BlackBerry Bold 9700 > Reviews (38)

Introduction

This phone was bought one month ago as a christmas present as my brothers previous phone has broken and had a crack down the screen due to an unfortunate incident with a park swing and it falling out of his pocket. He was wanting to get a Blackberry as it seems to be a teenager trend at the minute and all his friends had the BBM and the instant messages which he didn't have previously. We took a look on O2 and the price for this phone brand new was over £400 and i was definitely not going to pay that after the last swing incident, but he was definite that he wanted that phone so i bought the phone brand new off eBay for £220 which was amazing and a fraction of the price from O2. In the past month he has been really happy with his phone and doesn't feel the service provided by the phone or Blackberry could be any better. He is literally attached to his phone which is not always good, but the use out of it is great.

What Do You Get In The Box?

• The Blackberry Bold 9700
• 
  Wall Charger
• USB Lead
• User Manuals/Instruction Guide
• In Car Charger
• Spare Battery
• Earphones

First Setting Up The Phone

The first thing you do when you purchase your phone is obviously set it up. My brother was certain he was going to do it himself without help, as it was his phone and i didn't mind at all. He is 14 by the way. He firstly used the user manuals and instruction guides which come with the phone to assist him and assure that he was doing the correct things, which was really good. The user manuals he found easy to follow, and he managed to set his phone up easily. The phone was sent charged from the seller on eBay whether this is the case on all the Blackberry phones i am unsure, but the charge time of the Blackberry phones is under one hour anyway so the waiting time is not much of a problem. When turned on, the phone asks for the current time and date which is really easy to enter. The phone was completely empty so contacts where the first place to go, and entering contacts was also easy and efficient and he managed to add a lot in a short time. The memory card could be slotted in and everything was ready to use. The efficiently of setting up the phone was great and he managed to do it really easily which was fantastic. The user manuals which i will come onto next really helped, and made the job even easier than it was already. The rate of the efficiently to set up the phone on is 10/10!

User Manuals and Step By Step Guides

One thing I personally love about Blackberry, is the fact that the user manuals and step by step guides are really easy to follow and use, no matter your age, or your outlook on technology. Both the user manual and instruction guide came in the box to the phone, in a plastic wallet which prevented them from folding or creasing and kept them in overall good condition. The user manual and the step by step guides use simple language which is really good and makes them easy to use and follow. They also use lots of high quality diagrams which are labelled, which is good and you can then relate to what you actually have in front of you, whereas you might not know what the posh names mean!

They both also come in quite a few languages which is great if you want to read in something other than English. The user manuals helped set up the phone efficiently, and if you are ever in trouble you can relate to them right the way for help. If you are unable to find your user manual, or want one online, they can be found on the Blackberry website which i will post on the review towards the bottom under contact. Overall we have rated the user manuals as fantastic because they are easy to follow, and guide you really well.

Program Computer Installation

The CD installed on the computer efficiently with ease. It took only a couple of minutes to install the program onto the laptop or the computer. The instructions throughout the installation where simple to follow and where available in quite a few languages if you wanted them in something else other than English. One thing which i did like about the installation was the fact that it didn't take up a lot of room on my computer, which is good because then you have a lot of memory left for other things! Once it had been installed it left a nice looking blackberry logo on your desktop. The icon doesn't look cheap and is fairly simple so i liked it. The program on the computer was really good. The instructions are easy to follow again, and the buttons are simple and you know what you are clicking on. There is also a help button available if you find yourself in trouble or you can turn back to the user manual which also has information on how to use the program. On the program you can install music, apps, videos and lots of other things onto your phone, which is also very simple. Simply just drag the items you want off your computer memory onto the Blackberry program and press the install button towards the top and it installs them onto your phone efficiently. The program for on your computer is fantastic and so easy to use, again if you have lost the CD for installation you can download it off the Blackberry website which i will list below under contact.

