Blackberry Style Brings Back the Flip Phone
By Jared Newman | Monday, October 18, 2010 at 2:07 pm
I doubt that anyone expects the clamshell phone to make a comeback, but that’s not stopping the Blackberry Style 9670, a flip phone that’s coming to Sprint on October 31.
The Style has a 624 MHz processor, 5 megapixel camera, microSD storage, GPS, Wi-Fi, and the Blackberry 6 operating system. It costs $100 with a two-year contract, after a $100 mail-in rebate. Coverage, which requires a data plan, starts at $70 per month.
Is it wrong that I’m totally fascinated by this product? Sprint and Research in Motion justify the Style’s existence by claiming that 100 million people currently use flip phones. They don’t say how many of those people would want a clamshell with smartphone guts. Usually, flip phones are dirt-cheap, and don’t require data plans. That’s the allure.
Which is not to say that a flip smartphone (a fartphone?) has no appeal. Have you ever tried to emphatically hang up an iPhone? You can’t. Ever tried to answer a call on a touch screen phone without looking at it? Good luck. With the flip phone, you flick it open with your thumb and forefinger to answer the call. You snap it closed with gusto. It’s wonderful.
But $100 wonderful? I don’t know.
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13 Comments For This Post
October 18th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
What this article gets wrong, is that on Sprint there is no required data plan.
The $69.99 minimum plan that this phone requires has unlimited data, but also unlimited text, pics, and calls to any mobile. If a Sprint customer is already on the plan with "any mobile" calling, even with a "dumb" phone, they can use the same plan with this Blackberry.
October 18th, 2010 at 3:22 pm
Are you saying you can grandfather in your old dumbphone plan with just voice coverage? Doesn't look like it from the press release:
"The BlackBerry Style smartphone will be available nationally on Oct. 31 for $99.99 (after a $100 mail-in rebate) with a new line or eligible upgrade and two-year service agreement with activation on a Sprint(R) Business Advantage Messaging and Data plan or Everything plan with data. "
My point was that you don't get the ability to skip the data plan, as you would with a lesser flip phone.
October 30th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
You are right the 69 plan is required which is the case for most phones and it's the best deal going anyway of the contract players even less if you have a discount through your employer. Go Sprint! & Style I hope this helps bring back the flip I keep saying the Lotus was & is popular.
October 18th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
I had a Cingular 3125 Smartphone that was a flip phone until about a year ago. It kind of looked like a Star Trek communicator. I really liked it and the buttons were big but you could not really text on it. I would really love to see this one. I like a flip phone because you can flick it closed and and you don't have to continually "lock" or"unlock" it and it fits in your pocket nicely.
October 19th, 2010 at 4:23 am
I had a Blackberry Pearl Flip for a while (yes, I know I was probably the only person that did..) and I really liked the form factor, for all the reasons above. I could throw it in my pocket, any pocket, without worrying about the screen getting scratched. The open/close to answer and hang up is so much easier than on my Nexus One. It's just a shame it was a Blackberry on 4.x…
October 30th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
I had the Pearl flip for a min too lol & didnt hate it but hated the suretype and really am not caring for the trackball so the Style is a step up in more ways then one.
October 19th, 2010 at 5:36 am
LOL at fartphone.
I like that new terminology.
October 30th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
I am stoked to finally pick this up tomorrow morning. It's been getting good reviews and they say it's better in person.
November 16th, 2010 at 9:23 pm
I LOVE all the FLIP phones I have had. Much more protected… no accidental calls… better when you have kids grabbing it too. And YES, you can answer it without looking at it. I like that. THIS is MY perfect phone.
January 11th, 2011 at 5:33 pm
I'm kind of clumsy and wouldn't trust myself not to pocket dial constantly with a touchscreen phone. I currently have a Samsung Alias 2 and love it, but would like a smartphone for the apps. The camera on the samsung also stinks. I really like the Style's design and features. The only drawback is it's exclusive to sprint and I'm a diehard verizon customer (I know there's the BB pearl, but I've heard bad things about it) . Hopefully sprint will sell enough of these to get verizon to pick it up, too.
March 6th, 2011 at 1:01 pm
Pretty happy with mine so far and the only real complaint I have is the battery life. My friend used to have the pearl flip and didn't like it at all, so hopefully they have improved on that one!
June 28th, 2011 at 5:16 am
Like buffering and youtube video freezing? Get the Style! My BBtour may not be a clam-shell flip phone, but it's much better than the style! Try downloading some images from a photo gallery on the Tour VS the Style. The Tour's images look much more clear. In addition, to really bad youtube buffering and freezing on the Style the GPS stinks! Only accurate when there is a very strong signal ( which is rare ) ! I hate the Style for so many reasons. Even the camera is mounted so your fingers keep getting in the way of the lens. BlackBerry, RIM and Sprint really blew it this time. Like to flip this clamshell off into the mid-Atlantic!!!
June 29th, 2011 at 8:27 pm
I'm still waiting for an answer! Why would BlackBerry and Rim create a phone( the BlackBerry Style ) which was so beneath the Tour? I was able to download images/photos from picture galleries with almost 'Chrystal Clarity'. I could watch just about any youtube video, with very little problems. When I called Sprint about these problems, they had me try a few things. But, all of the suggestions they made, did little to solve the aformentioned problems. Then, suddenly, like a lightbulb over my head, I remembered something: 'Opera Mini'!!! A friend of mine, had told me about the opera mini browser some years back. I quickly went to the Opera Mini official website and downloaded it's free mobile browser. Well, this made a major difference in watching youtube videos. Now, my BB Style can play youtube videos, with very little problems. I now watch all of my youtube videos through the Opera Mini browser. So far, So good!!! I.F.