Blackberry Bold 9000 Smartphone Review

The Blackberry Bold 9000 was one of the most awaited and anticipated handset to date. And this phone has continued RIM’s legacy for the qwerty smartphones. Most of the people still are in the mindset that Blackberry is only for the business people and that it does not have much to offer for others. Though a couple of other latest models of Blackberry contradicts this thought, Blackberry Bold completely changes this “for business only” tag that is attached to Blackberry. RIM has aptly named the phone as Bold as RIM has taken a very daring step in to the new world of the all in one smart phones. By doing so, Blackberry has not eliminated its serious core features such as email and security and in addition to these features, Bold has included the HSPDA (3.5G) and GPS attracting the interests of more consumers.

With the Bold 9000, its maker Research in Motion hopes to create as much as a furore as the iPhone 3G. Let us see if it has the features and performance to create the same.

Blackberry Bold 9000 Smartphone

A stylish Blackberry:

The Bold 9000 is a flat handset that sits comfortably in your palms. Though it is heavier than the other Blackberry handsets, this one has got a much cleaner and a stylish look. Bold has managed to achieve this look with its smart silver magnesium alloy trim around its circumference with each of the lines of the qwerty keyboard separated by silver lines. When Bold 9000 is viewed from the front, it look very flat, and the keys do not protrude like the ones on the Blackberry 8800 series.

A great keypad:

The first thing that strikes you as soon as you see the Bold 9000 is that, “It seems to be too wide”. This width is in fact advantageous to the phone in various areas. For instance, this allows RIM to offer you with a full QWERTY keyboard and a larger, wider display. We have already praised the keypad of Nokia E71 a lot and the keypad of Bold 9000 is as good as that one. The spacing between each of the keys is just the right amount and since the keys are raised at one edge, they can pressed very easily and distinguished too. Typing can be very fast. RIM’s own tests proved that Bold’s QWERTY keypad had the highest typing rate of all qwerty sets. The faux metal border surrounding the keypad and screen is not as good as the metal casing that is found in Nokia E71.

Impressive display:

Not only is the keyboard awesome, the display is also a very impressive one. The LCD screen of Bold is not touch sensitive and feels much durable than Pearl’s screen which had a tough plastic coating. Over all, it is smart, classy and much more desirable. It has an upgraded half VGA 480×320-pixel resolution and the ability to display 65,000 colours. It is Bold, sharp and colourful. The display is the ideal one for watching videos and checking mails. For now, the Bold 9000 is available only in piano black.

Navigation:

For the sake of main navigation, there is a track ball that is similar to the one in Blackberry Pearl. This trackball had always been both plus and minus because, while some people feel comfortable using it, some of them feel that it is very fiddly. However, it works well and all the irritation is only till you get used to it and once that is done, the pearl like navigational device makes searching through the long lists and going through menu very straightforward. As with most of the other Blackberry handsets, Bold 900 also has got the voice command hardware button that is very easy to use. On pressing it, you will hear the “say a command” voice, after which you can say your smartphone what to do.

Bold 9000 – A unique rear design:

Traditionally the Blackberry sets come with leatherette cases and as a difference, Bold 9000 smartphone has its 2Mp camera and video capture unit in the rear is covered by mock leather. A Blackberry logo has been embossed on its back and we are quite sure that it is not a coincidence that Apple also has a central distinctive silver logo on back of its iPhone. We agree that it is unfair to make design comparisons between Blackberry and iPhone. Bold is said to have been planning the design for three years. In fact, the Bold resembles the smartphones of Motorola and HTC more than the Apple iPhone.

Headphone jack:

RIM does not disagree on the fact that most of us prefer to use our own headphones than the ones that come with the box and hence, it has kindly equipped Bold 9000 with a 3.5mm headphone jack. The only issue here is that it has been put on the side of the phone, top or bottom would have been desirable.

Beautiful interface:

The interface of Blackberry has never been interesting and hence, we have never been a fan of it. But RIM has made a very wise move by redesigning it, the Blackberry OS 4.6. The naff icons on the white and the signature background image of highway disappearing over the horizon are all gone and an array of neon symbols has been introduced and they look, kind of cute. Initially it has got six function icons that include lock, email, contact book, calendar, web browser and GPS navigation. And on a translucent bar on top of the display are, time, date, phone network, connection status, battery life and signal strength. All of these are customisable.

RIM has provided you with the option to customise your own feature set. By pressing the Blackberry button, you can move, promote and demote items from the main display and then create a mini taskbar of your frequently used applications. It does not stop here, there are numerous predefined and user assignable shortcut keys you can create. We studied that Blackberry’s policy is to apply all innovations introduced on one generation of handset to successive models.

Upgraded with new features:

We had literally cursed RIM for not including many features like HSDPA and Wi-Fi in the other previous Blackberry models. But Bold has come out as an answer for everything. Though RIM has introduced these features in its models quite lately, they are perfect. These features offer high speed email and internet access anywhere you go and with GPS, you will be able to locate yourself accurately. The GPS facility included works well when you are outdoors, but does not do a great job when you are indoors. Blackberry maps will be very handy while navigating around your town. You can even send your location to your friends and help them find you. But the Google maps that you can download from the net do a better job.

RIM has improvised Bold from the other blackberries on various notes, the best is giving it a speedy processor of speed 624MHz. It delivers that amount of power that is required for a busy smartphone. The Bold does not lag in any of the applications like accessing the web or while using the GPS.

