BlackBerry Tour 9630 Phone, Black (Sprint)

By BlackBerry on August 8th, 2009

Amazon.com Widgets

BlackBerry Tour 9630 Phone, Black (Sprint)

Customer Rating: Rating 3.0 out of 5

(14 Reviews)

List Price: ~~$499.99~~

* as of Saturday July 31, 2010 17:08:36, America/Chicago

Product information Brand: Blackberry
Publisher: Blackberry
Category: Wireless
Release Date: August 22, 2008
Model: SP9630RIM

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Features

BlackBerry smartphone with QWERTY keyboard; dual-network capable for 3G-enabled GSM access when traveling abroad
Sprint Mobile Broadband Network via EV-DO connectivity; GPS turn-by-turn directions via Sprint Navigation; Sprint TV and Sprint Music Store enabled
3.2-megapixel camera/camcorder; Bluetooth stereo music; MicroSD memory expansion to 16 GB; access to personal and corporate email
Up to 5 hours of talk time, up to 336 hours (14 days) of standby time
What's in the Box: handset, battery, micro charger, swivel holster, 1 GB MicroSD card, USB cable, wired stereo headset, SIM card (for international use), user manual

Accessories

Editorial Review

Amazon.com Product Description: The feature-packed and highly refined BlackBerry Tour 9630 world phone for Sprint keeps you connected and lets you roam the globe in style. In addition to accessing the reliable and fast Verizon Wireless voice and data network, the Tour is also compatible with 3G-enabled GSM networks outside the United States, giving you the option to make phone calls in over 185 countries and to access e-mail and Internet in any of the nearly 150 countries where Sprint provides data roaming services.

Roam where you want to with the BlackBerry Tour 3G world phone, which provides the option to make phone calls in over 185 countries and to access e-mail/Internet in nearly 150 countries where Sprint Wireless provides data roaming services (see larger image).

Ideally suited for those who want to stay socially connected, the Tour 9630 lets you share pictures and videos via MMS and instant message on popular IM services or BlackBerry Messenger. It also offers easy access to your favorite social networking sites like Flickr, MySpace and Facebook.

In addition to fast 3G speeds from Sprint's Wi's high-speed 3G network, you'll enjoy GPS navigation capabilities for accessing the optional Sprint Navigation turn-by-turn direction service as well as access to Sprint TV's video-on-demand with full-motion video and vivid sound. And the Tour comes packed with all the communication and professional functionality you expect from a BlackBerry device, including a push-based mobile solution for e-mail and access to Microsoft Office files.

The BlackBerry Tour includes a large, highly tactile, full-QWERTY keyboard and a large 2.4-inch display with one of the highest resolutions available yet on a BlackBerry device. Other features include a 3.2-megapixel camera/camcorder with geo-tagging capabilities, Bluetooth connectivity for hands-free devices and stereo music streaming, microSD memory expansion (a 1 GB card is included), support for BlackBerry App World, and up to 5 hours of talk time.

Sprint Services
The BlackBerry Tour operates domestically on the Sprint 3G network, and globally on 2100 MHz UMTS/HSPA and quad-band GSM/EDGE/GPRS networks (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) where Sprint has international roaming agreements. With the Tour, Sprint customers have the power to make or receive phone calls in more than 185 countries and access BlackBerry data services including e-mail and Web browsing in nearly 150 countries.

Stay connected with a push-based mobile solution for e-mail, messaging (IM, SMS, MMS), and social networking.

Sprint's Worldwide BlackBerry plan gives customers unlimited BlackBerry e-mail and Web access in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and other locations using CDMA technology, and with GSM/GPRS carriers abroad where Sprint has applicable roaming agreements. The plan is available for $69.99 per month, or just $40 per month (excluding taxes and surcharges) as an attachable to Simply Everything, Everything Data, Everything Data Family or Business Essentials with Messaging and Data.

