The new black
Can the new BlackBerry Bold 9700 be as cool as the hipsters think?
- Published: 21/03/2010 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: Brunch
In the US, Apple iPhones and Google's Nexus One are threatening to take over RIM majority of the market share of smartphone sales. But Bangkok, true to its eccentric leanings, is clinging to its current obsession with all things BlackBerry thanks to some heavy and well-pitched marketing campaigns, and every hipster or wannabe in the capital seems to have, or, at least, want one.
The latest RIM offering is the BlackBerry Bold 9700, which seemingly packs all that RIM has to offer into an affordable little bundle.
So can it help RIM maintain its coolness? Let's have a look.
BOLD 9700
The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is effectively an updated, smaller version of the Bold 9000, but with the same price.
Visually, the 9700 loses some ground to its predecessor. For a start, it is more compact, and the quirky appeal of the 9000 is lost in the more conservative design details.
That said, it still sits in the hand beautifully, and, while being lighter, it avoids tackiness.
Elsewhere in the RIM camp, the BlackBerry Curve 8900 (18,900 baht) claims the beauty prize with its sleek metallic body, but the plastic simplicity and the cheaper price of the 8520 (13,900 baht) would satisfy most users.
HARDWARE
In terms of inner workings, the Bold 9000 is a hard act to follow, but the 9700 manages to.
The CPU is stated to have remained at 624MHz, but the solid lag-less performance feels like it could be higher.
The model bundles 3G, GPS and swift Wi-Fi connectivity among other features, including a hot-swappable microSD slot.
A major revelation in terms of functionality is the warmly welcomed replacement of the trackball with an optical pad. Also, the keypad is even smaller than that of the 9000, which won't please larger hands. The iPhones and the Nexus One certainly win on the front of text input with their virtual keyboards, especially in landscape mode.
Another major flaw of the 9700 is the web-browsing experience, which is sub-standard on the tiny screen (down to 2.4 inches from 2.7 on the 9000). The camera has been bumped to 3.2 megapixels (up from 2mp on the 9000), but offers only reasonable daytime photos at best with its tiny lens. So heavy multimedia users should head elsewhere.
However, battery life impressed at almost two days of light to moderate use.
SOFTWARE
The famous strength of the RIM machines is their push mail support for up to 10 email addresses. On the Bold 9700, even mail attachments can be viewed, including videos and Office documents.
Another standout feature of all RIM devices is the availability of access to the BlackBerry network, offering internet and chat services. It's certainly not a free service, but is a great convenience for some users, and any chat client you could think of comes pre-installed.
Personally, I spend most of my time within range of Wi-Fi, so it is less useful for me, especially as VoIP becomes more prevalent on other handsets (namely the impressive Nokia N900, reviewed in Brunch on March 7.
CONCLUSION
The Bold 9700 rolls everything that RIM is doing right into one handset. Its slick operating system, specs, email and chat support will keep fans happy.
Still, the multimedia functionality - including the small screen and poor browser - let it down, but these are not new problems for the RIM camp.
They are also winning in the "coolness" stakes; against the global grain.
Although it is RIM's best handset to date, at 22,900 baht, the Bold 9700 will not attract everyone.
The Curve 8520, with lower specs, is now available for 13,900 baht - about the trade-in price of an iPhone 3G - which will split the vote in the RIM camp.
It will be interesting to see if RIM's popularity is as fleeting as a Paragon store window display.
But for now, I'm sold - it really is that cool.
The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is available for 22,900 baht from the AIS Shop, 4th floor, CentralWorld, and other unofficial outlets for less. Call 1175 or visit http://www.ais.co.th.
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About the author
- Writer: Richard Mcleish
- Position: Reporter
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