RIM BlackBerry Bold 9650 Review

Introduction:

The oft-praised BlackBerry Bold has landed on CDMA networks, kind of. The Bold 9000 was the first “premium” BlackBerry device and instantly made CDMA users jealous, as it was exclusively launched for GSM. The jealousy did not last for long, however, as the Tour 9630 was released half a year later and offered most of the Bold’s goodies in a sleeker package with a few upgrades of its own.  The Bold 9700 was then released last November, bringing the design more in line with the Tour, and now we have the CDMA RIM BlackBerry Bold 9650. In ditching the Tour name RIM has brought both GSM and CDMA variants into the same brand name, just like with the Curve and Pearl. Don’t let the new name fool you into thinking this is a totally different product, however.  This new Bold is simply a Tour with some new clothes on.

Included in the box you’ll find:

•    Li-Ion battery
•    AC adapter
•    microUSB data cable
•    Stereo headphones
•    Leather swivel pouch
•    2GB microSD card

Design:

The RIM BlackBerry Bold 9650 follows the design cues of the Tour instead of the Bold 9700, with the only noticeable difference being the optical trackpad in lieu of a trackball.  In fact, if you put the two CDMA devices side-by-side and covered the trackball/pad area most users would have a hard time telling a difference between the two.  Sprint’s Tour had a glossy back door, whereas the Verizon variant had a much more desirable soft-touch coating around the insert.  Thankfully the BlackBerry Bold 9650 has taken its nod from the Verizon version and includes soft-touch which creates a much better feel.  Instead of the carbon fiber insert found on the Tour, the Bold 9650 features a ribbed pattern.



You can compare the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9650 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

Though not apparent just by looking at it, the screen on the Bold 9650 is actually slightly recessed.  This can be a bit frustrating when swiping from the top down on the trackpad as your finger catches the lip at times, but it also allows for the device to be set on its face with less chance of scratching which is always a good thing.  The button placement around the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9650 is the exact same as on the Tour, as is the camera and flash placement above the battery door.



We heavily praised the Tour’s hardware in our review last summer and the same applies to the Bold 9650.  We’ll just hit the highlights this time around: the keypad remains the best we’ve ever used, the 480x360 pixels display is very good and the overall feel is just super-solid.  The Bold 9650 remains a very high quality device that ranks among the best available when it comes to feel and build quality.

User Interface:

The RIM BlackBerry Bold 9650 ships with OS 5.0 (our retail unit is running 5.0.0.621), which we’ve seen on many BlackBerry devices at this point.  Sprint’s current BlackBerry lineup is all running OS 5.0 and there are no new wrinkles with the Bold 9650.  For a more in-depth look at the software check out our Bold 9700 review, but the quick version is that there are a few tweaks over 4.6 and 4.7. The average user will only notice that the drop-down menus look different.  The BlackBerry Bold 9650 runs quite smoothly, but then again we’d expect that as it shares its processor with the Tour and Curve 8530, both of which run quickly.

The phonebook, organizer and other PIM functionality remain virtually unchanged.  For anyone who has used a BlackBerry before you’ll be right at home.  For first time users you can store just about anything you want about a contact, and the full-featured calendar allows you to customize reminders, recurrence options and much more.  Other basic PIM functionality, like tasks, memo and a calculator are also available, while voice dialing is handled by Nuance, as always.



Messaging:

One of the better features of OS 5.0 is threaded text messaging.  Standards like SMS and MMS are, of course onboard, as is support for multiple email accounts and BlackBerry PIN messaging 5.0.  Other preloaded IM clients are AIM, GTalk, ICQ, Windows Live and Yahoo! Messenger allowing you to keep in touch with virtually anyone.

As always email setup on the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9650 is about as perfect as it gets, we simply put in our email and password and that was it. Even with our uncommon work email we didn’t have to enter any server information. The push email arrived nearly instantaneously in our testing. With the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) the user can have up to 10 email addresses on one device.

Connectivity and Data:

Like the Tour before it, the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9650 is a world phone, offering a dual-band CDMA radio for domestic use and quad-band GSM for when you travel.  It offers 3G data both on Sprint’s EV-DO Rev. A network and UMTS on the 2100MHz band internationally.  Wi-Fi b/g has been added, something we feel international travelers will appreciate most since it allows them to avoid high data roaming charges overseas.  For those sticking to the States, Wi-Fi is a nice feature to tout, but honestly with ubiquitous 3G coverage from the nation’s CDMA providers it’s not something we’ve ever felt our phones have needed.  A-GPS and Bluetooth 2.1 round out the connectivity options of the BlackBerry Bold 9650.

The browser is the same piddling browser found on all non-touch BlackBerry devices these days.  We know that RIM is developing a WebKit based browser for the upcoming OS 6 but it can’t come soon enough.  Thankfully Opera Mini is available to help fill the gap for now.

