Review: BlackBerry Bold 9700
The 9700 is a BlackBerry. Messaging is what it does, including email, SMS/MMS, IM, and social networking.
On the email side of the equation, the 9700 has your bases covered. It will support up to 10 different email accounts (Exchange, POP, IMAP) if you're crazy enough to have that many, and can merge all emails into a unified inbox of sorts that collects every message sent to the device. You can also choose to view each inbox separately, though if you have a lot of accounts that can be a real pain. Probably the most powerful aspect of the email app is the search function. Because BlackBerries keep messages stored for months (unless you delete them more often), searching your inbox might be a painful prospect for that one email or SMS you know contains vital information. With the search function, you can find practically anything in your inbox as long as it is still stored on the device.
When viewing emails, the BlackBerry software recognizes phone numbers and email addresses. When you scroll down a page, they are auto-highlighted, allowing you to email people or call them without having to type anything. Simply scroll over the name or email to highlight it, press the mouse, and bingo. Hitting the BB key opens up the options list for the emails or numbers found in your inbox.
SMS and MMS messages are threaded into a single conversation with nice visual queues to let you know which messages are yours and which are from your contact's. Lengthy conversations are viewed more easily than they were in the past, which required that users respond to each successive messages to keep the replies in the same thread. Now it's automatic. Thank goodness.
The 9700 has Windows Live, Yahoo, Google Talk, AIM, ICQ and BlackBerry Messenger all built in. The first four behave as they do on other handsets, the only difference being the way you interact with them via the BlackBerry user interface. The 9700 is running the latest version of BlackBerry Messenger, which features some much-needed user interface improvements, such as conversation bubbles and better emoticon support. The power of BB Messenger, which uses device PINs to shuttle messages back and forth, shouldn't be underestimated.
As for social networking, you'll have to download Facebook and Twitter applications from the BlackBerry Apps World. They aren't included out of the box. The existing apps for these services are passable, though it would be interesting to see RIM do something special for them given its real-time push email systems.
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BlackBerry Bold 9700
