The BlackBerry 9000, also called BlackBerry Bold, had been eagerly anticipated when it came out in May 2008, and for good reason: It has many outstanding features, such as an enhanced GPS with improved map rendering, a 624 MHz processor, stereo Bluetooth, and a talk time of 5 hours with a standby of 13 days. What makes the Blackberry Bold noteworthy in particular is the 480 x 320 resolution screen with 65K colours creating an incredibly colourful, vibrant display even out of doors in bright sunlight. In addition, the browsing is enhanced by the responsive, mouse-like trackball whose speed can be adjusted to your liking, and the landscape-shaped browser which is reminiscent of a desktop. This handset feels just right in every way, as even the keyboard is so user friendly you wonder how you ever managed to type with anything else. The 9000 Bold features a QWERTY keyboard as is typical in BlackBerries, with the nicely added touch of sculpted keys separated by curved barriers as well as metal bands separating the four rows of keys. This in itself makes typing on this device a dream, especially for those of us with broad thumbs.
The 2.6 inch home screen has six default short cut buttons on the bottom of the screen which can be completely customized although the buttons themselves are not soft menues. While this may at first seem disconcerting to some users, they are easy to get used to and not an impediment to the enjoyment of this device at all.
The phone functions comprise smart dial, phone records, internal 1GB, 128 MP RAM memory expandable with 8 GB card.
Phone book separates your personal and business contacts and allows practically unlimited entries.
The speaker phone sounds pleasing to the ear and not at all weak or tinny as is the case with some phones. It supports Bluetooth but does not have an infrared port.
BlackBerry Bold 9000, 50 minutes to any network and 250 texts. 100MB internet data per month. Priority Tickets and Priority Moments for all O2 customers.
Tariff Name: O2 50 Internet Basics (24m), Network o2, 24 Month Contract, 50 Anytime Minutes, 250 Free Text Messages, BlackBerry Bold 9000, Free Mobile Phone, Total Savings £168, Total Cost After Discounts £162
Features
OS BlackBerry OS
CPU 624 MHz processor
Messaging SMS, MMS, Email, IM
Radio No
Games Yes + downloadable
Colors Black, White
GPS Yes, with A-GPS support, BlackBerry Maps
Java Yes, MIDP 2.0
- BlackBerry maps
- Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)
- MP4/WMV/H.263/H.264 player
- MP3/eAAC+/WMA player
- Organizer
- Voice memo/dial
The messaging common editor is user friendly, indicating when you arrive at the last 160 characters. It also lets you know how many parts the message breaks into in order to be sent.
The Blackberry Bold comes with 1 GB of encrypted memory that can be increased to 17 GB GB via a 16micro SD card.
The dimensions of the BlackBerry Bold are 114 x 66 x 14 mm which makes it slightly more substantial than the previous model, and weighs in at 133 g. The back panel consists of faux black leather which can be exchanged for a different colour.