Supporting the EV-DO high-speed data standard on Sprint's U.S. network, this phone enables you to download and stream high-quality video, straight onto your phone. Where coverage is available, EV-DO connectivity provides average download speeds ranging from 400 to 700 Kbps, with peak rates up to 2 Mbps. With Sprint TV, you can make your cell phone your always-on source for news, weather, sports and more. This comprehensive video service combines high-quality streaming audio and video from channels including ABC, The Weather Channel, Fox Sports, E!, CNN, The Discovery Channel, and more.

The Sprint Music Store enables you to buy, download, and then jam out wherever you are with new songs or old favorites. Offering a growing selection of more than 1.6 million songs, the store provides you two copies of each song--one for the phone and another for the PC, as well as the ability to burn songs to a CD using Windows Media Player. Save your songs to a memory card with a capacity that's right for you. You also get several streaming-radio applications, including Sprint Radio with more than 150 channels.

This GPS-enabled phone provides optional access to Sprint Navigation for driving directions on your mobile phone--by voice and onscreen. Along the way, turn-by-turn directions will be announced in a clear voice and displayed on your phone. For example, Sprint Navigation will say, "Go 1.2 miles and turn right on Elm Street." As you approach the turn, you will hear, "Turn right on Elm Street." Sprint Navigation also provides proactive traffic alerts with one click re-routing. And it's easy to find restaurants, banks, cafes, hotels and more from over 10 million points of interest across the U.S.

Other features include GPS location services, a 3.2-megapixel camera/camcorder with geo-tagging capabilities, Bluetooth stereo music streaming, microSD expansion (with included 1 GB card).

Stay Sporty with Sprint
With NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile, instantly connect to the NASCAR information you want, when you want it. Follow NASCAR action from practice to race day with real-time leaderboard and alerts. Get exclusive access to your favorite NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver with real-time driver stats, breaking news and more. Live in-car audio, race radio, NASCAR on SPEED and other audio/video only available on select phones. Visit sprint.com/speed for details.

To access, just text "NASCAR" to 7777 on your Sprint phone or visit the Sprint Digital Lounge to download NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile (standard text messaging and data rates apply).

This phone also provides access to Sprint Football Live--free for any phone with a data plan. You'll be able to follow all the live play-by-play action with the Live Game Center for both pro and college football games, as well as stay on top of the pro football draft with a Live Draft Tracker and in-depth analysis and bios on nearly 500 top prospects. Access by texting "FOOTBALL" to 7777 on the handset to download Sprint Football Live from Sprint Digital Lounge (standard text messaging and data rates apply).

Phone Features
The BlackBerry Tour 9630 features a chic black finish with chrome highlights surrounding its sleek design and a bright 2.4-inch display that delivers the highest resolution available on a BlackBerry smartphone (480 x 360 resolution at 245 ppi)--presenting pictures, web pages and videos with incredible clarity. The Tour includes a trackball navigation system located on the top of the QWERTY keypad with finely sculpted keys for fast and precise typing. It also features an integrated spell checker with a customizable dictionary to help maintain accuracy while on the go.

It offers premium phone features including voice activated dialing, enhanced background noise cancellation, and a low-distortion speakerphone. This phone also provides Bluetooth wireless connectivity (version 2.0), and includes profiles for communication headset, hands-free car kits, and file transfer. With the A2DP Bluetooth profile, you can stream your music to a pair of compatible Bluetooth stereo headphones. You can connect your laptop (either via Bluetooth or wired USB) and enjoy dial-up networking--surf the Internet, send e-mail, and access files from a server (additional charges or subscription applicable).

With BlackBerry push technology, you don't need to retrieve your e-mail. BlackBerry devices are designed to remain on and continuously connected to the wireless network, allowing you to be discreetly notified as new e-mail arrives. Support is also built-in for viewing e-mail attachments (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, WordPerfect, and PDF formats).