Bold 9000 Multiple Views

E-mail and browsing:

BlackBerry Bold 9000 is one of those smartphones which does not compromise in its service quality. It is one of the most exhilarating experiences to use the IM, Internet, Email and you can always remain connected.

Setting up the email is not a big deal in the Bold 9000. It is very straightforward depending on your requirements. If you do not intend to use it to access your company mail id, then you can always make use of the Blackberry internet service to setup a variety of mail accounts that includes Microsoft exchange too. Attachments are also supported. The bright backlighting of the handset ensures that there is a clear contrast between the text and background. The internet browser of Bold is easy to use too but the absence of a flash player is disappointing. The web browsing using the 3G connection is quite good. Still, the graphics heavy web pages take a while to get loaded while less bandwidth-intensive furniture like site logos and headers appears quickly.

File Management:

The Bold 9000 features WordToGo and SlideshowToGo with the help of which you can use MS Word and MS PowerPoint to its best. You can also copy, paste and adjust the font size as you work. The extremely colourful LCD display is a pleaure to work with. The streaming capability on this smartphone is built-in and helps to have fun with the online videos or musical broadcasts. You can browse and access info without making use of the phone inbuilt memory.

Personal Organizer:

The Organiser of this smartphone is the Phone Book which allows you to store numerous contact details in its memory, the Calendar allows to make appointments and important things to do. This also features an alarm clock and a task list manager which allows you to lead a well calculated and planned schedule for your day.

Multimedia:

Another important point to note about the BlackBerry Bold 9000 is its media management and playback credentials. RIM has enlisted a respected audio/video software specialist Roxio to come up with a media manager that helps you identify and categorise your photos and music.

The multimedia utility is real fun and frolic with the Bold 9000 3G smartphone as it is with its’ precursors like BlackBerry Pearl or the BlackBerry Curve or the 8800 series. This smartphone is one which entraps the user with its integrated music player and the business options as well. The user is exposed to immensely rich audio and video playbacks which can be transferred or downloaded as personal choice.

Music player and supported formats: The music player of the smartphone is good. It supports several formats and more than just usable. The BlackBerry media synchronization allows transfer of desktop iTunes to the mobile. The videos are explicitly vivid in colour clarity and displaying the sequences as the music files are rich in sound. Individual playlists can be created which is easy to save and playback. The headset can be plugged in or the Bluetooth stereo can be accessed. Multiple activities like replying your emails while you enjoy your music at the backend can be done. With the internet connectivity logged into, you can watch your favorite news channel or any other clippings while you wait on other activity.

DivX and some xVid video codecs are supported, as is WMV (Windows Media Video) and H.264. For audio, the Bold can play the key formats of MP3, AAC and WMA9/10.

The speaker phone is very loud indeed. This is very handy for hand-free and conference calls. But the tinny quality that a majority of the loudspeakers have can be sensed in this one too.

Camera: The 2 megapixel camera that RIM has equipped Bold is not impressive. The photos taken in daylight were not good enough and with just a LED photo light, the night shots were also not impressive enough. Quality of the photos is just enough to share some funny moments with your friends via MMS, but do not expect them to look great when they are viewed in a PC.

Battery life:

Blackberry Bold 9000 has a standby time of 10days and talktime of four hours. Using the Bold like every other average user, it lasts for a day before it needed a recharge, which is not bad keeping in mind the usage of HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access), Wi-Fi and GPS.

Warranty:

RIM offers Blackberry Bold 9000 one year standard warranty.

Verdict:

With the introduction of Blackberry Bold 9000, RIM has proved that it is cared about the changing trends of the market and the changing interests of the business men. This is a great phone and we recommend that you will have to try it, even if you are already having any other type of Blackberry it is a great choice for a PDA. The Bold 9000 will be the ultimate choice for those who want something different from Apple iPhone and Nokia E71.

The Blackberry Bold 9000 is available for free on contracts with several networks such as Three, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone.

Read reviews of Pearl 8120, Pearl 8100 in our website.

Blackberry Bold 9000 – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	RIM
Model Name	Blackberry Bold 9000
Product Type	Smartphone
Form factor	Candy bar
Colour	Black
Dimensions H x W x D (mm)	114 x 66 x 15
Weight	136 gms
Screen and display	Transmissive TFT LCD colour display
Colour resolution	Half VGA resolution with 65k of 480 x 360 pixel colour display, backlight and colour sensing screen
Imaging features	2 Megapixel Camera, Flash, Camera, Settings, a Viewfinder Display, Video Player and Recorder, Wallpaper
Messaging options	Text messaging or SMS, multimedia messaging or MMS, Instant messaging or IM, and email
Supported audio format	MP3, WMA9, .3gp, WMA9Pro/WMA 10, AMR-NB, MIDI, Professional AAC/AAC+/eAAC+.
Supported video format	XviD partially supported, H.263, WMV3, H.264, DivX4 and DivX 5/6 which is also partially supported.
User interface	3G HSDPA, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth 2.0v, USB, GPRS and the EDGE
Basic network	Quad Band Technology
Battery	4.5 hours of talktime and 13.5 days of standby time
Security	Password protection, keyboard lock, AES or Triple DES encryption, FIPS 140-2 Compliant
Warranty	One year