What is it with BlackBerries and seemingly premature reviews? After
the Onyx got manhandled ahead of schedule, it's the turn of its
close relative, the trackpad-equipped 9700, which has been annointed as successor to the
Bold.
Boy Genius Report spared few superlatives in their examination of the hardware, which praises the 9700 as "the most gorgeous BlackBerry on the planet" and involves a size and feel comparison against the
Tour. Their conclusion was that the new handset draws all the positives from RIM's recent portfolio of phones and ties them together into a very compelling little package. We couldn't spot any downsides, so either this is the best phone ever or somebody got a little carried away -- read up and decide for yourself.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Andy Anonymous @ Sep 22nd 2009 7:31PM
If there was one phone that could make me jealous in spite of my Bold 9000, this one is it. I do, however, kind of wish RIM had kept the width of the original Bold. Not everyone is a fan, but it makes the keyboard that much more comfortable for those of us with large fingers.
James villan @ Sep 22nd 2009 7:37PM
OMG!!!!!!!! i wnt this phone for VERIZON!!!! come on big red get this =D
Plexus @ Sep 22nd 2009 7:43PM
How deadly boring!
RIM has been producing and selling exactly the same phone for the last 5 years.
When they tried to make something new with the Storm it turned out to be a catastrophe.
How long will people keep on buying these soporiphic qwerty candybars?
Can't anybody see how ugly they are?
Burn them all.
Plexus Sucks! @ Sep 22nd 2009 11:54PM
If it ain't broke...
They will stop making them when people stop buying them, I guess...
Why don't people who keep complaining make some suggestions...or do you not have a life and just like to complain?
Plexus @ Sep 24th 2009 8:47PM
Hahaha, look how rabid the poor jerks who still use Blackberrys get when you put under their noses the crappiness of their outdated devices.
Work hard boy, and maybe some day you too will be able to afford a nice Android device like Plexus's HTC Hero or like his one year old HTC TouchHD.
Maybe.
Natsume @ Oct 6th 2009 3:07AM
This is quite funny.. I mean.. hasn't people been saying this for the past 5 years about these phone brands;
(going back in approximate chronological order)
Apple's iPhone
Samsung's sliding phones
Sony Ericsson's candy bars
Nokia's "portable computers"
Motorola's ENTIRE line
I mean, for some companies, it's made them where they are. Look at Nokia and Apple.
Motorola had quite a good run, but burnt out, and Sony Ericsson was kind of steady in business.
Samsung.. well, they're just there to keep the world turning.
When we get into other brands like HTC and BlackBerry... they're bringing out small innovations based on their success, much like Motorola, just.. without the lack of vowels.
It's nice to see BlackBerry up the ante on what they already have, even if it's just aesthetics.
Hell, I'm dead, darn jealous of the 9700 Bold, and might even get it just because ergonomics (size wise) could be much different from my original Bold 9000 that I have. And that, again, could be a good thing.
Anyways, I'm using a BlackBerry Bold 9000 mainly as my phone, and e-mail device.
It's so much easier to use as an all round device about the HTC Touch Pro 2 that I have.
Maybe it's because I've still got to find the right ROM for my phone, but in short...
Using my bluetooth, GPS, listening to music, accepting a phone call in the midst of that and browsing to find my latest post on a forum that I frequent.. It is the MOST enjoyable experience on the BlackBerry because it's quick and responsive.
Unlike the HTC Touch Pro 2, even when I have a simple and clean WWE ROM installed, it's still quite flashy and requires time to allow the eyecandy to load. Sometimes.. just doing stuff.. you don't need the extra animations.
Plus, whenever I come back to my BlackBerry Bold, I'm quite relieve to know that I have a (remappable) HARDWARE button to quickly access my music, and GPS is only two strokes away, and my phone doesn't have to lag to have to always monitor the g-sensor to switch to landscape mode because I already have a HVGA screen, and with all the eyecandy that has to reload and play on my HTC Touch Pro 2.. just a standard background on my BlackBerry looks even more crisp than what I have on my HTC device.
That's not to say that the HTC Touch Pro 2 is bad... I suppose it's good when you just want to impress people.. but you'd impress people FAR greater when you aren't waiting for your GPS to load.. or your browser to open.. when you get things done quickly, in general.
Hope this answers everyone's feelings about BlackBerry VS HTC.
I like my HTC Touch Pro 2 not because I spent 800 dollars on it.. but because.. it's a fun device to use, and much faster to browse and navigate (GPS) with once the program/app settles down. I suppose I'm just glad I'm patient enough to download, install and setup all the cab files that allow me to do the same things I can do readily on the BlackBerry. :3
One thing I like above the BlackBerry on my TP2, the ability to just simply turn over the phone to ignore a call, once you download a cab file for that. "There's a .cab file for that."
pathymo @ Sep 22nd 2009 7:45PM
Its just another blackberry. Nothing new or exciting whatsoever.
rusty @ Sep 22nd 2009 8:24PM
that is one sweeeeeet berry. Curse ATT and thier sub par network!!
Dell Ibedaboss @ Sep 22nd 2009 9:34PM
Ummmmm...can ANYONE explain to me what's the difference between this and the Tour, the new Curve... and EVERY other Blackberry?! optical trackpad?! Whoop-ty do..NOT. Blackberry make solid phones, but this is some BS! The same damn phone, over, and over... and OVER AGAIN!!!! FAIL!
Frozen72 @ Sep 22nd 2009 9:54PM
If Verizon gets it I will 99% sure get it. I want to get the current Tour now that the trackball issue has been improved but the lack of WI-Fi is a deal killer for me. COME ON VERIZON!!!
Adammm @ Sep 22nd 2009 10:53PM
Hi, It's boy genius.
I have a hard on for everything RIM releases.
Chris @ Sep 22nd 2009 11:03PM
The Onyx is the 9700 - the model number was changed from 9020!
The Tour is a CDMA equipped phone, whilst this is GSM - makes a big difference as to which networks you can use! As for differences from the Curve, the 9700 is equipped with UMTS (3G) compared to EDGE which means far faster mobile internet speeds.
nickganga @ Sep 22nd 2009 11:03PM
RIM FTW
kmc1828 @ Sep 23rd 2009 12:19AM
Another boring candybar from RIM...how expected.
I'd love to see a slider/flip BlackBerry (similar to the LG enV3/touch or the HTC Touch Pro series)
Galen20K @ Sep 23rd 2009 12:29AM
This phone is going to be a Killa' on T-Mobile! WHOot!
Best Blackberry to date in every way.
Attila the hun @ Sep 23rd 2009 5:56PM
The Tour lack of wifi kild it for me
kal @ Sep 23rd 2009 10:54AM
this should come to at&t as the Bold2