Written by Jake Jenkins, Originally posted on Blackberry Motion

Christmas came early today in the form of the new T-Mobile Blackberry Bold 9700 with wifi calling; I must admit I was more than a little giddy as I tore into the FedEx package.   As a former T-Mobile customer I must say that the wifi calling feature is very nice indeed.  This has to be one of the best features out there to give people the option of maintaining a slightly more economical calling plan while still meeting their needs.  On top of that you have to know that long time T-Mobile Blackberry users are doing their own personal Happy Dance over the first 3G Blackberry the carrier has brought to the table.

 I won't say that this phone offers any landmark technology or crazy new feature that you will be "dazzled" with, but in my opinion this is one bad ass BlackBerry!  The Bold 9700 is the perfect love child of Bold Senior (9000) and the Curve 8900, offering the best qualities of each.  I have admittedly small hands for my size, so I really liked the in hand feel of the new Bold.  I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time trying to explain the size of it; I will let you look at the pictures for that but suffice it to say that it’s almost identical in size to my 8900.  Overall the phone has a very solid feel to it, and a slightly more chiseled appearance than the 8900.  Sporting a smaller slightly redesigned version of the Bold 9000’s keyboard offers a pleasant and comfortable typing experience without any loud major “click” from pressing the keys.

This new version is rich with features that will be much appreciated to the power user.  You can whine and carry on about the iPhone app store with it’s millions of applications (most of which are completely useless trinkets that someone had enough free time to make a reality) or carry on about the newest Android gadget but the reality of my world is some people can’t operate without the reliable and simple fact that they need a BlackBerry because it……works.  The 9700 has the rich and vibrant 480×360 screen that seems to be the new standard for devices, as a Theme Developer I appreciate this because the extra 40 pixels of height adds quite a bit of flexibility to the amount of function that can be stuffed onto your home screen.  Behind this nice screen is the powerful 624 MHz processor that definitely boosts the performance and multi-tasking capability.  Thankfully this handsome device was blessed with the utilitarian dedicated lock and mute keys instead of being defiled by the media buttons placed on the 8500 Series or the Curve #450

One of the things I noticed right off the bat would probably go unnoticed by most people, the older BlackBerries such as the 81XX Pearl Series and the 83XX Curve Series had a built in screen protector because the clear plastic on the surface was actually part of the housing I.E. it could be replaced quite inexpensively and as often as you like but the later generation phones like the 8900, 9000, and 9630 actually have an exposed LCD which means if your screen gets scratched you’re HOSED.  I was admittedly (and pleasantly) surprised to see this built in defensive feature re-introduced with the 9700.  I like the feel of a naked BlackBerry in my hand so I have yet to find a case that I can stand for more than a day or two, thus my beautiful Berries live a quite dangerous life.

If you are a media buff then you will be pleased to know that this phone supports up to a 32 Gigabyte micro SD card for you to put your favorite movies, mp3’s, or pictures on.  On top of this the device has 256 MB of internal memory so there is plenty of room for a multitude of business and pleasure applications alike.

I know a lot of people get all twisted up every time BGR or any of the other sites that preview devices pre-release calls a phone “The Best BlackBerry Ever!”, and I am not going to.  There is no doubt in my eyes that at some point in the near future there will be a better and more power packed BlackBerry to drool over.  If you think that has stopped the drool puddling by my keyboard or will keep me from being just as excited for the next one, then you’ve never felt the nerd powered lust that is true Blackberry addiction.  If this is the case then feel free to send me your unloved Blackberry and I will provide it a caring and nurturing home.  The Blackberry 9700 is a natural evolution of the phones we have seen over the last several years and in my humble opinion it offers the best combination of bundled features that can be bought without the assistance of your local ninja so if you are in the market for a new Berry or just an Electrinket Whore like me then I think this bad boy is calling your name!

You can find a full list of features and specifications HERE

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