BlackBerry Bold


The BlackBerry Bold was a line of mid-range and high-end smartphones developed by BlackBerry Limited. The lineup was launched in 2008 with the BlackBerry Bold 9000, originally a flagship BlackBerry device before the introduction of the BlackBerry Storm. In 2009, the form factor was made more compact with the 9700 and the 9630. In 2010, the 9650 and 9780 were released with BlackBerry OS 6. In 2011, the 9780 was replaced by the 9790/9788 alongside the 9900/9930 series. The 9900/9930 and 9790, which have additional touchscreen displays, released in August and November 2011, respectively.
The Bold family was known for its distinctive form factor, QWERTY keyboard, and typical BlackBerry messaging capabilities with a different keyboard design than the Curve and Pearl series. The Bold series was usually more expensive and had more expensive materials compared to the Curve, and had higher specifications. There were two basic form factors within the Bold line: the original larger size on the 9000 and 9900, and the compact form factor of the other models.

Early series

BlackBerry Bold 9700

The BlackBerry Bold 9700 was released on December 18, 2009. While it shares most of its features with the larger models, the difference in the 9700's specifications are as follows:
All pre-loaded BlackBerry applications are available on the Bold 9700, including but not limited to: WordToGo, PowerPointToGo, BrickBreaker and WordMole. The Bold 9700 also offers BlackBerry Messenger 4.7 but is upgradable to 7.1 in the BlackBerry App World. By upgrading the OS to version 6.0, a user also automatically upgrades to higher versions of applications.

BlackBerry Bold 9650

The BlackBerry Bold 9650 is part of the 9600 device series which takes design cues from both its predecessor, the BlackBerry Tour 9630, as well as its GSM variant, the BlackBerry Bold 9700 & the BlackBerry Bold 9780. Changes from the Tour include built-in Wi-Fi, 512 MB of onboard storage, and an optical trackpad instead of the trackball. It utilizes a 528 MHz processor, and has a 3.4 MP camera available as an option. The major difference between the 9700/9780 vs the 9650 is that the 9650 is the World Phone Edition that can use CDMA & GSM networks globally; the 9700/9780 only runs on GSM networks. Sprint Nextel announced that they would be the launch carrier for the Bold 9650 shortly after the device was introduced, releasing the phone on May 23, 2010. Verizon Wireless followed closely, releasing the phone exclusively online on June 3, 2010, followed by its retail stores on June 10, 2010. It was released in Canada the week of April 27, 2010.

BlackBerry Bold 9780 Series

The BlackBerry Bold 9780 was released in November 2010. On September 7, 2011 China Mobile and BlackBerry announced a variant known as the Bold 9788. The 9788 variant is identical to the 9700 except that the 9788 uses a Chinese 3G standard known as TD-SCDMA.
The 9780 shares the same form factor as the 9700, and the only notable differences are an improved camera and double the onboard memory of the 9700. Both devices are OS 6.0 capable, with the 9780 having OS 6 already installed. Additionally, the chrome chassis around the older Bold models had been omitted.

BlackBerry 7 series

On August 3, 2011 BlackBerry announced their seventh major release of BlackBerry OS. It included several major changes such as universal voice search, support for HTML5, Liquid Graphics and Near field communication. It also has many optimizations which improve web and gaming experiences as well as social network integration as well as some layout changes with some new icons. BlackBerry OS 7 comes bundled with the premium version of Documents To Go. On January 9, 2012 BlackBerry announced BlackBerry OS 7.1 which allows Wi-Fi Tethering, BlackBerry Tag and UMA calling.

BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930

The BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930 is part of the 9000 device series. Introduced in August 2011, it is the first of the Bold line to provide a touchscreen. It marks a return to the form factor of the original 9000 and its popular wide-set physical keyboard. It takes design cues from both its predecessor, the BlackBerry Tour 9630, as well as its GSM variant, the BlackBerry Bold 9700.
  • Thinnest BlackBerry to date
  • Glass fibre Cover for battery compartment
  • NFC technology
The Bold 9900 was launched in Thailand at the DTAC 3G Expo on September 3–4th 2011. Soon after, many users were complaining that the phone was not 100% reliable for daily use as it often "froze" during the use of BBM. The browser was also one of the main problems, as the touch was not as smooth as BlackBerry advertised. Both issues were promptly resolved through the over-the-air software releases of BBM 6.0 and BlackBerry OS 7.1, respectively. The Bold 9930 operates on both GSM and CDMA networks whereas the Bold 9900 can only function on the GSM network. However, the Bold 9900 can function in GSM bands that the 9930 cannot use. On select carriers, the Bold 9900 was the first BlackBerry phone to show 3G HSPA+ as "4G".

BlackBerry Bold 9790

Introduced on November 15, 2011, the BlackBerry Bold 9790 follows the compact ergonomics of the previous Bold 9780, with an upgraded 1 GHz processor. The camera features an autofocus, but can only produce VGA resolution videos. Other specifications are identical to the 9900.

Model comparison

Early series

BlackBerry 7 series