The Blackberry Bold, Nokia E71 and HP iPAQ 900 are all QWERTY candybar smartphones being released this summer. We take an in-depth look; is there an obvious winner?
The first BlackBerry smartphone to come with the new OS version pre-installed is the AT&T HSDPA enabled BlackBerry Bold 9000. AT&T will carry the BlackBerry Bold 9000 exclusively in the U.S., but like the rest of RIM's products, it's likely only a matter of time before they appear in slightly different versions elsewhere.
This summer, we'll also see the first Nokia E series smartphone with AT&T HSDPA support in the Nokia E71. And if that wasn't enough, who else than HP has now decided to roll out its AT&T HSDPA enabled HP iPAQ 900, which was announced about a year ago. So, there are three brand new QWERTY candybar smartphones coming at once, but which one will be the best?
To get a better idea, let's do a comparison between the BlackBerry Bold 9000, Nokia E71 and HP iPAQ 900, based on our first impressions of these devices and impressions of earlier products from these manufacturers:
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PREVIEW COMPARISON View phone specs
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BlackBerry Bold |
Nokia E71 |
HP iPAQ 900 |
| Design |
4 of 5 |
5 of 5 |
4 of 5 |
| Interface |
5 of 5 |
4 of 5 |
4 of 5 |
| Keys |
5 of 5 |
5 of 5 |
5 of 5 |
| Messaging |
5 of 5 |
4 of 5 |
4 of 5 |
| GPS |
4 of 5 |
5 of 5 |
4 of 5 |
| Battery life |
5 of 5 |
4 of 5 |
4 of 5 |
| Preview score: |
93% |
90% |
83% |
In other words, the BlackBerry Bold 9000 will likely become the QWERTY candybar smartphone to beat when it hits store shelves sometime in August 2008. There's no word yet on AT&T picking up the Nokia E71 and HP iPAQ 900, but there's a good chance that the former will appear in AT&T stores this fall at least. Both models will be available as unlocked phones in July 2008.
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