It’s hard to keep up with RIM these days. They just seem to keep developing new devices and another one is the BlackBerry 9780 based off the original BlackBerry 9700 Bold. Only difference we can say right now is that the bezel is darker (almost black), and there is 512mb of flash memory. No info on the camera but were hoping it’s got the 5.0 megapixel. As you can see, it’s running OS 6.0 and this device isn’t touchscreen. So I guess we’ll see OS 6.0 hit other devices soon? We sure hope so…
Now if you still don’t believe us. Here’s another video we took again with the BlackBerry Bold 9700 (3G), BlackBerry Pearl 9100 (3G), and BlackBerry Pearl 8100 (EDGE). Comments?
Now whether you believe RIM’s official statement or not. The BlackBerry does in fact have the signal drop issue when being held as well. As you can see below, we have shot a video of my personal BlackBerry Bold 9700 in my basement that I use daily running on the superior Rogers Wireless network in Canada. This means that we know it’s not AT&T’s fault and that I guess all phone’s do have some weak spots. So what can you say? I guess Apple was right… or were they? As you can see, the BlackBerry never hit the “no service” message and was still able to send and receive data but it did drop drastically.
You have might heard earlier that Rogers had dropped their BlackBerry 9700 from the previous $149.99 price-tag to $99.99. Well Keith over at CrackBerry grabbed a snapshot of the BlackBerry 9700 with a price-tag of $0.00 on a 3 year term. We question why the random price drop. Is it because Rogers wants to get rid of inventory for the iPhone 4? Or do we smell a new BlackBerry… 9800 perhaps? Either way, free is free and if your looking for a BlackBerry 9700, now’s the chance to search local Rogers stores or dealers and sign that 3 year contract to grab that device.
The OtterBox company has yet again come through for us and gave another Defender Series case for us to review. This time, for the BlackBerry Bold 9700. As you may know, the BlackBerry Bold 9700 is a business smartphone, and the king of it when it comes to any type of social messaging. Now not only business users like BlackBerry’s, but also construction workers. So why should they suffer and have their Bold destroyed every time they drop their phone? Well they shouldn’t have to anymore with the OtterBox Defender series case.
If you read our review for the Defender Series case for the iPhone 3G/3GS you’ll know exactly what we mean by durable. OtterBox’s reputation for nearly indestructible cases are what we all should have, but would you be willing to live with the bulkiness? The case has 3 +1 layers of protection why we say plus 1 is because the first layer is in fact a thin piece of plastic which covers your keypad separately to keep the dust away. The second layer is a plastic case that snaps onto your Bold and covers your LCD screen, camera lens, and headset with a filter to keep dust out. third layer is a rubber silicon case that goes around that plastic case which covers the convenient keys, volume rocker, lock and mute key as well as the micro USB and headphone port. Then finally a belt clip that holds your device into place. Now the reason why I love this belt clip is because it’s snap on. Easy to put it and take out. Also the magnet that puts your phone asleep when it’s in the holster.
So as you can see, after all 3 + 1 layers. You’ll notice that the case has added a lot of bulk towards the phone. You’ll also notice that most of the sexy silver chrome or black leather has been covered. Even the charging dock contacts have been covered so this might not be the best case for you, but if your really rough with your phones and a case is a must. Don’t go with those cheap and buy those OEM 1 layer silicon case. Go with the OtterBox Defender’s full protection. At a price of $49.95, what can go wrong?
Earlier this week, we received the iFrogz Luxe case for the BlackBerry Bold 9700, a beautiful yet simple case that protects your phone from all those dings, dents, and drops that you crackberry addicts do to your expensive phones all the time, and from using it for a while now. I can definitely say that this is one of my favorite BlackBerry cases around.
Now at Smartphone Nation, we suggest all our readers and gadget lovers to use protection, and so does iFrogz. The iFrogz Luxe case for the BlackBerry Bold 9700 is one of a kind. The soft plastic/ruberish hard case is perfect for your Bold and pocket friendly. When I say pocket friendly, I’m sure you know what I mean when you have that silicon OEM case which has become a lint collector.
Now, why you ask, should we suggest using this iFrogz case? Well because it’s sleek, stylish and simple. Best of all, it’s a two piece case and the bottom is easily removable so that you can still use your BlackBerry dock without having to dismantle your phone like some cases.
Color choices for the Luxe case includes Teal, Blue, Deep Pink, Grape, Red, Orange, Green, or Iron and comes with a screen protector. The volume rocker, camera button, camera, flash, left convenient key, micro usb and 3.5mm headphone port as well as the mute and keyboard lock key and most importantly, the speaker hole have all been cut out for easy access. If you read our iSkin review of the Curve 8900 earlier, you would have noticed that the speaker hole was not cut out, leaving the phone pretty much soundless. iFrogz fortunately was smart enough to cut that out and save the hassle.
