Review: BlackBerry Bold 9790, the real Dark Knight

It has been about 4 months now that I’ve had the pleasure of owning a BlackBerry Bold 9790 and thus this review is long overdue. The BlackBerry Bold 9790 is the mother of all BlackBerrys.

My first thoughts when I received this beauty in April was that is was slim and sleek, the touch screen was smooth and soft, the keyboard was spectacular and the phone felt amazing to hold.

Design

The Bold 9790 is quite the looker. The body may be made of plastic and rubber, but that doesn’t take away its premium look and feel. It’s a small device, not the smallest nor the slimmest, but it’s perfectly balanced and quite light. It’s filled with sleek curves and you can’t help, but continuously want to touch its rear-end.

The micro USB slot is located on the bottom, something that took some getting used to, on the top there’s the unlock key, the left is empty and the right features the usual four buttons. The screen feels soft, in the sense of the plastic being ‘fluffy’, it sounds weird, but that’s my experience and I like it.

Hardware

Being a bit lower end and smaller than the Bold 9900, the Bold 9790 uses a little less of everything. The battery is still the same unit as on the 9900 though. The processor measures in at 1GHz, it’s quite a snappy bugger, but there is still some lag occasionally. It features 512MB of RAM which may just be what is responsible for the lag, but it’s still enough for what needs to be done. 8GB of internal storage is also quite a welcome feature and then there’s still the option of expanding through the memory card slot.

The screen may be considered tiny at 2.44-inches, but it is perfect for everyday use especially with its 480×360 pixel resolution screen, which may not be new for Bold devices, but is quite sufficient. The keyboard is made of a plastic, rubber mixture and is very user friendly and great to use as usual with most BlackBerry keyboards. The snapper on the back measures in at 5MP and, although being fixed focus, takes beautiful pictures and videos, but considering what competitors’ devices feature, 8MP is considered a norm in this class nowadays.

Software

The software, as always, is brilliant. Some may complain about the lack of widgets and such nonsense, others about the lack of applications or such bull, but I believe the BlackBerry OS to be something exquisite. It’s the most secure operating system in the mobile arena, it has superior mail and messaging software, it does what needs to be done. The latest update, OS 7.1, is especially nice. Battery consumption is improved, speed as well. Wifi hotspot capabilities and more were added. The software is as alive as is has ever been.

Everyday use

Sadly, no device is perfect, neither is the Bold 9790. Battery life is awful and it can only handle 7 hours of extremely heavy usage with the battery saver permanently on, a flaw every smartphone on the market seems to have these days. The devices is sleek and slim and other than the battery life, there are no complaints. The keyboard is once again perfect, the touch screen fluid, the software fluent and the camera quite the catcher. I wouldn’t trade this little bugger up for any other smartphone.

Conclusion

The Bold 9790 is spectacular. It’s easy to use, fun to use and just about an all rounder. If you hate touch screened devices, love hardware keyboards and fluidity; then the BlackBerry Bold 9790 should be on the top of your list. Except for the battery life, it’s a the smartphone every good hearted person deserves. If Batman used a smartphone, it would definitely be the Bold 9790…