BlackBerry Bold review: we’ve been rockin’ it for a month
This might be a shocker out there to many, but we do actually, you know, not leak things from time to time. What’s important here, is that we’ve been rockin’ a BlackBerry Bold for around a month now, and we’ve got a great handle on the unit. From hardware to software, this is going to be the most complete BlackBerry Bold review, period. If you’re really ready, hit the jump. You might need a couple cigarettes and a cup of coffee — it’s long!
RIM’s BlackBerry Bold 9000, huh? We knew it was coming since October of last year ever since we broke the news, and since then, this has been the BlackBerry communities iPhone. Sorry for an iPhone reference so early on in the review, but it’s true. This is the device every single BlackBerry user has been waiting for. Finally a BlackBerry that “has it all.” 3G, GPS, Wi-Fi, QWERTY keyboard, camera, great screen, clean styling, and more. Since this has been our day to day BlackBerry exclusively, we’ve been through a lot of ups and downs with the Bold. Here’s a recap on our first day with the Bold, followed by our full review…
Remember all that talk about overheating and battery drain? It definitely wasn’t crap — we’ll tell you that! Even still, the device gets a little warm, but nothing to get too concerned about. RIM has made strides in regards to updated software builds for the Bold. Let’s bring you back to when we first got the device, ok? We thanked our very friendly FedEx Sameday delivery man (or delivery person since there’s this cute female that sometimes brings us goodies… anyway) and proceeded immediately to remove the SIM card and microSD card from our BGR edition BlackBerry Curve 8310. After that, we took a bat to it, Office Space style. Once the battery was installed in the Bold, we patiently waited for the unit to turn on.
One minute went by. Then two. Then three. What in the heck? Isn’t this supposed to be at least double the speed of the older models? When the unit finally powered up, we were greeted by the usual Setup Wizard. After canceling out of that (I can remove languages manually, athankyou) it was time to explore the device. At first glance, the first thing you’ll see is obviously the gorgeous screen on the 9000. We can safely say that this is the best screen we’ve ever seen on a mobile device. Hands down. So, yeah, after messing around with a couple applications and exploring, it was time to turn on wireless and connect to AT&T’s mothership. 5 bars of service showed up with the GSM indicator. Then EDGE. Oh boy, we’re so close! Finally 3G appeared. We were in business! But not so fast. No sooner than the 3G indicator showed up, the device for some reason restarted. All ‘Berry lovers will know this all too well. Red LED, black screen. After waiting for another three or four minutes for the device to power up again, the same thing happened! Everything was ok until we tried to turn wireless on. Oh bother. What now? The Bold did this in an endless loop for a good two hours. The battery was only at 40% so we figured we’d let it keep passing out until it was fully charged. Bad plan because that didn’t help. After managing to sneak in right at start-up and turn off wireless mode, the device was stable again. Great. What good is a BlackBerry as a PDA? Don’t answer that. By now we practically had a gun pointed to our heads. We messed with a Bold before, but we can’t even use our first unit? After a quick call to one of our BlackBerry ninjas, we were promptly sent an updated software build. Now it was time to update the OS.
We opened up Desktop Manager 4.5 and proceeded to update the device. This part totally blew us away! Gone are the days of a 30-45 minute backup and update. It probably took no more than 6 minutes to backup the device, erase the applications, load the system software and what not. The only part that took a little bit was waiting for the device to initialize after everything was done. As soon as we booted up with the new OS, we were good! The Bold connected to the network just fine and we did our enterprise activation. First thing we did? Check out BlackBerry Messenger! God knows if there’s one thing making us keep out BlackBerrys… The new client isn’t drastically different but has some semi-cool additions. For instance, the layout is the same but graphics for online, away, and unavailable have changed. You can set an alert so you are notified when a buddy comes back online, and you can broadcast a message to everyone you have an open conversation with. Digging a little deeper into Messenger, we found that you can enable an option to change your status when you are on the phone, and even change your status automatically to reflect whatever MP3 you are playing on the device. Totally iChatish, but not that bad.
