Bringing out the upgraded version of your best phone product is always going to be a tricky thing. And this is exactly what RIM (Research in Motion) was required to do with the Blackberry Bold 9700 White. The original Blackberry Bold 9000 was easily the best smartphone to come out of the Canada-based premier mobile phone company and the Blackberry Bold 9700 its successor. And this effor indeed has been praiseworthy. It showed in its large enough key board, fast E-mailing and other features.
Upgraded Version is impressive enough!
With the Blackberry Bold 9700, RIM indeed has given us a more enhanced smartphone that is lighter, though packing more hardware and also more tech heavy. The fact that you have the additional option of a White edition also makes the Blackberry Bold 9700 that much more attractive to potential buyers as it does given them that additional choice when it comes to colour editions available.
How much upgrade has been done in the next generation Bold is one thing. The other is to find out how the new Blackberry Bold 9700 White fares when pitted against the Apple iPhone 4.0 and some of the Android run smartphones. As this has been undoubtedly an opportunity that RIM had to rectify few of the shortcomings that all Blackberry phones had.
And this is exactly what we are attempting to see here. But before going into the depth of each of the features and technical specifications, it is worthwhile here to have a broad idea about the specifications we have in the Blackberry Bold 9700 White. This has been given in the form of a table.
| Technical Specifications | Blackberry Bold 9700 White |
| Dimensions and Weight | 4.29 x 2.36 x .56 and 122 gms including battery |
| Input Method | 35 key back lit QWERTY key board; optical track pad and intuitive icons and menus; Dedicated Keys – Send, End, Menu, Escape, Left/Right Convenience keys (default VAD and Camera) ,2 x Volume/Zoom, Sleep, Mute (Play/Pause) |
| Screen | 2.44 inches wide TFT LCD screen supports 65,000 colours and resolution is 480 x 360 pixe |
| Battery | 1500 mAh removable/rechargeable lithium-ion battery ; Talk time – Up to six hours in GSM and UMTS; Stand by – Up to 504 hours in GSM and 408 hours in UMTS. Radio playback – up to 38 hours |
| Operating System | Blackberry v5.0 upgradable to Version 6 |
| Processor | 624 Mhz CPU |
| Camera | 3.2 mega pixel with 2048×1536 pixels, 2x digital zoom, autofocus, LED flash, and image stabilisaton. Video recording is possible |
| Internet & Connectivity | 3G, Wi-fi, UMTS; 802.11b/g enabled Wi-Fi Alliance Certifications: WPA/WPA2 Personal and Enterprise, WMM, WMM Power Save, Wi-Fi Protected Setup, Cisco CCX certification, Wi-Fi access to BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, Wi-Fi access to BlackBerry® Internet Server, Direct IP web browsing over Wi-Fi, Support for UMA |
| Memory | On board 256 MB. Provision for expandable memory through microSD card |
| Media Player | Audio format supported –3gp, MP3, WMA9 (.wma/.asf), WMA9 Pro / WMA 10, MIDI, AMR-NB, Professional AAC/AAC+/eAAC+ Video formats supported – XviD partially supported, H.263, H.264, WMV3, MPEG4, Sorenson Spark & On2 VP6 (Flash support) |
| Location and Navigation Help | Integrated GPS with A-GPS. There are also the Blackberry Maps for assistance |
Design and the QWERTY
RIM has adopted the classic but at the same time sturdy and sleek the candy bar form factor for the Blackberry Bold 9700 White. The phone device is undoubtedly a stunner even giving allowance for the slightly crammed up with keys exterior. But this is really a minor irritant when you look at the positives – a larger QWERTY key board with the optical track pad, a really bright and shiny display screen, and very user-friendly keys some of which are intuitive. The best part is probably the fact that even with this level of hardware stuffed into it the smartphone device is actually light weight.
The slim factor is something that RIM has been working on steadfastly in some of its recent offerings. We must say, as far as weight is concerned, it has been a tremendous job with the Blackberry Bold 9700 White. As now it is only 122 gms even with the battery it fares quite well with the likes of the Apple iPhone 4.0 and many of the Android smartphones from HTC and Samsung.
Internet and E-mailing
The 3G and W-fi apart, the web browser that is there in the Blackberry Bold 9700 White has been a major improvement on what was available earlier. In fact, the technology web site, CNet has reported that the phone device scored a hefty 97/100 in the Acid3 Test. While the original Blackberry managed only a paltry 13/100. And this is reflected handsomely in the fastness with which web pages of most but the very complicated graphic ridden web sites load.
