While many things including the form factor are similar between this model and the larger models, the difference in the 9700's specifications are as follows:[1] All the familiar pre-loaded BlackBerry applications are available on the Bold 9700, including but not limited to: WordToGo, PowerPointToGo, BrickBreaker and WordMole.

Changes from the Tour include built-in Wi-Fi, 512 MB of onboard storage, and an optical trackpad instead of the trackball.

Sprint Nextel announced that they would be the launch carrier for the Bold 9650 shortly after the device was introduced, releasing the phone on May 23, 2010.

It included several major changes such as universal voice search, support for HTML5, Liquid Graphics and Near field communication.

It also has many optimizations which improve web and gaming experiences as well as social network integration as well as some layout changes with some new icons.

It marks a return to the form factor of the original 9000 and its popular wide-set physical keyboard.

Soon after, many users were complaining that the phone was not 100% reliable for daily use as it often "froze" during the use of BBM (BlackBerry Messenger).

Both issues were promptly resolved through the over-the-air software releases of BBM 6.0 and BlackBerry OS 7.1, respectively.