With the BlackBerry Internet Service, you'll be able to easily access up to 10 supported personal and work e-mail accounts, send and receive text and instant messages, and connect on popular social networking sites with friends, family and co-workers. It's also compatible with BlackBerry Enterprise Server, which provides advanced security and IT administration features within IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise environments.

In addition to the industry's leading mobile e-mail and messaging solution, the Tour supports text (SMS), picture (MMS) and instant messaging (IM) on today's most popular platforms as well as social networking sites. Take your social life on-the-go with Facebook for BlackBerry and Flickr Photo Uploader for BlackBerry application. A Mobile IM feature provides access to Google Talk, MSN, Yahoo!, Windows Live, and AIM instant messaging services.

The media player can play movies smoothly in full-screen mode, display pictures and slideshows quickly and manage an entire music and video collection, and with BlackBerry Media Sync you can quickly and easily sync music from iTunes and Windows Media Player with the smartphone. The Tour comes with a 256 MB flash memory (and 256 MB of RAM), and the device is expandable via microSD/SDHC memory cards up to 16 GB in size (a 1 GB card is included with the Tour).

Other features include:

3.2-megapixel camera with auto-focus, image stabilization, 2x digital zoom, geo-tagging capabilities, and video capture
Support for BlackBerry App World, featuring a broad and growing catalog of third-party mobile applications developed specifically for BlackBerry smartphones. Categories include travel, productivity, entertainment, games, social networking and sharing, news and weather, and more.
Voice Activated Dialing: The built-in speaker independent voice command lets you use your voice to look up contacts, place phone calls and get key information from your device.
Preloaded DataViz Documents to Go, allowing you to edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the handset.
BlackBerry 4.7 Desktop Software with integrated e-mail, phone, SMS, browser, calendar, address book, and additional organizer applications
English, French and Spanish language support
Ring Tones: 32 Polyphonic + vibrate (MIDI, MP3)
Password protection and keyboard lock
3.5mm stereo headset jack
Video format support: MPEG4 H.263, MPEG4 Part 2 Simple Profile, H.264 (encoding and decoding 30fps), WMV
Audio format support: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, WMA ProPlus
Hearing Aid Compatibility = M3

Vital Statistics
The BlackBerry Tour 9630 weighs 4.58 ounces and measures 4.4 x 2.4 x 0.6 inches. Its 1400 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 5 hours of talk time, and up to 336 hours (14 days) of standby time. It runs on the 800/1900 MHz CDMA frequencies and is compatible with the EV-DO 3G data network when on the Sprint network in the US; in international territories, it's compatible with 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE networks as well as 2100 MHz 3G (UMTS) networks.

Customer Reviews

First time BlackBerry user

by Sameer 2009-12-31, 3 people found this review helpful

I heard many friends describe how they are addicted to their BlackBerry. A few months ago I decided to see what the hype was all about. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this phone lives up to the hype and then some.

PROS
1) Big, clear screen
2) Push email
3) Built in CDMA and GSM radios (great for international use)
4) BlackBerry messenger and BlackBerry App World
5) GPS with Google Maps
6) Fairly good camera
7) Good call quality and battery life

CONS
1) Takes forever to boot up
2) Sometimes gets sluggish
3) Text messaging system is antiquated (needs iPhone-like threaded messages)

Overall this is a great phone. It allowed me to sync all my social outlooks (email, IM, facebook, etc) to the phone seamlessly. The BB browser, although not great, does an decent job at rendering web pages. I've heard some people complain about the trackball wearing out, so far I have seen no signs of this on my phone. If you want a complete smartphone, you would be hard pressed to find a better one than the Tour. I have become a Crackberry addict.

