BlackBerry Bold 9930 Pro Reviews

We could see the BlackBerry Bold 9930 being a suitable freebie phone on contract for business users or keyboard aficionados who don't plan on doing much beyond emailing, messaging, calling, and occasional web browsing. But at the regular going rate of $99.99 with a two-year agreement, even the stellar keyboard and solid build can't justify the price or commitment with so many better and more capable phones on the market. It's still available for purchase, but nearly two years after its debut, the Bold 9930 hasn't aged well – it just feels old.

The BlackBerry Bold 9930 is a great-looking and well-designed phone, with solid features and even a few cool extras (like near-field communication, or NFC, for mobile payment apps). Which makes it a shame that it’s saddled with BlackBerry 7 OS, which just isn’t a full smartphone experience here in 2012. It’s the phone you might want to date casually for a few months because it’s so pretty, but it really just isn’t bright enough to satisfy your needs in a long-term relationship.

Yes, the Bold 9930 now has a touchscreen and a slimmed-down profile, and it maintains the great BlackBerry cornerstones of an excellent keyboard and a solid email application, which is why I'm sure it's still the smartphone of choice for many businesses. But when compared to the likes of Android and iOS, the Bold 9930 still comes up very short. Introducing the next version of the BlackBerry OS -- the one based on QNX -- would have been a great way to overcome this obstacle and improve the user experience, but in the end this just a minor upgrade, not a major overhaul. The tweaks to improve the user interface and integrate touchscreen controls are certainly welcome, as is the much faster browser, but RIM needed something much more drastic to make the Bold 9930 a more desirable choice than the other, more user-friendly devices that are out there. And let's honest: the browser may be improved, but it still doesn't hold a candle to BlackBerry's competitors. There's nothing wrong with the BlackBerry Bold 9930 per se, it's just that the OS hasn't changed much and it's still very much a niche device for the business-oriented. Others looking for a vastly different BlackBerry experience should probably hold out until next year for a new device with the QNX OS.When it comes to BlackBerrys, the Bold 9930 is the cream of the crop. But that's exactly the problem: it's a BlackBerry and ultimately, that means it pales in comparison to the competition in many areas.

Research In Motion did a very good job with the BlackBerry Bold 9930. It is not radically new by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a significant upgrade compared to what preceded it. The hardware is probably the best every designed by RIM, and offers a perfect combination of controls, materials, and quality manufacture. I can't state strongly enough how fantastic the QWERTY keyboard is. BlackBerry 7 may be more polished than previous versions of RIM's operating system but it is still too menu driven and reliant on layer after layer of folders and sub-folders. Messaging, social networking, and calling functions are top notch, and the Bold 9930 is a capable media device, too. I worry about its poor voice performance, though. Is the 9930 a good smartphone? Yes. Is it one of the best to come from Research In Motion? Yes. Is it worth picking over an Android smartphone or the iPhone? That's a tough call. Obviously the 9930's claim to fame its its outstanding keyboard, and that's the feature I'd hinge my decision on. Bottom line, if you absolutely must have a great, physical QWERTY keyboard, you can't go wrong with the Bold 9930. If you're not afraid of touch screens, and want a little bit more from your smartphone, perhaps holding out for something new from Google or Apple wouldn't hurt.

The Bold 9930 is an excellent BlackBerry. Probably the best BlackBerry ever made. If you’re a fan of the phones and platform, and you’ve been waiting patiently for the next great device from Research In Motion — this is it. If you’re already committed to the OS, whether it’s because of a particular piece of software, a love of BBM, or the great keyboards, this device is probably a dream come true (as long as you know what you’re getting into).

If you've been using a BlackBerry for one or more generations, the Bold 9900 and 9930 should almost automatically become your favorite BlackBerry of all time. In many senses, it's the culmination of everything RIM has done so far in a package that mostly pulls it off. There's an exceptional keyboard, a good touchscreen implementation, and long battery life. Moreover, it's finally up to par in performance and feels like it's getting the build quality RIM has owed for awhile.

Despite its classy design and fast CPU, the BlackBerry Bold 9930 for Verizon is essentially a middling attempt to keep RIM afloat ahead of its long-delayed QNX software platform.

Of the three new BlackBerries coming out this fall, the Bold 9930 is definitely my favorite. The keyboard is superb, its design and construction is pristine and the new features in OS 7, like NFC and HD video capture, are a huge plus. BlackBerry fans will be delighted by the Bold, but as I mentioned earlier, the Bold doesn’t have enough to sway existing Android and iPhone users. On top of that, I think that its price is way too high, especially for a 3G phone.

The BlackBerry Bold 9930 is the best QWERTY BlackBerry to date, but should be priced lower.

As with the Torch 9810, there’s a sense that the Bold 9930 is RIM’s answer to criticism of previous Bold devices. Users wanted a spacious keyboard in the style of the original 9000, as well as a more premium-feeling chassis, and that’s just what they’ve delivered. They’ve thrown in a touchscreen, too, and the faster processor means BlackBerry 7 spends less time showing you a ticking clock and more time flicking between apps.

Granted that we’re not digging the minor changes found with OS 7, we’re more impressed with the overall speed and execution of the platform, which is attributed to the beefier hardware specs in tow. However, its anticipated $250 on-contract price is indeed steep for a handset that doesn’t quite employ today’s high-end specs sheet, but nevertheless, that’s the price that early adopters are going to pay to experience the very best from RIM’s lineup. Obviously, we can’t get them all with this beauty, like a dual-core CPU or 4G LTE connectivity, but we do like the fact that it’s packing an NFC chip and global support. Still, $250 for a good looking smartphone is rather tough to swallow in a world filled with dual-core processors, 4G speeds, high-end screens, cameras or mobile platforms that are exceptionally more refined.