New Bold is a real beauty

BLACKBERRY'S hold on email addicts is under threat.

switchedon blackberry

BLACKBERRY'S hold on email addicts is under threat.

BlackBerry Bold 9900
$899
au.blackberry.com
Overall: 4.5 Stars

The CrackBerry army is weakening and turning to touchscreen offerings from Apple and Google.

Thankfully, the company's response has arrived in hardware form: the best Bold smartphone yet.

In the BlackBerry Bold 9900, RIM has embraced both its heritage and new technology.

It looks a lot like the original Bold 9000, with a generous girth, 2.8-inch screen, black front and silver sides.

All is not as it seems, however, as that silver rim is now brushed metal, the trackball has been replaced by a touchpad, its body is the thinnest yet at 1.05cm and, most importantly, the screen is touch-sensitive.

Yes, this is the first phone in the Bold range to add a touchscreen and it has been implemented in the best way - as an option rather than the only way to use the phone.

Users who prefer to use buttons alone can get away with just that, ignoring the new addition.

Fencesitters can make occasional on-screen selections when scrolling gets tough.

Likewise, those who are used to a touchscreen interface can opt to use the keyboard only when typing missives.

The screen in question is also a lot more comfortable to use, simply because it's easier to see.

The new Bold display offers a greater resolution at 640x480 (up from 480x360), making text sharper and less pixelated.

Similarly, this phone's basic camera now offers a resolution of five megapixels and 720p high-definition video capture.

Though these obvious hardware upgrades are bound to impress, the best part about this new BlackBerry lies inside.

The combination of a 1.2GHz processor, 768MB RAM, a dedicated graphics processor and new software gives this handset a big speed boost.

Put simply, the Bold 9900 makes the Bold 9780 look like an antiquated toy.

Swiping from menu to menu is quick, viewing photos and videos is rapid, and even navigation is quickly achieved, depending on your internet connection.

The new software, BlackBerry OS 7, also delivers better, faster web browsing.

It is a task that has long proved troublesome on a BlackBerry, but both websites and HTML-based email appear faster and as they were intended to look, rather than in disjointed columns.

Being able to enlarge sites or select links with your finger also doesn't hurt.

The fresh Bold has flaws, however. Unfortunately, its camera only features a fixed focus, leaving close-ups blurry, and photos can appear quite washed out.

Users also have fewer app options than in other platforms, the 9900 only has 8GB of built-in memory, though you can boost this with a MicroSD card, and the demands of its new touchscreen drain its battery.

In our tests, it still withstood two days of solid use, however.

Ultimately, the BlackBerry Bold is easily impressive enough to win old fans back to the fold. Its speed, its touchscreen, and its sleek new form and software might even be enough to win new fans too.