Good looks and great functionality -- what could be better than that?

by CoffeeGurl 2009-08-02, 28 people found this review helpful

I have very much looked forward to having a BlackBerry that was a cross between the Bold and the Curve. The Bold is beautiful, multi-functional, and has quite a nice leather-ish back, plus it has both WiFi and 3G, but the big size is kind of a turnoff. Besides, it's on the AT&T network, which is expensive since minutes, data and messaging are included separately. (One of the reasons I had to cancel and give up on the iPhone 3G, as much as it pained me to do so.) The Curve is smaller, lighter and has WiFi on the T-Mobile network, but no 3G. What is a multitasking mobile girl to do? Why, I got the BlackBerry Tour 9360, of course! The Tour, while beautiful and functional, is not free of flaws, but more on those later.

The Tour is a little larger than the Curve 8900, but not by much. It is available on the Sprint and Verizon networks, and it is a CDMA/3G EV-DO phone. This replaces the old World phone. The look of it is quite nice. Black with silver/chrome edges (Verizon's Tour's edges are somewhat darker) and with a slick black finish on the back, it is indeed very attractive. (However, the battery cover feels a little flimsy to my taste, like it would break if I accidentally dropped it.) It's got the latest BB operating system, which means you will get the neon-like menus. The resolution is gorgeous, much brighter than the Bold's, and that is saying a lot! The QWERTY keyboard is smaller than the Bold's though, and it might take some getting used to the slightly sparse keys, depends on what rocks your boat. With Verizon you get VCast and with Spring you get the Sprint Music Store. Both networks are similar in speed and voice quality, but I admit that the phone calls sound better on the Sprint network. You get all of the goodies -- applications from BB's App World, the Mobile Office applications that go well with push e-mail (the main reason why I switched to the BlackBerry), FaceBook, AIM, and RIM's new multimedia functions. You can watch YouTube videos, but there is no dedicated YouTube app. The phone is quite good, but there are some areas that need improvement. For example:

Poor Battery Life: You will have to charge this baby up at least twice a day if you're one of those people who can't put their BlackBerry down or has to use multiple functions.

Crashes/Lags too Much: It's very frustrating to have to remove the battery, put it back in and do a force reboot because of some glitch that shows up from nowhere or because the phone is lagging. I hope there will be a firmware update that will fix this problem soon.

No WiFi: I knew I had to give this wonderful function up when I decided to get this phone. Alas, I still have the iPhone. Even though I can't make calls with it because I've cancelled service with AT&T, I can not only still use the iPod feature, but also watch YouTube videos, download songs from iTunes and surf the web via Wifi. It's like an iPod Touch now, really.

Doesn't Sync with a Mac: Well, it can sync with a Mac, but only with buggy third party software like PocketMac.

TrackBall is Tricky: It either moves too fast or doesn't move at all at times. This isn't a big deal, but it's nevertheless irritating at times.

A Mediocre Browser: Even though the BB browser can now load HTML web pages, it is still a far cry behind Mobile Safari (iPhone), WebOS (Palm Pre) and Android (G1). The browser is slow, especially if you allow scripts to load, and you need the trackball to zoom in and out and scroll up and down and side to side. Very time consuming and annoying. And no matter how much you zoom in, you still have to strain your eyes to read the content.

That is all I can think of at the moment. All in all, it is a good phone, one of the best smartphones on the market now, in fact. If you're not into touchscreen (I do, but having used the iPhone, I wanted my next phone not to be touchscreen) and love BlackBerry, then get the Tour. It's got a more updated look, plus all the things you love about the BB. Choose which network works best for you. As for me, I chose the Sprint network because of its affordable data/voice/messaging package bundle and good network capabilities in this area. However, the Verizon version has a more marketable appeal to it, even with the complaints about call quality and whatnot. It's your choice.

Best Blackberry on the market

by Mark Davis 2009-10-13, 1 people found this review helpful

The Blackberry Tour is a good phone, and might be the most consumer-friendly Blackberry to date.

As usual, the Tour features a great QWERTY keyboard. The best Blackberry keyboard I've used, but not quite as nice as a horizontal slider - but it can be easily used with one or two hands. Blackberry has a powerful suite of messaging applications, but they, along with Blackberry OS as a whole, are starting to get dated. Where is my threaded messaging, RIM? I do love the combined messages inbox, but seriously, threading is sorely missed. The screen is bright and sharp. Internet browsing is fairly fast, and better than old Blackberry phones, but not quite webkit-level.

