8900 (Curve II) / 9000 (Bold) / 83XX (Curve) Comparison

aristile · Thread Author #1 11-17-2008, 09:35 PM

Hello everyone!

I have been trolling through the forums today and searching the internet to find out what I can about the Curve II and the Bold as I am thinking of upgrading my 8310. After everything I have read on the subject I think one link that best helped me at comparing everything is the following link:

http://http://www.phonearena.com/htmls/compare_advresults.php?phones[]=2895&phones[]=2710&phones[]=2322

Notable differences:

Both the Curve II (512 MHz) and the Bold (624 MHz) have a big increase in processor speed to the Curve (312 Mhz).

I'm not 100% sure about this but the Bold camera seems to be same as the Curve except that the Bold can also capture video.

The memory card for the Curve II is behind the battery door but NOT behind the actual battery, while the Bold memory card is on the left side of the phone.

Bold has 1GB built in memory.

Bold can connect to 3G networks while neither of the Curves can.

Curve II has a different charging port, it is MICRO-usb while the Curve and Bold are the MINI-usb ports. So all your old chargers will not work without an adapter. But I found one here http://www.motorazr.com/content/acce...-19--3062.html. Also the Curve II has the usb port on the lower right side of the phone instead of the upper left side (as on the Curve 83xx models). If this hinders using the keyboard while typing then I also found an adapter to handle that as well. Motorola SKN6258 OEM Micro USB Right Angle Charger Adapter Cable: Motorola RAZR2 V8/ RAZR2 V9/ RAZR2 V9m/ Q9h Cell Phone models Factory original Micro USB to Micro USB Right Angle Charger Adapter Cable

The Curve II and Bold each use the new operating system which will be better than OS 4.5 and below.

The Bold is slightly larger than both Curves.

The Curve II screen size is actually larger than the Bold screen size.

I think that covers everything at least everything that mattered to me. If I left anything important out then I'm sure someone will let me know. Personally for me I am going to see if I like the Bold's size or not and then make my final decision. I am leaning towards the Curve II because I like my 8310 so much. Hopefully AT&T will have these available within the next few weeks or so, if not the Bold it is since I need to buy a phone before the end of the year.

I am with Centennial Wireless, who do not offer 3G services so that is not a factor to me personally. I do realize that AT&T is attempting to buy-out Centennial at this time but that still needs to be approved and who knows how long it will be until 3G services are available to me. AT&T may even try to force me to switch to their pricing plans in order to use 3G, only time will tell on that and I do not want to give up my Centennial-based contract.

Hopefully this will help someone else out in deciding which phone to upgrade to.

jlim2452001 · #2 11-17-2008, 10:03 PM

A few mistakes...

The Curve 8900 screen is actually smaller than the bold...it is less wide . You can notice the difference on this link as the icons at the bottom of the curve 8900 are much smaller than that of the Bolds

blackberry curve 8900

Also the Camera on the curve 8900 is noticebly sharper than that of the Bolds (3.2 MP over 2 ) However Ive noticed that there is a huge lag time after taking a picture on the curve 8900 and the storm compared to the bold...it is pretty noticeable

The curve 8900 is an excellent phone! Im sure you'll be happy with the upgrade!

aristile · Thread Author #3 11-17-2008, 10:08 PM

I don't think I was mistaken on the resolution of the Curve II being larger than the Bold, as per the specs:

Bold Resolution: 480 x 320 pixels
Curve II Resolution: 480 x 360 pixels

Sorry if I was not clear in my original post but I was comparing the Bold camera to the Curve (83xx) camera, not to the Curve II's camera - which is clearly better than the other two phones.

.M.E. · #4 11-17-2008, 10:52 PM

You are right about the number of pixels on the 8900 .. it has a greater resolution, but the screen area is smaller, resulting in a more crisp image.

Also, as for comparing the bold camera to the 83xx camera, you should note that they have the same MP (2.0) and if the 83xx is running on OS 4.5.X it will also capture video.

aristile · Thread Author #5 11-17-2008, 11:07 PM

.M.E. - Thanks for the heads up on the camera. My Curve is currently running OS 4.5 but I did not notice that I could now capture video. Of course I never use the camera anyway but that is still good to know.

So the resolution is better which will provide more crisp viewing of images and video when compared to the Bold, awesome.

Anyone know the exact physical dimensions of the Bold screen and also the Curve II screen?

aristile · Thread Author #6 11-18-2008, 07:39 PM

Today I went into an AT&T store and spent some time with a Bold. I must say, I was definitely impressed. The phone was clearly faster than the Curve 83xx, as to be expected. There was a video on the phone which I watched and the quality was very nice. The most impressive thing to me was the speaker sound quality. I think it is worth mentioning that if you have large fingers and had to adjust to the curve small keyboard size then you will feel more comfortable with the Bold because they keyboard is larger.

The potential deal breaker for me on the Bold is going to be whether or not I can control turning off the 3G antenna or not. I am with Centennial wireless so I will need purchase the phone from AT&T, unlock it, update the OS and then use it. It has been reported that for some reason AT&T has disabled the ability to turn off the 3G capability on their phones. Centennial Wireless does not offer 3G service so it will be a complete waste of my battery if the phone is constantly looking for a 3G signal that it will not be able to use. Once I determine what I can do about the 3G service, I will make my final decision. At this point I am not concerned at all with the increased size of the bold, in fact I liked it more than I expected.

Does anyone know for sure if I would be able to return a phone if I unlocked it after I purchased it? I may end up having to be the guinea pig on unlocking the AT&T phone and then trying it on another carrier's network to determine if the 3G can be turned off or not. I could always E-bay it if I can't return it.

AttaQ · #7 11-18-2008, 08:15 PM

You could just buy a Rogers unit and unlock. Since you have to unlock it anyway, that would give you the ability to turn off the 3g.

Unlocking it won't give you the ability to turn off 3g, its been done before.

Casper TFG · #8 11-19-2008, 08:01 AM

I think there may be a difference between US and UK (Europe?) Curves

My lowly 8300 has always been able to shoot video.. And I am on a really old OS.

smokn05 · #9 11-19-2008, 11:36 AM

What is the internal memory of the 8900? One thing I think is ridiculous on the Bold is with 1G internal mem, only 128K is available for operating use and 3rd party apps. I think I heard that the 8900 has 256K available for operating use.

DarkPhoenix · #10 11-19-2008, 11:49 AM

Just an addendum to your Comparos.

The CDMA Curves all run on 3G (Sprint and Verizon at least).

aristile · Thread Author #11 11-19-2008, 01:32 PM

DarkPhoenix - Can you explain what you mean by this?

uberspeed · #12 11-19-2008, 02:07 PM

As far as I know CDMA EVDO is considered 3G due to speeds. However, CDMA 3G doesn't have some of the (to me) best benefits of GSM 3G such as: being able to talk and receive SMS/MMS messages, or talk and surf at the same time as examples.