X

Hands-on with the T-Mobile RIM BlackBerry Bold 9780

The Bold 9700 is being succeeded by the 9780 that offers a few key improvements that make a good device even better.
By Matthew Miller, Contributing Writer
486368.jpg
1 of 17 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The BlackBerry Bold 9780 builds upon the success of the Bold 9700 with a better camera and the latest BB 6 OS while still maintaining the great keyboard and long battery life.

Check out the ZDNet Smartphones & Cell Phones full blog post with a video walk through and thoughts on using the device.

486369.jpg
2 of 17 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The Bold 9780 rests in a try under the top of the retail box.

486370.jpg
3 of 17 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

You get a nice belt clip holster, USB cable, USB A/C adapter, stereo headset and 2GB microSD card in the box.

486371.jpg
4 of 17 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The Bold 9780 has the same great display and front facing QWERTY keyboard you have come to expect from the BlackBerry lineup.

486372.jpg
5 of 17 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

You will find the volume button along the top with the customizable right convenience key down below this on the right side.

486374.jpg
6 of 17 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The headset jack, microUSB port, and left convenience key are found on the left side of the Bold 9780.

486375.jpg
7 of 17 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

There is a lanyard opening and the holster activation point on the lower left side.

486376.jpg
8 of 17 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The back of the Bold 9780 is a rubberized material that almost appears to be made of leather. It feels good in your hand.

486377.jpg
9 of 17 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The 5 megapixel camera and flash are found towards the top of the Bold 9780.

486378.jpg
10 of 17 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The lock key and play/pause/mute key are found on the top of the Bold 9780.

486379.jpg
11 of 17 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The Bold 9780 fits well in my hand and feels small compared to all of the large touchscreen devices I have been testing out lately.

486381.jpg
12 of 17 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The Bold 9780 has one of the best QWERTY keyboards on a mobile phone. It is compact, yet designed to be very usable.

486382.jpg
13 of 17 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

In this close up of the left side you can see the design of the keys and the left shift and ALT keys.

486383.jpg
14 of 17 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

The right side shows another shift key along with the del/backspace, enter, and SYM keys.

486384.jpg
15 of 17 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

There are four hardware buttons (Send, Menu, Escape/Back, and End/Power) under the display. The touch sensitive trackpad is centered between these buttons.

486385.jpg
16 of 17 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Image gallery 1

486386.jpg
17 of 17 Matthew Miller/ZDNET

Image gallery thumbnail 2

Related Galleries

Holiday wallpaper for your phone: Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's, and winter scenes
Holiday lights in Central Park background

Related Galleries

Holiday wallpaper for your phone: Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's, and winter scenes

21 Photos
Winter backgrounds for your next virtual meeting
Wooden lodge in pine forest with heavy snow reflection on Lake O'hara at Yoho national park

Related Galleries

Winter backgrounds for your next virtual meeting

21 Photos
Holiday backgrounds for Zoom: Christmas cheer, New Year's Eve, Hanukkah and winter scenes
3D Rendering Christmas interior

Related Galleries

Holiday backgrounds for Zoom: Christmas cheer, New Year's Eve, Hanukkah and winter scenes

21 Photos
Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6: Electric vehicle extravaganza
img-8825

Related Galleries

Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6: Electric vehicle extravaganza

26 Photos
A weekend with Google's Chrome OS Flex
img-9792-2

Related Galleries

A weekend with Google's Chrome OS Flex

22 Photos
Cybersecurity flaws, customer experiences, smartphone losses, and more: ZDNet's research roundup
shutterstock-1024665187.jpg

Related Galleries

Cybersecurity flaws, customer experiences, smartphone losses, and more: ZDNet's research roundup

8 Photos
Inside a fake $20 '16TB external M.2 SSD'
Full of promises!

Related Galleries

Inside a fake $20 '16TB external M.2 SSD'

8 Photos