ORLANDO—Recently, the price for many premium smartphones has risen from $199.99 to $299.99, and that's with a two-year contract. That sounds like a lot, but how would you feel about paying $1,800? And what if I told you that you'd essentially be paying for a BlackBerry Bold 9900 (retail price $199.99 with a two-year contract), dressed up in Porsche clothing?
That's right. The Porsche Design P'9981 is a BlackBerry Bold with a $1,600 makeover from Porsche. I'll give you a moment to recover.
The P'9981 has been available overseas since the fall, but has just made its way to the U.S. That makes the near-$2,000 price tag a relative bargain, since you previously would've had to pay about $2,300 to have it shipped. I got to take a look at it in BlackBerry World in Orlando.
Since this is basically a BlackBerry Bold, I won't rehash those specs. You can check out our review to see what we thought of the BlackBerry Bold 9900 on T-Mobile. Those feelings should all apply here, since the software and hardware remain the same, aside from the Porscheification. And while the P'9981 is being sold unlocked, a representative from RIM said that AT&T is your best bet for a carrier, due to the phone's 1900 frequency band.
But the real story here is the Porsche design. The P'9981 measures 4.53 by 2.64 by 0.44 inches (HWD) and weighs a solid 5.47 ounces. It has the same 2.8-inch, 640-by-480-pixel display as the Bold. But in its styling by Porsche Design, the body of the phone has been forged from stainless steel, while the back has been finished in black leather. Now, I don't know a Porsche from a jalopy, so take this with a grain of salt, but the phone just looks ultra-80s to me, and not in a good way. Between all that steel and the phone's angular chin, the P'9981 wouldn't feel out of place if it appeared in Robocop.
But there's no denying it feels like a premium product. The P'9981 was inescapably tethered to the demo station, so I wasn't able to get a good feel for its weight, but the stainless steel looks great and the leather backing feels top notch. The stock icons on the phone have been given the Porsche treatment as well, which again, you may or may not appreciate.
Unfortunately, the keyboard, which is one of the BlackBerry Bold's biggest strength, doesn't feel quite as strong here. The keys are flatter, and although typing felt fine, it doesn't have the same intuitive feeling found on the Bold's keyboard.
Is the Porsche P'9981 worth it? Probably not. But if you're going to spring for a Porsche, an extra $,1800 can't really hurt. But whether you like the phone's design, as well as the BlackBerry 7 OS, is all a matter of personal taste.
For more, see see Hands On With the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha, as well as Ears On With the New BlackBerry Music Gateway and What to Expect at BlackBerry World.