so underwhelmed by the user experience. I can't wait until August when I can pick up an EVO.
I thought the lack of a physical keyboard would deter me, but my wife has a Samsung Moment and typing on the screen is actually very nice with the new 2.1 update. Yes I know the Moment has a physical keyboard too, but I just wanted to see if I could handle a software keyboard before I got the EVO.
i agree with the overpricedness.. but i been using a bold 9000 since the day it came out and i can say its a beast to say the least. dropped it like 500+ times... just explodes into 3 pieces.. put it together and it kicks on everytime
I have an iPhone and I would seriously take an EVO anyday
@albinomexi What do either of these phones have to do with the launch of this phone?
@albinomexi
I drive a Saab but I would totally get a Subaru.
I am currently eating Dunkin' Donuts but I would get a Big Mac.
I prefer orange traffic cones, but I would get green if I had to.
Irrelevant? Yes it is.
@onemadrssn LOL! So funny.
I guess nobody cares about BBs as much.
I personally had a BB and I loved the build quality. Felt like a tank, but software wise, it was plainly complicated.
For example It takes like 5 minutes to change ringtomes on the damn thing when I was running the lastest OS ( 4 at the time)on the BB. I could do it faster on my POS RAZR from back then.
@albinomexi
I had a 7520 for a few years and loved it. My main beef at the time was the pricing: you couldn't get into a new phone without dropping at least $300, and the good ones were $350 and up. Plus the apps for the BB were always WAY over priced.
@yankees368
Because the EVO comes out next month for $200, and is widely hailed as being much, much better than the blackberry for the same price.
@albinomexi
It takes about 30 seconds to change ringtones...including any MP3. Pretty the BB UI ain't, but it is pretty efficient.
That's some Bold pricing right there.
@Waltah
I see what you did there.
It wasn't early. It was supposed to be Telesales/Online on the 16th and Retail stores on the 23rd.
And yes, it is overpriced for a phone that was announced a while ago and they just launched it.
I bought an original Tour for $40 on contract a few months back. An optical pad and WiFi shouldn't make it cost $160 more.
@tayklor the original Tour was $199 when it first came out as well.
If this had been the EVO instead, I would have been over to the Sprint site to preorder so fast my computer would have spun around.
Posting articles about Blackberry devices for the geeks that visit Engadget is like pouring a droplet of blood into a pool of piranhas... it never turns out good.
I will take an N8 without any strings ...
I have the blackberry tour 9630 and it's the worst phone I've ever had in my life... I won't buy a blackberry ever again. My nearly 10 year old Palm Treo is better than this phone..
It's always the dumb comments about the better consumer options out there. Is everyone to thick headed to get it through your head that they are BUSINESS oriented? Yes RIM would like a piece of the consumer market but the BUSINESS sector is the bread and butter. I picked an Incredible for me but as an Admin, do you people really think we are supposed to go in and pitch that we equip or workforce with thin, large glass screen android/iphone phones?
It's just not smart when you need to take into account that stuff gets stolen/dropped/lost/ and even wet. Not to mention the capability of large sum management with a now FREE BESx. It's not meant for your gmail youtube needs. It CAN do it, but there is better options.
GET OVER IT. It makes alot of sense for what it's intended.
@Drew3739 Agreed. Even if you are into Android, there is plenty to like about BlackBerry: The phones are still the best at messaging -- including e-mail and BlackBerry Messenger (most-secure IM service and you can do group chats at the same time) -- and has the best keyboard. It also handles multitasking well and works well as a phone. The OS needs a new UI and Flash; but the Webkit browser that will come with the phone will be tight. In short, it does what it is supposed to do and does it better than either iPhone or Android. For those of us who need a tight business-oriented phone -- and for the teens who want messaging and already tote iPod Touches (and thus, could care less about having an all-in-one experience) -- BlackBerrys are still the best. Those who want the new Bold will pay the bucks for it (or wait till the price drops, which, like for the EVO, will probably happen by Fall).
Now, I do like some of the Android phones (the EVO, along with the new Bold, is on my 'pay full price' list for the second line). But it's still amateur hour with the lack of updating to new OS generations across all the carriers; this is a problem with the carriers, of course, but Google should get this handled quickly and get the carriers on board.
