[totallygone]

I have gone from a Blackberry curve 8300 to a Bold 9700. Now I am pretty sure the Blackberry Bold 9900 is the one for me, but the Torch 2 is looking mighty fine....Damn!!!!

For the current owners of the Bold 9900, especially if you had a Bold 9700....what do you love about that phone and how does it compare to the 9700, or do you wish you got the torch 2.

[VanGoaL]

I have torch 1 and i realy dont think that the new torch has many different in the design
Also as a conclusion from my current device i think bb should not be slider phone !

+1 for 9900

[SaMaster14]

I think it will all come down to size and keyboard.

The torch 9810 has a slightly larger screen.(and from users with Torch1's they do say that its only slightly larger). But the device itself is bulkier than the Bold because of the slider function and the keyboard is worse (9930 definitely has the best BB keyboard, and possibly the best smartphone keyboard).

It basically comes down to style preference.

The 99XX is going to be RIMs flagship device with the best of everything they have right now. But if you love the slider, go for the 9810, you won't be disappointed.

[The_Kills]

Ive been with AT&T for a bit and got the Torch when I switched (came from an 8900 from T-Mobile, of which on a side note I will proclaim as the best Curve ever created).

2 Days was enough for me to see what sort of mess that Torch was (cramped and depressed keyboard), many OS initial bugs(and annoyances since my 8900 was an OS4 phone if I remember right) and overall spotty performance as well as horrid battery life. The phone wasnt solid in the least bit, creaks and cracking all over when pressing on the phone from various angles and such, it just felt like a hunk of heavy metal wrapped up in plastic. Took it back and got the 9700. I've had it for pretty much a year now and its a great phone. Solidly built, light, good battery performance, decent reception (apart from AT&T's **** network here in NYC).

But anyway, I've had the 9930 (couldn't be assed waiting anymore on AT&T and other GSM idiots here in the states). Got it direct from Verizon online. Now let me just say a few quick things about why I got a CDMA phone when I am still on AT&T, firstly the only sacrifice it seems is the 3G GSM bands (they arent available on the 9930). But honestly I dont see why on Earth anyone would care so much about connection speeds when it comes to Blackberry's because whether your on 1G or 4G, the fact still remains the info gets processed through the BIS servers and then sent back to your phone, so the only difference is very slightly noticeable. And to be quite honest, for literally a second or two (to sacrifice battery life for a 4G LTE capable phone) is out of the question. 2G is just fine (EDGE) for BB's unless your tethering, then I fully understand.

Now on to my initial feelings from the past few days:

It's beyond refreshing to use this new browser, I really cannot stress how much better it feels browsing with it. It truly is one of the main reasons I got this phone. And best of all the Javascript compiler is amazingly fast (thank you RIM for truly outdoing my expectations coming from a 9700 on OS5). Whats really great is you can use the touchscreen or optical pad, its speed/efficiency/precision all mixed in one. Just amazing.

The phone itself feels great in the hand, it took 20 mins or so to adjust to the keyboard fully (since I was used to the now-cramped 9700 keyboard). Having this feeling of fullness and ergonomic satisfaction and less strain when spending time with the phone is truly beyond words can portray in any review, its one of those things that will last forever and you will never tire of (though you may take for granted =P ).

The one thing hardware wise I will not forgive RIM is what turned me off to the Torch when I first got it. This rides my nerves to the wall beyond measure, and that is the disgusting 1 piece menu buttons (the call and end-call button, back, and BB button), are now all in 1. On the Torch it was a a pile of ****, it would creak slightly, it would rise from the ends when pressing one of the buttons, it was simply revealed later on by other users, all it was was a cost cutting method of not having assembled divided parts, and simply a peice of plastic glued on so cheaply over the buttons, to which tactile feedback was almost nonexistant. Truly terrible and disgusting (coming from a 9700, with it's nice clicks of its' divided keys). RIM, DO NOT give me your flagship device as such a price point which crap like that..

On the 9930, the tactile feedback seems to be more so it's not that much of a problem, I only pray that this strip garbage doesn't de-glue overtime or the elevation of the stripe rises or falls or becomes uneven).

