Customer Reviews

BlackBerry Bold 9650 Phone, Black (Sprint)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Quick Daily Usage Summary: Driving and listening to Pandora internet radio streaming CD quality audio >>> Sprint navigation interrupts stream to notify of traffic alert and rerouting options >>> BB message alert from friend >>> AOL instant message >>> Google talk >>> E-mail received of Amazon shipping item >>> Calendar alert showing appointment later that day >>> When parked I send picture to Facebook instantly.

This is probably one of the best all around BlackBerry devices every created. I only upgraded from a 8530 because I needed to have international roaming capabilities. And with Sprint, the phones come natively unlocked and ready to roam on ANY GSM network in the world! (pop-in new SIM card and you're set)

This phone has ALL the features that its competitors have along with its storied and well developed BB e-mail / messaging system that has over 100 million users worldwide. The fact that it can be bought for less $200 is an excellent value.

If you're looking for a phone that keeps you organized, connected to all your family and friends, entertained, and more, this is a great phone.

The e-mail, contact lists, and how all messages are combined into shared boxes is efficient and easy to use. The keyboard is responsive and fast...much better than any touchscreen out there. The battery life is phenomenal and turning off the WiFi and Bluetooth radios and closing extra applications extends it even further.

Regarding the cellphone service coverage, Sprint has vastly improved over the last 5 years. My friends and I took our BB phones up and down the East Coast and had excellent service the entire way: e-mailing, chatting, texting, sending pics, receiving pics, facebooking, etc. There were a handful of dead spots, but coverage and reliability was rivaling Verizon Wireless (former VZW subscriber of 10 years!)

Unlimited use of their voice command GPS network (LIVE traffic updates and rerouting!) is truly amazing and at least worth $200 in my opinion. The Sprint TV network is DARN GOOD with various channels that include LIVE ESPN.

The camera actually takes better 3.2MP pictures than the iPhone 3GS with full color and detail...with a LED flash that is blinding! (flashlight mode is possible under the camcorder mode and is hilarious as it literally lights up an entire room)

Also, I've been able to stream Pandora internet radio nonstop for hours without barely using the battery.

Minor disadvantages: Yes the screen is small...but I'd rather carry a device that doesn't impale me while in my pocket. Web browsing is annoying at times, but update coming to the phone will vastly improve experience. Otherwise, most websites load fine.

Sprint's Family plans are the best currently on the market. To have unlimited mobile to mobile calling (ANY CARRIER!), unlimited texting, unlimited data, for less than $40 per person per month is nearly miraculous. If you don't want to waste money on flashier smartphones, get this phone. You won't regret it! :)

I have been using Blackberry now for a year. I used to have a World Edition 8830, and it was pretty good. Internet was fast enough for me, but of course, the phone didn't have a camera, as it's a very basic phone. It was my first Blackberry experience, and I liked it. That's why when I was switching plans from Verizon to Sprint, I opted for the Blackberry Bold 9650. I really liked the EVO and the Epic, but I didn't like the fact that Sprint wants to mandatorily charge me $10 every month for having those phones. I think that's outrageous. Also, looking at other reviews from other Android phones, like the Intercept and the Transform, it seemed to me like if you want an Android, those two are your only options.

The Blackberry came to me as different, an alternative to an Android phone. It's technology I already know and is effective. The moment I started playing around with it at the store, I fell in love. I thought my phone was pretty fast. Well, this Blackberry Bold is even faster. It was an impressive processor, and the thing I like most about this Blackberry that I did not like about my old World Ed is that I can view HTML pages with it. Only con to this phone is that the screen is not big enough to view websites and the zoom is a bit weird for me. But still...being able to browse the internet and viewing webpages is what I really want. And this phone does that for me.

