The Blackberry Bold 9700

AT&T is now offering the update to the Blackberry Bold 9000, the new and improved Blackberry Bold 9700. It is more powerful, useful, and chic than the previous version, and for $99 after rebates and a two year contract, it’s a very good deal that incorporates everything that you could possibly need for work related business.

The design of the Bold 9700 is slimmer and lighter than its predecessor. The smartphone measures 4.3 x 2.4 x 0.6 inches and weighs 4.3 ounces. The back panel is made of faux leather, while the rest of the phone features chrome accents and full-size keys that spread across the entire width of the phone. Although it is not a touch screen, the LCD screen is extremely bright and sharp. The display resolution comes in at 480 x 360 pixels. The QWERTY keyboard on the Bold 9700 is fantastic. It is easy to use, accurate, and very quiet. The optical trackpad is another welcome improvement over the easily broken trackball that can be found on the Bold 9000.

The Bold is credited as a quad-band EDGE and quad-band HSDPA 3.6 device with Wi-Fi. The device uses Wi-Fi for data purposes but does support Wi-Fi calling like a lot of T-Mobile’s smartphones.

When the Bold 9700 was compared to the iPhone 3GS for call quality, clarity, and crispness, the Bold came out on top. I found this very impressive. It also has a fantastic speakerphone that is able to project perfectly. Battery life averages at about 6 hours and 45 minutes of continuous talk time when in 3G mode.

The Bold features a 624 MHz processor and Blackberry OS 5.0. This offers upgraded Web browsers, threaded text messages, and a variety of other enhancements. Included with the phone is push e-mail for accounts including Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Exchange. There are about 3,000 apps that are available to buy and download from the Blackberry App World. Included on the phone is AT&T’s Navigator which features TeleNav-powered GPS directions. IM clients are not preloaded on the Bold, but they can be easily downloaded from major accounts for free. With the Documents to Go software, you can view and edit Word and Excel files and even display PowerPoint presentations right from your smartphone.

The list of impressive features just continues on as the Bold is also an excellent music player. It syncs with both PCs and Macs and even syncs unprotected iTunes music and playlists. You can also easily download MP3 tracks from Napster or eMusic. Included with the Bold 9700 is a pair of wired stereo earbuds and a standard-size 3.5mm headphone jack. AT&T even throws in a 2GB microSD card for storing all your media files. The card is conveniently stored underneath the battery cover.

The 3.2-megapixel camera on the Bold 9700 should serve all your purposes well. It features image stabilization, auto-focus, and an LED flash. The photos seems sharp and well balanced. The video is 480 x 360-pixels, 28 frames per second, and extremely sharp and smooth.

The Blackberry Bold 9700 is a fantastic smartphone with a multitude of features. It has quite a bit of competition in AT&T’s lineup, but I feel that it stays towards the top with its low price tag, sleek design, and many impressive features. If your looking for a new smartphone, this is definitely one direction to consider.