Blackberry Messenger

Blackberry Messenger is one of the most known apps or features on the Blackberry. Blackberry Messenger is a mixture of MSN Messenger and text messaging. It is very easy to use which makes it great and easy for anyone. When you get your Blackberry you get a Blackberry PIN code which is your personal code so friends and family can add you. When people add you, you can accept them or decline them, also ignoring future messages which is Blackberry's prevent of bullying scheme. On Blackberry Messenger, you have your own little profile which you can change your status, photo, and whether you are available or not. Chatting to your friends and family could not be easier, just go down your contacts and start a chat. Apps are also available to add extra emoticons onto Blackberry Messenger and text. Once your messages have sent, a tick and D appears on the main menu which stand for Delivered, and will change to a tick and a R to indicate the person has read it.

It will also show when they are typing a message to you. Via Blackberry Messenger you can also send or receive files such as music, images, and videos, by just going on the file and pressing send! The BBM as it is called makes contacting your friends easy. BBM does cost, you can get it for £5 off O2 per month or if you purchase your Blackberry on contract the BBM usage will be on with the price. Despite the latest news reports giving poor recommendations on the BBM, both me and my brother use it on our Blackberry's and would label it the most used feature on the phone. The £5 is really cheap when compared with all of the people we talk with. One negative off the BBM is if your signal is poor, or at certain times your messages can sometimes take a little extra to send. If i was to rate the BBM i would definitely rate it 9/10.

QWERTY Keyboard

One of the main looking features on all of the Blackberry phones, is the world-wide known small keyboard situated on the phones. The buttons for typing appear just like you would find on your laptop or computer. Shift buttons, backspace buttons, and capital buttons are also included. Number can be typed by hold shift and the corresponding key. People do say that the buttons are too small for them to type but i have found them a perfect size, and the easy layout of keys which i am used to from typing all of the time, aids me in typing out text messages easily and efficiently. The keys on the phone are securely fixed onto the phone and cannot come off which is great especially if you drop your phone. However with extensive use of the phone the print on the keys can wear down quite fast but that has barely became a problem for me so far, and i do message quite a lot. The bad points about the keyboard is the fact that some people may find the keys a little too small to type with despite me finding them fine, and they do make a little clicking noise which can get annoying after a bit, but overall the keyboard find is really good.

Blackberry App World

I personally love the app world on Blackberry. They hold so many apps from the weather to games, which is great because there is something for everybody and you can personalise your phone to your own taste. The app world is a small icon on your Blackberry menu, which is the blackberry logo in a circle. The App World does need internet to work so it would help if you had a contract or a bolt on which had internet included. The O2 £5 bolt on i mentioned previously does include internet for use on the Blackberry App World. The App World is simple to use and you can browse the different apps easily. When you click on a app (application) which you think you may be interested in you can look at preview screenshots of the app, and also reviews on what other people think of them and what the app does in general. You perhaps could read one of my reviews on there! Most apps are free but some you do have to pay for and are about 69p and over for certain ones which is not a lot at all for what you get.

On the Blackberry App World you can also purchase theme's which change the theme of your Blackberry and will change the design of your menu and so on. The apps download efficiently and fast onto your phone, and when they need updating a small logo will reveal at the top of your main screen with the Blackberry App World Logo with a Blackberry (*). On the App World games, apps, and themes can be purchased. Overall we would rate the Blackberry App World as 10/10 because we don't think that it could be any better, and there is a giant amount of apps, games and theme's which can be found on the App.

Memory and Storage

This Blackberry Bold has lots of memory which another thing I love about it , it has about 256MB. This means you can download loads of photo's, video's, music and apps with no problems at all. If you do find yourself short of memory you can easily put a memory card in the phone, which is hole is situated on top of the battery. To get the memory card in and out it is easy, they just slide in and out. In my Blackberry I currently have a Micro SD card in which is great and you can get them almost anywhere, they are also relevantly cheap to purchase! So that is definitely not a problem. Storing files is also really easy with different folders for each file type, and the ability to create your own folders so you can arrange you files and documents! Creating a folder and also opening one is quick and easy which makes it great for everyone. Memory and storage is fantastic on the Blackberry Bold and could not be any better, Memory cards can help to expand the already pretty big memory amount.