I love the design of the Bold. It's sleek, professional--very chic. The lines aren't straight and boring as the World Ed. It's really nice. The camera has 3.2 mp, which at first disappointed me. Until I tried taking pictures. The pictures are really good actually, and the phone has a flash as well, so the pictures don't come out as dark. Something I hate about the World Ed is the trackball. The Bold doesn't have a ball anymore, but it does have a trackpad instead, and it's actually a lot better to maneuver the phone and navigate through it. The keyboard is also really good. My World Ed's keyboard is hard to type with. I feel that with the Bold I can type easily and quickly like with a laptop, as the keys are soft and respond to the touch.

Now, I remember that it took me a while to get used to the World Ed. The entire interface was foreign to me and I couldn't decipher it. Everything confused me about that phone, but eventually I got the hang of it (somewhat). That didn't happen to me with this phone. I feel like the new OS is very easy to navigate through. I've had this phone for about a day, and I've been able to find everything easily. I think this Blackberry is definitely a lot more user friendly!

One of the very first things I did when I finally activated my phone was call my boyfriend. He immediately heard the difference. My World Ed was getting old and muffled. On this one, I apparently sound crystal clear and when I get calls, I can hear everyone crystal clear as well. The quality of the phone call is unbeatable. I haven't had any breakups or anything like that. Coverage is great too.

One last thing I really liked about this phone is that it's a global phone. Unlike the EVO and the Epic, you can take this phone anywhere in the world, as it works with both GSM and CDMA technology. It's really a great product. I'm a satisfied Blackberry user, and I really don't understand why this phone is so poorly rated on here. This phone deserves nothing less than 4 1/2 stars, if at all. I think that it deserves the 5 stars for its value (currently a penny phone on here!), call quality, user-friendliness and look. I'm so glad I opted for this phone. I don't take it back at all. The EVO and the Epic may be the latest and greatest, but if you're like me, and you don't think it's worth wasting money to have a phone for 4G, which isn't even available in most places, then this is a GREAT option. I just thought I'd let others know that they DO have a choice.

Got this to replace my Sprint tour that everyone said I sounded muffled on. Nice update from the 9630 Tour. No complaints about the sound (no muffling) and the trackball issues others were having with the Tour are fixed with the new optical trackpad. Also happy to report that the slightly annoying battery cover that was loose on the Tour is fixed on this model. Other than those items, the Bold 9650 has more memory and WiFi now. If you are upgrading from a Tour or buying a case that was for the 9630 Tour, be careful because they moved the charging port up slightly (about 1/8 inch) so your old style case may not allow proper access for the charger. I have a Case-Mate "Barely there" 9630 Tour cover that works on this one fine (only because the openings are pretty big). The phone works fine on the Sprint network and already has a firmware update on the Blackberry site (although I couldn't figure out what it fixed). Always back up your data with the Blackberry Desktop software before attempting a firmware update just to be safe. I didn't give it a five because I think Blackberry is lagging behind in web browsers and Apps, but this works well with my work e-mail so I went for this over an Android phone.

Purchased this phone, my first "smart phone", I went to the Blackberry from the Razor....Love it. It was very easy to understand and I caught on very quickly. The only thing I can say that I don't like, but obviously can live with is when you import contacts, it adds a new one under the same name. I would think in this day and age, it would recognize I've already got that contact in my address book, and ask me to merge contacts. Love the size and weight. Battery lasts a fair amount of time as long as no apps are running for long period of time.

Only gave 4 stars because I went from Verizon to Sprint. Huge mistake. I never dropped calls on Verizon. I do all the time on Sprint.

I've used many blackberries(curve,bold,tour,pearl) for personal and work related functions. I've had the 9700 Blackberry Bold on AT&T for work and it is an amazing phone. Very smooth, great signal, and extremely long battery life (2-3 days). This is why I bought the Bold 9650 on Sprint as my personal phone.

It turns out the Sprint Bold 9650 is actually a upgraded of the old Tour model. The hardware is completely different from the GSM BOLD. The battery is half the size compared to the 9700(on AT&T) and the layout and hardware are very different. With CDMA the battery will drain faster, but the 9650 does not last through a day of use and the software crashes periodically especially when using the camera. (google "9650 crash").

