BlackBerry Bold 9700 in “Flash” White (T-Mobile): $100 on Contract

I told you in early April to expect a white BlackBerry Bold 9700 to land in the United States in the near future, and T-Mobile this week beat AT&T to the punch. (Canadian carrier Rogers is also currently selling the white Bold 9700 in North America. And the white Bold first showed its face on RIM’s Thai website.)

The white Bold is exactly the same device as the BlackBerry 9700 that’s been on the market since last fall, but with a new, “sparkly” white finish. I got some hands-on time with the white Bold at RIM’s annual Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES) last month, and it’s a very good-looking smartphone. However, I did notice that the back “leatherette” cover seemed to scuff easily, so new owners will want to either use some sort of protective case or at least be conscious of the devices tendency to get “dirty.”

The flash white BlackBerry Bold 9700 on T-Mobile will set you back $100, after a $50 mail-in rebate and new two-year service agreement—the same price the carrier’s asking for the black 9700. That’s actually a very reasonable price for a quality device.

But current black Bold 9700 owners who might not want to re-up their T-Mobile contracts or drop another handful of cash for the white Bold have a few options to “white-out” their current devices: the “cheap” route, via a parts-supplier like CNN.cn or TrueSupplier.com; or Colorware, which definitely won’t be cheap, but will get you one sexy BlackBerry.

AT&T is currently the only U.S. carrier to offer the original Bold 9000 in white, and it stands to reason that we’ll see a white 9700 drop on AT&T, as well, in the near future.

Visit T-Mobile’s website for more on the new flash white BlackBerry Bold 9700.

AS