BlackBerry Bold 9780

BLACKBERRY BOLD 9780 REVIEW

Smartphones are getting more and more capable with every new release, so at first glance, analysts are not exactly sure if the BlackBerry Bold 9780 is high tech and up to date enough to past muster. Their skepticism is mainly due to the fact that, these days, a smartphone without a touch screen is hardly even worth mentioning. However, RIM does manage to pack some solid features into its new release to make up for that yawning gap in capability. The BlackBerry Bold 9780 is a medium-sized multimedia cell phone with a height of 4.29 inches and a depth of 0.56 inches. No touchscreen capabilities are available, but there is a full keyboard and a track pad for navigating the phone. If you are used to a touchscreen, going back to buttons and a track pad could be a difficult transition. However, we found that once we were accustomed to the buttons, the device is simple to use. Where the outside of the device has remained unchanged, the internal hardware has experienced a number of upgrades. The Blackberry Bold 9780 features 512 Mb RAM, up from the 256 Mb in the 9700 model, which really makes a noticeable difference in how smoothly the OS runs. On the subject of the operating system, the Bold 9780 features the Blackberry 6 OS as well. The built in camera is now 5 megapixels, although the video capture was not upgraded to 720p, which is fast becoming the standard on other smartphones. However, reviewers agree that the camera still has an enviable clarity, making for clear pictures and videos. In my tests, the 5-megapixel camera was, well, moody. It takes a few seconds after starting up to gauge exposure properly; if you take your picture too quickly, it may be very dark. Once it starts up, though, subsequent pictures can be snapped very quickly. Images tend to be very soft for 5-megapixel shots, and show considerable blur in low light. I got better results with the video mode, which took sharp 640x480 videos at 30 frames per second outdoors, and 24 frames per second indoor. The BlackBerry Bold 9780 has an excellent universal search tool, and the handset offers a much better Web browsing experience than previous BlackBerry devices. Zooming in on a block of text automatically makes it fit to the width of the screen, and you can open new Web pages in tabs (then scroll through them using an excellent Cover Flow–like view). Panning around a page using the cursor and clicking links is still inferior compared to other handsets. There is also no Flash support. Voice and data on the Bold 9780 were good. I had no issues placing calls on the 9780 and can think of at least two instances where I preferred to place a call on that phone here in NYC, because of its reliability, instead of using my everyday phone, AT&T's Samsung Captivate. As with most of T-Mobile's BlackBerry phones, the Bold 9780 also supports UMA calling, which allows you to place voice calls over a Wi-Fi network should you be out of T-Mobile's coverage area. The BlackBerry Bold 9780 multimedia cell phone provides several call notifications and alerts. The cellular device features your basic polyphonic ringtones but also comes with the option to add MP3 ringtones. An LED indicator is located on the front of the device that lights up when you get a phone call, text message or email. A vibrate mode is also available to alert you of an incoming phone call or message. This cellular device has a built-in speakerphone that is useful, but we sometimes found hard to hear during calls. The basic call features are included on this multimedia cell phone, such as call holding, call waiting and conference calling. Up to six hours of talk time and 528 hours of standby time are available on the BlackBerry Bold 9780 on a single battery charge. We were pleased to see this much battery life because it gives you an adequate amount of battery to use the features provided on the phone without needing to charge it during the day. However, if you constantly use the BlackBerry Bold 9780, we found that you will need to charge the battery every evening. The Bold 9780 is definitely a good phone when measured up against the range of BlackBerry devices. I would recommend the BlackBerry Bold 9780 to anyone who well and truly needs to stay connected.

SPECIFICATION & FEATURES