Blackberry’s cheapest touchscreen
phone, but price isn’t everything
A ray of hope for BlackBerry OS7
users. Yes, a new Blackberry phone
based on the old Blackberry
platform 9720!
Many may question why the
manufacturer doesn’t merge the
platforms to a single one instead of
concentrating on two versions of
the same operating system
simultaneously at the same point of
time! As big a puzzle as that well
may be for the manufacturer, let’s
welcome the all-new sub 15000
Blackberry, which merges
touchscreen and QWERTY on to the
same device.
Built like the older Curve models,
the 9720 looks good. Available in
black and white, the device sports a
decent-looking touch screen
coupled with a backlit physical
keyboard. The back has a
rubberised panel with a shiny
Blackberry logo in the middle.
Sturdy, yes, but it does look a bit
childish and doesn’t carry the
premium corporate looks of the
Blackberry legacy.
The 2.8in IPS touchscreen display
has a resolution of 480×360 with
214 PPI, not bad for a sub 15K
device. Apart from the call, menu,
trackpad, return and call disconnect
buttons which sit between the
touchscreen and the physical
QWERTY keyboard, there are other
buttons for easy access.
The 3.5mm audio out and power
on/off switch sits on the top while
the micro USB charger input and
direct to BBM button sit on the left.
The volume, mute and camera
convenience keys occupy the right.
The device features a 5
megapixel rear camera with an LED
flash on the top. Surprisingly, the
9720 doesn’t have a front camera.
Inside,
the 9720
has a
806MHz
Tavor
MG1
processor
along
with 512MB of RAM. The
combination works fine for day to
day usage, but is slow for heavy
tasks. The screen offers a wide
viewing angle, coupled with decent
touch response. We didn’t find any
issues using the trackpad. The keys
are a bit rais ed but comfortable.
The 5 megapixel camera doesn’t
have autofocus. In normal light, the
images are decent and usable. The
latest app also lets you upload to
social networking sites. The 1450
mAh battery remains alive till you
reach home from office. With heavy
usage, it dries up a couple of hours
earlier. The phone has WiFi,
Bluetooth and GPS but lacks NFC.
wedThe 9720 is not a bad phone
and is in fact good for old BB users.
But Blackberry does need to sort
out a couple of things. Like
providing a slightly bigger battery
so that the phone lasts at least for a
day!