[yustonuser]

So I searched and didn;t see a lot about the actual phone quality on the 8700 compared to other "newer" BB's like the 7100g. I currently use the 7100g extensively and have had it for about a year. I am tired of a few things, mostly the phone/sound quality not being up to par. That would be ok if I loved the BB functions, but Suretype is slowly getting more and more annoying to deal with as the 8700 is in my head ;)

I am ready to jump if I can confirm by others that may have had a 7100 or 7290 that the phone and sound quality is any better on the 8700c. Also, bluetooth was unuseable on my 7100g - using a MOT850, I could not hear anything with volume turned all the way up (know others had same issue) so is 8700c better since it was built from the ground up?

Thanks for the help - some good reviews on here, but would love some quick answers to my questions.

[hf1khal]

Well the 8700 is the newest of all and as I have read many posts hear, many said that the 8700 is uperior with its call quality. I have the 8700c, and I came to BB from using regular GSM phone like the V3 and so on and I can vouch that teh sound, call quality, BT and all else is excelent on the 8700. I would say go for it and I bet many will say the same on here. I am a very happy new BB user.

[mortgageguy]

Originally Posted by hf1khal

Well the 8700 is the newest of all and as I have read many posts hear, many said that the 8700 is uperior with its call quality. I have the 8700c, and I came to BB from using regular GSM phone like the V3 and so on and I can vouch that teh sound, call quality, BT and all else is excelent on the 8700. I would say go for it and I bet many will say the same on here. I am a very happy new BB user.

Ditto

Excellent sound quality

Bluetooth headset quality is excellent if using the right headset. I suggest the Plantronics Discovery 640 from SmartPhoneDepot.com

[Modeler]

I don't know how 8700c compares to other BBs, but it certainly is NOT a great voice device. It's not the worst, but it doesn't come close to the best GSM phones from Nokia and Motorola. Certain types of voices (usually male) are hard to understand.

And then there are the infamous 1/2 second drop outs, when, like an idiot, you have to ask the other party to repeat what they said several times. This is NOT service- or signal-strength-dependent problem; it's just a fairly poor implementation of voice circuits by RIM.

I've had several phones with the same provider (AT&T Wireless/Cingular Blue) before and the 8700c is by far the worst in sound quality. Having said that, I feel that the 8700's other benefits outweigh the voice quality disadvantages for me, since I typically don't talk very much on it (no more than 300-400 minutes a month).

[gadgetfanatic]

I have a 8700c and a 7100g. The 7100 is the better "phone". Voice volume, clarity and overall quality is better. 8700 is obviously better for email because of the keyboard. I gagree with Modeler, the 8700 is not all that great as a voice device.

[DuckWingDuck]

Originally Posted by mortgageguy

Bluetooth headset quality is excellent if using the right headset. I suggest the Plantronics Discovery 640 from SmartPhoneDepot.com

Based on your recommendation from earlier, I went out and picked up the Discovery (not from SPD). Great device, I love it almost as much as some of my old Akonos.

[blkberryboy]

Originally Posted by Modeler

I don't know how 8700c compares to other BBs, but it certainly is NOT a great voice device. It's not the worst, but it doesn't come close to the best GSM phones from Nokia and Motorola.

But remember the BB is first and foremost an e-mail device and a telephone second. Keeping that in mind, I have no complaints with telephone functions.

[Spionen]

I used the 7100t for a year and have been using the 8700c for 3 months now. The voice/sound quality is much better than the 7100t and doesn't seem to be affected as much by ambient noise.

[jameswatson]

I have been using the 8700c for about 3 weeks now. Prior to that I was using a Nextel i836. The voice quality stinks. Actually, I can hear just fine, but the person who I am calling says there is a lot of background noise. I switch (in the same location) to my Nextel and they say they can hear me much better. I talked to a vendor at Novell Brainshare and he said there will be a software update soon that will fix the quality. Not sure if that was just fluff.

[jasonshillier]

Please help. I got my first 8700 on T-Mobile UK several months ago. The data services were great but my audio get dropping out. People said as I was speaking, my voice just dropped out. I got three replacement handsets from T-Mobile, all of which shown the same problem. I thought it was the network so I ported over to Vodafone. I got a Vodafone BB 8700 and I am having the same problems!!!!

Can anyone help me please. My colleagues who have the same handset do not have this problem

[brace! brace!]

Wirelessly posted (Blackberry 8700g: BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/141)

I bought an 8700 last April. At that time I was carrying a Motorola phone and my BB because I had experienced the same voice problems in the past. This month I finally took the plunge and ditched the second phone and went BB 100% with my trusty Plantronics headset. Well I am in China now on a business trip and I am overall glad I have done this. The BB is probably not as good as a standalone mobile from Motorola but it is certainly capable of doing the job. So far I have been 3 weeks BB only and I think I made the right choice.

In short, the BB is still not perfect as a voice phone but compared to previous offering from RIM, the 8700 is a good phone and awesome email tool.

Cheers!

[Stinsonddog]

I agree with the general concensus for my 8700. Not as good as a stand alone phone. Improves with a BT headset. Note I just upgraded yesterday to the latest Bharti and I like the way it sounds. Gotta use it more this week.

[freck]

Having used both the 8700c and the 7130, along with multiple cell phones, I find the 7130 to be comparable to, if not better, than any cell phone I've used. Yes, I'm referring to call quality. I don't use the 8700c much for calls (mainly for data, text, PIM, etc.), but it's certainly and improvement over the previous BB's I've used.

[tsac]

I had a 7290 without any complaints. People say I dont sound as good on the 8700c but the voice quality I hear is good on my end.
As for the drop outs, never had any on the 7290 GPRS but have them on the 8700c. It may be the EDGE network does not switch between cell sites as good.