BlackBerry Bold 9780: Not So Bold
by Mithun Chandrasekhar on March 25, 2011 2:20 AM EST- Posted in
- IT Computing
- Smartphones
- 9780
- BlackBerry
- Bold
- Mobile
Performance and Other Notes
I won’t be covering the details of the features and enhancements that version 6 of the BlackBerry OS brings along here because, as you may have guessed, there is nothing new here compared to what was covered in the Torch review. However, one very important point I would like to bring up is the fact that even though the 9780 is not a touch-screen device, BlackBerry OS 6 works absolutely fine with just the optical keypad and soft-keys, all with no drastic change to the UI. Obviously you lose touch-specific forms of interaction such as double tap and pinch-to-zoom, but you don’t really feel like you’re losing out on something here.
Kudos to RIM for building a UI that is quite adept at handling very different UI interaction paradigms without any major change in the UI structure or presentation itself. The achievement is even more praise worthy in light of the fact that Nokia took so long to get their touch interface right with Symbian^3, and even then the experience can be quite inconsistent across different devices and applications running the same OS.
(Clockwise from top-right) The BB OS 6 homescreen, tabs in the browser,
app updates in the BB App World, menu grid.
Another important point I would like to touch on is that RIM seems to be focusing a lot of their efforts on getting the browser working right. Sure, it only has a 2.4” non-touch screen, but the browser itself seems to be quite up to the task. In fact, compared to Brian’s experience with the Torch, the browser experience on the Bold has definitely improved. Pages load quickly and I found no discernible rendering issues, even on fairly complex sites. I dug a little deeper and found out that the version of the OS that comes bundled with the Bold 9780 (6.0 bundle 863) is newer than the one currently available for the Torch (6.0 bundle 695); it looks like some of the updates have addressed issues that Brian had on his Torch during the review last September.
After I ran some performance numbers (which were better than what the Torch posted), I checked and found out that there was another update available for the Bold (6.0 bundle 1879). I also noticed that with this latest update, the browser version has also changed to 6.0.0.448 vs the 6.0.0.246 found in the Torch. I re-ran the browser tests and found out that the performance had improved further with this new update. I have therefore included numbers from both versions for your reference. Worth noting is that while the update was just 39MB in size, it took about 40 minutes to finish installing.
The BrowserMark scores went up by 9% after the update, but interestingly the Torch is still slightly faster (4%). The SunSpider scores on the other hand... nope, that’s not a typo. I re-ran the test 5 times, rebooted the phone thrice, and even reset it once. The fact remained that after the latest update, the time to complete the SunSpider benchmark has decreased by a staggering 54% (i.e. it's more than twice as fast). Even without the update, the Bold already took 13% less time than the Torch, which basically has the exact same hardware specs, so there's plenty of tuning happening in relation to this particular test.
Granted that the numbers posted by just one benchmark don’t tell the entire story, but as I mentioned earlier, the browsing experience on the Bold is limited by the form factor itself, not the browser. It looks like RIM has finally been able to assimilate its acquisition of Torch Mobile and have something to show for it. I did not notice any changes to the UI or new features between the different versions of the browser on the Bold or even between the browsers on the Bold and the Torch. Unfortunately, I triple checked and it looks like the Torch doesn't have this update just yet.
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SonicIce - Friday, March 25, 2011 - link
just kidding lolradium69 - Friday, March 25, 2011 - link
Too bad the market for blackberries is getting saturated in europe.All of the teens have either a blackberry or an iphone.
The image of a blackberry is getting seriously raped over here. Carriers are promoting the blackberries like mad, with a text bundle etc.
Allthough it's a nippy little device, I will not buy it.
Allthough the battery life is as always, good.
IntelUser2000 - Friday, March 25, 2011 - link
"the javascript performance as reported by the SunSpider benchmark has improved by a staggering 54% compared to the numbers before the update (which in itself was a decent 13% better than those posted by the Torch, which basically has the exact same hardware specs as this Bold)."Lesson in simple arithmetic. When comparing performance numbers that result in better score as "lower", the gain in performance is found by dividing the higher number by the lower number.
For example:
10612ms vs 22752ms
22752/10612 = 2.14x or 114% faster
mythun.chandra - Friday, March 25, 2011 - link
Agreed. What I meant to say in the review was it executed the SunSpider benchmark in 54% less time.klatscho - Friday, March 25, 2011 - link
i have been using the 9700 for 18 months now; the previous OS was terrible, but with the current os 6 it really works fine; i especially enjoy the search functions and the long battery life; the device is quite small and robust; also the keyboard augments my productivity.i would really like to see more hardware like this (small form factor, keyboard, long battery life) instead of all the supersized phones that are currently hyped. larger devices are fine for private used, but in a typical business environment, the just not cut the cheese.
Kosh401 - Friday, March 25, 2011 - link
I've been on the Bold 9700 for quite a while now and love the thing. It's functionality with my job is a huge time saver and being able to use BBM with coworkers and all my friends who have berries has been a nice touch. For entertainment I have a couple games on it but I don't really use it much for games. Play poker the most with some friends, otherwise just good old fashion solitaire. I probably watch more Youtube and check the news more than I play games on it I'd guess. So for me that's all the entertainment I require out of my phone :)tipoo - Friday, March 25, 2011 - link
Do we know yet if the Torch is getting that update that improved the Bold's Javascript performance so much? With the same processor it would make sense that it would.Vinny N - Friday, March 25, 2011 - link
There's an error in the article...the display resolution is stated as 320x480. It is actually 480x360. Someone must have been thinking of the 480x320 resolution of the original bold 9000...mythun.chandra - Friday, March 25, 2011 - link
Fixed!tech6 - Friday, March 25, 2011 - link
I can only partially agree with this review as it seems to approach the 9780 as a home user device. For the average home user this phone will not be very interesting so if you want apps to show off to your friends and family then get an Android or iPhone. The Blackberry is a corporate communicator and it servers that purpose very well delivering security, the policy based management functionality of BES and the focus of the UI. For business these are indispensable qualities that the competition doesn't yet offer. That is not to say that Android or iOS are inferior but their focus is more on turning phones into media consumption devices than serving business and your review needs to reflect that.I also don't agree with the assessment of build quality. I changed my 9700 for a 9780 a couple of weeks ago and it is every bit as sturdy as the Torch or the 9000 and 9700.