The new Blackberry App World is a nice touch, but has a low count of applications to date. However, despite the small number, they are generally good quality. The App World itself is mediocore - slow, not all that intuitive compared to competing app stores. Definitely a good starting point though, and there are a ton of third-party applications out there for Blackberry not in the App World yet. The Sprint version came bundled with SprintTV and NFL applications, which worked great on the Tour, along with Sprint Navigation. GPS connected quickly and held a signal well.

The phone multitasks, but not as smoothly as some other phones. There is no way to manually close applications, and they don't always interact well - for example, on the Palm Pre, if you're listening to music with Pandora and using Sprint Navigation, Pandora will play full volume until there is a voice prompt, where it seemlessly dims the Pandora volume. Doesn't work nearly as well on the Tour.

I did have some issues with speed and stability. The phone crashed every now and then, requiring a hard reset - which takes a very long time. While generally the phone is very snappy, sometimes it randomly takes several seconds to load or switch applications.

All in all, the Tour is a great phone for both business and casual users. Hopefully, update to the operating system can move it into a more modern system with other phones.

Call Quality Issues

by Savaryan 2009-08-14, 6 people found this review helpful

After reading all the exciting things about Black berry Tour, I got my fiance (who is currenlty in another state) a Blackberry tour on Sprint. However, so far we are very disappointed with the Call Quality with this expensive smartphone. My fiance could hear me fine, but her voice seems to be muffled (hot potato speech) and I have to struggle hard to unsuccessfully understand what she is saying. There seems to be a background noise as well.
So after spending a great deal of time, my fiance was able to exchange it for another Tour hoping that it's probably an issue with that particular phone. It's definitely, better, may be 60-70%, however still unsatisfying call quality experience, because of the above mentioned issue to a lesser extent.Unfortunately, I am not close to the phone to see if tweaking would help. I have Treo 755p (on SERO) and my fiance had Motorola V3M(Tmobile) prior to this phone, and never had this issue. This seems to be an issue more on the listener end and seems to affect female voice more than male voice. I had tried Blackberry Curve in the past, without this issue. We are really disappointed with this experience, but want to give few more days to the 2nd phone before returning. Unfortunately, Sprint is charging $35 for each exchange. I have been with Sprint for the past 2 years and am very satisfied with their voice and data service so far, and would like to stay with Sprint. But, $35 per exchange is forcing me to look for alternatives.
I don't want to conclude that it's an issue with almost the entire line of Tour, at least not yet. So I will try to come up with an update.

Update 08/21/09: The call quality continued to be disappointing even with the 2nd Blackberry Tour, forcing us to return the phone.

Very disappointed

by hyytekk 2010-01-24, 3 people found this review helpful

After witnessing the near addiction Blackberry owners seem to have with their thumbs feverishly flying all over the keyboard in near ecstasy, it seemed like maybe it was time to see what all the enthusiasm was about. I travel internationally every week so the tour seemed like a no-brainer. For a few days it seemed I had joined the zombie army also and couldn't put it down. After having it a few months to make a level headed assessment now I can pass on my accurate impressions and sorry to say they aren't very positive. On the plus side, the "push" technology is welcome. While this feature is especially ideal for the business user which comprises the core of Blackberry users, it holds great appeal to the e-mail addicted among us who like to feel like the newscasters who receive a paper from off camera and then solemnly say, "this just in". Like most smartphones, having the icons on screen waiting to be easily accessed is convenient and there are a fair number of simple apps available at modest cost. The negatives are many and serious. Most irksome is the processor itself and the fact that the unit is painfully slow. It takes forever to boot; if it is receiving a message or downloading something in the background i.e. news or weather, it is completely unresponsive to commands. Second is the abysmal functioning of the trackball. It constantly gets stuck or moves with no result. Exasperating. The battery time is ridiculously short. Depending on usage it may not even last an entire day. You simply must have a second fully charged battery at the ready to swap out and then wait for the sloooow boot up again. Although the keyboard is supposed to be improved, I still find myself constantly mis-hitting. The tour 2 is making a debut and is said to address some of these and other issues. In fairness, I have talked to people who love their Tour. But if I could do it over again I would not make this purchase and discourage like minded users to avoid it.

