BlackBerry Tour Review

Original Review - Published March 17, 2009 @ 14:55:21 -0500

A Note About the Pre-Release Device Review
In the case of the BlackBerry Tour 9630 unit reviewed here, the hardware is actually really solid. Compared to the other pre-release devices I have handled, this hardware feels final form (which gives me hope that it could be announced and available sooner than Q3). However, while the hardware seems pretty much good to go, the device software is another. The 4.7.1.10 software on this unit is very early days, which means it's practically unusable. So for the purpose of this review, we're just going to focus on the hardware. We'll be back to talk software and device usage and performance once we get some updated code on it. Don't worry, there's still lots to get excited for and drool over in here!
 
An Intro and Overview of the BlackBerry Tour 9630
It's been a long time now since word of the BlackBerry with the codename "Niagara" first popped up in the forums and blogs. So what's it all about? It's probably easiest to think of the "Niagara" as the next-generation BlackBerry 8830 World Edition. It's hard to say which carrier will land this new device first (safe bets would be Verizon or Sprint), but the odds are good you will see the "Niagara" roll out with time to every carrier who currently sells the 8830.

The BlackBerry 9630 itself is really a mash-up of RIM's BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Curve 8900 and BlackBerry Storm. Size-wise it fits somewhere in the middle between the 8900 and Bold, and it shares design influences from both. Though smaller, the 9630's keyboard is of same style as the Bold, with no spaces between the keys and "guitar frets" between the rows. The 9630's display is the same as the Curve 8900's, as is the layout and type of ports/buttons around the perimeter of the device. And with the 9630 being a world phone, under the battery cover the ‘guts' are basically the same as the BlackBerry Storm in terms of processor (528) and radios (though layout is of course different). And like the Storm and Curve 8900 both, the 9630 gets the new and improved 3.2 megapixel camera. Looking at the 9630, the most unique visual queue is its battery door which I'm happy to say I personally think looks much better in person than in the previous photos that popped up on the net of it.  

One last thing to think about before moving on to some hand-on impressions is the name. While "Niagara" is kind of a cool name that won't be the go-to-market name labeled to the 9630. After holding the device, I'm really baffled as to what name it will be sold under. Is the keyboard what makes a Bold a Bold? Maybe it'll be the BlackBerry Bold 9630. Or BlackBerry Bold 9630 World Edition (or WE). Or maybe RIM will skip the brand name and just go with BlackBerry 9630 WE. It seems unlikely that they'd develop a new brand name to market it under, but they do have to name it something... and I don't think BlackBerry Curvy Bold 9630 would work! 

BlackBerry Tour 9630 Hardware First Impressions
Every time I look at the BlackBerry 9630 I can't help but do a double take. And I'll bet the same thing will happen to those of you reading this when you first see it. The Curve 8900 and Bold dominant my brain when it comes to new BlackBerry smartphones with keyboards it seems, so to see this third same but different form factor keeps tripping me out.
Form Factor - In hand, the BlackBerry 9630 feels awesome. For all those who say the Curve 8900 is too small or that the Bold is too big, you're going to find this device to feel just right. As you can tell from the photos, the Curve 8900 is definitely the smaller device, which means the 9630 isn't quite as pocket-able (but it's still small). It also seems to be a hair thicker than the 8900. There's definitely a different and distinct feeling when holding the 9630 as opposed to the 8900. I think I like the feel of the 8900 a little bit better personally, but am sure many will prefer the feeling of the 9630.
Compared to the BlackBerry Bold the 9630 shaves off about a quarter inch of width, which is really noticeable when you back and forth between devices. All said and done, I think the 9630 is the first device from RIM to sort of "bridge the gap". A lot of BlackBerry users go with the Bold because they have big hands, and a lot people choose the Curve because they have small hands. I think regardless of hand size, most will be able to get a long with the BlackBerry 9630 just fine. As for comparing the 9630 to the 8830 World Edition... well.. honestly, there is no comparison. If you're on an 8830 right now, start saving your pennies.    

BlackBerry Bold Review

The Blackberry Bold sports an excellent connectivity, a magnificent screen and one of the best QWERTY keyboards. The Bold 9000 is extremely well equipped regarding the emission standards; because a PDA phone from Canada usually is not equipped with HSDPA. By doing so RIM wanted to increase quality in its devices. The Bold 9000 entered the market at a later date than initially announced. Therefore all the issues with the software were fixed before the official release.