In terms of the camera it is what it is. Nothing special, but fair enough for quick snaps of things not close up. We all know it sucks (because its a downgrade from old versions of their phones of which were already outdated anyway), and its another one of those cases where your pissed considering they're toting this as their flagship. It just makes you want to murder someone out of principle. And then they have the nerve to tell me that they couldn't manage it because of the thin phone design? Full of horse ****, check out the Nokia N9 (notice how I am referencing a failed company like Nokia, who are now starting to wake up and do something about their situation). Also, the whole thinness argument is pointless, I dont see anyone saying and wishing their BB's were too fat or absolutely needed thinness, to the degree that RIM now cuts the AF camera, and battery amps, to something worse than what they had in their prior phones, and then go on to say this is their flagship. But what can you do, obviously everyone knows this is just a stepping stone to QNX anyway, they don't care about overall quality, and are shafting people. Also I hear people singing the praises of the 5MP camera for video's. Well let me say I truly hope RIM can remedy this issue with wobble with a software fix, because as stands, I think this video recording experience is worse than the camera picture taking(because you know what to expect with pictures). I don't understand how the video is coming out so wobbly and with so much screen tearing as if someone is using the smudge tool in photoshop. I honestly cannot stress how terribly susceptible the camera is to motion, this thing needs a tripod to a degree, and no I am not joking, even with image stabilization setting turned on, I don't see much of an improvement, unacceptable to be honest for a phone sighted of this caliber, at least if it recorded in 60 FPS I would've been much more pleased and forgave all these camera issues. Another issue I was ticked off with is the low flash memory space left, I dont get why this is so low by default though after deleting a few language packs and PDF's preloaded, it was a bit better.

Without anymore comparisons to other phones and such (aside from the 9700) lets move on to the next point.

DO NOT get the Torch 2 if you enjoy your 9700 for it's keyboard and solid build and just ease of use and elegance. Torch needs more iterations to get to the status where Bold as reached), the torch is a good example of something that tries to do many things, but doesn't do one extremely well. I haven't tried the 9810, but its honestly not that hard to imagine what to expect with just some more speed added on.

Now on to the comparison between the 9900 and 9700

9900 Wins: Better keyboard period, feels great in the hand, OS is better of course, though for some reason I wish I could go back to OS5 on this thing out of curiosity, screen is noticeably improved, touch screen was a dream-come true on the form factor, call quality I think is better though I should do a side by side comparison to be sure (though AT&T is trash in this department anyway).

9700 Wins: Smaller size (but this is a sort of hypocritical ambition considering the keyboard on the 9930 couldn't be much better without a size increase, so this is passable), battery door blows the 9930's out of the water (poly composite door is utter fail in terms of practicality, but in terms of looks that's subject to opinion but that fake leather is much better in the hand and has less of a slippery and failed plastic feel), the battery sorry to say is actually better as expected, the front facing buttons are still the same as they were the day I bought the phone and Im not sure I can say the same for the 9930 for long, the camera obviously and sadly is much better.

Closing notes. The main thing I am upset by is the overall situation compared with the times and industry. RIM isn't doing so hot, and it shows with their delays, and you know things of that nature one can go on forever with. Lackluster last gen phones when compared to others, downgrade in hardware with these new devices. Cheap tactic of OS 7 advertisement instead of what it really is, and that is 6.1. An almost full of themselves nature thinking they can ride the same train they have been for the past 10 years of which of been with 7 years now. I can't move on to another company because they dont have the form factor I want, they dont have the mix of features and the security and things of that nature. I can handle being given a last gen phone and paying a premium for it, but what really upsets me about what RIM is doing as of late is releasing phones here and there, with delays, on some carriers but not on others, quality control issues, and this whole thing with QNX coming soon, and being offered a sort of pacifier until then with the 9930... They really are riding my last nerve with all this. I am not a fanboy of sorts and I wont stick to a company out of pride or things of that nature. I am just really tired of the issues as of late, but to conclude. Get the 9930 or 9900, it's definitely going to suit you better than the 9700 for the most part.

[totallygone]

@ The_Kills Thank you sooooo much. Great review and extremely honest. I do alot of different things on my blackberry that require me to type for a significant portion of my day. I totally agree with your comment on the cramped keyboard of the Torch. I cannot do with a keyboard that is smaller than the Bold 9700.

I think I was just going for a 'cute' phone and not thinking about functionality. Thanks for that fantastic review......

BOLD 9900 here I come.....

[The_Kills]

You're welcome, the only thing that deters me from posting here is you have to be very careful with what you say unless you want to be branded as a troll or just flame-baiting for anti-RIM posts =[

Play around with a Torch if you ever get the chance, you will know exactly what it is I tried to describe, and why RIM does itself justice sticking to what it's been doing best, and that is the Bold atm. I don't want you having any regrets (of not getting the Torch) which I can pretty much promise you wont be.