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BlackBerry Bold 9790
by lyndsey1989
The Blackberry Bold has been part of the Blackberry range for many years. There are many different model numbers as the Bold has been upgraded over time but this review is based around the Blackberry Bold 9790 which I have owned for around 7 or 8 months now I believe. I upgraded to this phone from a Blackberry Curve ... 8520.
==Why did I choose the Bold?==
I had owned my Curve for a couple of years and on the whole I had been pleased with its performance. My Curve really was on its last legs so when I got the opportunity to get the Bold on a £20 per month contract from Talk Talk I jumped at the chance. I didn't really look at other phones. Although I know Blackberry receive their fair amount of criticism I am very fond of Blackberry's and I like the way they look and the way they function so I was quite sure a new Blackberry was what I wanted. I liked this model in particular because aswell as the traditional Blackberry keypad, it was a touchscreen phone too.
==Availability and price==
The Bold 9790 is still readily available and can be easily found online. Of course shops and networks determine price but it seems that one can be picked up between around £249 and £289. It can also be received free with a contract from around £20 a month.
==Appearance==
The Bold has the distinct Blackberry look about it but it is a bit more square than the Curve. It is approximately 11 centimetres tall, 6 centimetres wide and around a centimetre deep. It weighs 107g. Mine is black in colour but you can also buy this phone in white. The phone is encased with a mirrored edge and this is also extended to the back of the phone where the top is mirrored. Each row of buttons is also sort of underlined by this mirrored effect. I like this mirrored effect as it is really stylish. Initially I was worried it might become very scratched and damaged quickly but this is not the case. I use my phone as it is, without a case and although there are extremely light surface scratches and one small deeper scratch it still looks very good. The keypad follows the usual Blackberry trend with the trackpad in the middle and the call and call end buttons supported by the blackberry and return buttons. The back of the phone is smoother and the plastic is softer. It is a dark grey in colour and the notorious Blackberry logo is depicted in metallic grey. The Bold logo is positioned in the middle of the camera and the flash.
==Setting up the phone==
When my phone arrived I was keen to get started! I used to hate it when I was younger and I had to wait for my new phone to charge before I could use it. Although the Bold did not come full of charge it was over half full which meant that whilst I plugged it in I could also go about setting it up. Turning the phone on I was asked to confirm the date and time etc and I was ready to go within a couple of minutes. I transferred my memory card from my Curve to my Bold so I was really pleased to have all my photos and music already on the device. It was simple to set up my emails and MMS settings and I was sent an automatic text message to confirm these.
==Using the phone==
The phone runs on the Blackberry 7 software which is the most recent software available on the Bold range.
Making a call - To make a call you can either access the number from your contact list, your last dialled list or you can type it in. The call quality is very good and I never have a problem hearing anyone. Whilst on the call you can also put people on hold and mute yourself etc. This is a useful function. You can also access your messages and other areas of the phone which I have found useful on a number of occasions.
Email - The email function is one of the reasons why Blackberry shot to fame. To set up the email is easy, you simply go to the settings area of the phone and put in your emails details including your password. The device will then sign you in and from then on transfer your inbox to your messages folder on the phone. Emails tend to be displayed as text only but you can click on each email to retrieve the images if required. I find emails easy to read and it is easy to compose an email too. You can either reply to emails or begin a completely new email. It is easy to type an email and attach files such as documents or pictures. When sent the email will appear in your messages folder with a tick alongside it. You can also save drafts.
Text messaging - The text message function looks quite similar to the emails. Your texts are displayed in a list and you will have one line for each contact. For example, if I had sent three text messages to my Mum and received three in return 'Mum' would just appear once in the list rather than six times. The beginning of the message will also be shown. This is useful for shorter messages as you can quickly glance at the message without needing to open it or you can make the decision whether to open it now or later. Composing a text message is easy and a lot of the functions are similar to the email.
BBM - This is Blackberry's very own messenger service. Instant messages similar to text messages can be sent directly between yourself and your friends who also have a Blackberry providing you have their pin to add them to your contact list. The service is great because you can also use it to send media files for free.