Disappointing offering from Blackberry - inattention to detail and the marketplace

by Astro Jeff 2009-08-16, 34 people found this review helpful

I recently upgraded from the Blackberry 8830 to the new Tour 9630. While my old 8830 still functioned well, it kept running out of memory (only has 64 MB). The upgrade to the 9630 has been frustrating. In terms of functionality, not much has really changed in the two years since the 8830 came out. From looking at the Tour, one would never know that competitors have drastically altered the smartphone market in the past two years. Unhappily, hardware glitches, software bugs, and the incompatibility of popular 3rd party apps have made the 9630 less functional for me than the old 8830. I hope fixes for these will soon appear, but one wonders why Blackberry didn't address these issues before shipping. My overall impression on using the new Tour is that there was a lack of quality assurance and an overall inattention to detail.

My impressions of the Tour are influenced by my second phone, an iPhone, and the Palm Pre that my wife recently bought.

Pros:
-----
Integration into the corporate world - of course one of the main reasons to use a Blackberry is the access the Blackberry Enterprise Server allows to one's business email and calendar. Note: Sprint charges an extra $20 a month for BES access above and beyond their "Everything" plan.

Form factor - one of the advantages of a Blackberry is the physical keyboard. The 9630 keyboard is very nice. I like it a little better than the 8830's keyboard.

EVDO Rev A - another reason I use Blackberrys is their ability to tether to my laptop for internet access on the go. The Tour is a bit faster than the EVDO Rev0 on the 8830. Downloads are about 20% faster and uploads are much faster.

Cons:
-----
Trackball - as many posters on the web have noticed - the trackball can be finicky. Sometimes it seems to be the OS that is lagging, other times it seems like a physical issue with the trackball not properly engaging. The Tour's trackball is a big step backward from the 8830. This is a huge miss by Blackberry and greatly affects the device's usability. I wish Blackberry would offer touch screens in this format - that would greatly enhance usability over the slow trackball - especially with web browsing and menu selection.

Build quality - overall, I like the form factor of the Tour. However, the battery door on mine isn't tight and flexes and creaks as I type - giving it a cheap feel.

Web browser - the web browser in the Tour has improved a bit from the 8830, but it is still slow, hard to navigate, and has rendering issues. I only use it if my iPhone isn't handy.

Calendar - the Tour does fine with my work calendar. For my personal calendar, my wife and I share a Google calendar. I would love to be able to view them both on my Blackerry. While Google provides a sync utility for Blackberry, it doesn't allow the user to specify which Blackberry calendar to sync. So, all of my personal calendar events wind up on my work calendar, which I don't want. Blackberry should provide out of the box integration with various cloud calendar services,like Google, and for a way to keep them separate. The Palm Pre does an excellent job of this.

Google incompatibilities - one of my favorite apps on the Blackberry is Goggle Maps, which, unfortunately, doesn't work on the Tour. From what I've read the issue is that Google needs to modify Maps to use new GPS APIs. While I can understand that, it's inexcusable that Blackerry didn't have the foresight to make sure that one of the most popular 3rd party apps runs on the new version of their OS. Can you imagine the iPhone or the Pre shipping without Google maps working? Blackberry needs to realize they are not an island and start working with the app vendors.

Camera - the inclusion of a camera is nice upgrade over the 8830. However, the camera is very slow (2-3 seconds to take a picture after the shutter is pressed) and isn't very intelligent about when to use flash.