If you’re not connected to a BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) then BlackBerry Desktop Manager handles your backups, and can manage your calendar, tasks, contacts and email.  The Media Sync software plays nicely with your iTunes or Windows Media library.  In today’s smartphone market cloud backup is becoming a common feature (Google, Palm and Microsoft all build it into their operating systems,) but unfortunately RIM lags behind here unless you’re attached to a BES.  Thankfully Google Sync offers a great free option for regular users to back up their data without the wires.

Multimedia and Camera:

The media player is good and simple to use, but not overly loaded with features. We have always enjoyed the simplicity of the layout, much like the iPod.  It supports folders, and will sort your music by Artist, Album and Genres. It also supports album art and playlists, which the user can create on the go, and the other options are Repeat and Shuffle. According to the specs sheet of the Bold 9650, audio formats supported are MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA and WMA Pro Plus, while the video formats are MPEG4, H.263, MPEG4 Part 2 Simple Profile, H.264 and WMV.  As you would expect videos look wonderful on the high resolution screen.  The included stereo headphones are pretty poor, but the 3.5mm jack means you can use any headphones you want.  With our higher quality headphones music sounded very good.


As with any EV-DO device, the Sprint Music Store is preloaded on the Bold 9650, but the Bold has tipped Sprint’s hand as they appear to be bringing out an update to the service.  The new icon adds a + to the logo, and when we try to download the virtually preinstalled program we get a message saying “the new Sprint Music Store launches soon.”  We’ve long said the service is plenty functional but in need of a visual overhaul so maybe this is it?


The 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera performed well, which is an improvement over the Tour.  Details were much crisper, color reproduction was fine and there was minimal graining even in low-light conditions.  We don’t think there are many who will be buying the Bold 9650 for its camera, but at least it offers a solid performance this time around.  Features are pretty basic with little adjustments available, but it does offer image stabilization and geotagging of images.  Videos can be recorded in MMS (176x144) or Normal (480x352) modes, neither of which are fantastic but they get the job done.  There has not been any announcement yet, but like the Tour we would expect to see a no camera version of the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9650.





Software:

Virtually preloaded software is pretty much the same as what you’ll find on Sprint’s Tour and Curve 8530.  It has the standard BlackBerry applications and games, including Word, Slideshow and Sheet to Go (Word, PowerPoint and Excel viewers) and BlackBerry Maps.  Sprint software includes Sprint Navigation, Sprint TV and the aforementioned new Music Store, as well as their NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile and new Sprint Football Live applications.  A new pre-installed program is ScanLife, a barcode scanner that will return product information, reviews and prices.  BlackBerry App World is of course preloaded as well as a portal to thousands more apps for your BlackBerry smartphone.

Performance:

BlackBerry devices have been very hit and miss when it comes to call quality of late.  Two Verizon Tours gave us issues, but the Sprint version was very good, the 9700 and 8350i were not without their issues but the 8520 and 8530 both fared well.  The Bold 9650 unfortunately reminds us a lot of the 8350i in that callers sounded very hollow, as if the speaker was recessed inside the device.  They rated us a 7.5, saying that the volume was good but that we sounded nasally.  Overall RIM could have done better with the call performance on the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9650, but it wasn’t bad enough that we wouldn’t use the device.

Battery life is rated for the same 5 hours of talk time as with the Tour, though standby time has dropped from 14 days to 13.  Most BlackBerry users will be charging their device nightly, and it has plenty of juice to get through the day on a single charge for all but the most demanding of users.

Conclusion:

The Tour has been our favorite BlackBerry to date and the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9650 is a Tour with Wi-Fi, a trackpad and more memory… in other words, a better Tour.  Still, we’re underwhelmed.  The Tour offered significant advantages over its predecessors, namely the 8830, Curve 8330 and Bold 9000, but this new Bold is simply a refresh which adds otherwise standard BlackBerry features.  Furthermore Sprint is currently asking $200 for the Bold 9650 on contract, a 100% premium over the outgoing Tour and a whopping four times the price of the very well endowed Curve 8530.  Sure, the Curve’s display and keyboard aren’t as nice and the camera is lower spec’d, but when it comes down to it, the guts are pretty much the same.  Let’s face it, a BlackBerry is a BlackBerry (unless it’s a Storm, in which case sorry about your luck.)  We just can’t see people choosing the Bold over the Tour as long as the latter is available, and unless you need international roaming we don’t see people paying the $150 premium for a nicer keyboard and display over the Curve. Moreover, we shouldn't forget that the monstrous HTC EVO 4G is right around the corner. Of course, some would prefer the physical QWERTY of the BlackBerry, or would need its BES support, but as both handsets come at the same price we believe the Android-powered EVO 4G is a much more tempting offer overall. We’ve been saying this for what seems like years now, but BlackBerry is in a rut and now more than ever they need a device that is different to break them out of it.  The BlackBerry Bold 9650 is just the latest in a string of good but boring offerings from RIM.

RIM BlackBerry Bold 9650 Video Review: