BlackBerry Bold 9700 - Black (T-Mobile) Smartphone

I decided to buy this phone purely because of the great ratings that blackberry had received previously. I had a blackberry pearl previously but it didn't meet my expectations so it was safe to say that I was a sceptic.
After receiving my blackberry I thought that initially, "wow this is a phone that costs £250+ so what does it actually do?"
I have to say this phone has not disappointed me in the slightest. It is a great technical piece of hardware. It has a leather back however I bought a shell for my blackberry to protect it. The buttons are great with indentations to make it easier for texting.
The camera is of a very high standard of quality, a lot better than I expected. The blackberry apps are great, there are so many and some are for free where as others are of a relatively low price. I downloaded endomondo for free and it is brilliant. I am a keen fitness fanatic and it is great at tracking how much I have travelled etc. Not what I would expect from a humble phone.
The blackberry is easily personalised with so many options, this ranges from layout to the sensitivity of the keypad.
The audio quality is fantastic, I have had many phones previously which were unbelievably bad for volume but the blackberry definitely does not. Actually it has a hearing aid device which allows for better volume. The blackberry is a brilliant piece of kit. This may not be the most technical review but it is an honest review. I have no quips for the blackberry but yet again I am not a business person therefore needs are different.
For the average everyday person this phone should exceed expectations. It is a great size, it is very nice looking, and it has so much technology it is unreal.
I should also add that it has the ability to write documents etc.

There was one initial problem with the blackberry but this was just a user difficulty, the button "a" on the keypad locks the device. It took me a long time to realise that at the top of the phone to the left hand side, there is a barely noticeable (perhaps because I have a shell) lock symbol which unlocks your phone.

Buy this phone it is great! A++++++

Just recieved the item this morning, had a play around at first pretty hard to get used to, i had the nokia e71 before so it was not neccaserily the keyboard. just the amount of programmes and apps the phone had on it itself, i would reccomed thouraghly reading the instruction manual before doing anything with this phone, could not work out how to even send a sms message and was sending multimedia messages. After a few hours of playing around and reading all instructions provided i finally got the hang of the phone and how to send sms, bluetooth email etc. However still need to learn the fine tuning, as this phone is mainly based as a interenet phone the easy options such as texting and music calling etc take a bit of time finding and getting the hang of. However now after exploring all the programmes my personal view of the phone is fantastic it is a programme for your life. with schedules by the hour, email by a button, and plenty of games, apps, and programmes to keep you entertained, i would not recommend this phone to anyone who is not experienced with the laptop style keypad, as it is harder than the nokia e71 which i had before, but for buisness users, traveling alot and need email and internent by the touch of a button its perfect. The style of the phone is very pleasing to the eye, even though before i bought it some people said the back of the phone ( because a rubber backing) was a negative point, i find it all fits together and looks and works perfectly. Overall i would highly recommend this phone and cannot wait to the the full gist of things so i can use it to its full advantage

Pro's:

-Great, sleek design that looks great and feels fantastic and lightweight
-Classic, easy to use BlackBerry functionality with dedicated keyboard lock, media and "convenience keys"
-UMA comes in handy when available (Orange branded handset used on the Orange network can use a WiFi connection to connect calls, texts and internet rather than using the mobile network)
-Touchpad is a pleasure to use and is as responsive as you'd like
-Screen is the most vibrant i've seen on any BlackBerry

Con's:

-The shortcut keys on the side of the handset can be tempremental (my "volume up" key stopped working for a few days)
-Browsing the internet isn't the best experience on a mobile phone, the on-screen curser moves in a rigid fashion which can lead to clicking on wrong links and items
-My battery lasted for 5 days after the first charge, which was impressive. I've now had the handset for about a month and have to charge it every 2 days

Overview:
A fantastic piece of kit for any BlackBerry fan or anyone planning on getting a QWERTY keyboard handset. Doesn't take long to get used to and is generally a pleasure to use. The music player works great and can be easily synced with any playlists you've created via iTunes, Zune or Windows Media Player. It is probably the best value for money BlackBerry at the minute.