Texting On Blackberry

Texting on Blackberry is easy and efficient just like Blackberry Messenger (BBM). You firstly select the contact or the multiple contacts you want to send your messages to. You can add photo's for you phone contacts which i will speak about later. When you have selected your contact you can type out your message using the Blackberry QWERTY keyboard. You can add smiley face easily and efficiently by pressing the face button at the side of the box where you type the text. There are multiple faces and emotions which show up great on Blackberry devices, and also other Smartphone's. If the word is spelt incorrectly, a line will show up underneath the word until it is spelt correctly. When having a conversation with someone the messages show up like a conversation would on BBM. They can appear in bubbles, or stripes depending on what you choose. The amount of characters you have left can be shown in the top line so you know how many you have left. Texting on Blackberry is easy and efficient. If rating the texting i would rate it 10/10 because it is easy and efficient, and looks really good just like Blackberry messenger.

Calls On Blackberry

Your mobile can be used to receive calls as you would suspect. Calls on Blackberry are easy and efficient to receive, and give. When you receive a call a blue screen appears on the front of your mobile device, unless you have a different theme to the original.

If you have a picture for your contact the picture will appear on the left hand corner of the screen along with the name of the contact. The time and date can also be viewed from this screen. If the person calling is not on your contact list either the number, or unknown number will appear in bold characters across the screen. You answer the call by pressing the original green phone button on the left hand side of the device, and put the phone down by pressing the red phone button on the right hand side of the device. When in the call there are options such as the volume of the call, which can be adjusted with the volume key on the side of the device. Call quality is great as long as you have signal, and the voice are clear. Calls on Blackberry are really good, and easy to use. If i was to rate the calling on the mobile device i would give a rating of 10/10 because the call screen is helpful and contains all of the information you need, and the calls are easy to receive and send out.

Emails On Blackberry

Emails can be really useful to contact your friends, family or even business colleagues on the go. You firstly select the contact or the multiple contacts you want to send your messages to. You can add photo's for your email contacts which i will speak about later. When you have selected your contact you can type out your message using the Blackberry QWERTY keyboard. The emails have the same title, bc, and cc as you do on normal emails. Attachments can be added to the emails easily. Photo's, Music, and Videos. Text can be added to describe what you are sending. Emails are free to send if you have paid the £5 contract or have a contract anyway. Emails can be sent to anyone with a email address. When emails are received they go into your email folder which is an envelope on your Blackberry home screen. If you get sent a email with a attachment you can download the file immediately and efficiently. Setting up your emails is also very easy. You go to your set-up wizard screen and select email and it takes you through a step by step guide to set up your email. After two minutes your email is set up, and is ready to use. Emails on Blackberry are fantastic and if i was to rate it i would rate them 10/10 because i don't feel they could be any better.

Internet On The Mobile Device

One of the most used features of this phone is the internet. Internet can be used via Wi-Fi and your contract internet which is shown in two different apps depending on which one you would like to use. The internet is fast and efficient to use as long as you have sufficient signal bars. The internet has a home screen which you can change depending on what you would like it to be, the default home screen is the EA games which wasn't to my liking so i changed it to Google which i knew i would use a lot more. You can type in the HTML at the top on the internet bar to access the website straight the way. You can save a site as a bookmark for easy access next time you visit the site. If the site has quite a few images it can take a longer time to load.

Once the site has loaded you can zoom in by pressing your square button or by pressing the Blackberry button and selecting zoom. From the Blackberry button you can select stop, home screen etc. The internet is really good, and i use it quite a bit on my phone but it is not for everyday use like you can do on your laptop to computer. Overall i would rate the internet 8/10 as it is good for the phone in general but not too good when compared to laptops or computers.

