Hands-on with the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9930, Torch 9810, and Torch 9850

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RIM is rolling out their newest BlackBerry OS 7 smartphones and I had the chance to take the three form factors for a whirl over the last week with the Bold 9930, Torch 9850, and Torch 9810.

Check out my full ZDNet Smartphones & Cell Phones blog post for detailed thoughts on the devices and a video walk through of all three.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The Bold 9930, Torch 9850, and Torch 9810 are shown in front of their retail boxes.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Here you can see all three devices lined up for size comparison.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Each device has a unique back with one having a plastic carbon fiber one, the other having soft touch, and the 9810 having silver textured plastic.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The back cover of the Bold 9930 is a plastic piece with a carbon fiber look. The battery and microSD are found under the cover with a SIM card slot for world GSM use.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The SIM card slot is centered at the top of the battery compartment. You need to remove the battery before taking out the card.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The back cover houses the NFC components.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
There is a 5 megapixel camera on the back with a flash. The camera has an EDoF lens so photos up close are blurry in many cases.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The 3.5mm headset jack and microUSB port are found on the left side of the Bold 9930.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The camera capture button is on the lower right side of the Bold 9930.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
There volume and mute buttons are on the upper left of the Bold 9930.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The lock button is centered on the top of the Bold 9930.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The Bold 9930 feels great in your hand and is smaller than the original Bold.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The QWERTY keyboard on the Bold 9930 is simply fantastic.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The optical trackpad is accurate and lets you navigate quickly around the device.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Here you can see the left side of the QWERTY keyboard.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The keyboard has great spacing, a cool angled design, and excellent feedback.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The Torch 9810 is an upgrade to the 9800 with a dual use form factor. As you can see here it is in full touchscreen mode.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Here the Torch 9810 is shown in QWERTY keyboard mode like a traditional BlackBerry.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The Torch 9810 keyboard is well designed, but also compact so it fits well in the width of the device.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The left side of the keyboard is shown here in this photo.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The 9810 has four buttons that are found with an optical trackpad in the center.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The volume buttons are small protrusions on the right side of the 9810.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
There is a camera button on the lower right side of the Torch 9810.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The 3.5mm headphone jack is found on the upper right of the Torch 9810.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Lock and mute buttons are located at the top of the Torch 9810, similar to what we see on current BlackBerry devices.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
A microUSB is found on the lower left and is used to sync and charge the device.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The back of the Torch 9810 is a shiny silver plastic back with grid design.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
A 5 megapixel camera and flash light are found near the top of the back.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The BlackBerry logo is stamped on the back in shiny silver.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The Torch 9810 fits well in your hand, even when in the keyboard open mode.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The Torch 9810 is a bit thick, but still fits well in your hand.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The Torch 9850 is an all touch device with a fabulously well constructed design.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The Torch 9850 is an all touch device, but it does have hardware buttons and an optical trackpad for easy navigation and application launching.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The send and BlackBerry menu button are on the left side of the optical trackpad.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The back of the Torch 9850 is very well designed with soft touch back and curves that make it feel excellent in the hand. It is actually one of the best feeling devices I have ever held.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
A 5 megapixel camera and flash are found on the back of the Torch 9850.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
There is a microUSB port on the middle of the left side.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The headphone jack is found on the upper right side of the Torch 9850.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The buttons are small humps on the left side of the device.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
You can press in on the top of the Torch 9850 to lock or unlock the display.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The Torch 9850 feels great in your hand and the width helps give it more of a phone feel.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
This photo shows the three new devices stacked on each other.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
This photo shows the devices stacked up with the ends in view.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
This picture shows the two QWERTY keyboards side-by-side.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The slide down notifications on the new BB OS 7 devices are similar to what you see on the Android platform.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The setup area of the new BB OS 7 devices is much better than they were in the past and once you have things setup a green check appears on the display.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Similar to other platforms, icons of your applications appear on the All panel of the BB OS 7 devices.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
You can add all of your best apps to the Favorites panel on your device.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Twitter is integrated in BB OS 7 and works well, even with the support for slide down to refresh.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Facebook has a new interface too and works very well.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The calendar application works well in BB OS 7.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The web browser is very good in BB OS 7 and as you can see my website works and looks well on the bold 9930.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
You can zoom in to read text in the web browser too.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Bing works well on the Bold 9930 and is an attractive application.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The music player has Amazon MP3 integration so you can buy music right from your Bold 9930.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
This photo show EDoF on the Bold 9930 in the yard.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Here we move in closer and the photo is still clear with extended depth of focus.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The EDoF camera loses it when you get close to objects and as you can see the label is blurry here.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The Torch 9810 has an autofocus camera.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The Torch 9810 takes decent photos.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The autofocus camera looks sharp in close-up mode.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The Torch 9850 takes decent photos outside too.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Moving closer with the Torch 9850

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The Torch 9850 takes excellent close up photos.

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
BlackBerry Bold Torch gallery 1

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
BlackBerry Bold Torch gallery 2

Published: August 16, 2011 -- 06:43 GMT (23:43 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller

RIM is rolling out their newest BlackBerry OS 7 smartphones and I had the chance to take the three form factors for a whirl over the last week with the Bold 9930, Torch 9850, and Torch 9810.

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Hands-on with the RIM BlackBerry Bold 9930, Torch 9810, and Torch 9850

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