BlackBerry Bold 9700 review

We review the BlackBerry Bold 9700, a Qwerty-packing phone that's possibly the best BlackBerry ever made

The new Bold solves the problems of it's predecessor

Published on Nov 26, 2009

The web browser has been given a facelift too and now claims to handle larger web pages. The trackpad, which replaces the trackball, makes it easier to move the virtual mouse pointer around the screen, although we did notice some issues with locking on to a link. It can require a bit of fiddling around to accurately select a link amongst others close by, and page scrolling within frames also proved to be a bit of a mission.
Trying to access complex websites, forums and interactive sites can be a bit of a gamble and the layouts can vary a lot from a normal desktop browser look. One alternative is to install Opera Mini 5 (currently in beta) which renders pages differently, but in doing so, the device will use it as the default browser from then on.
If you wish to open links in the normal browser again, you must uninstall Opera completely. If there’s any weak part of the new Bold, it’s the web browser. Hopefully subsequent updates will see this optimised further.
Besides email, the web and running applications you’ve got from the BlackBerry App World store, you can also play music, video and look at photographs on the high-resolution, high-definition display. Although not quite as bright as the original Bold screen (that screen is how the Bold got its name, not its large size), it is still perfectly adequate at showing pictures and videos, with a high contrast ratio.
The loud internal speaker is still there too, although listening via headphones (there’s a 3.5mm jack on the side) is recommended. The speaker might be mono, but it’s every bit as good at playing music as it is for its primary purpose; a hands-free speakerphone.
RIM supplies media synchronisation software, which can copy playlists over from iTunes or Windows Media Player (as well as pictures on the PC if you get the latest version) but you can just as happily drag and drop files to a memory card via microUSB. It will take cards from 1GB to 32GB, where available. The desktop manager will also backup your device, and encrypt the data as required.
The original Bold played video well, but the Bold 9700 does it even better - thanks in part to the faster processor inside the device. The original phone was hardly slow to operate, but there’s absolutely no lagging at all now. The phone still takes an age to boot, but this isn’t required very often unless you’re downloading and installing every app under the sun.
Even though there’s a faster processor, power consumption is down and the battery can now keep you going for two to three days with relative ease, possibly the biggest improvement over its predecessor and maybe the one aspect the seals the deal.
RIM has produced what must be the best BlackBerry of all time, and while there’s a narrower version on the horizon that will use the SureType keypad instead of the full Qwerty, we can’t see any reason that you might think the Bold 9700 is too big.
Even if the Bold 9700 won’t be your main phone (although there’s no logical reason for not using this to make calls), it is the ultimate BlackBerry. Better still, unlike other manufacturers that bring out a new model every few months, you can relax in the knowledge that this phone should be around for some time and won’t be obsolete by next week.