Long Term Report – Blackberry 9930

Last month I posted my initial review of the Blackberry Bold 9930 and, at the end of the review, I promised a follow-up post once I had some mileage on the unit.  Well, after one month I think I have a pretty good handle on the pros and cons of Blackberry’s latest release.

Research in Motion (RIM) continues to slip in the industry and that’s a shame because, in my opinion,  they do make quality products and they work well, especially in the enterprise market.  The Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) gives administrators the utmost control of their mobile fleet although I venture to guess very few take advantage of the power BES can offer.

I’m not an Apple/Droid/WinMo hater.  I think they all make solid products and their phones are selling like crazy so, if anything, their marketing dollars are being well spent.  Just like automobiles, we all have our preferences and needs.  I welcome the competition as it keeps the smart phone market fresh with new innovations released monthly.

The following are my impressions after a month with the Blackberry Bold 9930.

Spoiler alert…  I still love the phone but it’s not perfect.

The touch screen is responsive and works very well but I don’t find myself using it all that often. Maybe it’s the fingerprints on the screen or the fact I can do everything I need to do with the keyboard or the touch pad.  I have had an issue with my favorite shopping app, Our Groceries, randomly adding, deleting list items if I don’t lock the unit before placing it in my pocket.  I’m chalking this up to an application that has not been updated to version 7 of the Blackberry operating system.

When I need to reboot the phone, which is not very often, it boots quickly (less than a minute).  This is a HUGE difference from past units that could take 3-4 minutes to restart.

The battery life is acceptable and it gets me through an 8-10 hour work day.   It’s typically down to about 30% when I go to bed.  This is similar to what I was getting with my past two Blackberry phones (8530 & 8330) and the Windows Mobile phone before that.  I don’t know to many people who can get more than a day out of their smart phone these days unless they are just not using it.

They keyboard continues to shine for long emails or note taking sessions.  My only gripe, and it’s a small one, is that it’s a little “poppy” sounding.  I’m thinking it’s the membrane under the keys.  I’m curious to see if it gets quieter with age (or I just get used to it).

As far as build quality the Blackberry Bold 9930 is solid.  Everything fits nicely and the seams are tight.  I had a raised piece of trim near the keyboard out of the box but it’s stayed in place once I pressed it down a few times.  The touch screen and “glass” fiber back are fingerprint magnets but without a screen protector of any kind I can’t find a single scratch on the unit.  I was hoping the front screen would use the “Gorilla Glass” that’s showing up on more and more smart phones units but whatever RIM is using seems to work.

Overall I’ll have to say I’m really happy with the Blackberry Bold 9930.  It’s has some really nice features, solid build quality, and a powerful processor that keeps up with everything I ask it to do.

One nice thing about my job is I don’t have to pay Verizon $250 to own one (which I might if I had to)!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.