Wi-Fi On The Blackberry Device

Setting up a network for Wi-fi on the Blackberry is easy and simple, you basically go to the set up wizard much like when you set up your emails. Once you have clicked on the icon for the set up wizard you basically can choose from manual set up or scan for a network, I generally choose scan for a network because it makes it a lot easier. Once you have scanned for the network and found the one which you want, you then save the network with you want it to be called on your home screen underneath your network name, and so you can connect to it again. Once connected to Wi-Fi you can go on the internet and use your Wi-Fi to prevent you from using your internet contract. If i was to rate the Wi-Fi capabilities on the mobile device i would rate them 10/10 because it is so easy to use and connect to.

Battery Life

Battery life on the Blackberry Bold is fantastic. When charging the battery it takes about 1-2 hours maximum to get to full charge when charged through the wall charger which you get with the phone. If charging through the computer via USB it could take a little longer but obviously you can add music and files as it charges. Once fully charged, for me the phone lasts all day which is fantastic. I text in the morning for around 1 hour, listen to music for the next hour, leave it on for the remainder of the day until around 4pm when i message people and listen to music for the rest of the night. If i continue messaging the battery lasts until about 1am which is great and by that time i can go ahead and charge it once again. The charge left on your phone can be viewed by the battery bar on the top left corner of your screen. If you are running out of battery, the battery symbol bar will turn a yellow/orange to indicate that your battery is running low. After that it will turn bright red when you battery is on a critical level. If you begin to have problems with your battery the battery can easily be replaced and a spare battery came with my phone which may come in use. Overall i think that the battery life on the Blackberry Bold is fantastic and lasts a long time, and is perfect for my everyday routine. If i was to rate the battery life of the mobile device i would rate it 10/10.

LED Notification Light

The Blackberry company have came up with a fantastic idea to alert you to any notifications you might have on your phone. This is the LED light on the front of the phone. The light flashes when you have a message, missed call, email or blackberry messenger message. The phone's LED light is originally red, and flashes that at a constant pace unless you change the settings.

You can basically download ColourID or a similar app to allow your phone's LED to flash different colours depending on what type of message it is, facebook, twitter, etc, and a different pace depending on how fast you want the light to flash. Overall i think that the LED notification light is fantastic and alerts you to a message even if you have your phone on silent. If i was to rate the LED light i would rate it 10/10 because i think it is fantastic, and is a great feature to the phone.

Bluetooth On Your Phone

Bluetooth is also easy to use on the Blackberry. Basically go on the same wizard program as i have mention in the above paragraphs and search on the bluetooth and all of the device's will come up who are currently using bluetooth and then connect, it couldn't be easier! You can then connect to your friends and family's phones to share files such as music and photo's which is something i use a lot! The bluetooth on Blackberry can wear down your battery quite a bit so i recommend turning it off once you have used it to prevent draining your battery. If i was to rate the bluetooth on the Blackberry devices i would rate it 9/10, it would have been 10/10 but the battery side of things can be bad.

Image Quality On The Phone

The image quality on the phone is absolutely fantastic. As advertised the Blackberry screen is able to show over 65,000 colours which shows the ability of the phone. It has a high resolution screen and a 320x240 pixel screen which means the display is amazing. The display is great for showing bright pictures and themes. Games are also really fun and bright to play. Videos are also great on this phone and show really well which is great especially if they are high quality videos! I personally think the screen display is a great quality and could not be any better, and therefore if i was to rate the screen quality i would rate it 10/10.

Sound Quality On The Phone

The sound quality of the phone is fantastic. Sounds come out of the top of the phone near where the play button is. Sound quality on the phone is important for music, videos, and also games. I think that the sound quality on the phone is fantastic. Whether you are listening to music or watching a video the sound quality is still the same top quality. I have my music off iTunes on my computer and the sound quality when working alongside Blackberry is top quality and sounds really good. Sounds also come out well when wearing headphones. The sound quality is also the same top quality no matter what volume you have your sounds on. If i was to rate the sound quality of the phone i would rate it 10./10 because it is fantastic and sounds really good when listening to music.

