Blackberry vs. iphone – I Have Made the Switch

iphone vs blackberry

Yes, I’ve done it.  I’ve bought an iphone and these are my thoughts on the differences between the Blackberry Pearl and my Apple iPhone.

First, some basics. The exact devices i’m talking about are the Blackberry 8100 and the 8GB 3G iPhone.

It didn’t take me long to get excited about the lifestyle benefits of the iphone, especially when I consider that the data plan for the iPhone is the same monthly cost as my Blackberry and I can sell the Pearl for the same price as the iPhone cost me.

So at the end of the day, it’s a straight swap.

I opted for the 8 gb model because I just can’t see the need to spend another $100 for 8 more gigs at this point.

Here was my rationale – I have about 400 songs on my 2 gb ipod right now and it’s only about 50% full.  Movies on the iStore will take up about 850 gigs.  And how often will I put a movie on the iPhone?

Probably only a few times a year when I’m travelling and want to watch it on the plane.

Pictures?  Nope – not that many. Podcasts?  Very few.  As a result, I can’t imagine that I would fill up this phone with how I use it, unless I change my mobile rich media habits.

As with most things in life, you don’t miss them until they are gone, not using the Blackberry anymore has created a few of those moments.

I’ve had the iPhone for about a week now and these are my thoughts:

1. The touch screen is very good and fun to use. If you are a text and email junkie like me, you will quickly get used to it. Be careful though – arriving texts show up on your screen even if it’s locked – you need to set a password to hide this.

2. Navigating web pages as they were meant to be seen is so fantastic. (No Blackberry’s can currently do this)

3. Getting used to the touch screen keyboard is a little weird, but you will get the hang of it. I liked the tactile experience of ‘touch and click’ with the Pearl. I was also quite handy with the track ball.  The touch screen on the iPhone enables me to type just as fast now that I’m used to it.

4. The interface is light years ahead of Blackberry.  Very intuitive and totally “Apple”, if you know what I mean.

5. I miss the built-in voice call / voice recognitions feature (you can get one from the App Store) and button on the Blackberry. One of my cars does not have built in BlueTooth, so if I need to call someone while I’m driving, finding their number on the iPhone is a lot more work than the Blackberry.  With the Pearl, I used to just click the button on the side of the phone, say the name and then the phone would do the rest.  I could do that without taking my eyes off the road. I can’t do that with the Blackberry unless I’m Bluetoothed-up.  And I haven’t tried to use it with my Bluetooth headset yet either, so I don’t know what the BT capabilities are like, but others tell me it’s fine.

6. The iPhone speaker phone is much better than the Pearl.  Callers report that I sound like I’m on the regular phone and I can hear people much better.  My only gripe is that volume is a bit low, even at full blast.

7. The size.  This was a biggie for me.  I really liked the candy-bar size of the Pearl.  It fits nicely in my pocket.  I don’t think cell phones are a fashion accesory and don’t want to look like a security-guard-dork with my phone attached to my belt.  The Iphone is a bit bigger than the Pearl, but a little thinner.  It is also quite a bit heavier.  I liked the size and weight of the Pearl much better.  You KNOW you’ve got the iPhone with you, whereas sometimes I had to pat my jacket to see if I remembered my Pearl.

8. It “should” theoretically last longer.  The materials used in the iPhone are much higher in quality than the Pearl.  The touch screen is actually a type of glass, the trim is actually metal.  Holding both phones, you can just see and feel the difference.  The Blackberry has all these little buttons.  Anytime you have moving parts, they eventually wear out.  The iPhone should last longer because you’re dealing with software to run things, not hardware.  Apple is known for stable software.

9. The App Store.  This is where there’s really no comparison between the two devices.  The iPhone is like a little computer in your hands that is optimized for all the stuff you do in your life.
VERY POWERFUL PARTY TOOL and CONVERSATION STARTER.
The App Store has just about every application imaginable – so free, some for a fee. So far, I’ve installed a few games (the Price is Right, iSlots) and the weather network application.  I’ve also grabbed the Google Earth application which is as good as the real version. There is so much going on at the App Store, than you would probably never see it all. Wine picks?  No problem.  Fitness or budgeting applications?  Yes.  Recipes?  Yes.  Movie trailers and reviews and then times at YOUR LOCAL theatres?  Yes. Salesforce.com integration? Yes.

10. Web Surfing.  Hands down…awesome. Hard to believe that you can surf the web so quickly and easily (thanks to the 3G capabilities).

11. Call quality.  As good as the Blackberry.  Not better, not worse – but about the same in my opinion.

12. Maps.  This is an awesome application.  Thanks to the built in Google and killer-web surfing ability, you can use the phone like a GPS to instantly pinpoint your own location, then type in a destination and it will create a turn by turn route map for you.  Very cool. What is DOES NOT do is follow you and talk to you like a real GPS, you’d need to download an app (from guess where) the app store.

13. Business practicality.  This is one of those tricky questions. I’m a technology person.  I make my living on the web, through the web and around the web.  The Blackberry is a VERY GOOD product – don’t get me wrong.  I REALLY like their stuff.  They do email and do it well.  Let’s not forget they were the first to put email on the phone!
The iPhone does those same things too.  You can integrate with your companies exchange server.  I worry that many CIO’s will find cause for concern with the iPhone because of its “video game like console” approach to mobile communications and am sure that for this reason, the Blackberry will keep its place as the de facto business tool for many years yet.

Conclusions:

Is the iPhone better?

No, it’s just different.  It’s more fun – that’s for sure. Do I miss my Blackberry, yes I do.  Will I keep the iPhone.  Probably.  It’s growing on me.

Is it “just a phone”.  No. Do I “need” it.  No. It’s kind of a hobbyist tool.

Is it practical?  If you want it to be.

It is worth the money? If you get it with a data plan.

Is it the future. Yes.

Is it fun.  Totally.  (if you have the time!)

Would I recommend it?  That depends.  To my dad?  Absolutely not. It would drive him nuts (even though he likes the latest toys).  To a road warrior?  Probably. To an occasional cell phone user with a modicum of techical abilities?  Probably not – but that’s where this gets tricky…because this device is SO capable of getting your attention, which is what happened to me the first time a friend showed it.  I was hooked.

Be careful that you don’t get hooked!

iphoneincanada.ca is a site worth visiting if you’re new to the iPhone world.

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