Camera - The camera really pulls the Bold away from my old Curve and it is so much better. The camera is 5MP which although doesn't sound brilliant compared to my Curve it is amazing! It also has a flash, continuous auto-focusing, 2x digital zoom and image stabilisation. I find it very simple to take pictures with this phone and my pictures almost always come out crisp and clear.
Internet browser - I find the phone easy to use to access various webpages. You can either type in the full address or use the search function which automatically uses Google to perform your search. The pages displayed are often too small for the normal sighted person to see but it is easy to zoom in and out again. I only ever use the internet on here to quickly look at something, otherwise I much prefer to use my laptop or tablet because it makes it much easier.
Blackberry World - This is where I access all the downloadable content for Blackberry. Here you can download various apps and games both free and paid for. The selection here is ok but there is nowhere near as much as you can find on other similar stores such as the app store. I feel that Blackberry world really is quite substandard and it does let the phone down.
GPS - The phone has built in GPS which I have used a few times now. It isn't as easy as a Tom Tom to use but it is fairly simple to get directions and these are easy to follow. However, you need to read the directions they are not read to you so if you are driving the GPS cannot be used unless you have a passenger! The GPS isn't the best but if you need to find an address and you don't know the way it really is invaluable.
Music/video player - The phone plays both music and video. These are played well and the sound and video quality is both very good.
Apps - I have a number of different apps on my phone and I use a lot of them on a daily basis. My most used app at the moment is probably Whatsapp messenger which is a free instant messaging app. The app for this is functional and works well and I am happy with using it on my Blackberry. I also use the Facebook and Twitter app's on a daily basis. I like both of these and find it easy to navigate my way around them. Other app's I use daily include a weather app, sky news, new magazine and ebay.
I find the phone easy to use. It is easy to navigate around the menu and it is simple to get to where you want to be. The menu is displayed in a grid like fashion with pictures depicting each app or area of the phone making it simple to select what you need quickly and with ease. The trackball is brilliant and is similar to the pad used on a laptop. It allows you to move around the phone easily and by simply pressing the trackball you can select what you want. I use the trackball a lot more than the touchscreen simply because I find it easier to when I am using the keypad aswell. However, I do use the touchscreen and I find this easy to use and it is a good sensitivity.
My main gripe with my Curve was that it kept freezing. I would then need to take the battery out and reboot the whole phone before it would work again. I have experienced the Bold freezing but not on the scale it did on my Curve. My Bold will have the occasional day where it keeps freezing but 9 times out of 10 it sorts itself out and I don't need to remove the battery.
The phone is provided with some headphones and a wall charger which doubles up as a USB cable. The headphones I have never used so cannot comment. The USB cable works quickly and well and the charger works well but the cable (as it is the USB cable) is quite short (about a metre long). This is very annoying at times because if you want to use your phone you need to be right next to the socket! The phone takes around an hour and a half to charge fully from being completely flat which is quite a reasonable time. Currently I am using my phone a lot and I am often using apps and messaging people. Therefore currently I am usually needing to charge my phone around 8 or 9 hours after I have began my day. Of course the phone isn't used constantly but quite often I can be using it for an hour at a time and then it is rarely left alone for half an hour. I am disappointed with the battery life. I do use my phone more than most and a lot of the time I am sending and receiving messages but the battery life falls short in my opinion. The specification promises a talk time of 5 hours which I think probably could be achieved. It promises a standby time of 17 or 18 days which personally I don't think could be achieved but I have never left my phone alone for 17 or 18 hours let alone days! The display on the phone is very good and I find that images are crisp and clear. The colours are good and I find that pictures look very good on the phone. The phone has 8GB memory. I have never had any problems with this and I have hundreds of photos and messages stored on the device.