More than the mobile internet per se with its accompanying attractions of videos and social integration it is the E-mailing facility that the Blackberry Bold 9700 White extends that is simply commendable. The Blackberry Server Service that is present in this particular smartphone handset along with a few other Blackberry phones, ensures the smoothest possible passage of E-mails from multiple accounts, to and fro. With minimum fuss and in real time, the E-mailing happens. And this is undoubtedly the extra ordinary value addition that Blackberry users are familiar with and look up to What is more, the user also is assured of maximum possible security. This is because of the encryption and other security related protocols and assistance like pass word protection, etc that you can look forward to in the Blackberry Bold 9700 White.
You can work simultaneously with over 10 different E-mail accounts without having to worry about more mundane issues like missing any message, delivery of messages getting delayed, passage of mails taking hell of a lot of your time, and your device itself getting stuck or hanged because of some or the other spam getting through undetected.
Blackberry has always been the best in the business when it comes to E-mailing and in the Blackberry Bold 9700 White, in particular, guarantees a splendid time for you .
Basic Phone Functions and Contacts
The Blackberry Bold 9700 White is a 3G phone device but operates under 2G network environment where the 3G connectivity is either non-existent or weak. Hence, some times the call quality can be a little upsetting. But otherwise, the calling is excellent and the voice clarity and timbre hardly wavers even if you happen to be in a noisy place or the person who are speaking to is, for that matter.
Then, there are Blackberry special value additions, like you can actually enhance the quality of voice coming through by using the bass button. Believe us, this actually does make a lot of difference, especially during conversations that is happening in loud places. The speaker provided is also of a very high quality and you can activate it whenever the need arises.
A major feature that the ever busy business persons would love to use is the in-call option that allows you to add a new speaker to an ongoing telephonic talk by merely clicking on his or her name from the contract list that opens up without disturbing the current call in any way. You can also transfer it to another person while doing so. This is indeed a great thing to look forward to.
The contacts list could have been more livelier than the one long list that does not segregate your friends from say your business partners. Blackberry would do well to have some kind of arrangement with options like Facebook Connect, etc.
Camera
The 3.2 mega pixel camera is good enough if you are contend with taking still images and doing a bit of video recording. Actually, the quality of the video footage is quite good and is likely to surprise those users who are not expecting it to deliver this level of quality . All the same, it has to be said that when compared with the five mega pixel high definition returns that the Android smartphones give you, it falls short. Though, strictly speaking, the camera along with the camcorder has never been a priority area with Blackberry phones.
Media Player
Here, it may readily be said that RIM has done more than a decent job, as the media player that is fitted in the Blackberry Bold 9700 White is versatile enough and there are the supporting options like playlists and volume control. The player is able to play back and record quite a few audio and video file formats. Now, this in itself is a major advancement when it comes to media players in Blackberry smartphones.
Working at the Office
Apart from E-mailing, the other aspect that makes the Blackberry Bold 9700 White unique is the Document Editor that allows you to create and then edit texts madeon Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF. This features is really good and enables y ou to quickly type out material and draft them in your chosen software and then mail them if you want or store them in folders and files and of course, print them whenever you need a hard copy of the same.
Navigation and Maps
The in-built GPS with the A-GPS aided suitably by the Blackberry Maps work greatly and you really feel that you can never get lost. No matter in which part of the planet earth you are in. The location finding and navigation has always been a strong point with Blackberry smartphones.
Pricing
The Blackberry Bold 9700 Deals has been priced rather lucratively by the network service providers here. You can buy this smartphone handset under any of the several contract phone plans that require you to pay monthly only around £18. Vodafone is one major network carrier offering such monthly plans. The SIM free prices of the Blackberry Bold 9700 White start at £207.
Conclusion
The problem nowadays is that the Android driven smartphones from HTC and Samsung and others have spoiled us so much that nothing seems to satisfy us. Honestly, we cannot but feel as to what exactly is wrong with a fine full QWERTY key board toting phone handset that offers just about everything. Though may not be at the same level, especially when you consider the camera and the media player.
Though, on a more serious note this is exactly what competition makes you do. You may not agree as a policy with many of the market requirements, but still you have to run with the tide and not against it. Here, we do feel, that RIM can relent and look at including say more social networking widgets, a more powerful camera, say a five mega pixel snapper, and making its internet more user savvy with YouTube, etc coming on nicely.
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