Item Details

BlackBerry Bold 9700 Phone (AT&T)

(32 Customer Reviews)

Price: $49.99
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Technical Details

• Access all your email and messaging as well as social networking sites; full QWERTY keyboard with touch-sensitive optical trackpad
• AT&T Visual Voicemail and AT&T Wi-Fi Hotspot access included; compatible with optional AT&T Navigator GPS and AT&T Mobile Music
• Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g); 3.2-megapixel camera/camcorder; Bluetooth stereo music; microSD memory expansion to 32 GB; access to personal and corporate email
• Up to 6 hours of talk time, up to 456 hours (19 days) of standby time
• What's in the Box: handset, rechargeable battery, travel charger, USB cable, wired 3.5mm stereo headset, swivel holster, quick start guide, User Tools CD

 

Product Details

Product Weight: 1.22 pounds

Shipping Weight: 0.01 pounds

Model: 9700

Manufacturer: BlackBerry

Sales Rank: 476

 

Accessories

Customer Reviews

Perfectly and exactly what it is meant to be.,
by THATCH, 2010-08-28

I had a Blackberry Torch and returned it for this model. I am 100% happier with this model. I've owned more Blackberries over the years than any other brand, but most recently have been an iPhone and Android user. That being said, I can appreciate the niche that Blackberry fills, and it has a few things that it is very good at -- email being one of them.

Some of the reasons I like this phone are reason that it is NOT like the Torch. The torch isn't great at anything-- with a touch screen, navigation button and a keyboard, it tries to be the everything phone to everyone, and I don't feel like any of it was great. This phone has a very usable keyboard, a very good screen, great battery life and super build quality.

For someone who has never had a smart phone, I would never steer them to a blackberry first. But for someone who has to be on a blackberry, or doesn't want to change, this is my choice for a blackberry. There aren't nearly as many apps available for blackberry as there are for android or iPhone, but that being said, a lot of the big names are available.

After using phones with larger screens lately, this screen feels a little small. But it is what it is-- a blackberry, and it does what it is meant to do very well.

And to close: If Blackberry wants a touch screen phone to fly and do well, they need to start fresh with a new OS. The OS we have on this phone is optimized for a keyboard and a navigator key. Putting that on a touch phone screen just doesn't work for me. Keep this OS around as Blackberry Classic and start fresh.

Anyway, enjoy this phone, I think it is the best "real" blackberry.

 

Works Well for Me,
by Priscilla Grant, 2010-07-15

I have had this phone for a couple of months now and I have to say it's very impressive. I've always been a simple kind of person and I thought these high tech phones would be too difficult to handle but that wasn't at all the case. The camera was amazing and took great pictures for being just a phone, also the keyboard and browser are really cool. Everything about this phone is beautiful. It's screen, speaker, apps, and themes. It all works really well for me and I can definitely recommend this phone for others looking to buy a cell phone.

 

Best in its (Blackberry) class,
by A. Dent, 2010-07-13

Any current Blackberry user should be happy and possibly happier with the 9700 if upgrading from a previous model. When it comes to new users, it's a crowded marketplace out there. Those who prefer great physical keyboards may want to look into the current Blackberries. I got this company-issued Bold a couple of months ago through my employer to replace my old 8830. As a Blackberry user for more than 10 years now, I am quite happy with what I got and I see many improvements over what used to be a standard-issue Blackberry some 2-3 years ago.

First, the good things about the 9700 Bold:

- IT'S STILL A BLACKBERRY - This is important to the many BB users who want their Blackberry to change only slightly from one generation to another, at least as far as the physical form and the user interface is concerned. While Blackberries evolved from the little 'wheel' to the track ball to the current touch-sensitive square that's replacing it, they are still recognizable and I bet that if a time traveler from, let's say, 2002, popped up in 2010, he/she should be able to use the 9700 in no time. All buttons are at the familiar locations and, at least when comparing it with the previous generation, the 9700 responds very much in the same way.

- IT'S SMALLER, LIGHTER - While the screen appears to be (very slightly) larger on the 9700, it's bulk is significantly reduced. The 9700 is thinner and it weighs a lot less than its predecessor. Not everyone may appreciate this in the beginning and I was one of those but I got used with the lighter device quickly and I would consider it an improvement now.

- IMPROVED PICTURE QUALITY - While not the best screen in business, the picture on the 9700 is significantly better as far as resolution when compared to previous models. I would not use the Bold to watch movies or read books with the Kindle application but... this is a Blackberry and it's good at doing what Blackberries are expected to do: email, voice, enterprise integration. Everything else I see as 'extras'.

- EXTRAS - Of course, you get a camera which I'm not likely to use but it's good to know it's there, you can get video for free or subscribe to some pay service, have the ability to store various media and so on. It's good to have them but I'm not likely to spend much time with the 'extras' except maybe for the Web browser.

- IMPROVED WEB BROWSER - This is good news. The built-in browser is not quite as good as, let's say, Opera but it's coming pretty close and it's a major improvement over what Blackberry used to offer. And you can always install Opera or some other browser.

- 3G - Of course. EDGE is still available as the fall back service but, whenever 3G is detected, the 9700 will take advantage of it.

- BLUETOOTH, WI-FI - they work great and pairing with a Bluetooth device can be done literally in seconds.


In addition to the above, on the 'the same' or not necessarily 'improvements' category, I noticed no significant change as far as battery life is concerned. The 9700 needs (and comes with a) MICRO USB power adapter so the old MINI USBs won't work on this model. You also get the official Blackberry black leather case with a belt clip.

On the not-so-good or 'really annoying' side, I really hated the abundance of bloatware - I call it 'crapware' - that seems to have invaded the Blackberry world. There is an abundance of little pre-installed apps and services that, shortly after you click on and go to the trouble of activating them, it turns out that they are 'pay' things, ranging from Pac-Man to TV services, and it's either impossible or very difficult to remove - I didn't have the time to waste so I was able to quickly hide them but... there SO MANY of them. If Research in Motion is listening, they should know that I do NOT love Blackberry more for turning the BB desktop into some apps and services peddling space.

Still on the 'not-so-good' but this could be only an isolated instance, my first 9700 was dead on arrival but I was able to get a replacement quickly from AT&T and this one works well.

When it comes to rating the Bold 9700, within the context of Blackberries, it's probably one of the best. It's lighter, brighter, sharper, faster and provides more functionality than previous models so it's a five-star.

 

A "Bold" new Phone,
by Sree, 2010-07-12

a great non touchscreen Phone from the RIM stable....fast,reliable and great at multi tasking
The only improvement can be in the Browser department and by ATT not compelling you to use 3G network for youtube and other video streaming...Great Call quality and a very accurate GPS service .... 3G service decent limited by ATT 3G network performance. apps run great on local wifi networks.

p.s : had a problem with ATT though. They charged me the activation fee despite the contract saying no activation fee on purchase. ATT needs to stop doing this if they intend to retain customers (especially for returning loyal customers like me). Had to argue with the customer service rep many times (with atleast 0.5 hr call hold each time) to finally get them to remove the charge

 

Couldn't be betterl,
by Raphael Ades, 2010-07-04

I use blackberries for 10 years and their biggest flaw was the trackball.
Now it's solved !!
Perfect !