As for apps: Most phone customers aren't on the bleeding edge; they don't use apps and aren't necessarily looking for them. The ones who do have already made their choices -- iPhone or Android -- and wouldn't look at a BlackBerry anyway. Even those who do use either phone aren't always into apps. My mother is an IT vice president and even she doesn't use apps on either her iPhone (her personal phone) or her Storm 2 (which, oddly enough, she likes more than the iPhone).
@hated one
I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not....
Ok yea the EVO is the better phone but the 9650 is a great BB, stop knocking the phone just because another phone on the same carrier is better, relax.
I kinda assumed he was talking about how this is nothing but the same that has been out for awhile with an optical pad. Whoopdiedoo Amazing.
Im pretty sure every new BB (especially with the Bold branding) has been $200 (after MIR) when they first come out so whats all the whining about? Everyone keeps forgetting that this BB also has double the memory (512mb as opposed to 256mb) to be able to upgade to BB 6.0. I dont plan on buying it but I'm just sayin!
@hated one
actually I am... I'm thinking of getting the bold in July
BLOCKBERRY
Trading in my Storm for this soon as Verizon picks it up...
This is Sprints best world phone to date. The EVO will be one of the best phones on the market, yes, but it does not have the world(with sim) capabilities of this device. No, this 9650 does not have the latest and greatest but it can run worldwide, which the EVO cannot, therefore if you have Sprint and need a world phone(with sim) this is the one to go with.
@A Work Of Orange Clocks plus, the only people I know who ACTUALLY need world capabilities are businessmen, who love their 'berries.
@HurricaneDC True. Which drives the point home that app happy teens and adults alike(unless they are a world traveler or a business savvy type) wont find what they are looking for in this device. RIM has the business market cornered and does a fine job with it in my opinion. With everything in point if you're a business/world traveler this will be your best option(with sprint of course).
Considering the Android OS has insufficient ActiveSync implementation and thus no serious corporate IT department would allow anybody to use it for work the Blackberries are still very strong in the corporate world. I've heard HTC's Android's ActiveSync actually enforces policies now but we'll see how well the EVO's does.
As a consumer phone I don't really like Blackberries. The businessmen I know who use them for business purposes seem to love them though.
I have a Tour 9630 right now and while the OS is bland and the apps suck, the hardware keyboard is amazing and the hardware itself is incredibly durable. I've dropped the phone countless times and it still works perfectly. Definitely some of the best build quality I've ever seen, which is kinda why I wish RIM had bought out Palm. WebOS would be much better than BBOS, and RIM's hardware is a lot sturdier than Palm's.
@HurricaneDC Agreed. My Curve is probably, in many respects, the best phone I've had. The keyboard is awesome and the messaging capabilities is great. Since I spend at least 120 days on the road and can't whip out a laptop at the ready, my BlackBerry does the job great.
I do which RIM bought Palm. But the things that make Palm and WebOS great don't fit into RIM's DNA (it's also why RIM's strength's -- messaging and security -- don't fit into Apple's DNA and vice versa). Besides, if RIM bought Palm, it would only be for the patents; I don't think Rubenstein and company wanted that, so RIM was always out of the running before it started.
This was posted on the net by a few other sites shortly after midnight when it was released. Still good news though...
http://myberryisblack.com/?p=1988
Working for an international company with over 250 Sprint Blackberry devices, I love the idea of finally having a world phone with Wi-Fi built in. We have users traveling almost every day of the year, and having to swap back and forth from their Curve to a world phone, or worse, to a Tour that they never want to give back.....until they realize it doesn' have Wi-Fi.
It actually went on sale over the weekend and the two we ordered will be here overnight. The Evo is nice, but typing on glass isn't great fun and all of those phones don't do well at one-handed operation.
@KenEsq
I should also note that the Evo is going to cost an additional $120/year which is a bit galling if you live in a state that doesn't have 4G yet (Florida) and an area (SE Florida) that isn't scheduled to get it anytime soon.
Now, if they made the Evo bigger to compete with the iPad that would be interesting.
@KenEsq I completely acknowledge this. I'm in California's central valley and while 4G sounds great, I don't see it in my city's future anytime soon. Why would I pay extra $ for 4G I can't use? The BB 9650 will do just fine for me. I have a Pre now and although I love it, the battery drains insanely fast.
Can haz verizon model please?
BlackBerry is so dead.
@Johnny Rockets
I will make sure and tell our Corporate IT department about that. Thank you for your intelligent insight.
Boooorrrrrriiiiiinggggg.....
Too late.
Too expensive.