I've never really been a BlackBerry fan, although my last two jobs made having one of these devices a necessity.

My first BlackBerry was rather large, the display faint and pretty much useless in bright sunlight. The battery life was also sub-par and I always found myself having a spare battery close by.

The new handsome BlackBerry Bold, though, has changed my mind completely.

Without the instruction manual, I was able to quickly set up the device. The Bold is loaded with all the right features. It sports a beautiful high-res display, impressive battery life and a Qwerty keyboard layout ideal for quick and easy messaging, even for someone with big hands like me. It also had the quickest processor response time of any smartphone I've seen.

The built-in track ball makes navigation a breeze and is a quantum leap from the scroll wheel of my first BlackBerry device. The GPS worked quickly and accurately and I found the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity to be bonuses. With all my office and messaging needs, I was easily convinced this was the right device for me.

The best news is that I didn't have to pay a cent for it. I traded my old HTC Ty-Tn 2 for the Bold.

It has been three weeks since I bought the Bold and I am very pleased with it. In my view, it should definitely be on any road warrior's list of ultimate must-haves. However, would-be buyers beware: there's a Blackberry 'Storm' on the horizon.

Mike is the picture editor of The Straits Times

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life on 5 November 2008.

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