BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900 4G Review

General Introduction

BlackBerry Bold 9900 is indeed an exciting new entry with Candybar form factor and has both physical QWERTY keyboard and a glistening touchscreen. It has NFC support and is running on latest BlackBerry OS 7. It has 5 MP Camera which provides really good quality. BB Bold 9900 is almost similar to BB Bold 9930 in terms of design but it has some career dependent variations. BB Bold 9900 comes boxed up with USB cable, AC Adapter, Belt Holster and User Manual. The smartphone is available for $299.99 with 2 years contract from T-Mobile.

Display, Design & UI

BB Bold 9900 has sharp 2.8 inch capacitive touchscreen display with resolution 640x480 pixels. Display is large with TFT technology and it supports 16777261 colors. The design of the smartphone is simply superb with stainless steel metal edges. It has height 4.53 inches and width 2.6 inches. It is a thinnest BlackBerry smartphone as it has depth 0.41 inches. Its weight is 4.59 oz.

The smartphone has volume control and camera keys on the right side. On the left it has 3.5mm headphones connector and a USB port. At top it has a key for the screen lock. At the back, the smartphone has LED flash and a camera lens. Physical keyboard of the smartphone is wide and spacious with the regular Send, Menu, Back and End keys. Optical touchpad is present in the center. The keyboard typing experience is really efficient and fast.

As mentioned before BB Bold 9900 is running on latest BlackBerry OS 7 that provides Liquid Graphics technology which has really improved the response of the touchscreen and also the graphics. The navigation is smooth and quick.

Features

The multimedia features of the BB Bold 9900 include a Music Player which supports AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR, FLAC, MP3 and WMA audio formats. Video Playback supports H.263, H.264, MPEG and WMV formats. Audio and video streaming is also present. The 5MP Camera of the smartphone with the LED flash light provides excellent quality photographs. Camcorder is present and it supports 1280x720 (720p HD) resolution.

Internet browser supports HTML and HTML 5. Regular messaging services that include SMS and MMS are available with predictive text input. E-mail feature is there and also Instant Messaging. Organizer of the smartphone comprised of Alarm, Calculator, Calendar, Document viewer and To-Do List apps.

Regarding connectivity it supports Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n. USB 2.0 with micro USB connector for charging and to be used mass storage device. The smartphone supports Computer Sync, OTA Sync and NFC features. More features include Accelerometer and Compass sensors, Voice dialing and Voice recording.

Performance & Conclusion

BB Bold 9900 is running on single core, 1.2 GHz processor provides a real fast experience. Navigation is quick and smooth and applications launch in no time. The smartphone provides 768 MB RAM and 8 GB built-in storage. MicroSD and microSDHC slots are present that supports maximum 32 GB card.

Call quality of the smartphone is reasonable but the voice quality is not alright, one can experience some distortion. Data speed of the smartphone is really good with 4G speeds of the T-Mobile. The smartphone is equipped with Lithium-ion battery with 1230mAh capacity. Battery provides 6.3 hours talk time, 16 days of stand-by time, music playback of 2 days and video playback of 7.4 hours.

Overall, the BlackBerry Bold 9900 has a superb design with many improvements from latest BB OS 7. It is indeed a nice addition in the world of BB smartphones and most of the fans will definitely love to buy it. But as compared to other powerful Android smartphones, the price quoted by T Mobile is bit higher.

Specifications

General Information
Gadget Type	Smartphone
US Service Provider	T-Mobile from Aug 03, 2011, AT&T from Nov 06, 2011
US Service Provider Status	Available
Network Technology	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz, UMTS 850 / 1900 / 2100 MHz
Data	HSDPA 14.4 MB/s, UMTS, HSUPA 5.76, EDGE
Announced	May 02, 2011
Market Status	Released Aug 11, 2011

Size
Dimensions	4.53 x 2.6 x 0.41 inches
Weight	4.59 oz

Display
Type	TFT Capacitive Touchscreen, 16 M colors
Size	2.8 inches
Resolution	640 x 480 pixels
Features	Optical trackpad, Full QWERTY keyboard

Camera
Resolution	259 x 1944 pixels, 5 MP
Flash Light	LED
Features	Digital Zoom, Face Detection, Geo Tagging, Image Stabilizer
Video Recorder	Available
Video Capture Resolution	1280 x 720 (720p HD)

Multimedia
Media Player Formats	AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR, FLAC, MP3, WMA
Video Playback Formats	H.263, H.264, MPEG4, WMV

System Software & Processor
Platform	BlackBerry OS 7.0
Processor	Single core, 1.2 GHz QC 8655

Storage
RAM	768 MB
Expansion Slots	microSD, microSDHC - Up to 32 GB
Installed Memory	8 GB

Connectors
Headphones	3.5 mm
USB	microUSB Version 2.0

Power & Battery
Type	Lithium ion
Capacity	1230 mAh
Stand-by Time	307 hours
Talk Time	6.30 hours

More Features
Internet Browsing	Available with HTML, HTML 5
Bluetooth	Version 2.1, Profiles include A2DP, AVRCP, DUN, HFP, HSP, MAP, OPP, PBAP, SPP
WiFi	802.11 b/g/n
Messaging	SMS, MMS, Predictive Text Input, Email, Instant Messaging
Location Based Services	GPS, A-GPS

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