Blackberry Bold 9700 Sprint Views

Wireless Products

The Bold 9650 was announced at WES 2010 to be launching on Sprint starting on May 23rd. However we have known about the existence of this device for quite some time. Just a few days ago, Sprint upped the ante with its users and launched the device one week early via online sales. Many happy CrackBerry readers were able to order their new device and will have it in their hands before it actually hits the stores. The question that lingers in my mind is why did Sprint move up the launch date? Are they worried about sales of the Bold 9650 with the impending release of the HTC EVO? I guess only time will tell, but from my viewpoint, this is one awesome BlackBerry.

The style and design of the Bold 9650 is exactly the same at the Tour 9630. Cosmetically you will notice very little has changed. Internally is where the majority of the changes have occurred. The Bold 9650 has replaced the troubled trackball on the Tour with the new stylish trackpad. From using a Bold 9700 for the past 6 months, I can tell you that this is one of the best things BlackBerry has done to help with navigation on the device. I'm sure when the trackwheel first came out, many users thought it was the best thing since sliced bread, and the same with the trackball -- however, I can tell you the trackpad is better than all of them.

Several people have asked me about battery life on the 9650. I myself was concerned that it wasn't going to be as good as the Bold 9700. I took the 9650 off the charger and of course started putting it through the rigorous testing of a new device. I made numerous calls, sent lots of email, spent some time on BlackBerry Messenger and Gtalk, surfed the web, etc... after 14 hours I currently have 45% battery remaining. That's much better than I expected. Naturally each user will get varying results, but I think it's safe to say that the Bold 9650 should be able to get you through a full day's use.

Storm vs. Bold/Tour is kind of apples to oranges...if you HAVE to have a touchscreen, then I supposed you'd prefer Storm2, but I think the Storm detractors would point out that you'd actually be better off getting a touchscreen device that isn't a Blackberry for around the same money. The Bold 9700 (and now the 9650) at least offers something different than other phones on the market...the front-face QWERTY and trackpad make it feel kinda like a mini-laptop as much as a phone, and a lot of people like that.