Poor apps - doesn't really need to be mentioned, but the app selection is limited. Some of the apps can also be relatively expensive. The capabilities of the apps are normally primitive compared to what you will find in the iPhone's app catalog.

Small memory - the Tour comes with a paltry 256 MB of memory for applications. True, media can be put on the removable SDHC card, but why not apps?

Missing Today theme - the old 8830 had a nice Today them that shows you recent emails, upcoming calendar events, and missed phone calls on the home page. This function is missing on the Tour. Why? Does Blackberry not know how people use their devices?

Old OS - the Blackberry OS is really showing its age compared to its competitors. It has some nice features buried in its myriad of options screens, but usability is poor for people new to smartphones. Note however, that many of my issues could be addressed without a major OS rewrite. Fixing the bugs, hardware issues, and adding better integration with Google would go a long way to making the Blackberry a very useable platform.

Summary
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For the moment I'm undecided as to whether or not I'll keep the 9630 or go back to the 8830. The sad thing is that if Blackberry had paid a little more attention to detail and to features their competitors are adding, this could have been a very nice phone. If it wasn't for needing to access corporate email, I would definitely switch to another smartphone.

Great Phone and Easy to Use

by DJ 2010-05-13, 0 people found this review helpful

I have had this phone for over two weeks and has NOT disappointed. Very intuitive and easy to use. Email is a breeze, talk quality is good. Screen is vibrant and big enough. Easy to type after getting used to the keys. Once you know the phone inside-out, you will ask yourself "Where has this phone been all my life." I am definitely hooked to my crackberrry. Apps are great and I don't need all the other crap other smartphones offer.

Once you get used to the trackball and keypad, and all the little tricks and shortcuts [...], you'll be a crackberry addict too.

I am on this phone so darn much, the battery doesn't hold up. Just turn the vibration off and keep a car charger handy and it is NOT an issue. Comes with USB cable which I keep at work to charge aswell. I am happy with my purchase and WILL recommend to friends and family.

Shall we dance?

by Harkanwar Anand 2009-12-15, 3 people found this review helpful

Blackberry Tour is my new phone. It replaced my not so old Blackberry Curve from Sprint. So far, Sprint is offering it in just one colour but I don't see to many people complaining about it. This is slightly more pleasing in terms of looks and design. Anyone who hasn't had this phone and is considering buying it, would usually give in just by the looks of it. The graphics are a substantial improvement from the quite good Blackberry curve display. I won't go into boring specifications such as pixels and resolution but yeah the resolution is improved as one would notice while surfing the internet.

Now, let us talk about the major features of the phone. Everyone is wondering, what is different about the Blackberry Tour and the Blackberry Curve? In simple words, the tour has a better camera, different keys, no trackball ring, brighter display and new interface, a SIM card slot so you can use the phone in places outside of USA when you don't wish to use Sprint's global service.

Where the Blackberry has improved -

1. The memory stick can be removed without taking the battery out and switching the phone off.
2. The speaker is louder than before and if you try using Pandora, it is I dare say, flawless at 65% volume for a living room. The playlist is slightly better looking and doesn't look like an 8bit arcade game anymore.
3. When you're going through your files, the browsing is slightly faster and you won't need to wait minutes while going through your pictures. Also the camera is a 3.2 MEGAPIXEL and in simple terms, the camera is WAY BETTER than the blackberry curve. The blackberry curve gave grainy photographs and the pixels seems to be all over the place. The tour's camera takes better pictures in the dark and there is not a very big lag between when you press the click button and the picture is captured. The best camera on any Sprint phone would be the Palm Pre's camera but we're not discussing that phone.
4. The charger is now the other side of the phone and this headphone jack doesn't always accept all earphones despite being 3.5 mm. No more standard USB jacks - the new Blackberry uses mini usb and rightfully so.
5. Even on 10% brightness, the TOUR seems more vibrant and colour conscious.

