Blackberry Reviews

The BlackBerry 8700g is a fine blend of blackberry 7100g and blackberry 7290. Having the looks, speakerphone and polyphonic ringtones of 7100, it has adopted the QWERTY keyboard from the latter.

Undesirable design:

BlackBerry 8700g just a little smaller than the 7290 with a weight difference of just three grams. This phone has the terrible design of the traditional blackberry with a cheap plastic design. It does not for sure have the candy bar form factor, rather a squarish one, with its dimensions being 4.3” x 2.7” x 0.7” (H x W x D) weighing 4.7 ounces.

Good display:

On a good note, there are a few positive improvements when it comes to the display. The display being a spacious 2.5″ QVGA, is now bigger and brighter. It displays 65,000 colours with a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. The higher resolution gives it a brightness that is miles ahead of the previous Blackberry phones. The display is visible only with the backlight on, whereas, 7290 always had the Tran reflective on the screen. This means, you cannot simply leave it on the desk and peek to have a look if there is any new mails, rather, you will have to fiddle it each time to have a look.

You can also adjust the backlight’s brightness and time-out settings, as well as font size and type, all through the Options menu. A small LED above the screen flashes different colours to alert you to various messages: green for network activity, red for message notification, yellow for low battery, and blue for Bluetooth connectivity.

The QWERTY Keyboard:

While typing, the Blackberry 8700g smartphone does a great job without any denial. It has incorporated new Send or End and soft keys are also found on recent BlackBerrys. The center soft key, or the front convenience key as RIM calls it, can be programmed to launch any application. The side convenience key on the left spine can also do the same job for you. The keyboard itself is fairly spacious, and gives you no troubles in firing off quick e-mails and text messages. Yet, while they are well backlit, the slippery and plasticky feel of the keys way not that enjoyable.

Ports and interfaces:

There is a USB port and a headset jack on the left side, while the right end sports the track wheel that we are already familiar of and an escape button. The keyboard has the alt button that allows you to toggle between different applications. This button is a familiar one, as it was already available in 8700c. Rounding out the BlackBerry 8700g’s chassis are power and mute buttons on top, as well as the speakerphone on the mobile’s backside. For the sake of connectivity, RIM has included a wealthy set of accessories like wired headset, a USB cable, a travel charger, a belt hose and an AC adapter.

The high speed EDGE:

The absence on 3G was disappointing but, RIM Blackberry 8700g has taken the privilege to be the first blackberry device to have EDGE support. EDGE too provides broadband like data speeds. But at the time when blackberry 8700g was released in UK, there were no UK networks with an EDGE service, now there is no problem though.

A faster processor:

blackberry 8700g’s new intel inside design allows it to experience speed like never before. This was achieved with the help of the PXA901 processor which runs at 312MHz.

Coming to multimedia, entertainment sector, Blackberry 8700g PDA Phone is nothing but awful. There is no MP3 player, no camera and hence no memory card slot. This is where, blackberry completely looses the normal consumer market. RIM might think that these are a loop hole for some of the secure information to be leaked but, we hope that a blackberry phone with more jingles with no compromise on the security features would sell more.

Great performer as a corporate device:

There is no question on the performance of blackberry as a complete corporate phone. It is on a music when it works with RIM’s BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server). The blackberry will be having a controlled access to the corporate network which in turn allows you to networks like intranet and LAN with BES’s Mobile Data System. Any of your browsing also goes via the BES that allows you to enjoy the benefits of corporate firewall protection saving you from other web prying eyes. This browsing comes out of your monthly blackberry data allowance, but you will be charged extra with a non-BES version. With triple DES encryption security is done for sure. Email messages are even encrypted at all points between the handheld and the corporate email account.

Centralised management is a cornerstone of the corporate BlackBerry platform. BES allows an array of policies which gives a remote control of what a handheld can and cannot do. The applications can be centrally pushed to the device. There are third-party softwares available too. An easy-to-use tool called MDS Studio, allows you to quickly build your own enterprise applications. And it is when running these applications that you really appreciate the extra speed of the 8700g over previous BlackBerrys.

Messaging:

The proprietary instant messaging client was one of the  consistent complaints of past BlackBerry models, but that ends with the 8700g. We are glad to see that RIM has added support for popular IM apps, such as Yahoo, ICQ, AOL, and MSN. Google Talk is also available for download, and the 8700g supports text and multimedia messaging as well.

Battery:

You might be thinking that all these great features included like brighter screen and a faster processor, all comes at the cost of the battery draining. You are wrong and the fact is almost the other way round. The new light sensor of the phone automatically adjusts the brightness of the display and keyboard according to the surrounding light conditions. Which in turn helps in saving the charge.

The previous blackberry phones were able to last for only four or five days where as, the 8700g from Blackberry was able to make it to a decent one week. This number is quite amazing for a device with permanently open data connection. It gives a standby time of 16 days with a talktime of four hours.

Verdict:

With the next generation QWERTY keyboard, intel processor, EDGE, Bluetooth2.0 and support for up to ten corporate or personal e-mail accounts. Blackberry 8700g is certainly more consumer friendly and easy to use compared to blackberry 8700c. The device delivers greatly as a phone, a mail machine and a handheld.

BlackBerry 8700g - Cheap, Best 10 Deals

RIM BlackBerry 8700g  - Technical Specifications, Features

Other Blackberry Phone Reviews

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• Blackberry Curve 8900 Review
• BlackBerry 7100g Smartphone Review
• BlackBerry 7290 Review