BlackBerry Bold 9650 Phone
- BlackBerry smartphone with QWERTY keyboard; dual-network capable for 3G-enabled GSM access when traveling abroad
- GPS-enabled for turn-by-turn directions; Visual Voice Mail; PC tethering via Mobile Broadband Connect and GlobalAccess Connect
- 3.2-megapixel camera/camcorder; Bluetooth stereo music; microSD memory expansion to 16 GB; access to personal and corporate email
- Up to 5 hours of talk time, up to 312 hours (13 days) of standby time
- What’s in the Box: handset, rechargeable battery, charger (with international adapter clips), 2 GB microSD card, USB cable, 3.5mm stereo headset, BlackBerry documentation kit
Amazon. com Product Description
Powerful and refined, the BlackBerry Bold 9650 smartphone offers reliable wireless voice and 3G data network connectivity from Verizon Wireless as well as Wi-Fi networking (802. 11b/g) for connecting to home/business networks and on-the-go hotspots. And whether traveling to Europe or Asia, the Bold 9650 provides globetrotters the freedom of reliable global connectivity with the reliable Verizon Wireless high-speed 3G CDMA network here in the United States . . . More >>
My old curve gave out, so Verizon swapped it for the new Curve 8530. Wow what a piece of junk that phone is. Fells cheap like a toy, and I had all kinds of problems with bluetooth and battery life and freezing, keys sticking. Do not buy that phone. So I went back before my 30 days and swapped for the Bold 9650.
I really like this phone. It is a bit larger form factor than the new curve, much like the old curve. It feels robust in your hand not cheap like a toy. The keys are bigger, but I still do miss the old curve as the keys were more spread out which is better with my fat fingers. I love the Wi-Fi feature. I keep it off until I need it and then it is easy to fire up when I am ready to use it. Fairly fast connection with it and a great feature to have. I have been getting about 2 days out of the battery which is a bit less than the old curve.
The coverage with Verizon is the same with brown spots here and there, but generally good. This phone is much much faster than my old curve. Start up is quicker and switching between applications is much faster. Basic functionality is also improved. I use the phone for business and so far it is working great. It would be nice if they would make a phone with a slide out keyboard like my daughters LG. When that comes out I will be ready.
Rating: 4 / 5
I have had a Blackberry 8830 (Verizon) for a couple years, and was recently given the 9650 as part of a periodic refresh at work. While I’ve been mostly happy with the 8830, it is showing its age; compared to the iPhone and various Androids, it feels slow and dated, Verizon’s disabling the built-in GPS in the 8830 is aggravating, and the 8830′s scroll wheel is mechanical and notoriously trouble-prone.
When I was offered the 9650 as a replacement for the 8830, I was excited. No more crippled GPS (and in fact, the GPS on the 9650 is great — with A-GPS enabled, it acquires position in seconds). The new optical trackpad is a huge improvement over the 8830′s scroll wheel. And it has WiFi, much more memory, a much faster processor (624 MHz vs 223 MHz).
After I got the 9650 on Tuesday, I charged it, and took it home. Wednesday morning I turn it on, except it won’t turn on. Turns out the battery is drained. Thinking I hadn’t charged the battery long enough, I charged it again. Wednesday afternoon when I left work, it was at 100%. Yesterday morning I once more woke up to find the 9650 completely drained. Actual standby time appears to be much closer to 15 hours than 300 with WiFi enabled, which is pretty awful. Yes, I can disable WiFi, but shouldn’t the phone’s own power management functions do a much better job? My friends with Droids and iPhones don’t seem to be having these issues.
Also disappointing: even though it has a much faster processor, it still feels as slow as the 8830. Booting can take several minutes(!!!) after installing apps. And for some reason, SMS and MMS messages now have a separate inbox you have to navigate to to read; on the 8830 they came in the same inbox as your regular email. This is hopefully configurable, but I haven’t figured out how.
Mild annoyance: RIM switched from mini-USB to micro-USB between the 8830 and the 9650 *and* moved the jack position, so you need to put the phone in the holster upside down if you want to charge it while holstered.
Sorry RIM, but no sale. This one is going back.
Rating: 3 / 5
I miss my Curve, eventhough this phone is more sleek and has many more options. The extra memory, speed and bells and whistles come at a price. Mainly, this Bold 9650 has crappy battery life (loses charge after about 12 hours with little to no use) and call quality (speaker) is worse. The keyboard is also very easy to mistype characters compared to the Curve.
I have made numerous phone calls with this phone in the past 3 weeks of owning it and I’ve lost track of how many people tell me that they can’t hear me and the sound is poor. I never once had that comment when using the Curve. My wife got the same Bold as a 2 for 1 deal and I often can’t understand her on the phone, just sounds muddy and not clear. I hope there is a firmware upgrade that might fix this, otherwise I’m stuck for 2 years with a phone that can’t make clear calls.
The good about this phone is the extra memory and speed. I can surf the net, get real websites without too much problem, and stream Pandora. If I fully charge the phone and then start streaming Pandora, the battery lasts about 4 hours.
Bars – well, I had Tmobile before this and sometimes my old Curve would show no bars of signal but I could still make clear calls. With this Bold and Verizon I often have 3 or 4 bars but no signal or dropped calls – perhaps it is interference with other items in the house? I can’t figure this one out.
In conclusion, I feel that I would have rather kept my old phone until it died, but unfortunately it was lost. I hope Verizon releases some updates to help make this phone a better product (call quality and battery life are 1st above all other toys).
Rating: 3 / 5
I think I have had every BB so far between work and personal and this one is by far the best. What is the best, feels the best (quality wise) best speaker, cell phone battery life. Nothing to complain about, it works well. What wy I like to see improved, well the Internet but I know accessing the Internet on a BB sucks so I cannot complain much but boy would it be sweet with a better easier to read browser.
Rating: 5 / 5
This is my first BlackBerry, so maybe I was expecting too much. The battery life stinks, the red numbers are very hard to see. The browser is extremely slow- its not worth the wait to get online.
I would dump the browser function if I could keep just the email. It has locked up a couple of times in the GSM mode even though I was not roaming- FYI don’t allow phone to set GSM or CDMA automatically to avoid this.
Rating: 2 / 5