RIM BlackBerry Bold 9790 Review

Ladies and gents, there is a new 'Berry in town. Sporting that tried and tested BlackBerry form factor, which is praised by many throughout the world, the BlackBerry Bold 9790 is here to win the hearts of business users and heavy texters alike. And at a glance, this shiny handset sure looks promising. On one hand we have the comfort of a physical QWERTY keyboard, and on the other – the  convenience of a capacitive touchscreen.

But we cannot judge a smartphone solely by the list of its specs and features, which is why we took it around the block for a spin. Care to learn how the BlackBerry Bold 9790 performs in real life? Read along to find out.

The box contains:

Think of the BlackBerry Bold 9790 as the Bold 9900's little brother. Albeit slightly thicker, it is both smaller and lighter than its high-end sibling. Remarkably, it has a nearly identical premium feel thanks to its solid construction and the high quality materials that it is made out of. The device fits nicely in the hand, and your thumb can reach all of its sides – from the touchscreen's furthest edge to the keyboard's bottom row of keys, without much effort. We are also pleased with the excellently executed volume rocker and convenience key, which are located on the device's right side, as well as with the cleverly disguised lock button found on the unit's top side.

Albeit somewhat tiny for a BlackBerry, the physical QWERTY keyboard is definitely among the better ones out there. Its keys are neither too soft nor too hard and their shape facilitates feeling them under your thumb. Even those who are not accustomed to the BlackBerry trademark form factor will find typing on it quite convenient.

What runs on the device is the BlackBerry OS 7 platform, which, in terms of appearance, is identical to what one would find on any recent BlackBerry model. And we hate to say it, but the interface on the BlackBerry Bold 9790 leaves a lot to be desired. With its tiny icons and miniscule elements, the whole outlay simply does not feel made for a display of this size, not to mention that “intuitive” is far from the first word we could describe the interface with. The whole experience feels outdated, which is why you are likely to be disappointed by the interface as a whole if you have ever used a device powered by another contemporary platform.

It is not all bad, however. The 1GHz single-core processor handles any task without breaking a sweat. We did not experience the slightest hint of lag while navigating, and application execution was instant every time. Navigating through the menu is done by either using the optical trackpad, or by sliding your finger across the touchscreen, and having options is nice considering that some might prefer one of these methods over the other. We personally prefer using the optical trackpad most of the time as our thumb easily covers half of the display area.

Long time BlackBerry owners will be sailing in familiar seas with the Bold 9790. The e-mail experience is as good as expected and is suitable for casual e-mail users and corporate customers alike. The calendar does not disappoint either as it provides lots of flexibility when organizing your agenda. Of course, BBM is in stock for that unmistakable instant messaging experience.

In addition to all BlackBerry apps and services, out of the box you get Facebook and Twitter clients, as well as Documents To Go, which supports the most common document formats, and a file manager. Fulfilling the rest of your instant messaging needs are the clients for Windows Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, and Google Talk.

The internet browser works well, but could have been better. At times it is slow at rendering pages when scrolling, support for Adobe Flash is absent, and the text reflow functionality does not work as intended leaving some paragraphs outside of the display area. You can use the optical trackpad to scroll around and to hover above web elements with a tiny cursor. Tap to zoom and pinch to zoom work like a charm. 

When it comes to hooking up to the web, you can rely on the Bold 9790's Wi-Fi a/b/g/n connectivity or its 7.2Mbps 3G radio. The list of connectivity features also includes Bluetooth 2.1, aGPS, NFC, and an FM radio, so you have pretty much all the basics covered. What is also convenient is that mass storage mode is supported by the platform, which makes transferring files between the handset and a computer pretty straightforward. It is a bit frustrating, however, that you do not get DLNA for streaming content to a compatible media device.

Photos taken with the Bold 9790's 5-megapixel auto-focus camera look pretty decent when taken in broad daylight. Details are plentiful, especially in close-ups, and the exposure is spot-on. But what we cannot overlook is the digital noise, which becomes quite noticeable once you view pictures at their actual size. It also makes indoor shots look way below average even when the lighting conditions are favorable.

The camera's interface looks pretty simple at first, but it offers a handful of shooting modes for your convenience. And we have to give two thumbs up for the fast shutter response and the low delay between frames. What spoils the experience a bit, however, is the lack of touch to focus.

Oh yes, the smartphone can shoot videos as well, but at the unimpressive resolution of 640 by 480. And that is a shame considering that 720p is now the norm. On the bright side, footage is smooth and captures a good amount of detail for its resolution.

We doubt that you will need a media player different from the stock Music app as it can do pretty much anything that you would expect from one. Furthermore, it is really convenient having a search bar, which digs through your music library and delivers real-time results. On top of that, the volume rocker on the side can switch tracks and adjust the volume even when the app is in the background, which we find to be very useful. And by the way, the built-in loudspeaker may not be too loud, but it surely sounds great.

The video player, on the other hand, is not that impressive as it is unable to play back smoothly anything with a resolution above 800 by 480 pixels. But then again, with a display resolution this low, it won't make any difference anyway. Besides, we can't imagine many of you watching videos regularly on such a tiny screen, so we can easily live with its poor 720p video handling. On the bright side, support for DivX/Xvid video comes out of the box.

Simply put, the in-call quality with the BlackBerry Bold 9790 is top notch. The earpiece easily reproduces clear and distinct voices, which won't get distorted even when its volume is turned all the way up. The microphone is just as impressive as it captures clear, natural voice tones. Additionally, absolutely no background noise present in either sides of the line.

When it comes to battery life, one can expect getting a little over 5 hours of talk time out of the phone's 1230 mAh battery. That figure is somewhat disappointing since even simpler smartphones can last longer. The 17 days of stand-by time, on the other hand, are nothing to complain about.

Overall, there is a lot to like about the BlackBerry Bold 9790. It is beautifully designed, has a really nice QWERTY keyboard, and delivers outstanding in-call audio quality. In fact, if you are a BlackBerry enthusiast, you probably needn't look at a higher end model as this one would do the same job just fine.

But if you do not insist on owning a BlackBerry, we think that it would be much wiser to spend your  money on something different. Currently, a Bold 9790 can be purchased for about $550 off-contract, meaning that there are plenty of alternatives to consider. If you insist on having a physical keyboard, the Motorola PRO+ offers one, yet comes with a bigger, 3.1-inch display and is much more affordable. With its 3.7-inch screen, the Sony Ericsson Xperia pro is also worth considering, as long as you do not mind the slide-out QWERTY form factor. And if you need something that would be really easy on your budget, the Samsung Galaxy M Pro should do the trick. If you can live without a physical keyboard, check out the Samsung Galaxy W, which costs considerably less, yet comes with a bigger, 3.7-inch display. If you are willing to spend a little more cash, the 16-gig Nokia Lumia 800 will definitely grab your attention with its sleek appearance and premium feel.