In a time where the BlackBerry board is exploring ‘strategic options’ for the business which could include selling it, the Canadian manufacturer has taken a strange step back in time and launched the BlackBerry 9720 running the old BlackBerry 7.1 OS.
Despite the company’s enforced focus on the new – and we have to say, much nicer – BlackBerry 10, this new model has slid out with the older BlackBerry 7.1 operating system on board. That said, you do get the latest version of BBM which includes BBM voice calling, which is a very nifty feature.
The phone may not bear the Curve branding but it’s certainly akin to those phones which made the brand big a few years ago. You have the classic spaced out QWERTY keyboard and trackpad sitting below a 2.8-inch 480 x 360 screen, which itself sports 214 pixels per inch. On the side of the phone there’s also a dedicated BBM button to launch you straight into the popular instant messaging app.
On the back there’s a 5 megapixel camera but no sign of a snapper on the front, so no video calling or selfies, unfortunately. Inside is 512MB of RAM and a micro SD card slot to expand upon the measly 512MB of internal memory.
There’s Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G connectivity, a micro USB slot for charging and synchronising and support for the micro SIM standard. Brickbreaker, which is undoubtedly one of the best things about these BlackBerrys, is also pre-loaded – now you’re interested, right?
BlackBerry will bring its throwback 9720 to Europe, Asia and Latin America in “the coming weeks”. No word yet on prices.