BlackBerry unveiled the 9720, a budget touch screen smartphone running on BlackBerry OS 7.1 earlier this year, even though the company has moved to the BlackBerry 10. The phone was launched in India back in September at a price tag of Rs. 15,990. It is also the cheapest BlackBerry phone with a touch screen display and a QWERTY keyboard. Is the phone worth the price? Should you go for it? Let us find out in the complete review.
BlackBerry 9720 specifications
- 2.8-inch (480 x 360 pixels) with 246 ppi and 24-bit color TFT LCD display
- BlackBerry OS 7.1
- 806 MHz Marvel Tavor MG1 CPU
- 12mm thick and weighs 120g
- 5 MP EDOF camera with LED Flash
- Multi format audio and video player
- 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio with RDS
- 512 MB RAM, 512MB internal memory that is expandable up to 32GB with MicroSD.
- 3G HSDPA 7.2Mbps, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n , Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR, GPS with A-GPS
- 1450 mAh battery that offers up to 7 hours talk time and up to 18 days standby
Display, Hardware and Design
The phone has a 2.8-inch (480 x 360 pixels) capacitive touch screen display at a pixel density of 246 ppi. It is a 24-bit color TFT LCD display that is commonly seen on most of the BlackBerry devices. The display is better than what we have seen on cheaper BlackBerry Curve smartphones. The display is bright and has nice viewing angles, but the sunlight legibility is just average. The touchscreen is good and registers your input perfectly. Wish the screen was a little bigger, since the 2.8-inch screen is too small to navigate. The display is a fingerprint magnet since it is glossy. On the top there is a large ear piece, next to it are the proximity and ambient light sensors. You also have a multi-colored LED notification light, which is hardly visible when it is OFF.
Below the display, you have hardware buttons for Dialer, Menu, Back and End / Power with the Trackpad in the middle. The trackpad has a chrome ring around it and is comfortable to scroll, navigate across the homescreen and also view slideshows.
The 35-key backlit QWERTY keyboard is perfect to type, and is also on-par with keyboard present on other high-end BlackBerry Bold phones. It is also backlit, which is pretty useful to see the keys in low lighting conditions. Since the keyboard is narrow and the keys are small, it might not be comfortable for people with large fingers.
On the back there is a 5-megapixel EDOF (Extended Depth of Field) camera with single LED flash. Even though the back cover is made of plastic, it has solid build quality. The smooth plastic back cover has nice patterns. There is a large BlackBerry logo in the center.The phone is compact, perfect to grip and doesn’t slip out of your hand.
There is 3.5mm audio is on the top. You have the lock button in the center. Since the phone is small, it is easy to lock or unlock the phone with a single hand.
On the left side there is a lanyard hole, micro USB slot and a dedicated BBM key. The sides of the phone have rubber finish to grip the device easily.
The Volume rocker is present on the right side with a Mute / pause key in the middle. The dedicated camera key is present below that, which is also a convenience key that could be programmed to launch an app.
On the bottom there is a tiny microphone hole and there is a small gap, which is actually a loud-speaker grill.
The plastic back cover is easy to remove, but a bit hard to put it back. Once you remove the back cover, you get to see the huge 1450 mAh BlackBerry JS1 battery.
The phone uses a full-sized or mini SIM card. The micro SD card slot is present next to the camera module, which supports cards up to 32GB.
Camera
The 5-megapixel EDOF ( Extended Depth of Field) is better than the 3.2MP camera on the 9320 that we reviewed earlier this year. It shoots decent shots in daylight, but low-light shots are poor and the built-in LED flash doesn’t help much. Close up objects also end up blurry most of the time. Camera features include, geo tagging, different scene modes, software image stabilization and more. The video recorder lets you record videos at VGA (640 x 480 pixels).
Here are some images samples.
Software and Apps
The BlackBerry 9720 runs onBlackBerry OS 7.1, similar to the BlackBerry Curve 9320 and the Curve 9220. This adds Wi-Fi Hotspot feature that was not available in the BB OS 7.0. Other things are exactly similar to other devices running on BlackBerry OS 7.1 including a navigation bar, notification icons and lots more. The phone has just 512MB internal memory, and the user memory is very less, so micro SD card slot is a must.
There are the usual set of utility apps such as Calendar, MemoPad note taking app,Tasks, Calculator, Documents to Go to view documents, Files (file manager), Voice dialing, Voice Notes, Voice Notes recorder, Password Keeper and BlackBerry protect. It also comes pre-loaded with Facebook, Twitter, Social Feeds, Maps, YouTube and BrickBreaker game.
Multimedia
The built-in music player and video player supports lots of formats. You can use the button between the volume rocker to pause / resume the song. It also has equalizer with bass booster to enhance the audio. The phone also has FM Radio support with RDS and auto scan. Loudspeaker output is good, but audio gets distorted on high volume.
Connectivity and Messaging
The phone comes with 3G (HSDPA: 7.2 Mbps HSUPA: 5.76 Mbps), WiFi 802.11 b/g/n with hotspot feature to connect up to 5 devices, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and also has also assisted GPS, similar to other budget BlackBerry phones. It has unified inbox with messages, notifications and e-mail. You can launch the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) easily using the dedicated BBM button. Unlike the latest BlackBerry 10 phones, you still need BlackBerry Internet service packs to use BBM.
Performance and Battery life
Even though the phone is powered by a single-core Tavor MG1 chip clocked at 806 MHz, the performance is quite good. The OS is highly optimized even to work smoothly even on a single-core processor. The phone can also multitask at an ease even when there are multiple apps running in the background.
The 1450 mAh removable battery last for a day even with heavy use. With average use, it will last for two days, which is standard for BlackBerry phones.
Conclusion
At a price tag of Rs. 15,990, the BlackBerry 9720 is not only the cheapest BlackBerry smartphone with a touchscreen, but also a good phone for first time BlackBerry users. Instead of going for a non-touch entry-level BlackBerry Curve phones, people can definitely choose the 9720. Even though the camera resolution has been improved, the final output is just not up to the mark. This might be the last BlackBerry phone running in the OS 7 series. So, if you already have an older touchscreen QWERTY phone, you should probably wait for a cheaper BlackBerry 10 phone.
Pros
- Good touch screen display
- Decent build
- Good keyboard
Cons
- Disappointing camera
- BB OS 7.1 is outdated