The iFrogz Luxe case fits very snug in and isn’t loose. It adds some bulk to the phone but not too much that you can’t throw it in your purse or pocket and doesn’t add weight to the phone at all. One thing that did feel different was the edge of the keyboard. It didn’t bother me too much but when pressing the P, delete, and enter along with the Q, A, and alt buttons along the side. It felt a bit weird mainly because my fingers are fat and the keyboard is small, causing my fingers to lean on the side of the case.
Overall, I like the case very much, and being a person that hates cases. That’s good. It doesn’t cover up anything and the BlackBerry performs as it should while protecting your valuable goody without loosing it’s cool look. I could definitely see myself using this case on a daily basis and if your a heavy party guy/gal. This would definitely be a case you should invest in.
The iFrogz Luxe case for the BlackBerry Bold 9700 will run you for $29.99, a small price to pay to protect your valuable phone.
The new BlackBerry Bold 9700 has just hit Rogers last month, just in-time for the holidays. The most anticipated BlackBerry device to come out which has all the best features from the BlackBerry 8520, BlackBerry 8900, and BlackBerry 9000 crammed into one device and we’ve been very lucky to receive one of these devices to review for you smartphone fanatics. So let’s get started…
Pricing & Specs
The Rogers BlackBerry Bold 9700 will run you for about $249.99 on a 3 year term (dropped from the original $299.99 on the release date) or $599.99 without a contract. The 9700 features a fairly well sized 2.4 inch LCD screen at a resolution of 480×360 and has an amazing 3.2 megapixel camera and LED flash. All that plus 3G HSPA bands and the new optical trackpad from the 8520 curve, making this device the most elegant and best BlackBerry device out to date. Not to mention the size, 109 x 60 x 13.6 mm, almost the exact same as the BlackBerry 8900 Curve. You can expect up to 6 hours of talk-time. I’ve managed to squeeze in a full day of use. from 6am to 2am, much better then the 9000 Bold.
Design
The 9700 has a very professional look to it with the leather battery cover while making the phone small and compact for daily users to use. It also has the chrome bezel which looks similar to the 8900 and 9000, but is tinted a bit darker. You’ll also notice that the keys on the side of the phone are now ruberized to blend in with the phone. Similar to the 8520, and the micro-usb port has been moved back to the top left corner where it originally should have been versus the 8900 where it was at the bottom right hand corner. The qwerty keyboard is similar to the 9000, but a bit smaller which might bother some users. One thing I disliked about the new 9700 is the numbers on the keypad are now white instead of red where it originally was with the 9000 and 8900.
Call Quality & Signal Strength
The 9700 signal strength is beyond my expectations. The fact that it has 3G in such a small and compact form size just makes me smile. Not only that, but I believe that the 3G boosts the quality as well as the signal strength of the phone comparing it to the 8900 and 8520. What I found very weird was that the BlackBerry website stated that the 9700 has UMA support, but Rogers for some reason does not support it. Call quality is expected, superb like many BlackBerry devices. I haven’t had a single call dropped yet and I doubt I ever will with this phone. Speakerphone was not the best. Coming from a BlackBerry 9000 user, you’ll notice that it’s a bit quieter and now only has one speaker where as the 9000 had two. It’s not a big loss considering how much your gaining.
Messaging
With the new 5.0 operating system firmware loaded onto the new BlackBerry 9700′s. It finally supports threaded text messaging. If not your too sure what it is, it’s your conversation between you and the other person in one message instead of it being scattered upon the phone. A great feature that RIM has implemented. BlackBerry Messenger comes standard with the phone as well as the option to download many IM clients including AIM, Windows Live Messenger, G-Talk, Yahoo, and so on. As always, emailing on a BlackBerry device is one of the best and RIM hasn’t changed too much to that. It’s still your basic setup and RIM stores your emails on their servers as usual.
Camera Quality
(Photo Samples Above)
There is no doubt that BlackBerry’s are a business phone, but it’s great to have a good camera once a while to snap that moment you want to remember. With the new BlackBerry 9700, the 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash can do so, a much improvement from the BlackBerry 9000′s camera. I found however the LED flash not being as strong and a xenon flash would have been much better. Pictures show up very vivid and bright during the daytime, at night however, the LED flash doesn’t seem to come in handy. Video camera was decent for a phone but nothing to stunning. The microphone is located at the bottom so when recording, you must remember not to cover it with your hand.
Conclusion
The BlackBerry 9700 is no doubt one of the best smartphones around right now. It might be a little pricey at the moment but the build quality and all the features included will make the phone last. Not to mention the 3G support, everyone needs that. I can say that RIM has finally stepped up their game and for those who can’t decide between the 9000 and the 8900. This is one of the most elegant BlackBerry’s I’ve seen from the design to the features to even weight of the phone and I will definitely be purchasing one to add to my collection.
With the holiday season approaching fast, we at Smartphone Nation thought it would only be right to make a holiday gift guide to help you choose the perfect the gift. There have been many great phone launches this year; however, a few stuck out as superior. We have though of all major carriers when writing this review, so make sure to take carriers into consideration when making your choice.