==Specification==
For a full specification please see http://www.gsmarena.com/blackberry_bold_9790-4332.php
==Overall Opinion==
I like this phone and I would recommend it. It is much better than my old Curve and it does everything I want it to do. It isn't a perfect phone - the app store lets down Blackberry as a whole and it does freeze every so often. However, it is a decent smartphone and I like the Blackberry brand. I would buy another Blackberry as I like this one and I like the Blackberry brand as a whole.
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Apple iPhone 4 16 GB
by carlz2001uk
Upgrading my phone in February I wasn't too bothered about having the latest iPhone, the 4S, and was happy with the deal I could get for an iPhone 4. I had been hanging off writing a review until I knew the phone inside out, then disaster struck....! Around 6-7 weeks ago, while happily drinking a cup of tea, my phone decided to take a ... swim.... I could have cried. Miracles (husbands) do work though and 2 weeks later I had my phone working again. I've now decided to write the review, and include our experiences of how to fix this problem (which after searching on the internet is actually more common than you would think!).
Receiving the phone and setting it up:
In the box you will expect to receive most obviously the iPhone 4, Apple earphones with remote and mic, USB power adapter, dock connector to USB cable and the documents / guidance. The phone is relatively easy to set up although takes slightly longer than any other phone I've had before. It requires that you sync with iTunes although this is handy as you are then able to transfer your music straight over to your phone. We also had to update our version of iTunes at this point as it wasn't compatible with the phone (requires version 10.7 or later).
Size, Weight and styling:
Height: 115.2 mm (4.5 inches)
Width: 58.6 mm (2.31 inches)
Depth: 9.3 mm (0.37 inches)
Weight: 137 grams (4.8 ounces)
I really like the feel and look of this particular version of the iPhone, especially when you think back to what the first one was like. I had the first iPhone and I hated it! This in comparison is sleek and well styled, particularly with the silver edging around the entire depth. In comparison to the iPhone 5 however, the 4 is smaller in height, thicker in depth and weightier, but for me the styling on the 4 is perfect.
Camera:
Coming from a Blackberry with a rubbish camera (which in all fairness was a lot more robust than this phone), the camera is outstanding. The 5 megapixel camera is middle of the road, however it does take cracking pictures. In comparison to the newly released Samsung Galaxy S4's impressive 13 megapixel it is pants! Even the iPhone 4S and 5 have 8 megapixel's so it's definitely lagging behind somewhat, however, for me as a camera on my phone to shoot drunken pictures of my friends dancing on tables it's fine! The tap to focus is handy, I sometimes struggle to get it to focus on the correct part of the picture, but if you double tap what it is you are taking a photo of it will focus on that rather than the surroundings. The LED flash is good although sometimes I find this can make the photos look quite grainy. The front facing camera is a nice little feature although not of the same quality as the rear camera (and there is a lack of flash on the front too), but this does allow that if you take a photo of yourself for example with a friend, you can see the photo in the screen as you are taking it.
Battery life:
I find that if I charge my phone overnight that it will be okay for the full day. It does occasionally die on me, but that's only if I forget to charge it overnight. I luckily have a USB connector in my car so I always leave a cable in the glove box and I can charge it if I am away from the home and it runs out of battery. If your phone is on 3G you should expect 7 hours talk time and 6 hours browsing time, as opposed to 10 hours of browsing time on wi-fi. This is still all behind the iPhone 5 and 4S, however the standby time of 300 hours beats the 5s 225 hours standby time.
Display:
The fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating is a nice little touch in principle, however I don't think the effect is lasting as I have already noticed a reduction in the amount this works. The oleophobic coating is basically an oil resistant coating which works to protect the phone from the inevitable greasiness from the natural oil contained in your fingertips or from the face when you make a call. It works to reduce the fingerprints and smudges from the cheek to keep the screen smudge and oil free. As I mentioned though, I have noticed a reduction in this over time.
The retina display is probably one of the things in Apples technology that makes the iPhones so impressive. The pixel density within the screen is so high that the human eye is not able to notice pixilation. I believe this was first introduced with the iPhone 4 so it will only improve with time.