After Messenger, it was on to the browser. At first, nothing looked different at all. That was until we brought up BGR on it. The BlackBerry web browser has indeed been redone to act more like a web browser and not a piece of garbage 1990’s WAP browser. Pages render awfully quick over 3G, and even on EDGE. They are formatted 90% of the time correctly and images look sharp and crisp. You’ve now got new controls with the trackball. Instead of just a mouse cursor like before, the default setting is a zoom key. Just scroll over what you’d like to zoom into, press the trackball and zoom. This can also be achieved by pressing “i” and “o” for zoom in and zoom out respectively on the keyboard.
We fired off some emails on the keyboard, made some phone calls, and started to sit back, relax, and have fun with our new BlackBerry Bold. Battery life improved 10 fold when the new OS was installed, and the overheating we noticed quickly dissipated. It still gets a little warm when you’re freakin’ it, but oh well. Here’s the full review on the device and the most recent software build. We’re not basing the review on the extremely crappy builds before this.
Design:
Some might say it looks awfully like an iPhone. But not Mr. Lazaridis. According to him, every BlackBerry device is “three years in the making.” They couldn’t possibly have made the device around the iPhone since they started it three years ago, right? In all seriousness, it has a couple similar design features like a chrome border around the unit and black front, but it really stops there. We don’t think they said to themselves, “let’s copy the iPhone.” The chrome you see on the Bold is nothing more than cheap plastic that scratches very easily, though.
Screen:
We said this before, but this really is the screen to beat. It might be a little too “contrasty” at times, if you know what we mean, but overall, it steals the show. It is the most vibrant, color-rich, sharp screen we’ve ever seen on a mobile device. It can be extremely bright if that’s how you like it, or subtlety lower. The auto-dim features on BlackBerry devices let the screen adjust to your surrounding so it doesn’t disrupt you. One major problem with the screen, though? It, like the chrome border around the device, is made of cheap plastic and scratches incredibly easily. We kept the Bold in either pants pockets with nothing else in there or a BlackBerry leather holster. After only a day or so, scratches started to appear out of no where on the gorgeous display. They better ship this thing with free scratch protectors!
Keyboard:
If you know us, you know we don’t let keyboards off easy! And if there is anyone who understands keyboards, it’s usually RIM. Think of the 9000’s keyboard as a cross between the 8800 and the Pearl. The keys are pretty large in size, a little squishy, but still firm. They are not plasticky-feeling like the Curves. After only around 10-15 minutes we found ourselves typing almost as fast as were on our 8310. The layout of the keyboard is exactly the same as you’d find on other BlackBerrys. Even all symbols and other markings are in the same spot. This makes it easy to jump right into the device. The send, BlackBerry, back, and end keys are abnormally large, though. It’s not bad. It’s just awkward for some reason. They all work fine, but we can’t figure why RIM decided to make them so big. Possibly a design situation where they had an overall device size ready, couldn’t make it any smaller, and ended up filling the dead space with larger keys. Keyboard back-lighting is great, too. Just the accents, letters, and symbols light up white. Not the entire key like the Curve.
Connectivity:
Every BlackBerry users’ dream lies in the Bold. 3G data, GPS, and Wi-Fi make this a hit. Unless you’re really trying not to be found, there’s a good chance the Bold is going to help you stay connected no matter where you are. A-GPS in the Bold works wonderfully, always getting a fast and accurate lock on location whenever requested. The included BlackBerry Maps works well, but since TeleNav hooked us up, we’re using that for the moment without a hitch. Er, AT&T Navigator. If you’ve ever used a BlackBerry with Wi-Fi, it’s pretty much the same concept. Select a Wi-Fi network and off you go. This is especially useful when you’re in a low or no coverage area yet have access to a Wi-Fi hotspot. We found no issues while using the 3G cell network and Wi-Fi at the same time, though it was actually using Wi-Fi for data. You can’t use Wi-Fi if you turn the cell radio off, but you can use Wi-Fi when you have no cell signal. Food for thought? We’ve noticed that sometimes while using Wi-Fi, the device will lose connection to the BlackBerrt network on the cell network. Possibly a battery-saving enhancement?
