RIM reveals BlackBerry 9700 Bold 2

RIM has unveiled the BlackBerry 9700 Bold 2, a follow up to the flagship Bold.

The Bold 2 9700 is a slightly smaller, sleeker version of its bigger brother, the Bold, although it remains a resolutely high-end device. The keys on the Qwerty use the same sort of contouring of the original Bold, and its feature list is up there with the best BlackBerrys seen so far.

It’s packed with Wi-Fi, HSDPA and a 624Mhz processor. The camera remains at BlackBerry’s standard 3.2 megapixels, but RIM claims that its optics have been improved and the autofocus feature speeded up.

Perhaps the 9700 Bold’s most eye-catching selling point though is its battery life.

It’ll apparently last for more than two weeks on standby, with 3G engaged, or give you six hours’ worth of talk time - although we’re going to wait until we get to test this ourselves before forgetting the battery woes many of you have had with the Bold 9000.

Although the Bold 2 9700 ticks all the same boxes as the Bold 9000, both phones will remain available, so this is more a slimline alternative to the original Bold rather than its replacement.

• More on the BlackBerry 9700 on our BlackBerry minisite