BlackBerry Bold 9900 Unlocked Phone - Networking and Celluler Shop

By 

A. Dent “Aragorn” (Minas Anor, GD) –

  

  

  

I will state right in the beginning my view that Blackberries continue to be the leaders when it comes to security, data efficiency, reliability and and practicality. My company-issued Blackberry does not do games very well and I’m not using it to play movies (I prefer the 73″ screen in the living room for that) but it’s amazingly good when it comes to getting my email and quickly composing new messages or replying to the incoming. Also great at integrating the enterprise email with any Web email services I’m using, Bluetooth-paired devices and the phone features be they 4G or Wi-Fi.

Current Bold users should be happy and almost certainly happier with the 9900 because this is very much the ‘old’ Bold only sleeker, faster or, in other words… bolder. When it comes to new users, it’s a crowded marketplace out there. Those who prefer great physical keyboards may want to look into this Bold because you could hardly find a better ‘phone’ keyboard anywhere and that includes other Blackberries. I am currently a Torch user but I’ve been given the opportunity to try out a couple of the newer models: this new Bold and the new Torch 9810. I will confess that I personally prefer the new Torch to the new Bold because I prefer a slightly larger screen but, in fairness, few phones come close to the new Bold when the factors considered are elegance, the quality of the build and, naturally, the keyboard.

First, the good things about the 9900 Bold:

- IT’S STILL A BLACKBERRY – This is important to the many BB users who want their Blackberry to change only slightly from one generation to another, at least as far as the physical form and the user interface is concerned. While Blackberries evolved from the little ‘wheel’ to the track ball to the current touch-sensitive pad to touch screens, they are still recognizable and I bet that if a time traveler from, let’s say, 2002, popped up in 2011, he/she should be able to use the 9900 in no time. All buttons are at the familiar locations and, at least when comparing it with the previous generation, the 9900 responds very much in the same way with ‘touch’ added if needed but never mandatory to accomplish anything. I find myself using a combination of touch, buttons and sometimes to track pad to operate it.

- IT’S SMALLER, LIGHTER – While the screen appears to be (very slightly) larger on the 9900, its bulk is significantly reduced. The 9900 is thinner and it appears to weigh less than its predecessor. Not everyone may appreciate this in the beginning and I was one of those but I got used with the lighter device quickly and I would consider it an improvement now.

- IMPROVED PICTURE QUALITY – Very much on par with what’s current ‘best in the business’, the picture on the 9900 is significantly better as far as brightness and resolution. I would not use the Bold to watch movies or read books with the Kindle app but this is because I don’t use Blackberries that way. I could if I wanted to. To me Blackberries are expected to do: email, voice, enterprise integration. Everything else is ‘extras’ – my employer wouldn’t like to see me watch movies, play games or update my Facebook wall on the company ‘phone’.

- EXTRAS – Of course, you get cameras with geolocation which I’m not likely to use a lot but it’s good to know it’s there, you can get video for free or subscribe to some pay services, have the ability to store various media and so on. It’s good to have them but I’m not likely to spend much time with the ‘extras’ except maybe with the Web browser which, by the way, is very good at handling HTML5.

- IMPROVED WEB BROWSER – This is good news. The built-in browser may not be as good as, let’s say, Opera but it’s coming pretty close and it’s a major improvement over what Blackberry used to offer. This one is, of course, touch enabled.

- 4G – Of course. It makes this model (a lot) more expensive than most of the competition.

- Bluetooth, WI-FI – they work great and pairing with a Bluetooth device can be done literally in seconds.

In addition to the above, on the ‘the same’ or not necessarily ‘improvements’ category, I noticed no significant change as far as battery life is concerned. Hard to measure it but I would recharge it every couple of days if used for phone/email only and at least daily if a lot of web browsing or video is involved.

On the not-so-good or ‘really annoying’ side, I really hated the abundance of bloatware – I call it ‘crapware’ – that seems to have invaded the Blackberry world. There is an abundance of little pre-installed apps and services that, shortly after you click on and go to the trouble of activating them, it turns out that they are ‘pay’ things, ranging from Pac-Man to TV services, and it’s either impossible or very difficult to remove – I didn’t have the time to waste so I was able to quickly hide them but… there SO MANY of them. If Research…

Read more

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

Was this review helpful to you? 

|

 Comments (7)

I am so impressed with this phone!! The GRAPHICS ARE PHENOMENAL LIKE they are soo Crisp and CLEAN and worse its a touch screen You find yourself just wanting to touch it. BB 9900 SELL OFF!!!! (which means its AMAZING for non-jamaicans ) Also the dealer did a GREAT JOB… I was worried about all that could go wrong with the wrong phone being sent and it not being unloacked… BUT it accepted and works with my digicel chip SO i am A HAPPY CAMPER… so i dont have to worry about an additional cost to unlock the phone etc… THANKS AND I WOULD BUY A PHONE FROM THIS DEALER AGAIN!!! Also this is the first time shopping via AMAZON.com and The experience was wonderful…. THANKSSSS XD

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

Was this review helpful to you? 

|

 Comments (2)

Loving my new bb 9900 bold. The touchscreen is a natural fit and very intuitive to use. Very natural, and works just like you would want it to work.

As of now the email functions of the blackberry are FAR superior to that of any other mobile device, and although still weaker in the browsing and app areas, the amount of email I process keeps me coming back to blackberry again and again.

A few issues I would point out though.
-The trackpad and send end back and menu keys are much too close to the touchscreen, inevitably causing many unintentional clicks, phone calls, etc.
-The software is a little buggy, and frequently the back key resorts to bringing up the switch application function instead of back.
-The lack of UMA is a big problem for me due to no Tmobile cell service in my house, which I solved with UMA on my bold 9780 , only to be back in the problem boat again due to Tmobile taking a step in the wrong direction by removing the. UMA calling feature.

Best,

Morris Braca
CFO
ICCS & Co., LLC

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 

Was this review helpful to you? 

|

 Comment