OS:
We said this from the start… the 4.6 OS is 99% the same as your current BlackBerry. Assuming you’re not using an 8700 or something like that. Little things have been tweaked to make using the device a little easier and quicker, but for the most part, you’re basically looking at a skin on the top level. That’s not to say there haven’t been some changes beneath the surface, but for the average BlackBerry user, you’re not going to really notice anything besides the semi-pretty UI enhancements. It’s now July 15th, and even running the latest 4.6.0.93 build, we’re still pulling the battery out a good 10 times a day. Why? Between the constant java errors, and the BlackBerry completely losing service and informing us it’s “Searching for Network…”. That’s why. What’s sad is that even with this bad-ass 624MHz CPU, we still get slow downs and we still get freezes. Don’t get it mixed up, it is 100% faster than any other BlackBerry. We just can’t understand why this thing isn’t really optimized like it should be. Ah! Because the OS is from 1999. That’s it.
Applications:
Again, mostly top level stuff, but there have been a couple added applications. These include WordToGo, PowerPointToGo, WordMole, and a couple other games that have been around for a while. There’s something beneath the surface called BlackBerry Game Service, and what this does is allows true multi-player games over either the cell network or Wi-Fi. We beat the crap out of our friend in WordMole who was half way across the country. Sorry, buddy. One of our favorite applications, if not the favorite, is BlackBerry Messenger like we said before. In the updated BlackBerry Messenger, you’ll find added functionality such as being able to broadcast a message to all open conversations, letting your status change automatically when you’re on the phone, and also changing your status to reflect whatever song is playing on the media player. HTML email is obviously a go assuming you’re on a BIS 2.5 carrier or your company has hacked HTML email back into BES 4.1.5. Totally awesome feature, though? If you’re downloading an attachment and highlight that email, it will show you a status bar indicated how far along the download is. Welcome to 2008, RIM. Now could you please stop being pansies and show us a progress bar for outgoing messages please? You know, some of us actually like to send videos and pictures and what not. Oh yeah! Video over BlackBerry Messenger too, while we’re at it. Kthnkz.
Browser:
The web browser was actually one of the last things ready on the Bold as we were told. The earlier versions had a browser nowhere near what we’ve been using, and we have to say… it’s pretty darn good! It’s no iPhone, but it definitely does the job. Any BlackBerrry user whether corporate or consumer will definitely appreciate the new browser’s improved rendering, speed, and controls. It actually shows web pages how they are supposed to be shown, but the navigation can get a little tiring. Instead of the regular mouse pointer that we’ve been used to lately, the pointer is now by default a zoom in pointer. A couple clicks of the trackball, and you’ve zoomed into the web page. Sometimes the page will reformat to the screen, sometimes it won’t. Forget about Flash or anything sexy, but the browser has definitely been upgraded pretty nicely.
Battery life:
Another concern possible Bold buyers have is battery life. There’s been so much information floating around, what’s the real story? Up until around 3-4 weeks ago, every build of the OS we tried had major battery problems. Random restarts, device totally dead within a couple hours, etc. With the latest software version, we can safely say we’re getting as good or better battery life than we did with our Curve. Yes. Isn’t that awesome? Thanks to 1500mAh battery and a crap load of engineering on RIM’s part, they’ve finally got it nailed down. To give y’all a little usage detail: 300-500 emails a day, one hour of web surfing over 3G, Wi-Fi usually turned on, Bluetooth turned off, JiveTalk connected, and around one hour of phone calling (we don’t really use the BlackBerry as a phone) lasted us from 9AM until 4:30AM.
Sound quality:
RIM is trying to step it up in the sound department, and it shows. Instead of a covered speaker like the Curve, there are speaker grills on both sides of the device, and also on the top as well. Sound quality from playing back music sounds decent. Not great, not terrible. It could be a little louder, but even as it stands, music is still distorting on the loudest volume setting. Also, the speakerphone volume could definitely be louder as we found it lower than our Curve.
Call quality:
We’ve found call quality to be fantastic. It’s definitely the most phone-like BlackBerry to date. People we spoke to sounded crystal clear and they said we sounded great. The earpiece volume was also sufficiently loud, so there should be no problems there. That 3G network is also probably helping a lot with call quality as well, no?
