The BlackBerry Bold 9700 and the BlackBerry Curve 8520 are two of the popular smartphones here in the Philippines, offered by major telecom operators Smart Communications, Globe Telecom and Sun Cellular.
Here’s a rundown of their features to help you decide which BlackBerry is the one for you.
Look and feel
True to its name, the BlackBerry Bold 9700 has a very sleek design with chrome trimmings that outline the sides of the phone. The rest of the body is made up of plastic with a rubberlike finish for a firm and easy grip. The back panel or battery cover has a patch of leather which completes the Bold 9700’s professional look.
The BlackBerry Curve 8520 sports a lightweight plastic body, protected by rubber for a better grip. Dedicated media buttons can be found at the top part of the Curve’s casing. The Bold 9700 on the other hand, does not have media keys but a lock and mute key at the top.
Both the 8520 and the 9700 have the optical trackpad for easy navigation. The trackpad is a great upgrade for both phones compared to the older models which had the trackball and side trackwheel.
The Curve 8520 features a 320 x 240-pixel display, while the Bold 9700 boasts 480 x 360 pixels, making the Bold 9700’s screen slightly sharper than the other.
Features
Surfing the web is easy since both phones are Wi-Fi capable. One advantage of the BlackBerry Bold 9700 though, is that it can run on 3G network. Access through GPRS and EDGE is not a big limitation for the Curve 8520 since it can still deliver and recieve emails efficiently.
Camera and video quality are almost the same, but the Bold 9700 has a built-in flash which can aid in low-light conditions.
Other features of the Curve 8520 and Bold 9700: full QWERTY keyboard, mobile e-mail, media player, microSD memory card slot, and a 3.5mm stereo headset port.
So which is the better BlackBerry smartphone?
Both the Bold 9700 and the Curve 8520 are great smartphones from BlackBerry. Deciding on which to get will depend on your budget and feature specifications.
If you want a simple and budget-friendly smartphone, the BlackBerry Curve 8520 might be the one for you. On the other hand, if you are willing to spend a little more money for a phone that has 3G, GPS, built-in camera flash and not to mention a beautiful overall look, then the BlackBerry Bold 9700 will be right choice.
BlackBerry Curve 8520 Prepaid SRP: Php13,990
BlackBerry Bold 9700 Prepaid SRP: Php28,190
Editor’s note: This post is contributed by Jai Katipunan with some slight revisions by the editor. Jai is a die-hard BlackBerry user who spends her salary on BBM.