[STS14B]

Well folks believe it or not i bought my second 9981 7 months after selling the first one. Why did i buy it again? Well i think i never gave it the recognition it deserved, both in function and form. When I had first bought it it was immediately after using the 9900 for a couple of months I had just gotten used to the best keyboard experience on a smartphone. Switching from the no-glitch near-perfect 9900 to the 9981 with the extra sensitive and faulty build surely winded me down. The main central buttons kept giving me the impression that with the wrong move of the finger they would snap off. The back cover kept wiggling making me wonder what would happen if it fell from a considerable height. The backlight of the keyboard was atrocious. Overall I rated, in my mind, the 9981 7 out of 10. At that time this score was an abomination for a 2000 USD luxury smartphone A.K.A the most expensive Blackberry ever made. So the bottom line is I sold it.

Months passed. I used the 9900 again and literally every OS7 device that came out and I also used the iPhone 4S, HTC One X and the Samsung S3. Last but not least the Android 2.0 powered Tag Heuer Link Luxury Smartphone. And yes, in the mean time I used a lot of Porsche Design products: cigar equipment, case for the iphone etc. And I noticed something: the first time I got the 9981 the material seemed...cheap. But after careful, near-microscopic review of the second unit the material seemed solid. The keys are stronger, the back door doesnt wiggle and the keyboard backlight is equally distributed. I dont want to take the easy road by saying "oh it must be the time that makes it look better". No! I am absolutely sure that the second batch of 9981's which came out of the factory were probably quality tested much more vigorously than the first batch.

So I really want to amend my previous review which I had in my mind and write down each section:

1. Build and form: Classic german porsche design. Minimalistic and efficient, not too fancy, very solid and robust. The phone is heavy in the hand, has a posture many look at from a distance and the fact that the keyboard if steel is just awesome. No matter how good the 9900 keyboard is, hey, its still plastic! The back leather fits your hand perfectly. The square corners make it stand out as an exclusive device. I am very pro-german so I love the design but im quite sure many do regardless of their design perspective.

2. Box and contents: This is the love&hate section. I love the way the phone is presented in the box with different layers and such and the charging stand is great. But where is the pouch or the case?!? I mean every Bold model comes with a beautiful leather case but when you go for a much more expensive device (i mean much much more) you expect a case at least! And considering how stylish cases Porsche Design make its just cheap that they didnt include one. And when you go to Porsche Design stores to buy one they dont have them. Its just disappointing. We dont need a charging stand we need a case to protect the front of the 9981!!!! I dont expect this thing to be like a vertu with thousands of gimmicks coming out of everywhere (battery charging unit, full leather case, bluetooth premium headset, premium earphones etc) but come on just a case man!

3. Software: Well I love the theme. Pure Porsche Design. And yes the ringtone is cool. But is that it? I mean Vertu and Tag Heuer both have exclusive music made for their phones and you can stand out but with the 9981 its just another Blackberry. The notifiers are the same. There is no exclusive pack. And the theme doesnt have its own font. These are very very simple details and its a shame such German perfectionism skipped it!

4. PIN: Well this is absolutely cool: you have an exclusive PIN. With millions of people using Blackberry's it really makes you stand out. Its exclusivity and elitism at its best. No complaints here, actually five stars.

5. User experience: The keyboard is cool, battery is so so(but hey thats why they have the charging stand right) and the camera is non-autofocus but does the job. So the killer is using a perfectly designed luxury smartphone. Unless you want to customize a normal Blackberry at a shop with gold and jewels (which would still make it what it is: a normal blackberry) this is your deal.

I give this piece of design beauty 9 out of 10. If they had given a leather case, yes, I would say 10 out of 10.

[STS14B]

Any comments?

[anon(4021844)]

Speechless.. Am wondering about the PIN. What do you mean by it being exclusive? Single digit all the way? E.g 11111111?

[Revo3G]

All 9981's start with 2AA.... that is how you know they ae using a PDE.

[STS14B]

They had reserved those PINs for some purpose a while ago so you never get them even randomly. They give you a special card with your 2AA PIN with the box.