BlackBerry Bold 9700

“The BlackBerry Bold 9700 offers refinement of a well-loved format, but it doesn't break much new ground. We can't fault its zippy performance, vivid screen or reliable email service, and its optical trackpad and 3.2-megapixel camera are useful improvements. For BlackBerry fans, and people who want to do some serious emailing, the 9700 is the pick of the bunch. But the 9700 just doesn't offer the thrills that some of its rivals do.”

“With so many current-generation BlackBerry devices available, it's really difficult to comprehend where the BlackBerry Bold 9700 fits in all of it. The original Bold 9000 really set the tone for the rest of RIM's devices to this point, but we feel that the Bold 9700 doesn't innovate RIM's stature. Sure we like the updated slim looks which make it one of the sleekest looking ‘Berry devices we've seen, but it's basically the same thing we've been seeing. The hardware, design and platform remain almost unchanged and we have a difficult time seeing customers choose this device over other ones that RIM has available. However, it does everything right like one would expect a BlackBerry to do, but we are just waiting for RIM to really take it to the next level with its next generation BlackBerry. If you're on the lookout for a RIM smartphone, then the Bold 9700 is a great option, but it isn't worth as an upgrade from a current-gen BlackBerry.”

“It’s pretty hard to make a general recommendation nowadays with any device, let alone a BlackBerry. With four form-factors in the BlackBerry family, it complicates things.The BlackBerry 9700 is a much-needed refresh to the aging BlackBerry Bold. To date, RIM has released only a single 3G GSM device in the United States and with competition heating up, the BlackBerry 9700 looks to be their answer. We absolutely gushed over the BlackBerry Tour in our review and until the 9700 came along, that was our daily driver. Is the BlackBerry Tour still the best BlackBerry on the market? We think so. But as good as the Tour is, the 9700 is better. There seems to be a drastic difference between CDMA and GSM hardware on BlackBerry devices (we’re guessing it’s the Qualcomm processors opposed to the Marvells) and it’s actually exhilarating to be back on a GSM device. The BlackBerry 9700 combines the most-loved features that have been sprinkled about on BlackBerry phones over the last year (3G, 3.2 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS, trackpad, QWERTY keyboard, smaller size, faster CPU) and combines them into a single sexy and compact package.”

“The Blackberry 9700 represents more of an evolution of the BlackBerry Bold than a revolution, but RIM has still brought a lot of updates to this ultra-professional smartphone, including several innovations found on its more mass-market handsets. As a result, RIM remains the reference for business smarphones and has given its competitors yet another challenge.”