In August 2011, Research In Motion released the Blackberry Bold 9900. As a RIM loyalist I was excited to see the new device on the HSPA + network. Faster processing, better memory management, near field communication, OS 7 and a higher resolution front and rear camera all seem to fill the gap of what my Bold 9780 lacked. The device was branded as the thinnest blackberry ever made, but what they didn’t tell you is that it is also the widest and extremely awkward to operate with one hand. Although texting and driving is illegal in most parts of the world it will not prevent the public from doing it and this device better come with directions on how to drive with your knees or you will end up in the ditch trying to send a text on the road. While the device is significantly faster than any other BlackBerry it also has the worst battery life capacity of any cell phone I have ever owned. Not 1 day was I able to use the phone without needing a recharge at some point throughout the day.
The touch screen seemed like a positive from RIM, unlike its competitor iPhone it offers a hybrid touch and keypad. They made a huge mistake though, the send, BlackBerry, return and end call buttons were all integrated with touch which is directly above the raised keyboard making it extremely difficult to precisely hit any of these buttons. Now onto near field communication, I would imagine 90% of the users purchasing this phone have no idea what it means or how to use it, even more so because the device doesn’t come with any native software to operate it. Wouldn’t it made more sense to put another useless technology like LTE in it so at least at some point the phone would be leading edge. Operating System 7 offers some nice updates like hiding the panels “frequent” “downloads” “media” which annoyed everyone in OS 6. As far as the rest of the updates they must be behind the scenes. Over the course of the three weeks I used the phone it crashed twice requiring it to be hooked up to my computer and a full re-load. Luckily I have BES and didn’t lose my contacts or my mind.
I have currently switched back to the Bold 9780. The 9900 was a huge let down and RIM needs to reconsider its strategy for testing products before market release. While Apple has been successful in creating a stir of not providing product information before a release, RIM needs to understand their customers are the most loyal in the world and until iPhone 4s they have never been disappointed. The market is here to help make your product better, let us help you.
Scott Holmes
Extreme Technology
Twitter – scottyextreme