BlackBerry Bold 9700 Unveiling Specs Prices & Insights

Overview

The BlackBerry Bold 9700, released in November 2009, represents a hallmark in BlackBerry's series of smartphones, combining functionality with style. This device quickly became a favorite among business professionals and tech enthusiasts due to its robust design, efficient performance, and signature BlackBerry features.

Design and Build

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 showcases a classic design with dimensions of 109 x 60 x 14 mm and a weight of 122 grams. This compact size makes it comfortable to hold and use with one hand. The device's front is dominated by a 2.44-inch TFT display that supports 65K colors, providing a clear and vibrant viewing experience. The display has a resolution of 480 x 360 pixels, which was quite competitive for its time.

One of the defining design elements of the Bold 9700 is its physical QWERTY keyboard, a beloved feature for users who prefer typing on tactile keys over a touchscreen. The keyboard is well-designed, with enough spacing for comfortable and speedy typing, making it ideal for composing emails and messages quickly.

Display

The 2.44-inch screen might seem small by today's standards, but it was adequate for the tasks the device was meant to perform. The TFT display ensures good brightness and contrast, making it readable in various lighting conditions. Despite being limited to 65K colors, the display renders images and text with decent clarity.

Camera

BlackBerry equipped the Bold 9700 with a 3.15 MP auto-focus camera with an LED flash, which was suitable for casual photography at the time. It supports basic video recording capabilities. Although it lacks a front-facing camera for selfies, the primary camera is capable of taking reasonably good pictures for sharing and documentation.

Operating System and Performance

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 initially shipped with BlackBerry OS 5.0 but was upgradable to OS 6.0, offering users enhanced features and better performance. At its core, the device is powered by a 624 MHz processor, which was sufficient to handle the operating system and BlackBerry's suite of applications efficiently. Despite its modest specifications, the Bold 9700 is known for its stable performance in handling day-to-day tasks such as email, messaging, and browsing.

Memory and Storage

The device offers 256MB of internal storage, coupled with 256MB RAM. For users requiring more storage space, the Bold 9700 supports microSDHC cards through a dedicated slot, with a 2 GB card included. This expandability is beneficial for storing additional media files and applications.

Connectivity

BlackBerry Bold 9700 supports GSM and HSPA networks, making it capable of fast mobile internet speeds for its time, up to 3.6 Mbps. Connectivity features include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g with UMA support, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, and GPS with A-GPS for location services. However, the device lacks an FM Radio, a feature some users may miss.

The inclusion of a 3.5mm audio jack and microUSB 2.0 port facilitates easy connection to external audio devices and data transfer.

Battery Life

The Bold 9700 is powered by a removable Li-Ion 1500 mAh battery, offering up to 408 hours on standby and up to 6 hours of talk time. For users who rely heavily on communication and productivity, the battery life is generally sufficient to last through a full day of use.

Audio and Multimedia

For multimedia playback, the Bold 9700 supports various audio and video formats. The device's loudspeaker and 3.5mm headphone jack ensure good audio quality for both calls and media consumption, with a voice call clarity of 72dB.

Conclusion

Although discontinued, the BlackBerry Bold 9700 remains a significant piece of mobile technology history. It showcases BlackBerry's commitment to building reliable and efficient devices that cater to professional users. In its heyday, the Bold 9700 was a symbol of productivity, offering a robust mobile emailing experience, a comfortable keyboard, solid build quality, and reliable performance. Despite the advancements in smartphone technology, the Bold 9700 is still remembered fondly by those who valued the quintessential BlackBerry features it offered.