BlackBerry Bold 9000

The BlackBerry has long been known as a serious business machine, and if you wanted a slimmer, more sensuous model you had to go for the Pearl, which lacked a full keyboard.

The Blackberry Bold 9000 is the mid-point between the older, chunkier models and the sleek Pearl. But the Bold 9000 comes with a full keyboard – making things like web browsing and emailing a lot easier – as well as a smooth black piano black finish and a very crisp screen.

The trackball control works well when you surf the internet, and, unlike a lot of bigger smartphones, the speakers work well for making calls.

While the Bold still has its feet in the business world, the high quality screen makes it a pleasure to use for both practical applications and more fun stuff like watching movies.

The Bold is 3G-capable, and can be tethered to a PC, turning it into a modem for even more data flexibility. Our only caveat with the Bold is that, like most smartphones, it’s pretty big, both in the hand and while using it, and especially when you’re oppping it into your handbag or pocket.