Build quality:
This one is a tricky one. We have a production hardware unit, and the trackball can get a little shady. Then again, don’t all BlackBerrys? There are no creaks with the device, and it seems sturdy as heck. The screen could possible be an issue as it looks like it’s a cheap plastic, and the “chrome” border around the body is also a lower-grade plastic. At least it seems that way to us. Expect for the screen to be scratched to all hell, and for nicks, scrapes, and dents to show up on the device body. On our unit, the back battery cover is a little loose towards where the release button is and kind of moves in and out when you press it. We’re not sure if that will be resolved when the device is released, but it can definitely get kind of annoying. We wouldn’t call the Bold fragile but we don’t think its built as well as the Curve.
So what do you guys think? Happy with our review? Want a Bold even more now… even less? Sound off. And look for some more posts on the Bold coming shortly.
I purchased the Blackberry bold 3 months ago. At first it worked well and I was happy with it. About one month ago, I noticed the battery would not hold its charge as long as it used to. Also, the device drops calls frequently. I would remove the battery to reset the device. After reinstalling the battery, the startup takes about 2 mintues! Last week, the external speakers failed. And now, the battery will not charge at all. Right now, I am not happy with this device. It is not as sturdy as my previous blackberry nor the blackjack II. Buy with caution!!!
Nice article but having used blackberries in a busy medical dept for yrs now, the bold has been a dissapointment for me.. It crashes 1-2x/wk for no apparent reason. Screen will not return unless you removed battery and restart phone. As we receive a discount w ATT at work, many of use have a bold and have had the same problem… not just me. Also, sometimes when placing calls w all bars up- there’s a long delay- too long. It’s great for texting! Seems to get overwhelmed easiy…
CDMA is UMTS/3G
I’ve had the Bold since it was first released on at&t… most of the issues I’ve had with random powercycles and battery life are similiar to what I’ve had with previous BlackBerries; I use it to death, so I’ve just learned to have chargers all over the place. I also beat my phones up a lot (never EVER buy a phone without insurance, folks) and only had a case on it for a week, so I can tell you from experience that the screen does NOT scratch easily at all. The poor thing gets dropped, thrown, stepped on, slept on, wrestled by my kids, used in the rain, shoved in pockets, battered by keys and generally abused. The only nicks are tiny ones on the chrome edging from one of the many times it landed face down on pavement. 6 months and no trackball issues either like I had with my Curve (would only move up and down).
Studying my options and your review is the best. Very detailed and entertaining. Keep it up.
so what about the back cover that won’t stay on? I have used Curve for several years and upgraded only to discover Curve keyboard wobbles on new models _ I tested 8 Curves at the store – so went to the more expensive Bold (3G)/ Internet is no faster and back cover keeps falling off. Tacky workmanship for a $400 phone – no wonder I Phone is picking up market share – in our house 3 have switched to I phone and look at me like I’m nuts sticking to Bold – any solution as primary need is e-mail and we have blackbery server
Anyone else with this problem?
This reveiw was very helpfull I wasn’t sure if I want to ever buy a Blackberry with all the problems I had with my lateest Blackberry8310 Curve I was sorry I ever got one but it seem that The Bold has solve all the magor problems I’ve come accross and more that I haven’t yet. I’m pleaed that I have deceided to have given Blackberry one more try.
I bought the Bold. Huge mistake.
I’ve gone through 4 of them since Christmas.
Each time all of my saved information, applications, settings, and e-mails are wiped. First one was a software issue…the software was so dysfunctional that they ended up not even being able to load the OS update, so I received a second which boasted the same issue in addition to sucking down battery power like it was water. The third blackberry’s screen sustained a small crack in the upper left corner which disabled the screen in its entirety. The fourth has just received a large scratch to the screen, and I am unable to tell whether or not this is a crack but assume the thing’s on its way out.
Keep in mind, I baby my phones. I buy them all sorts of protective sleeves and cases and never put them in pants pockets or other hazardous areas.
Major problems:
Battery Life – heat exposure and anything but full-drainage, one-sitting full charge will absolutely ruin your battery life. When purchased the Bold’s battery life is impressive, to say the least.
Delicate Screen – the screen is incredibly easy to scratch, depress, or crack. I’m talking INCREDIBLY easy. I dropped my phone onto poured concrete from a height of 1.5 feet and the screen developed a small crack that disabled any viewing ability. the whole thing went white.
