BlackBerry Bold 9700 goes official
The BlackBerry Bold 9700: less chunky, better battery and faster browsing.
BlackBerry-growers RIM have officially announced the BlackBerry Bold 9700, the first follow-up to the original Bold and, like most BlackBerries, equipped with a full-on QWERTY keypad rather than the de rigueur touchscreen. There is a nod to touchiness, though: the Bold’s trackball is here replaced by a touch-sensitive trackpad, designed to be more reliable, more responsive and much better for web browsing.
The device itself looks less chunky than its predecessor, with the metal surround ditched for chrome-accented glossy black plastic.
Crammed inside is the same software as the BlackBerry Storm 2, which results in a hefty speed boost over the original Bold: RIM says you’ll see a speed increase of 30 to 50 percent during web browsing. The battery life should be better too: it’s claimed to last three days in normal use, or a massive 19 days in standby.
Features include a 3.2-megapixel camera, GPS, Wi-Fi, 3.5mm headphone slot and super-fast HSDPA 3G.
The Bold 9700 will hit the shops in November, with prices yet to be confirmed.
User comments (6)
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dan_449421 October 2009
sounds good im interested :)
Report as inappropriatematt howarth22 October 2009
is this going to be on vodafone?
Report as inappropriateMattie O'Neill22 October 2009
No I don't think this one's not going to be on Vodafone. From what I've seen, in most of Europe, it is going to be on T-Mobile (check out T-Mobile's worldwide page) so I assume it's the same in the UK. Ever since Vodafone got rights to the iPhone, they have lost their 'exclusivity' deal with Blackberry. Apparently, the Storm2 is only going to be exclusive to Vodafone for a few weeks as well, but I don't know if this is has been confirmed.
Report as inappropriateMatthew O'Neill22 October 2009
Sorry, my mistake, it's on Vodafone in the UK. Expected release - 28th October.
Report as inappropriateMrBaldyHeed11 March 2010
I just bought one of these to replace my Samsung Jet which I have on contract with Vodafone. I was tiring of the touch screen reliability on the Jet and craved a keypad again. This is my first Blackberry and I have to say I wish I had got into them sooner. Even though they are a little bit off the norm in my experience of other phones from Sony E, Nokia, Samsung etc. This is first and foremost a phone designed for business and as you delve into the capabilities it's business credentials are clear however RIM have made a lot of effort to make this particular phone ideal for leisure use too. This phone has music, video playback a good quality auto focus camera and video capture feature with a built in LED flash. Also a sync with iTunes feature which would be useful. There is a raft of bespoke apps for the range but from what I've looked at some can be expensive. I found the synching with my contacts to be easy although from the supplied desktop management software not that obvious at first glance. I had attempted to transfer via bluetooth the contacts from my Samsung to this phone but no matter what I did I couldn't get the blackberry to accept the transfer depsite having a pairing between them but this is not a show stopper by any means and I have found the bluetooth app to work fine with other files, but this is where quirkiness comes into play, if I want to transfer a picture from my PC or another phone I have to put the blackberry into a mode where it is ready to receive a file. Not something I can ever recall having to do with my other phones in the past. The security is better on the BB though and easy to set up, the user interface and new touch sensitive track key is brilliant, the screen is colourful and very clear, OK not as large as you get on other touch screen handsets but in my view it is less prone to damage. There is a clever feature in the supplied holster where by the phone automatically locks as it is is inserted into it so no more risk of rogue calls while it's in your pocket. I've only had the phone a few days and I'm still learning it's features and customising it to my tastes and needs. I haven't as yet seen the need to pay Voda another £5 a month to have the blackberry email and IM activated and as far as I can see, not having this set up isn't going to hamper the user and enjoyment of the phone. I'd recommend it to experienced BB users or newcomers like myself, I can't see that I will want to move away from BB anytime soon and so far I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience of it.
Report as inappropriateIan Rodriguez04 May 2010
hi. i have had the blackberry bold for 3 months now. its a great gadget. really easy to use. and so fast on browsing. i'm really happy with it. thanks to the gadget show. could anyone help me with finding great apps and games for it. i have a few but i would like much more. thanks. Ian
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