I think other users have resorted to flash the Blackberry OS to non-official version from other carriers to make it more stable.

I do NOT recommend this phone. I hope that Blackberry or Sprint will either improve the battery life and software or kill the cheap Tour models entirely. The real blackberry GSM Bold is much better. Just as a disclaimer I bought my bold directly from Sprint and not from Amazon.

I am normally a big fan of Amazon.com, however in this instance I am not. Amazon.com usually does very well with customer service, but when I wanted to exchange my sons cell phone for a different one within 30 days, they said "NO". This is a practice that is very common with Carriers like Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T. Yet Amazon refused. I made a commitment of 2 Years with 4 phones, unlimited data, and unlimited messaging through them, and they couldn't even commit to a 30 day satisfaction garuantee? Very disappointed, and not worth the money saved by going through them!

I am a very loyal BlackBerry customer and have used them for many years and been very happy with them while I had T-Mobile (GSM) service as I travel overseas a lot and need email contact wherever I am. But after some issues with T-Mobile my family moved to Sprint and the only BlackBerry World (GSM) phone they have is the BlackBerry Bold (9650), which is a dual radio phone, using the CDMA network here in the USA but capable of using the GSM network as well when needed overseas. Still I was afraid it wouldn't work when I went to Italy and I was correct -- it did not. I had to go out and purchase another GSM SIM card from Vodafone in Italy. The process was mildly annoying and upsetting but ultimately my emails came in. Returning to the US I called Sprint to help me understand what the problem was. They explained to me that since I did not have an international calling package enabled that it would not work overseas. Gee, I wish Sprint had told me that when I bought the Bold, since I told them I was buying it only because I was going overseas. (And you don't need to do this on T-Mobile.) So let that be a lesson to all using this phone overseas through Sprint. Call Sprint first and enable International service, or make sure to buy a new SIM card when you land. The SIM card was Euro 20 for 2 weeks which is possibly cheaper than Sprints roaming service overseas. Just wish I had been told all this.

I had a Palm Centro for like 4 years and its just died. So, I went to the Sprint store and they suggested this phone. Its suppose to be an upgrade. Not so much. Its slow. My 4 year old phone was FASTER! It freezes. It drops my calls. The camera, which was the only thing that I liked about it because the zoom was super cool, well the "zoom" feature broke. I can take pictures but I can't zoom. I've never been sooo disappointed in a product.

My evaluation was on cell phones from the past and present. Cell phones are being used more and more in today's society. Cell phones have many advantages and disadvantages to them we use cell phones for a lot of reason such as keeping in touch with family and friends. Cell phone also gives you the advantage to access to the internet, voice mail, taking pictures, and videoing things. Many people have cell phones now because cell phones are so convenient to have nowadays. Cell phones have some disadvantages to them to such as dropping calls, having to be charged up all the time, and people being disrespectful while using them around you. I think landline phones and pay phones should also be use because if you have a emergency and your cell phone is not charge up them you would have to resort to a pay phone instead. Landline phones and pay phones was popular back then, but now many people are trying to do away with landline phones and just have a cell phone only so they can only have one bill. I have a blackberry curve and my phone have many features to it. I will say that I a highly addicted to my cell phone because without it I would be lost without all my contact information. But in the end I think by having a cell phone is your own decision whether you won't one are not.

I am normally a big fan of Amazon.com, however in this instance I am not. Amazon.com usually does very well with customer service, but when I wanted to exchange my sons cell phone for a different one within 30 days, they said "NO". This is a practice that is very common with Carriers like Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T. Yet Amazon refused. I made a commitment of 2 Years with 4 phones, unlimited data, and unlimited messaging through them, and they couldn't even commit to a 30 day satisfaction garuantee? Very disappointed, and not worth the money saved by going through them!