Introduction & Design
4.5
BlackBerry's 8700 series has been a hit with power email users who want always-on, real-time access to their email on the go. Research In Motion initially released the 8700 in GSM-only configurations, but recently brought the handheld's roomy but compact form factor and big, bright display to EV-DO users.
The RIM BlackBerry 8703e for Sprint combines BlackBerry's beloved push email technology, QWERTY thumbboard and scroll wheel with Sprint's Power Vision high speed data network. The 8703e is also Sprint's first GPS-enabled BlackBerry.
While the 8703e doesn't have the consumer-directed flash or multimedia capabilities of the BlackBerry Pearl, it does do everything a business traveler would expect of a BlackBerry, and it does so with ease and comfort. Add the optional location-based services provided by the integrated GPS receiver and you've got a serious voice, email, and Internet client with the added ability to help you find your way to client sites, restaurants, and hotels when you're on the road.
Design
Unlike the slimmer, sleeker Pearl, the 8703e looks like a BlackBerry. It's tall and wide and flat and finished in no-nonsense black. Measuring in at 4.3 x 2.7 x 0.8 inches and weighing 4.7 ounces, the 8703e is big for a phone but somewhat compact and light for a BlackBerry. BlackBerry users don't mind the size, though, since it affords them space for a nice, roomy display and thumbboard for all of that emailing.
The 2.5" display takes up the top half of the front panel, while the lower portion is given over to buttons: Talk and End buttons flank a programmable soft key in a row just below the display, and a 35-key QWERTY thumbboard lies beneath that. The QWERTY board was generally great to type on, with tall, slightly angled buttons that are backlit and provide good tactile feedback. My very minor complaint about the keyboard is that the buttons are a tiny bit slick to the touch, and not as "nice feeling" as the new soft-grip buttons employed by other handset makers as of late.
Along the right panel of the device you'll find the infamous BlackBerry scroll wheel and its companion, the Escape key. BlackBerry almost always positions these two controls in the optimal position for one-handed device navigation, and the 8703e is, in fact, a breeze to use with one hand (unless you have particularly small hands). On the left panel of the phone you'll find a 2.5mm headset jack, mini USB port, and a second programmable soft key.
A portion back panel of the 8703e slides off to reveal the battery slot, and the panel also houses a speakerphone grille framed by a silver plastic border. Since this is an EV-DO handset, there is no SIM card slot. The top panel of the phone features two silver buttons that control power and mute functions.
