The design of the BlackBerry Bold 9930BlackBerry Bold 9930 is one of RIM's first phone running BlackBerry OS 7. Keyboard
is just awesome - this is the best physical keyboard on any phone I've
ever used, boasting the right size and shape for the thumb, with the
perfect amount of backlighting. It
really is not too surprising, because the keyboard mobile phone which
RIM is usually superior, but still very much appreciated. Texture
button feels a little more "matte" than some previous bolds, a definite
improvement if you think they are a bit slippery.
The
buttons on the panel incredible juga.kontrol smooth chrome colored,
each one stands out just the right distance from the frame up. Even
the volume buttons slightly sloping downward toward each other, so that
the trained fingertips can quickly tell by touch up and down. And screen-lock button hidden wise. It is the details, but it was said that RIM has serious consideration each and every one of them.
Finally, Bold weighs just 4.6 ounces, less hefty than the previous 9650 (which must have felt too heavy). It's not quite as featherlight as the Curve, Bold but certainly much more feature rich. For
what this phone does not, the weight feels just right - a touchscreen
and a 1.2GHz processor need batteries to support them, after all. It's still very friendly to the hands and pockets (and, especially, 0.3 ounces lighter than the iPhone 4S).
BlackBerry Bold 9930 is one of RIM's first phone running BlackBerry OS 7. But
the system 7 is the last iteration of the "old" software BlackBerry,
RIM switched stopgap until completely rewritten to QNX-based BlackBerry
10 later this year. To be sure, BlackBerry 7 provides a great mobile experience.
Then when you download, the real fun begins. First, there is no easy "upgrade all" option when you have to wait a few upgrades. Apps
also routinely require you to reboot before you use them, and for some
reason they sometimes they want you to install a version after version
prior to the latest one. What is this, Windows? At least you do not have to enter a password for every single download, even free ones, like on iOS.
On the good side, has a touch screen to complement keyboard is a big plus. I have used all kinds of BlackBerry and Bold button combo hard and virtual interfaces are far the most powerful. Whenever you are having trouble navigating the screen, just tap, slide or pinch yourself through it. And for banging out a text message or email, the keyboard is second to none.
Phone calls are good, nice and crisp with minimal distortion. I have always found to be a competent mobile phone BlackBerry, but surprisingly the opposite is used for voice calls. Because
the device began as an email-only pager, the basics of BlackBerry
phones demotes design calls for the kind of reflection (ie the number of
"borrowed" from the keyboard, the phone app is not front and center).
Bold offers a 1.2GHz processor, but strangely sluggish at times. Maybe
I'm just used to the offerings of dual-core Android and Apple, but I
found the Bold into mediocrity in doing things like browsing the web,
play YouTube videos and Facebook to call the album. It is a decent phone for today, but years from now it will definitely be in the slow lane.
The
camera is very good, good performance in low light without flash (as
long as you and your subject silent), with very short shutter lag. Most camera phones these days are comparable, so it's good to see RIM have not fallen behind here. Video maxes out at 720p resolution, but it will be more than enough for most.
The
bottom line: The BlackBerry Bold 9930 is a phone that is very beautiful
and well designed, with solid features and even a cool little extras
(such as near field communication, or NFC, mobile payment applications).
Which makes it a shame that it is burdened with BlackBerry 7 OS, which is just not the full smartphone experience here in 2012. This
is a phone you might want casual dating for a few months because it's
so pretty, but it's really just not bright enough to meet your needs in a
long-term relationship.
Pro
Solid industrial design and detailed
Excellent battery
Good low-light camera with minimal shutter lag
Cons
Operating system primitives
Small screen
Elections poor app
Key Specifications
2.6 x 4.5 x 0.41 inches (W x H x D)
4.59 ounces
Mobile world: CDMA / GSM / UMTS
35-key backlit QWERTY keyboard
2.8-inch capacitive touchscreen
640 x 480 pixels (287 dpi)
5-megapixel camera with flash
720p video recording
8GB of storage
Bluetooth 2.1
Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b/g/n)
