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BlackBerry Bold 9900 Video Review

Editor's rating (1-5): Carrier: T-Mobile Manufacturer: RIM (BlackBerry) Discuss this product Where to Buy

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What's hot: Gorgeous piece of hardware, excellent reception, 4G.

What's not: Expensive. BlackBerry OS 7 isn't much of a modernization, but rather an update to support touch screens.

Reviewed August 29, 2011 by Lisa Gade, Editor in Chief (twitter: @lisagade)

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 is the GSM version of the CDMA network BlackBerry Bold 9930 on Verizon and Sprint. Beyond the cell radio inside and carrier branding, the phones are identical. To get the full rundown on the Bold 9900/9930, be sure to check out our full written BlackBerry Bold 9930 review.

T-Mobile's version of RIM's latest QWERTY flagship phone has 4G HSPA+, and you can really feel the difference vs. 3G on the Verizon and Sprint versions. Web pages download faster as do email attachments and applications, though App World remains mysteriously slower at download compared to its iOS and Android counterparts. Reception is excellent as is call quality: RIM knows how to make a phone that works well for voice calls.

The hardware is simply stunning: the lines are clean and the materials are top notch. From the aluminum ring around the sides to the cool carbon fiber battery door, it's primo materials. The keyboard is RIM's best yet; even better than the impressive Bold 9000, and larger too. The optical trackpad works well for those who aren't yet in the habit of using a touch screen, though the capacitive display works well with touch. At 2.8" and VGA resolution, text in web pages is quite small, so you'll need to make liberal use of pinch zooming and panning.

The phone has a 1.2GHz single core CPU and it is very fast. The Bold 9900 runs BlackBerry OS 7 with an updated version of BBM that integrates with social networking and other services like the Wikitude AR browser. It has 768 megs of RAM and 8 gigs of internal storage plus a microSD card slot for further expansion. Though RIM designed the 9900 series to support NFC, Sprint is the only carrier to enable that feature, so no NFC here.

BlackBerry Bold 9900 Video Review

Conclusion

Is this RIM's best BlackBerry ever? You bet! The build quality and materials are downright ritzy and tasteful, the keyboard is the best on a mobile device and 4G speeds are good. It has excellent reception and call quality, a responsive though small touchscreen and a decent camera. But some modern amenities are still missing; there's no mobile hotspot feature, no WiFi calling and no front camera. The phone is also quite expensive with a contract at $299 (after a $50 rebate). The price and lack of radical redesign in BlackBerry OS 7 won't convert users from other platforms, but the phone will make existing BlackBerry fans happy.

Price: $299 with a 2 year contract after a $50 rebate ($350 out the door), $599 without contract

Websites: www.blackberry.com, www.t-mobile.com

Specs:

Display: 2.8" capacitive touch screen. 24 bit color, VGA 640 x 480 resolution.

Battery: Lithium Ion rechargeable. Battery is user replaceable. 1230 mAh.

Performance: 1.2GHz CPU, 768 megs of RAM and 8 gigs internal flash storage.

Size: 4.3 x 2.6 x 0.41 inches. Weight: 4.59 ounces.

Phone: Quad band GSM world phone with 3G and 4G HSPA+ on the 1700/2100MHz bands.

Camera: 5.0 megapixel camera with extended depth of field focus lens and LED flash. Can shoot 720p video and can upload directly to YouTube.

Audio: Built in speaker, mic and 3.5mm standard stereo headphone jack.

Networking: Integrated WiFi 802.11b/g/n (dual band 2.4 and 5GHz) and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR.

Software: BlackBerry OS 7. BBM 6, web browser, email, text messaging, Bing, BlackBerry Maps, Social Feeds 2.0, Wikitude augmented reality browser (downloadable), BlackBerry Bridge (downloadable), TeleNav (downloadable), voice notes, voice dialing, calculator, Memo Pad, Tasks, Compass, Documents to Go full version, BlackBerry Protect, Password Keeper, Facebook, Twitter, Social Feeds 2.0 and more.

Expansion: 1 SDHC microSD card slot.

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