6. A lot of people moan and whine about the trackball on this phone but its way better than the Curve!

Where the Blackberry Curve is missed -

The keypad on the blackberry tour may appear better but I could fly on the blackberry curve without making any errors. This was mainly because there was a slight gap between the keys, that gap is missing on the Tour...The tour's keys don't allow for the easiest typing experience and though I'm fast on it, I really think the Blackberry Curve keys were flawless. The Tour sometimes heats up, it is very moody that way.

The blackberry curve has a great battery life. The Tour will last you for about a day. Enough said about battery.

I would advise everyone to backup all your data. If for whatever reason your internet is working slow, then I would suggest you backup your TOUR, reset it (erases all data and sets the phone back to factory condition) and restore the backup which you saved on your computer. This fixes most internet issues. The Blackberry Tour is not the world's best upgrade for Blackberry Curve.

The Blackberry Curve was coming from a Blackberry Pearl so it seemed like the sibling everyone wanted to engage with. The blackberry tour is the step-child in the same RIM family. I know my ideas sound slightly insane but I'm trying to explain this to you. Am I happy with my Blackberry Tour? I most definitely am but when I first got this phone and coughed up the full price of it, my phone didn't work in a foreign location, this was because the phone doesn't come unlocked but SPRINT has fixed this issue and all blackberry tours being sold now are UNLOCKED and ready for international use.

If you have an 8830, you must be dying to change that phone unless you don't care much for cameras.

A new 8530 will be here in a few days. The Tour lacks wifi but I don't care for Wi-Fi because the EV is express speed and rather fast. Surfing a webpage on the blackberry tour was wayyy better than the blackberry curve. Especially caue you can view the page in whatever format you want (full page or blackberry customized) .. It comes with some good sample wallpapers and you can download more from Blackberry App World.

It might just be arguably the best phone out there. Call quality is still very good and the charging port isn't easily destructible.

Suggestion - BUY THE OEM BLACKBERRY SKINS for about $20 cause they're worth it. The phone looks smashing then.

Should you upgrade from the Blackberry Curve and extend your contract? I did anyway and am more than satisfied because the Curve taught me how to truly use a blackberry.

Everything is great - trackball could use work

by M. Piotrowski 2010-06-30, 0 people found this review helpful

Excellent phone and no problems at all - except the trackball. I am sure you've read the trackball issues with this phone already so I won't bore you with them.

Never buy a phone from Amazon/Sprint

by Christopher C. Stanley 2010-04-02, 0 people found this review helpful

I've tried twice to purchase this phone through Amazon and switch to Sprint. Both times, I've been sent an e-mail from Amazon to contact Sprint to verify my information before the order can be processed. I've done so immediately after receiving the e-mail, and Sprint has verified and approved me for service both times.

Then, things go downhill. The order on Amazon just remains stagnant, and Amazon eventually tells me:

"Since you placed your order for service with Sprint, we have been working with them to process your application for service. Unfortunately, we have yet to receive approval from Sprint to process your order."

Amazon and Sprint really need to fix their communication skills. I was hoping to have this phone in mid March, but it's looking like I'll have to find some other means of getting it since Amazon in incapable of processing a phone order correctly.

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BlackBerry Tour 9630 Phone, Black (Sprint)
The feature-packed and highly refined BlackBerry Tour 9630 world phone for Sprint keeps you connected and lets you roam the globe in style. In addition to accessing the reliable and fast Verizon Wireless voice and data network, the Tour is also compatible with 3G-enabled GSM networks outside the United States, giving you the option to make... More ', ' http://cellphones.ezbuyblog.com/cell-phones-service/blackberry-tour-9630-phone-black-sprint/ ', 5)" onmouseover="displayBookmark('MySpace')" onmouseout="displayBookmark('')" title="MySpace">

Categories: Cell Phones & Service
Tags: 9630, Black, blackberry, Phone, sprint, Tour

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