BlackBerry Bold 9900: Hands-on with the latest Bold

The BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900, also known as the Bold 4, and the Bold 9900, has arrived in our test labs. And it was surprising to see the amount of excitement it generated – it is generally opined that BlackBerry devices are boring!

However, getting back to the serious business, and here are some initial impressions of the Bold 9900.

1. This is by far the best-looking BlackBerry smartphone we have seen, till date. The form factor is pretty similar to the original Bold, the 9000.
2. The chrome frame, glossy-ish front panel and an equally glossy but with a self imprint design battery cover- the looks consist of a variety of elements.
3. This is possibly the brightest and most vivid display on a BlackBerry in a long time. Text sharpness is more than adequate. Works well in bright sunlight as well, with about 40% backlight level.
4. The QWERTY keypad just makes it all worthwhile- excellent response and comfortable key size. Some may find it slightly on the softer side, but all in all, typing will be a precise activity.

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5. The 2.8-inch touchscreen is an additional feature. But don’t think that you won’t need to use the physical keypad at all. The touch capability is just to help you scroll through long documents, web pages or even mails. We felt that the optical track pad is more comfortable to use the rest of time.
6. This is a 1.2GHz processor powered smartphone, with 768MB of RAM. Add a new OS7 to the package, and this phone isn’t like any other BlackBerry we have used till now.

Do stay tuned for a detailed review of the Bold 9900, but based on our initial impressions, this phone does seem to have a pretty solid package.