A week ago my Blackberry Curve died and I was faced with deciding between a Blackberry Bold or an iPhone. I put the questions out to my Twitter followers who surprised me by quickly endorsing the BB at a 2 to 1 rate over the iPhone.
With all the hype and marketing surrounding the iPhone I expected it would win easily and I was leaning toward getting one. But the Twitter folks reasoning, along with a hands-on tryout, convinced me to go for the Bold.
Here’s why: Number 1: the iPhone does not have a removable battery and 3G and WiFi really kill a battery fast. I’m on the road a lot — often with little access to power — so having an extra battery is important. Number 2: The iPhone’s virtual keypad is really hard to use compared to the BB. I couldn’t type anything correctly with my big fingers. Lots of people said I would get used to it with practice, but who wants to practice? Number 3: email and doc handling is only average with the iPhone, but a joy with the BB. Number 4: I can put a 2,4, or 8 GB memory card in the Bold to store documents, music, photos or whatever and easily access them with the phone. The iPhone has no way to add memory. And finaly, number 5: the Bold has GPS software with turn-by-turn voice instructions for both driving and walking. For a traveler like me this is fantastic! The iphone has GPS but no turn-by-turn voice instructions.
Both phones offer WiFi and 3G service. The browser on the Bold is not as nice as the one on the iPhone and I agree with others that if your purpose is to surf the web and enjoy games, interspersed with a few phone calls; the iPhone wins. If you are using your phone as a serious, global working tool; the BB is the front runner.
My first impressions of the Bold? I love it’s look and feel. Nicely weighted and easy for a guy like me to hold, but probably a bit wide for some women.
Beautiful screen resolution and color (same as iPhone actually), but smaller. Great sound quality even with the internal speaker. Built-in music and video player that works fine for me. Usable 2MP camera which also takes video.
With Blackberry’s new app store offering much of what is available on the iPhone, I think the Bold is without any doubt the best phone for road warriors.