Camera On The Phone

The camera on the phone is located on the home screen when you first buy the phone. The camera itself can be found on the back of the phone along the top. The phone's 3.2 megapixel camera gives you a great option to take photo's when you are out and about. Obviously the phone's camera resolution is not the same as a camera you can get these days but it is still great to take pictures on the move without having to carry a camera around.

Once you have clicked on the camera icon you simply press the middle square button and it will take the photo straight the way. The camera shows up great and the colours look really good if you set the picture as your home screen. The options can also be changed depending on the colour you want the photo's or the size you want them. The camera is not to good in the dark and tends to attract only the bright lights which can be a problem. Other than that i think that the camera is great. If i was to rate the camera i would rate it 8/10 because the night time picture taking could be improved.

Video Camera On The Phone

The video camera works very much like the normal camera. The video camera can be accessed via a logo on the phone which is a basic video camera. When clicked on, the video camera comes up with what you will be filming. Once you are ready to film you click the square button on your phone and the video camera will start. When you are videoing the red LED light on the phone will flash non stop until you have stopped recording. You can press the button on the phone to end your recording, or to pause it until you want to continue recording. The 3.2 megapixel camera leaves you with quite a decent looking video for a phone, and one which looks great when viewing back on your phone itself. You can change the name of your video before saving, and they then can be found on your phone under the video folder. The video camera is really good for the phone and doesn't wear down your battery at all. If i was to rate the video camera i would rate in 9/10 because i think the quality could be a little better but other than that the video camera is really good.

Durability
The Blackberry bold 9700 has fantastic durability. I have had this phone for over 1 month now and have dropped it once or twice and there is no damage at all to the phone. I have put my phone in my bag with my keys a lot of times and there is only one small light scratch to the screen which is fantastic. The phone is really durable but can be helped with a protective screen cover which I have bought for 99p of eBay to prevent scratches on the screen. Blackberry cases my also help to stop scratches to the screen. All of the keys and buttons stay on the phone efficiently and i don't see them coming off at all. The text over the keys has stayed on well, although i could see it wearing away in a couple of years. Overall I think the durability of the phone is fantastic, if I was to rate the durability I would rate it 9/10!

Personal and Business Usage

Blackberry phones where initially made by the company for work and business users but are now used for all uses. I would personally recommend either as i myself have experience from both sides. For work it is great for receiving emails, and telephone calls efficiently. Bluetooth is available so headsets can be used on the go, in the car. Blackberry is also a great way to start groups and get in contact with work employees or bosses. Internet is good for quick research and text messages are also available.

Calendars and Alarms are available to set up easily on the Blackberry leaving you alerts so you don't miss a meeting or an important date! As for personal use Blackberry is great for social life, Blackberry Messenger, Facebook and Twitter taking care of most of it. Calls and texts are also easy to use to keep in contact with family members or friends! Most teenagers have the Blackberry's now showing the personal side to the phone being great. Apps and games for download also help to pass time fast!

Look and Feel Of The Phone

The phone looks really stylish which is one reason why lots of people own Blackberry's and one of reasons i bought mine. The phone can come in white or black so you can choose the one which you prefer. The phone is really sleek and shiny which means that it can also be cleaned easily. The phone has a QWERTY keyboard which is fitted well across the front of the phone. The phone has a patterned back which is also good for grip, and has a shiny plate around the side and on top on the camera. The LED light is on the top right hand corner of the phone and is fairly small. The keys are really smooth which is great for when you texting a lot especially like me. Bold is written across the top in-between the flash light and the camera lense. The phone is lightweight which is great and something you want from your phone. The weight of the phone is around 114 grams. The phone is the perfect size and is slim line which is really good. The look and feel of the phone overall is fantastic and i don't think it could be any better, i have rated the look and feel top marks because i don't feel it could be any better.