Trackball – goes out very quickly
Buttons/Keyboard – become loose and squeaky, the top four command buttons near the trackball will cease to function sporadically
The chrome trim – incredibly cheap plastic…butter soft. Your phone will not survive a single upset unscathed.
The only other issue is that the operating system isn’t particularly intuitive…i’m having difficulty deleting many applications that I have no use for. Additionally my reception with AT&T is god-awful, which is upsetting given I switched over from the superior verizon for this phone. Even with insurance, it’s well over one hundred dollars to replace.
Learned my lesson…Usually the more expensive phones are made with higher quality and more durable materials. Unfortunately that is not the case with the Bold. RIM really cut corners on this one.
Forgot to add:
Even with the updates current, my blackberry crashes multiple times per week, disabling its use for up to 20 minutes. Very inconvenient if you need to make a call. Additionally, sometimes you have to make calls 3 or 4 times before they’ll go through. Also, the Bold definitely DOES have an overheating problem. With no additional apps and ONE e-mail address attached, all of these problems have been experienced in addition to the fact that the phone becomes so hot from even a five-minute phone call that the battery is compromised by heat damage.
Newbie question: I don’t really want a data plan. Want the Bold as an organizer and phone. Plan to get a voice/data plan in order to get the phone cheap, and then later cancel the data part. Will the WiFi still work?
The Bold sucks!! I have been a blackberry user since they came out. I thought the Bold would have solved the past problems, no only does the battery overheat and go dead by the 10th hour, it consistently freezes up, powers down and tells me I have no GPS signal. Now a new problem has cropped up where the screen goes entirely black with the last flashing four blips over and over. When you call me it goes straight to voicemail like it is off! This is my thrid replacement in 6 months and to tell you the truth I am heading to the Iphone!
Hi I live is Srilanka, Just Purchased my BB Bold from a one of the 3 providers in SL. I am experiencing fast battery drain, the OS version installed is v4.6.0.451 .
Can anyone advice me how I can prolong the battery life on this phone and if there is another newer OS to download to fix my problems? Thanks
Just ordered my new bold and reading some of the reviews I’m thinking that I shouldn’t have bothered. I use and E71 at the mo and the RF is somewhat to be desired so I thought hey blackberry is all the rage, I’ll give it go. I’m kinda having second thoughts I’ll post again in a couple of weeks to let you guys know how I fair. Lets see if I’m back to the old trusty Nokia.
THE BOLD IS CRAP for calls! I just received my 3rd Bold in less than 2 months, Everyone I have talked to know matter what service carrier they have the same issues, dropped calls, failed calls, etc. You hvae to keep this phone plugged into the charger or your battery will be dead FAST!
I love the bb keyboard better than the I Phone for text and emails which I send a lot of but if you need to make a call good luck.
I just uploaded the new software and it is supposed to switch to the Edgw which it doesnt.
Stay away from this phone!!! PERIOD!!!
Just got my second bold because the radio is bad in it, but the new one drops calls faster than the old one. Not a good radio in these things at all.
bought BB BOLD month back, in 15 days a small highlighted line from left top corner at 45 degree. kept growing and in nxt 10 days reached in the centre. I spoke to the dealer who sent me to the stockist, who gave me a no which never went thru. upon calling the help line he gave me a no which didnt belong to the Service centre. Finally managed to reach the service guys who said as it a month over we need to send the same to Banagalore and would need 10 days to ascertain a repair or change. I really curse myself for buying a BB…
I have had my Bold for about 2 months now. I have not had ANY of the issues I am reading about! I love my Bold! I have about a dozen apps installed, and if I have several of them open during the day, yes, it will drain the battery, but I still have 50% by bedtime, and I just plug it in. I’ve never yet had to do a reset aside from after one of my app installs. I have a screen protector on it, and I’ve dropped it numerous times already…you’d never tell. No scratches anywhere. Phone works great, sounds great. This phone is solid, far more than anything I’ve had previously. WONDERFUL graphics! Keys have a great shape, which helps shorten the learning curve dramatically.
I got rid of my first BBerry some years back, hated it. I was toying with an iPhone, but the functionality of the Bold won me over. I have it sync’d with my itunes, loaded with apps and games, syncs my gmail calendar and mail…what else could I want? HIGHLY recommend this device!
