[Tre Lawrence]

Nice pics!!! Any issues with shutter speed (the bane of my Android camera)?

[papped]

The 9900/9930 shutter speed is basically instant, one of the few upsides to the camera. As long as you don't routinely take macro shots or up-close focus shots it works very well.

[Tre Lawrence]

The 9900/9930 shutter speed is basically instant, one of the few upsides to the camera. As long as you don't routinely take macro shots or up-close focus shots it works very well.

Taking pics of my toddler is a pain on my device, so I can appreciate that. Huge plus.

[Blackberry_boffin]

I am a *relatively* proud owner of 9900 for like the last month. I was up for renewal at work and I had the option of iPhone, 9810, or 9900... I almost got the iPhone, but literally after seeing the 9900 and touching the REAL device, I fell in love with it (which is a shame as fake phones in stores doesn't do it justice)!

The form factor, materials, weight, keyboard, design ALL oozes quality and professionalism. Also, by trying a colleagues, I loved how quick it ran and basically it looked like it had everything I wanted.

Now, after a month, I wonder WHY THE **** RIM skipped just a few things to do this phone RIGHT and missed the HUGE opportunity to gain A LOT MORE marketshare, or at least STOP THE BLEEDING! I am not gonna talk about OS, lack of apps, etc... those things are just facts of life until BBX, and OS 7.0 is pretty great for majority of users.

Top three things RIM missed on BB900 BIG TIME:

1. BATTERY - This is NOT a surprise obviously, come one, it's 2011 and ALL long-term BB users are used to great battery life and I NEVER EVER had to worry about my phone running out of juice during a day. I understand that *might have* added a bit of thickness, but WHO CARES. Even within the same case they must probably be able to come up with a higher capacity battery.
2. CAMERA - Again, not a surprise. WHY not include a freaking auto-focus? Not that 9780 camera was anything special, but to go backwards in quality is not acceptable in this day and age (not counting 720P video)
3. SCREEN SIZE - This is something not too many have mentioned, BUT there is SO MUCH ROOM to make the screen 3" and even 3.2". Get rid of the Blackbery logo on top, remove the black plastic frame on the bottom, and just freaking extend the height of the screen.

That's it! Come on! I am not asking 1 milion apps, music/movie downloads, new OS, etc... just the SAME freaking phone could have been a PERFECT messaging, web device, with GREAT phone capabilities, good for 90% of the typical users of BB AND casual non-professional users. All most ppl care about is a phone that doesn't die half-way through a day, can take good picture, and has a decent size screen for web browsing, messaging, pictures.

The above 3 items are NOT engineering feats, or crazy technologies not available easily to RIM or difficult to implement... While they did some amazing stuff on 9900, for the LIFE OF ME, I do NOT GET IT why they missed such obvious items?!

It was always going to be a challemge to make a beefier battery on a phone with a faster processor and a sharper screen that double as an input device.
You are right though but it is hardly disastrous.

[poseidon5]

1: The battery is actually incredibly good. Probably the best battery life of any smart phone on the market. In my environment, guys with androids only last about 6 hours and they are looking for a charge. Guys with iPhones last about 10 hours and they are plugging in. I can go 2 full 12 hour days on my 9900 and still have juice left. It's best in class.

2: For me the camera is good enough, I rarely use it anyways. I guess having a slightly better camera wouldn't hurt. But I wouldn't want the device to be any thicker because of it.

3: The screen size is perfect. The resolution is perfect. The brightness is perfect. Colors are perfect and clarity is perfect. The only reason you might want a bigger screen would be for playing games and stuff.

If you want to play games and goof off because you are a kid. Buy an android.

If you want to play games and mp3 files because you are a young adult without any real responsibly or are a student. But an iPhone.

If you want incredible battery life, rock solid reception, fault free operation, email and txt communications and internet connectivity because you are an adult and have real work to do...BUT A BLACKBERRY!

deluded canadian. stop disgracing your countrymen

[jivegirl14]

Battery not an issue after a couple of weeks and the upgrades. I get full working days with 20% left with 3G, Wifi, Bluetooth and bridge to the PlayBook.
For me the camera is so good, I use it for my real estate activity.

Some examples
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Size of the screen, well it is a phone, and it has the best keyboard in the world. If I want to browse the web or if I need a bigger screen, I have my PlayBook with me all the time.

Great pics. And people are whining about no autofocus...!????!

[lax42]

That would have made the phone perfect, but no company wants to make a perfect device, or else you wouldn't want to upgrade to the next phone

[jamesbondOO7]

Great pics. And people are whining about no autofocus...!????!

I know. I have NO idea what people are complaining about. The disconnect on this forum between the critics and reality is sometimes simply mind-boggling....I have never seen anything like that on any other forum (cars, watches, etc.)

[irkan]

Lol I just love those posts where people defend their phone like it's the Holy grail

On a more serious note though, for people who say that android and windows phone battery life are sucky. And last like 5 hours. It's really not that bad as you say

I have both (htc desire and lg optimus) and with regular usage (few emails, sms, chat, facebook, light games, pictures, some music and few calls) I can easily get 18 hours with leftover.

Just thought of sharing this for people so they don't get the wrong idea about battery life of other platforms

[bubble.tea]

7.0.0.503. I Can't kill my batt on a normal day's use even if I try. :-)

Then you need to learn how to use a smartphone.

1: The battery is actually incredibly good.....

If you want incredible battery life.....BUT A BLACKBERRY!

How do you 'but a blackberry'??

No but seriously., you can't allege that dropping 15% mAh in a battery, on their premium phone, still keeps the battery life 'incredibly good' . Is this your first BB?

My battery life is actually insanely good on my 9900....

LOL., I would love to know what the baseline for this comparison is for those of you who are claiming it's 'insanely good'.

Battery: I'm used to it now, I have a charger everywhere. Desk at home, office and in my bedroom....

Lol., not exactly a solution. More like, brain-washing BB customers into accepting the shortcomings and readjusting their lifestyles to suit. I would only cut them slack if they included five AC Chargers with each BB BoldTouch sale.

Everyone harping on about the battery and how they should have got a different phone seem to be missing the important point that the battery is only poor if you compare it to previous lower power Blackberrys. Compared to the competition the battery is great!!...

You're right there. It's easy to say it has great battery performance, when the competition has a screen TWICE the size.

Listen fellas (and ladies), RIM is dying. They're grasping for straws. It has been several years since I bought my dozen 8300's and flipped them. Each time a flagship model drops, there's always blatant points that adopters comment on. It seems, if anything, RIM is reliably continuing with that characteristic. Would I love bigger, better, badder? But frankly, I don't think a deeper (to accomodate a larger batt) would be nearly as sexy as the 9900 as it is today. It's a tough choice, but I guess, somewhere someone has to make the call.

Happy 'secure' email & msging .

[pythons]

I agree with the OP on the camera issue - absolutely right that RIM soiled the bed there...
...I was one of the people that had exceptional battery life with my 9930 so no gripes there at all.
...Still, there has been enough battery issues they could have given it some more power.

I think the camera would have saved RIM on this device myself - I've now met three other people....
...In Seattle who like me had the 99xx and dumped it because of the camera.

[chocolatluvn1]

I agree on the camera and the screen size.


The screen size like you said could be expanded and still contain the qwery physical keyboard (like the Droid Pro) and the camera going to non-autofocus was a horrible idea regardless of making the phone thinner. Thinner is not necessarily better. The OS is also a downer too. Too many kinks