The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is a lean, mean, BlackBerrying machine, and today we got our hands on RIM's new top-of-the-range phone.
The Bold 9700 feels much smaller and lighter than its predecessor, the BlackBerry Bold 9000, but it has all the smart-phone powers that made the Bold 9000 a hit. It's also bagged itself some upgrades -- such as a faster processor and more RAM.
Click 'Continue' to read all about our first impressions of BlackBerry's new Bold baby.
The BlackBerry Bold 9700 fit easily into our smallish lady-hands, but its size means its screen and keyboard are slightly smaller than the Bold 9000's.
The Bold 9700 is 109 by 60mm and 14mm thick, compared to the Bold 9000, which is 114 by 66mm and 15mm thick. You also save a few grams -- the Bold 9700 is 122g and the older Bold is 136g.
The new Bold is the same size as the BlackBerry Curve 8900, but fractionally thicker and a few grams heavier.
The screen boasts a higher resolution and it's still bigger than other BlackBerries. We think if you like BlackBerry keyboards, you'll have no trouble using the Bold 9700's Qwerty keys.
The traditional BlackBerry trackball has been replaced with the new optical trackpad.
Not only is it less likely to collect pocket fuzz, there are places where the trackpad gives a smoother user interface, too. For example, scrolling through featured apps in the BlackBerry app store was lovely and smooth.
Check out the Bold 9700, sandwiched between the older Bold 9000 and the new touchscreen Storm 2, and you notice how much smaller this little powerhouse is -- and we found it noticeably lighter too.
The back of the Bold 9700 is pleathery, and the two speakers are positioned so they're still very clear, even when the phone is lying on a tabletop.
The phone's 3.2-megapixel camera and LED photo light are on either side of the Bold logo on the back.
The standard 3.5mm headphone jack is a great feature, although if your headphones have a big plug they can stick out too much for our taste.
The microUSB charging and syncing socket is another welcome example of a standard-sized port.
The rubbery buttons on the side reminded us of the BlackBerry Curve 8520, which was also the first phone to try the new trackpad.
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