BlackBerry Bold 9900 review: Business reimagined

20 September 2011
A brand new OS, more speed, a facelift and a high-res touchscreen, the latest of the Bold messengers is listening for the roar of the crowd. There's no going back to the old rational and composed self - give it danger, thrills and excitement...

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  • W
  • WES
  • vCG
  • 05 Nov 2011

snoops, 17 Oct 2011for your info, the standard case that comes with the BB9900... moreI don't think you had your proximity sensor turned on properly because my case worked fine and would switch phone off when it was entered into it.

But the phone is a flop as a whole. an 8 year BB user I was gutted when I got this phone. Drop outs, freezes, crashes when browsing, touch screen crappy and not working sometimes and all within 3 days of ownership.

Processor is a little faster but what is the use if it crashes so often? Likewise with the browser.

Phone feels great in your hands and the larger size is a welcome addition from the 9780 but the trackpad is too close to the touch screen for people with big hands and you will be constantly fighting with the phone. After 3 days I returned the phone for a full refund....... I'm really sad actually as I can't bring myself to letting go of BB.

    • D
    • Dragon_Reborn
    • PB4
    • 23 Oct 2011

    I just got my Bold 9900 3 days ago. This is my third BB. So far 9700 is still better when it comes to battery life.

    Physically, I like 9900 because it's bigger, better screen resolution, thinner and lighter. However, I don't like the battery cover. I don't know why RIM opted for this cheap looking back cover.

    Hardware issues: trackpad is not properly centered but it doesn't make the squeaky sound as complained by others. Mine however suffers from the mushy menu button (doesn't make a "click" sound compared to the back and end buttons). The call button is a bit soft as well but at least I can feel some tactile. The end button somehow produces a small creak when pressed. But I am not returning the phone for these hardware issues. I've had worse BB's before (9700 had wobbly trackpad, Torch had wobbly slider).

    So far, I'm enjoying this phone.

      • s
      • snoops
      • PU0
      • 17 Oct 2011

      Stringz87, 09 Oct 2011I am looking forward to getting this phone! But to addr... morefor your info, the standard case that comes with the BB9900 is not a power saving case with the magnet.

      was disappointed to find it is sold as an accessory.

        • S
        • Stringz87
        • M3s
        • 09 Oct 2011

        I am looking forward to getting this phone!

        But to address battery issues that people have been having,

        I have had bberry for comming on 5 years now, and have found that the two best ways to preserve the battery is:

        1) Use the leather holster. It has a magnet that turns off the screen, and my comparison with not using it, is about a days difference.

        2) Don't charge for more than 4 hours. Now this is strange, my 9700 if left on charge overnight, only lasts a day. Left on charge for less than 4hours (and using the leather holster) 3- 4 days easy.

        I hope this helps some of you!

          • w
          • wazza
          • RNM
          • 09 Oct 2011

          good phone overall

          im not a medium user ... battery life is excellent roughly 2 and a half days for the phone.

          the reviews that i read so far says the internet speed is fast but its not that fast on my phone

          there is hardly any good apps but i dont mind since i have my ipod.

          and of course a good combo of touch screen and keyboard :)

            • D
            • AnonD-25411
            • 2Wa
            • 08 Oct 2011

            The worst phone i have ever come across..

            BATTERY is PATHETIC... after one month of use... the PHONE is giving hanging problems and is very very slow..

            A TOTAL DISSAPOINTMENT>..

              • D
              • AnonD-24905
              • 3Y6
              • 05 Oct 2011

              Bought this phone on Sep 13..

              The phone is really fun to use,fast and keyboard is a joy to type on.Typing errors almost zero.Touch screen is also fantastic,its fast responsive and helps a lot when clicking an icon or notification.So its the best qwerty-touch phone ever.Only thing i am let down is the battery life.I dropped screen brightness to 10% and switched of 3G aswell still it lasts for a day.I am a heave bbmer but 9780 lasted 1.5-2 days for me.

              Apps are not that good..you just get basic apps(fb twitter,Im's),browser is fine..i dont feel i needed heavy flash support on a small screen like that!!

              Overall am happy with the phone.I recommend it to anyone who is into heavy texting and occasional browsing..Emails are also comfartable..so easy to read and reply(here also just text).

                • y
                • yousef
                • iFs
                • 03 Oct 2011

                worst phone ever i bought this junk
                battery last 2 hrs talk time
                and the best thing in it texting is easy thats all other wise camera is junk
                and screen sensitivity garbage

                  • N
                  • Natko
                  • prQ
                  • 03 Oct 2011

                  Best phone I ever had, and i had them all!! (desire, wildfire,sensation, 7 mozart, omnia 7 (still my secondery phone), every iphone, every blackberry since bold 9000, nexus s, most of the n series nokias etc.)

