Analyzed: BlackBerry Bold 9900

It is astonishing to see a company like Research in Motion (RIM), makers of the BlackBerry, a product once synonymous with corporate communications, fall out of grace with the market in such stupendous fashion. The company has not been doing well lately with dipping stock prices, corporate restructuring and in general just trying to find their identity once again and play catch up to the fierce competition that is the smartphone market. We have been fans of BlackBerrys (except for the Torch which was atrocious) and took a look at the Blackberry Bold 9900.

The Bold 9900 has the specs of most smartphones in the market. There is nothing really earth shattering here. The only thing that differentiates it from the competition is the keypad which other manufacturers have done away with to increase the screen size. One has to question the inclusion of the keypad though, especially with apps like Swype that are either pre-installed or can be downloaded and make typing blindingly fast. The Bold 9900 comes equipped with:

1. 2.8" display at a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels
2. 1.2GHz Qualcomm processor
3. Operating System: BlackBerry OS 7.1
4. 768MB RAM
5. 8GB storage expandable to 32GB via microSD
6. 5MP rear camera with 4 x digital zoom
7. 720P video recording
8. Weight: 130g
9. Battery capacity: 1230mAh

As you can see, nothing earth shattering. Yes you can listen to your music, yes you can watch films, yes you can stay connected with your friends and yes you get BlackBerry Messenger which a lot of people swear by, but even it can be replaced by apps that can be downloaded for free. Battery life is very very good compared to phones in its class and with regular usage (not just for work but entertainment as well) we were able to pull over 12 hours on a single charge. 

Using the BlackBerry Bold 9900 is like using any other BlackBerry from the past. It is like a car that will get you from Point A to Point B without any fuss. That's it. You do get the support of the BlackBerry App World to download apps to keep you occupied, but it has no where near the number of apps you can find at the App Store or Google Play. Our biggest gripe with the Bold 9900, the price... oh that insane price, we can't justify spending that much on this smartphone knowing you get almost twice as much for the same amount with other brands. It might suit BlackBerry to completely move ahead with the times especially since they are playing catch up to the Apples, Samsungs and HTCs of the world. Sometimes, legacies should remain legacies.

Our Rating: 

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 is currently on sale in India for about Rs. 33,000 (~$660).