The first impression when you hold the Bold is that RIM really improves the Blackberry's design using a much more commercial look. The Bold precedes both Storm and the Curve 8900 so the different design choices are understandable. The glossy black front is pretty nice and the false leather at the back looks good. The overall design of the Bold 9000 is a great, but the profile is not as sharp and neat as the Curve 8900. The chrome frame on the left is not a great element. It only adds a few more millimeters of thickness to the Bold. Even more is not actually chrome, more a chrome-like plastic. The front panel of the Bold 9000 respects the standard of its class. Great features here are the excellent landscape display and the flawless QWERTY keyboard. The left side of the Bold 9000 features one of the loudspeaker, the 3.5 mm jack and the mini USB port. On the right we have the second loudspeaker, the volume keys and other feature keys. There called feature keys because you can assign them whatever function you would like. The top of the Bold 9000 features the mute key while at the bottom the device sports the microphone.

The Blackberry Bold is still a big phone if you compare it to the Nokia E71. Its height reaches 114 mm, wide of 66 mm and deep of 14 mm the Bold weight 133 g. It looks like the weight or volume played a smaller role in comfort than the extremely friendly keyboard and the wide display. The Blackberry Bold is equipped with a TFT display of HVGA resolution - 480 x 320 pixels, with a 6.8 cm diagonal - 2.6". The 6.8 cm diagonal really helps you work with Office documents or web pages. The Bold 9000 has a fabulously bright and vibrant display, while the Trans reflective technology improves the quality of reading from the display in bright light. Landscape displays are more natural to work with. The reason of why manufacturers don't pick this feature in their phones is to save space.

The Bold 9000 has the best display from the Blackberry series. Because of the ergonomic keypad and the excellent organized menu working with the Bold is a real treat. Bold is playing in the smart phone line so the connectivity is well ensured by all standards. It works in 2G network, GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, and in the 3G network, HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100. Also it has GPRS Class 10 (4 + 1 / 3 + 2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps, EDGE, Class 10, 236.8 kbps, HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps, WLAN is represented by Wi-Fi with 802.11 a/b/g standard, Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP and micro USB v2.0. The HSDPA comes without the rapid upload option HSUPA. The Blackberry Bold is equipped with a great CPU. This CPU runs on a 6524 MHz frequency. Tanks to this feature all the work you will be doing on the Bold will run smoothly.

As for the operating system, the Blackberry Bold 9000 runs on the Blackberry OS v4.6.0112. The home screen and the main menu have nice and simple icons. You can customize your menu but also the standby appearance of the display. Beside the great CPU, the Bold boosts a 874 MB usable memory. Therefore the RIM device provides with one of the largest storage capacity for data and music in the PDA phone line with only one exception, the Samsung i900. The memory can be expanded by using a micro SD card. Be careful, the Bold 9000 will not work with a 16 GB card, it barely runs with an 8GB model. The specs list is completed with GPS module and a 2 MP digital camera, 1600 x 1200 pixels, LED flash.



The hardware is also convincing because Bold offers good signal quality. However the loudspeaker is not the great. You could end up missing a call or two. Therefore it is a good idea to keep the Bold within reach. The autonomy is excellent for a PDA phone when features are used proportional. Some users might be less fortunate if they are only using the call function or the push e-mail. If you think about it, this is the users Bold 9000 is trying to impress. So, with a standard Li-Ion 1500 mAh battery the Bold has a stand by time up to 310 hours and a talk time up to 5 hours. In the UMTS mode Bold has up to 3 hours call time.

The Bold leading menu includes 28 symbols - here we can find beside the messaging button for e-mail, MMS and SMS symbols for PIM features: address, calendar, tasks and notes. RIM united under the same symbol videos, MP3, photos, ringtones and voice memos which don't impact in a negative way the usability. However the music player lacks some extras like equalizer presets, track repeat option and also if you minimize the player in the background you will not have any indication of the currently playing song. At the Application symbol you can find features that will let you view and edit Word and Excel documents.



The Blackberry Bold 9000 also offers a web browser, pocket calculator and Blackberry software navigation that will download maps from the network. Overall RIM Blackberry Bold offers up to date technology wrapped under a mature design.