                    • D
                    • AnonD-24297
                    • m4m
                    • 03 Oct 2011

                    I bought this mobile on 10th Sep 2011:
                    1- Very bad Battery !!!.
                    2- Very Bad Mapping software !!!.
                    3- Emails come in text format not HTML like Nokia & I PHONE !!!.
                    4- Have only one Alarm which you ca not customize to be off on other day rather than Sat & Sun !!!
                    5- Accessing the net always & doesn't have the feature to check emails periodically to save Battery life.
                    6- Sending massage to many is a hard job not easy like in Nokia & I PHONE.
                    7- Social App (Facebook & twitter) work only on WiFi !!!.

                    SO I SOLD IT AFTER 18 DAYS ONLY LOSING MORE THAN 100$.

                    I'M NOT RECOMMENDING BUT I'M WARNING EVERYBODY FROM BUYING THIS RUBBISH.

                      • D
                      • AnonD-8850
                      • LK3
                      • 03 Oct 2011

                      Nokia E6 vs the 9900????? With a 680MHz processor vs the Bold's 1.2Ghz processor! REALLY ARE YOU SERIOUS GSM ARENA?

                        • D
                        • AnonD-8850
                        • LK3
                        • 03 Oct 2011

                        Simon, 27 Sep 2011I have owned and been satisfied with blackberry phones for ... moreYouve owned blackberry for the past 6 years and dont know how to preserve battery life???????

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • 9xH
                          • 28 Sep 2011

                          Simon, 27 Sep 2011I have owned and been satisfied with blackberry phones for ... moreTry Nokia E6 hehe

                            • S
                            • Simon
                            • s1H
                            • 27 Sep 2011

                            I have owned and been satisfied with blackberry phones for the past 6 years, always aware of the limitations and benefits that BB phones present. The Blackberry 9900 is the WORST model so far. No wonder RIM stock is going down the tubes. The battery of the 9900 lasts no more than 6 hours if lucky. The software freezes unexpectedly often and the reception signal continuously disappears and have to wait to get reception again in any location for no reason at all.
                            SHAME ON YOU RIM, I am very disappointed and will definitely shift over to iPhone 5.

                              • O
                              • Objective
                              • TK0
                              • 25 Sep 2011

                              If u set brightness to 100%, the battery will not last a full day. I set mine at 50% which is still very bright and clear. Bb Shd clarify this.

                              In the end, what makes a good phone is something u like using and WANT to use. That's why the iphon is so popular. Most who own it feel like using it. On this criteria, the 9900 is very successful. It is a phone I find myself wanting to fiddle with, because the whole experience is excellent.

                              One final caveat, I have an android phone besides my 9900. Most I know have an iPhone tog with their bb. I use the android for games and tethering mainly. And for taking higher quality pictures. If I had to choose only one, I will go with the 9900. But two in this case, is definitely better than one.

                                • O
                                • Objective
                                • TK0
                                • 24 Sep 2011

                                I've used the 9900 for 3+ weeks so far.
                                Bad: battery life is short, ESP when you run bloomberg on it. No flash on browser. Browser not as fast as most reviewers say (yes faster than 9700 but that was not usable). Can't read typical ebook formats like mobi or ePub. Easy to accidentally call someone else while on the phone. Poor app selection.
                                Good: looks great, feels great. Touch screen is excellent. V responsive and improves productivity. Keyboard is very good. Fast and tactile. Camera is much better than most say - it is very fast and focus is not as issue. Voice quality is excellent. Speaker phone is very good. Soft pouch has a nice leather smell, feels good. Battery chargers quickly, can be charged with any microusb. Screen is bright n clear. Emails r very readable as they auto align to size of screen. The whole phone feels very fast and responsive.
                                Overall: happy I upgraded to this from 9700. When u spend as much time on email / bloomberg / SMS as I do, you really appreciate a good keyboard. Now if they can get android apps, then I would be perfectly happy.

                                  • p
                                  • pinoymagic
                                  • PAp
                                  • 24 Sep 2011

                                  i really want this phone but ive been getting mixed opinions on the battery life. quite a few have said it barely lasts a day. some could but you had to adjust the settings like lower the brightness and take off 3G just to name a couple. would like the people from gsmarena to answer this truthfully cuz they said when they used it, it lasted 2 days.

                                    • m
                                    • mARCIN
                                    • mXu
                                    • 23 Sep 2011

                                    I just think that BB9900 is for mature people which do not spend 80% of the day playing witch the mobile phone.

                                    Sound quality in the loudspeaker is best I've heard so far, screen is fantastic, Web browser is super fast.

                                    My last mobile was Iphone 4 , just get bored. I think iphone is a toy. Call quality is no near to the BB.

                                      • J
                                      • John
                                      • uEx
                                      • 23 Sep 2011

                                      AnonD-8542, 21 Sep 2011I got to agree with you on this. BB has its strength but we... moreI am in Indonesia, the world's second largest BB market. You will be going to find a Samsung or an Apple here, why because they are toys, gaming machines. BIS costs me $15/m unlimited downloads and absolutely 100% no problem with emails or BBM. Why buy a Samsung when next day they bring out a new mobile, charge more, and devalue their other mobiles, the one you have just bought.

                                        • m
                                        • mb
                                        • U}}
                                        • 22 Sep 2011

                                        fixed focus camera???? o.O