BlackBerry Bold 9650
The BlackBerry Bold 9650 is one of the newest models introduced by RIM, a popular Canadian mobile phone manufacturer. The Bold 9650 is a world phone, so inside it is the sim card- something not found on many Verizon phones.
Along with the phone one can find the power adapter with tips for several parts of the world plus a good looking carrying case and a wired headset. With a host of interesting features like optical trackpad, Wi-Fi, international roaming capabilities, 512MB internal memory and BlackBerry OS 5.0 this Smartphone sets a new standard for CDMA – based BlackBerrys. At present the Bold 9650 retails through Sprint and Verizon Wireless.
Design and Dimensions
The Bold 9650 measures 4.4 x 2.4 x 0.5 inches. It weighs about 4.8 ounces. The body of the Bold 9650 integrates a muted chrome bezel with a smooth black rubbery, textured plastic. It is the texture that lends the phone an in-hand feel. It has a 2.4-inches 480 x 360-pixel display screen.
The Bold is equipped with a responsive touchpad and that gives the Bold 9650 users the feel of a touchscreen phone. It is a comparatively spacious design. The individual keys are an advantage. Besides, their sculpted nature also reduces finger slippage.
Camera
The BlackBerry Bold 9650has a 3.2 megapixel camera with additional features like flash, image stabilization, variable zoom, auto focus and video recording. The pictures captured have accurate colors but possess a high amount of noise and graininess.
Basic Features
One of the cornerstones of Blackberry phones is their security. The protective measures built into the BlackBerry Bold ensure that users can access confidential information securely.
The Bold 9650has an amazing call quality. From low volumes to high volumes the speaker supports a wide range of sounds from deep to high. Also the speaker phone is loud enough.
The most useful applications in the Bold 9650 are the Documents To Go suite by DataViz, which allows users to work with Microsoft files on their phones. Other valuable tools include multiple calendar support, contact grouping and Sprint navigation.
The battery life is pretty good. With casual browsing, messaging and phones about 18 hours of usable time is available. It offers 5 hours of talktime.
Interface: The interface is clean and simple. It has large and bright icons are easily identifiable make navigation simple.
Phone book: With 512MB of internal memory over 500 contacts can be stored in the phone book.
BlackBerry Bold 9650 Screen
RIM has taken good care of the display department and has been doing well in this front for some time now. The Bold 9650 has a 2.4 inches crisp and bright screen with a resolution of 480 x 360. It manages the browsing sessions well. The BlackBerry Bold also adjusts well to ambient light.
Keypad and Controls
RIM currently produces two types of keypads and the BlackBerry 9650 sports the better of the two. It is quick, accurate and quite responsive too. It has rubbery keys and each row of keys is separated by a chrome bezel. On the right hand side of the phone there is a volume rocker, a dedicated camera key that can be customized to serve as another shortcut key and a mini USB port to facilitate data transfers. On the left hand side one can find the voice-dialing key and a speaker.
Audio
The media player provides support for MP3, MIDI, AMR-NB, AAC / AAC+ / eAAC+, WMA. The included media player plays videos and music and audio files. Wireless Bluetooth stereo headphones or speakers can be used to enjoy the music. The songs can be shuffled while sending text messages. To make space for all media files the memory can be expanded.
Messaging
This feature is perhaps the USP of the Bold 9650. Connecting to Gmail accounts synch messages and contacts is seamless. A message that is sent from a computer will show itself as a sent message on the device. Thus, a current email record is maintained at all times. Also, SMS conversations are being bubbled making them appear as instant messenger chats. Instant messenger clients like AIM, Y-Messenger, G-talk, ICQ, MSN integrate seamlessly into the Bold’s message indication system.
Media
The vanilla music payer allows the library to be viewed based on song, artist or genre. During playback also a small album thumbnail is present. The application also comes with a playlist, a shuffle features and a headphone equalizer. Music can be downloaded via Verizon's Rhapsody service.
Other offerings include the standard slew of games which include Brickbreaker, Word Mole, Texas Hold Em, Sudoku and Klondike. The Sprint applications include NASCAR mobile, Football, SprintTV- an upcoming Sprint Music Store, Pocket Express aggregator and others. Social networking applications are also included.
Internet
Internet browsing on the Bold 9650 is just about fine. The network appears speedy and the web pages render quite well. When browsing a small cursor appears on the screen which can be controlled by the track pad just like one would control with a mouse. But sadly, the browser is not built on WebKit and it can't match the browsers on the iPhone, WebOS phones, and Android phones.
Storage
The BlackBerry Bold 9650 has an internal memory of 512 MB and a 528 MHz processor. The memory is expandable up to 16 GB.
Connectivity and Data
The Bold 9650 has the 802.11b/g, GPS, Bluetooth features along with profiles for music streaming. It also offers support for CDMA/EV-DO, UMTS/ HSPA and GSM networks. This implies this phone can be used anywhere in the world. The inclusion of Wi-Fi is also great.
BlackBerry Bold 9650 Phone Specifications
- Weight: 136 g
- Width: 112 mm
- Height: 62mm
- Thickness: 14 mm
- Display size: 2.44"
- Announced: 2010, April
- Colors: Black
- Network: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - HSDPA 2100 - CDMA/EVDO Rev A 800/1900
- Screen Resolution: 480 x 360 pixels 65K colors TFT Display
- Data: Class 10 GPRS - Class 10 EDGE - 3G HSDPA - Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g - Bluetooth v2.1
- Memory: microSD, up to 32GB, 2GB included
- Connectivity: USB v2.0 microUSB, Bluetooth 2.1
- Web Browser: HTML
- Media and Music: MP3/WMA/eAAC+ - MP4/H.263/WMV player
- Camera: 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
- Messaging: SMS, MMS, Push Email, IM
- Expansion Slot: microSD
- Tones: Vibration, MP3, AAC- Composer, Polyphonic ringtones
- Software Features: BlackBerry OS - Java MIDP 2.0
- Other Features: Voice memo/dial - BlackBerry maps
- US Sar Values: ---
- Battery: Li - Ion 1400 mAh
- Talk Time: up to 300 mins
- Standby: up to 312 hours
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Great business phone
- Good close up pictures
- Fast and easy to use
- Excellent displayMammoth application memory
Cons:
- Uneven sound produced due to single sound port
- Small screen
- Cramped up keypad
- No touchscreenAbsence of WebKit browser with BlackBerry OS 5.0
Conclusion
As a messaging oriented device the Bold 9650 is simply great. Unfortunately, just being a great messaging device is not enough to satisfy the consumer these days. As the competition becomes tougher from other phonemakers like the Android, RIM needs to innovate itself in order to remain popular. Cell Phone Reviews The Bold 9650 is certainly an improvement over its predecessors but the improvement is only marginal. The call quality is great and the web browsing is fast too. The phone itself is also fast. It may not be as appealing to the general consumers but as a business phone it is great.