| Alright, let me just say off the bat that as a former | | | | pictures that the phone takes are quite good, even in |
| Bold 9000 user, I've been looking forward to the new | | | | poor light conditions. Of course, if you try to take |
| Bold 2 for months since pictures were leaked on the | | | | pictures in the club with it - prepare to be somewhat |
| internet. Since I get my phones through my company, | | | | disappointed. Ha. But for regular, everyday camera |
| I've had the phone since Nov. 18, when it was released | | | | uses, that "quick shot", the Bold 9700 actually takes |
| on AT&T's network for Premier people. | | | | decent pictures. Nice for when you forget to bring that |
| Unfortunately, my friend decided that after playing | | | | digital camera with you. |
| around with my phone, they wanted one, so I bought | | | | There's a couple other pros I can think of, but they're |
| them an unlocked one. | | | | more along the lines of business users, or based on |
| The new Bold 9700 is a sleek phone - no doubt about | | | | networks (you could get 3G speeds on AT&T's |
| it. RIM apparently has decided, though, to somewhat | | | | network since the first Bold - T-Mobile just got their |
| standardize their phones' look, a direction that bothers | | | | first 3G BlackBerry with this phone). If you're interested |
| me to a great extent. One of the things I loved about | | | | in them, drop me a comment, and I'll get back to you. |
| the Bold was that it was different - you saw any | | | | Now, for the cons: |
| other phone, and then you saw the Bold - and you | | | | Battery - battery life is still somewhat bad, although it |
| thought "Wow, that phone IS bold!!" Size I couldn't care | | | | definitely is an improvement over the older Bold. I |
| less about - as long as it looked good, and worked | | | | normally use Pandora - an App that plays Internet |
| awesomely, what else matters? And the Bold 9000 fit | | | | Radio, trust me, this should be one of the first apps |
| those well. So when I got the new 9700, and I | | | | you download, it's free - the other is Google Maps, also |
| compared it to my coworker's Tour (for Verizon), I | | | | free - anyway, back to the review, so I normally use |
| was quite surprised at how similar they were. It's | | | | Pandora, and I can get about 6 hours out of the |
| actually somewhat hard to tell them apart (the 9700 is | | | | battery, with small breaks in-between receiving phone |
| a bit smaller, and also has the trackpad). Just an | | | | calls. So, in normal use, you could probably get about a |
| observation.... | | | | day out of the battery, which isn't terrible, but also is |
| Alright - to the review: | | | | somewhat worse than comparable phones out there. |
| Pros: | | | | Hardware - this is probably my biggest negative I had. |
| Trackpad - this is definitely a most welcome upgrade. | | | | Normally, when they say upgrade, you would think they |
| RIM outdid themselves on this part - I thought the | | | | would put better hardware in the thing, right?? Well, |
| trackball was good, this trackpad is great! The older | | | | think again. With the exception of the upgraded |
| Bold's trackball was great, as long as you kept dirt and | | | | camera and trackpad, there is NO difference in |
| dust out of it. Which turned out to be somewhat | | | | hardware between this and the older Bold. |
| difficult, since there was a depression surrounding the | | | | Zero. |
| trackball, and so if too much dust or dirt got in, the ball | | | | Nada. |
| needed to be replaced. Also, if you used it too much, | | | | I would've liked some upgraded hardware in the phone. |
| the ball would lose its grip, and become less | | | | But again - this is just my thing. You may not care. |
| responsive, also - once again - needing to be replaced. | | | | My last negative is more hit and miss - some people |
| Both those problems are now gone with this new | | | | have been reporting that BlackBerry Maps - the app |
| trackpad. For former trackball users, it may take a little | | | | that RIM ships with the phone for navigation, doesn't |
| use to get to know it, but once you do, trust me - you'll | | | | work on the 9700. Myself included. This appears to be |
| never go back. | | | | at random, but it just irks me. It may be dependent on |
| Speaker - the speakers on the Bold are nothing less | | | | the network you're on. Fortunately, there's a |
| than stunning. My friend has an IPhone, and my | | | | workaround - get Google Maps. |
| speakers for playing music and speakerphone blow his | | | | So - overall, the phone is a nice update. It works, takes |
| out of this century. Not only can they get very loud, but | | | | nice pictures, looks sleek, and can be used as your |
| they also are quite clear and crisp, for the volume you | | | | new boombox when you want to blast "What is |
| can put them to. And, if that wasn't good enough, RIM | | | | Love?" by Haddaway. (Kidding on the last one) I would |
| includes AudioBoost - for when you hook your Bold up | | | | completely recommend this phone, even with some of |
| to your car or stereo system, which bumps the output | | | | its faults, since they don't really take away from the |
| sound even higher. Excellent.... | | | | experience with the phone. |
| OS - the new BlackBerry 5 OS, which comes | | | | I'll update this review from time to time, as I continue to |
| preloaded on the phone, is a major improvement over | | | | use this, so if there's any questions, please feel free to |
| the 4.6 version in most other phones. It's snappier, and | | | | ask. |
| quite more responsive. | | | | BlackBerry 9700 Bold Unlocked Smartphone Off 49% |
| Camera - RIM upgraded the camera from a 2 MP in | | | | More Detail... |
| the older Bold to a 3.2 MP in the Bold 9700. The | | | | |