BlackBerry Bold 9700: Bolder is Better

People of the smartphone world, prepare yourselves for the arrival of a device that quite frankly, doesn’t need any introductions. The BlackBerry Bold 9700 has landed; Research In Motion’s newest recruit has got a lot more on its plate than its fellow predecessors. These days, when the smartphone has become more alike an everybodysgotonephone, the BlackBerry has found itself fighting for the top spot. It’s already be dubbed by some as “the best BlackBerry yet,” but the question now is, can it live up to expectations?

At first glance, it’s clear that RIM believe the key to the success of their devices is to keep things simple. The Bold shares similar bodywork to other BlackBerry’s, most noticeably the Curve 8900, except there’s one big difference – it’s the slimmest and lightest yet. Intrigued? Size is everything with this one, as are looks. The 9700 comes in sleek black with a smart metallic finish. Flip it over, to reveal the black plastic backing and luxurious leather go faster stripe. Surprisingly, we love the medley of different materials and if we’re talking practicality, it makes it easier to keep your grip after a night on the pop. Moving onto the display and yes, as the phone’s become smaller so has the screen but it’s actually better than the one featured on the Bold 9000. The 9700 now comes with a 2’44” TFT landscape display; images are fantastically crisp, with vivid colours, making this device one of BlackBerry’s top dogs for imagery.

As most would probably expect from a non-touchscreen BlackBerry, the Bold sports a 4 row QWERY keyboard. As with the display, it has been downsized in order to accommodate a more compact shell, but this is by no means a hindrance, RIM have put small ridges on every single key helping your fumbling fingers onto the right key. Regular BlackBerry users may be horrified to see that the classic trackball navigator has been scrapped and replaced with a touch-sensitive trackpad instead. We have three words for you, get over it. The new trackpad is easier than ever to use and drops the annoying feedback that you got off the ball.

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is so much more than just a pretty face. Packed inside its tiny frame is a 624MHz CPU processor making it the fastest BlackBerry to date. The phone runs off the updated OS5. The homescreen remains icon based while the submenus stay as original as ever, and by original we mean, bare, stark text only lists. Why BlackBerry continue to abuse their lovely software by dumbing down those boring menus is beyond us, however as you’ll rarely have to delve into the boring bits it’s hardly a deal breaker. Essentially, regulars will feel at home with the devices layout, and if you’re new to the BlackBerry thing, we reckon it won’t take you too long to get used to things.

If you associate the BlackBerry with its more traditional purpose, the business phone, it certainly hasn’t lost its way. The Bold 9700 comes with Office ‘on the go,’ allowing you to edit Word, Sheet and Slide documents even if you’re away from your desk. Accessing emails are a given in this family, while smart dialling helps take the stress out of making calls. Ensuring the consumer market is well catered, the 9700 also comes with plenty to satisfy the media hungry user. Its 3MP camera comes with autofocus and an LED flash plus video recording. Though the quality seems slightly average in the grand scheme of the mobile snapper stakes, it’s by far the best we’ve encountered on a BlackBerry device, and more than acceptable for everyday photography! The media player excels in all fields, OS5 puts an attractive new vision on the music menu, providing various options to changing sound quality as well as the usual track options. The landscape screen creates a great viewing platform for the all singing all dancing album art, and DivX and Xvid video support definitely takes visual media to the next level.

Of course, no smartphone is complete without an extensive range of connectivity options. The quad-band GSM support and tri-band 3G with HSDPA gives you one speedy Internet connection wherever you find yourself in the world and with built-in GPS tracking and pre-loaded BlackBerry maps, you’ll never end up in the dark. The 9700 also has a decent array of games on offer, and while maps coming as standard with the phone, you’ll need an Internet plan in order to access all the features available in the BlackBerry app world.

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 has certainly built upon its predecessors success, and it seems that there is little that this device can’t do. It may be one of the smallest smartphones available on the market, but just because it’s tiny definitely doesn’t mean it’s not mighty.