Digital Trends

Blackberry 8700c

July 5th, 2006 | by Stewart Wolpin

Performance

Their size and shape make Blackberry's inherently awkward for phone calling. Although a bit thinner than other models, the 8700c still feels as if you're holding a bar of soap up to your cheek. Fortunately, you can connect either a wired or Bluetooth headset and keep the Blackberry in its belt clip.

RIM has endowed the Bluetooth 8700c, as it has many Blackberry functions, with a high degree of intelligent functionality. Once you've paired a headset, for instance, the 8700c automatically recognizes it each time you power the headset up. As long as you've turned on the Bluetooth connection from the 8700c's top menu, you don't have to re-pair it or drill down to the Bluetooth connection menu to make the Bluetooth connections (as you have to do with most other phones). A large notice appears on screen to let you know in no uncertain terms that you're wirelessly connected.

 
Screenshots

Calls themselves are crisp and clear, with or without headphones. As long as you keep the earpiece located precisely at your ear, there is plenty of volume controlled conveniently by the familiar Blackberry all-purpose jog wheel. The rear-mounted speaker also produces generous volume for a quiet conference room or office with only a slight hint of speakerphone gurgle, but positioning may be a problem. You have to lay the 8700c on its face if you want to hear anything, but this position blocks the front microphone.

Thanks to the EDGE connection and the new powerful Intel XScale processor, email downloads and replies transmit nano-swiftly and Web pages fill swiftly most of the time; only network glitches hold things up, not the 8700c.

The 8700c's rated 16 day standby time is the most robust of all the Blackberrys, but the four hour talk time is about an hour shorter than other models.

Conclusion

The 8700c is the most advanced full QWERTY Blackberry available. While it has its minor quirks, for the world traveling mobile professional with moderately sized thumbs there is no better way to stay in touch while on the road.

Pros:

• EV-DO network capable
• Quad band world phone
• Bluetooth
• Speakerphone
• 64 MB internal memory
• MP3 ringtones

Cons:

• No external memory card slot
• Tightly packed keypad keys

*Also check out our review of the RIM Blackberry 8700g which runs ont he T-Mobile network.