A great review as I am pondering a Bold or a Storm. Presently an I-Phone user and not been happy with it. Still can’t decide which blackberry to choose though!
My first BlackBerry was a Pearl 8130. Nice phone but it really lacked the power and resources to do all I wanted to do. After a year, I bought the Bold. Had to pay full price for it since I was only a year into my 3 year contract, but it was worth every cent!
This thing is fast, darn fine looking, and top shelf quality from processor to ear-piece. The sound quality is fantastic in-call or on loudspeaker, the screen is vibrant and sharp and the keyboard nice and crisp.
With 3G along with the 624mHz processor, this device replaces my iPod Touch, and both my hand held and dash-mount GPS systems. It plays the podcasts I listen to on my phone nicely, or through PodTrapper, and with a couple apps (one free, the other I paid $30) I have both GPS devices all wrapped up in one piece. So I don’t need a $230 iPod, a $280 GPS for the car, or a $200 hand held GPS for hiking or Geo Caching.
I see that some people in this post are unhappy with the Bold. I guess it could be a matter of personal taste or they have had bad luck with their Bold, and I’m sorry to hear that, but I have had no issues with mine at all (knock on wood) and I’m very happy with it. After using the iPod Touch, basically an iPhone (I was making calls with it over Wi-Fi using Fring), I just didn’t like tapping the screen to type – couldn’t get used to it. Plus, I like being able to switch between apps on the fly. Can’t do that with the iPhone.
I’ll stick with the Bold. None of the new BlackBerry models that have come out since have been able to turn my head yet, but who knows what the future brings.
The blackberry bold is a lot more sturdier than the blackjack II and older blackberry’s. You are seriously mistaken for what you are saying about the bold.
I have had my bold for more than a year. Just started having the problem with it rebooting and crashing over this weekend. I am a trauma doctor on call this weekend too… It has been a nightmare.
Well guys, I’ve had my BB for just over a month now and all I can say is that I think it is really cool. The calling is fab, sound quality is spot on, the e-mail just comes through with ease and the sound for the MP3 is fantastic. It’s that good I have done away with my Ipod. I bought a 16Gb card for it and away I went. Don’t get me wrong there are a few niggles I have but only 1 minor and 2 major. The minor is that the camera is crap compared to a nokia but I didn’t buy it for taking photo’s that’s why I have spent £500 on a Nikon.
The Majors so simple it’s untrue, the bloody thing can’t send business cards! I can buy a £10 Nokia and it can do that, but a £400 business phone can’t. What’s the crack there?
The other major is no skype. I have got so used to being logged onto skype and people calling me; me calling the States and Europe for free.
My overall impression is good and the score upto now is 7.5/10. If just phone and e-mail then a resounding 10/10, but hey we can’t have it all can we RIM.
I have to say I am a little bit nervous about opening the box on my new Bold… but then again it can’t be any worse than this past week I spent with my shiny new 32g iPhone… Uggggh! I was convinced by my wife.. a loyal iPhone user since day 1…that I would love it .. I would adapt.. I would get use to the keyboard and it would change my life! It changed it alright… clients didn’t get call backs cause I could never feel it ring… the amount of expletives that I found in my vocabulary after trying to type emails on the fly… or having to stop walking… was insane… long story short.. I used up an upgrade that I had been saving for 2 years.. and ended up selling the thing within a week …. hope my Bold gets here soon!!!
Phil,
I do agree with you anout the IPhone, my sons sais I would love it so I put my Blackberry aside and tried it for one week. I lasted two days and went back to by Blackberry. Even with the battery draining right away (which I keep a spare now) I appreciate my Blackberry even more. I have had a Blackberry for 5 years and will stay. I just hope the next model they will have worked out the kinks!
yeah i love it when it turns off randomly all the time… i dont know if its just my bold , but mine turns off randomly allllll the time and its a pain because blackberrys take 5 minutes to turn on like a computer.. i have been in so many situations where my phone will randomly turn off and i REALLY need to use it , makes me wanna throw it… the slightest fall will turn it off… this morning i had my alarm set for 5 am so i could study before school… my phone fell from my bed, and shut off… slept in till 6 30 and missed out on studying because of my blackberry bold..this made me so mad that i came on this site to complain