Apps:
I'm not going to go into lots of detail as we all know there are millions of apps out there to suit every taste. What I will say is that on the iPhone you have the ability to group the apps together in folders. This is really handy for me as I have several for the girls on my phone for when we are out and about and boredom sets in. I am then able to group them together in folders and save them with headings such as 'girls books', 'girls games', 'girls educational'.... You get the picture that 99% of my apps are for the 'girls'!
Internet:
I usually avoid the internet on phones as I find it just too fiddly, and most shops etc have apps now which are easier to browse, however there has been the odd time when I need to use the internet on my phone and it is a noticeable improvement in comparison to other phones. The ability to flip the screen to horizontal means the viewing page is larger, and the stretching of the screen with the fingertips means it is really easy to use the internet.
Water damage!:
As I mentioned, I did drop my phone in a very large cup of tea. I had to laugh about it at the time as I'd only had my phone a matter of weeks and with a 2 year contract ahead of me, it wasn't the greatest move. Also with no phone insurance I was looking at a large outlay to buy a new one. In the 10 years myself and my husband have had mobile phones, we haven't ever needed phone insurance so we figure the monthly outlay is a bit daft. I still do. However when looking at the outlay of the phone, and the mixed reports on the internet about whether or not people had got their phones working or not, I was a little apprehensive. We immediately (and I mean within seconds), had the phone covered with rice in a sealed bag (something I remember from when my daughter dropped my step mums phone in the bath some years ago), and after a quick look on the internet realised the phone needed to stay like this for 4 days. The wait was tense and after 4 days the phone still didn't work. At this point we bought an iPhone screwdriver kit from Amazon for a few pounds. It took around a week to come so again, another long wait. My husband took the phone apart which took hours due to the tiny screws, and then much to my horror he cleaned the inside of my phone with nail varnish remover and a toothbrush. He watched a tutorial on youtube and followed each step. After two weeks, my phone switched on, and six weeks later is still working. I know this isn't necessarily a review of the phone, however we had to find out all of this information from various different sources online, and only a few people actually wrote whether or not their attempts had worked, so no doubt this will be of use to a few unfortunate and clumsy souls (like me!)!
Colour:
The iPhone 4 comes in either white or black. I have white, my husband has black, and I must say I do prefer the white!
Recommended?:
The iPhone, while once the best phone on the market, is losing its appeal somewhat for me as other manufacturers are quickly catching up with the market leaders. For me the biggest downfall of the phone is just how delicate it is. The slippy feel of the glass type material means it's always slipping out of my hand, so I've had to put a big bulky cover on the back which takes away from how sleek the phone is. I do love this phone but I'm always on tenterhooks at when I'm next going to drop it. Recommended, if you're careful! The ability to sync to your iTunes account is a massive pull for me as I have thousands of songs on it, however if you're not tied to iTunes and you want a decent smart phone, I would suggest maybe taking a look at the Samsung Galaxy S4 and compare that to the iPhone.
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HTC One X
by eventhorizon
I bought the HTC one recently and its the best phone I've used so far. It's large display and better reception were its main selling points but it has so many other features that make the phone worthwhile. Its fast and can run fairly high-end 3d games with fast loading times. Like most smartphones the battery has to be recharged ... extremely often. I use easy battery saver to extend batterylife by up to 70% more by limiting network activity. A problem with the android operating system and app features means many apps continue running in the backround, often for advertising purposes, but also often for no reason, or quick loading etc. When you kill them with task manager they often pop up again straight away. You need to either get an auto app Killer, which often dondon't work, disable the app completely when not in use via settings, uninstall or change the bootloader by having root access to your phone, which can void the warranty. This phones main drawback is short battery life, be wise of all the software it runs by default. Apart from that it has very few other problems, just a few software glitches in the operating system, and with apps like Skype and Google navigator, which come and go with updates. The screen is much larger than all previous iphones and the case is quite solid Aluminium and will not smash easily. Video quality is very nice from the main camera, but the second camera has terrible picture and video quality. Its usually not a big deal as its used mainly for Skype, but when you wantto take photos of yourself or you and a friend the resulting photo or video is awful.
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