Buttons On The Phone

• QWERTY Keyboard, keys are quite small but are okay for me, placed like what you would find on a keyboard on your laptop. The keys have good size print on them and are really easy to use.
• Blackberry Button, this button can be found next to the green phone call button on the phone, and is the Blackberry logo. The Blackberry logo can be used to return to the home screen, or to show the menu when you are on applications.
• Volume Button, the button can be found on the right hand side of the phone and you can alter the volume of music or video you are listening to via this button.
• Quick Buttons, these are located one on the left and one on the right and can be used for quick access to certain programmes. These can be changed on the phones settings.

Customer Service Provided By Blackberry and O2

The customer service provided by the Blackberry company is amazing. On the Website and also in the guides which come with the phone they offer a number of phone lines which you can call anytime and they will answer. They answer calls immediately and rarely put you onto the silly music which is good. They also offer a email service which they answer to immediately. Online forums are also available to people, where you can ask questions and specialists and other users reply within hours. Online videos and tutorials are also available which helps you complete the task you were stuck on!

If you are stuck you can also nip into your local O2 store which i have done before more than once. O2 have specialist guru's which there are quite a few in each store. All of the O2 staff have good knowledge and can sort your problem within a few minutes. I think the customer service provided by both companies are fantastic and i don't feel they could be better. If i was to rate both of the services i would give them both 10/10 because i think they are fantastic and could not be any better.

Statistics Of The Phone Itself

• Height - 4.29 inch
• Width - 2.36 inch
• Depth - 0.56 inch
• Weight - 136grams
• Screen - High--res 480x360 pixel color display
• Battery - removable/rechargeable lithium-ion
• Talk time - Up to 6 hours
• Standby time - Up to 21 days/504 hours (GSM)
• Music playback time - Up to 39 hours
• Camera - 3.2 MP, 2X digital zoom, Video recording, Flash
• Memory - 256 MB integrated on phone, also one MicroSD port located behind battery.

I Would Like To Contact Blackberry.....

Address;
Research In Motion UK Limited
200 Bath Road
Slough
Berkshire
SL1 3XE

Tel: 44 (0)1753 667000
Fax: 44 (0)1753 669970

Blackberry UK Homepage; http://uk.blackberry.com/
Contact Blackberry; http://uk.blackberry.com/contact/

Overall Positives and Negatives;

Positives;

• Easy To Use
• QWERTY Keyboard - Easier Typing
• Sleek and Stylish
• Modern Smartphone
• Good Quality Camera For Mobile
• BBM and Social Apps
• Easy Text Messaging and Calling
• Good For Personal and Business Use
• Emails, Calendar, Internet, and Gaming
• App World To Personalise Your Phone
• Memory and Extended Memory For Lots Of Storage
• Comes in Black or White
• Battery Lasts and Doesn't Take Long To Charge
• Cases Available, Really Durable

Negatives;

• Quite Expensive
• Camera Isn't As Good As General Camera's
• Screen Can Scratch
• Keys Might Be Too Small For Some People
• Similar To Other Models

Where Can I Buy The Phone and How Much For?

BT Shop Online; £349

Phones4u; £25 per month

Ebay and Amazon; Various Prices

Tips For Buying and Using A Blackberry

• If you are not wanting to buy the phone for a high price purchase it from eBay or Amazon.
• To prevent scratches use a screen protector from the start - only 99p off eBay.
• Install Blackberry On Your Computer For Easy Downloading On Your Phone.
• Add The Icons You Use Most Onto Your First Line Of Apps For Easy Access.

I will add photo's of the phone onto the review. I apologise if the photo's are poor quality, they have been taken on my other phone. If you want me to add any other information or have a question please feel free to ask :)