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I've read a lot of complaints with BlackBerrys over the last few weeks, and some of those issues I can actually relate to, especially after acquiring my new Torch. This weekend, due to work/travel and a variety of reasons I shall not bore you with, I was given an Android to use. A lot of people here have brought up a few points while mudslinging, battery life, performance, etc. So I thought that I would share my experience as a BB addict who went over to the 'dark side' (Without choice of course).
The easy one to start of with - Battery life:
Way too easy, the Android, well sucks. I thought we were being a little too arrogant on this regard because my Torch and Bold really don't have a great battery life when I think of my old Pearl. But seriously? I can use a Torch, the most battery intense BB I've used an entire day without worrying if I'm going to run out any moment. My Android was 75% full the first day. I ran youtube on it for about 10-15 minutes, navigation about twice (for about 5 minutes each time), and a couple of short calls. Then by mid day --- dead as a door knob.
Performance
Not an easy thing to swallow, but damn the Droid put my Torch to shame. I did however have a couple of instances where it frooze, and rebooted on me. But despite that, it still runs wicked fast, youtube never had any buffering issues like I have with my Torch.
Apps
Numbers do the talking here
Phone
Don't you miss the days when a cell phone review actually had a proper section for just the phone part? Anyhow, call quality was more or less the same. Didn't really get a lot of chances to really test the capabilities. The call history log was pretty good. I think RIM and Android should learn from each other on this one.
Screen
RIM...3.2" screens are tiny. Puh-leaze catch up to the original iPhones at least! kthxbai
Anyhow, the intent of this thread wasn't to do some boring Android vs RIM analysis (no really! read on). It actually made me more excited for the future phones of RIM (Assuming they don't screw up, Mike and Jim, I'm looking at you). I was using a Samsung Galaxy with a 1 Ghz processor and 4" screen. One of those AMOLED screens I think.
RIM's new phones are 1.2 Ghz, hopefully will still have a battery life that can stay alive for a day under considerable usage, a screen that rivals others, and a thin/light body. While it would be cool to have a phone that has a 20 Ghz processor with 16 GB of RAM, I don't think we need it just yet. It's life having an i7 processor to run Doom. Kinda cool in a geeky way, but pointless. I'll probably skip OS7 for the QNX phones, but if RIM has truly learned from this year, and focuses on good strong hardware with an intelligent and friendly UI (Please use TAT for QNX RIM! You didn't for OS 7 and PB), that's going to be one heck of a phone.
One last thought. Or rather prayer. Oh BlackBerry gods, for the love of all things holy, stop with this BlackBerry traffic nonsense, give me a Nav software that talks and looks cool and works as well if not better then the Google one. Telenav is okay...but $$$ and it stopped working. Carriers won't care once your phones are flying of their shelves, trust me on this! They probably will love you more since you actually give a damn about data compression over their networks. They'll let this one slide. Heck, even if you did VOIP over BBM, they might give in based on how popular this feature would be on selling those pricey data plans they now have.07-10-11 09:18 PMLike 4 -
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I really want VoIP over BBM. Wouldn;t be surprised to see it either with everyone switching to tiered data.07-10-11 10:16 PMLike 0 -
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Cool post...Lack of bias, even comparison, regarded excitement for the QNX devices?? You will go far my friend.
Lets just hope that RIM doesnt make us wait another 3 years for a 3rd 9000-sized device07-10-11 10:29 PMLike 0 -
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Good unbiased post, but I have to say, 3.2'' phone screens are perfect, IMHO. Even 3.5'' is just fine. You start getting phones with 4"+ screens which makes the dimensions closer to a 5 inch device, it starts to get really uncomfortable and impractical in my pocket!!! Makes it look like I have a ***** all the time too!07-10-11 10:38 PMLike 0 -
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Agrees man - althought the only reason to have a 4'+ screen is so you CAN have a ***** all the timeGood unbiased post, but I have to say, 3.2'' phone screens are perfect, IMHO. Even 3.5'' is just fine. You start getting phones with 4"+ screens which makes the dimensions closer to a 5 inch device, it starts to get really uncomfortable and impractical in my pocket!!! Makes it look like I have a ***** all the time too!
or at least till your battery dies from streaming video
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com07-10-11 10:51 PMLike 0 -
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I'm a confirmed member of what we are now to call the Rimpire and have been for many years. I use a Blackberry Torch 9800 and will continue until the first day the Torch 2 is available (although the 9900 is also massively tempting). But my 3 kids are currently running Droids, so I've had the use of various models quite a bit. Battery life is truly hideous, even after adjusting for the careless way kids charge their phones. The overall UI is not one I prefer over Blackberry, and the avalanche of apps is not a plus for me. One of my daughters had a Blackberry Curve for awhile, and loved it before it got old. She would have gone for a new model but her upgrade fell within this long, fallow period wherein RIM released nothing, so she moved to a Droid and misses BBM very much. And after the novelty wore off, she probably would like to go back to a Blackberry if it were new and had sufficient specs.
One thing I noticed which surprised me is that despite a lot of their friends having Iphones, none of my kids wanted any part of a new Iphone (and I do not infect their choices with my own likes and dislikes). We have bought other Apple products in the past and that may be part of what colored their choices. Despite the reputation, their Apple products were prone to failure, and had to be frequently replaced and were overall very expensive for a kid to use. Google has done a better job of catering to the youth market with more admittedly frivolous but cheaper and often free apps.
My observations are that on a day-to-day basis, the Blackberry is a better phone and a much better productivity tool. When you add in enterprise apps and business security issues, it isn't a close call -- Blackberry, even the models in extremis due to age, simply work more dependably. I have seen, as most have, increasing Iphone penetration in the business sector. You can tell often by the little Apple tags that come affixed to emails and by the struggles to successfully connect and sustain a telephone call. My business contacts who have shifted over to Iphones seem to use them only for emails (and whatever private uses they make of them) and often as not, they call from a land line or even a "dedicated" non-Iphone cell phone. In contrast, I run my entire business through my Torch. Weeks go buy where I never make a call from my office landline, using instead the Torch even though we do not have pristine reception where I work. It is to the point where I'm irritated when someone calls me in on my landline instead of on the Torch. I have not noticed an uptick in the business use of Droid smartphones.07-10-11 11:49 PMLike 4 -
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One aspect of the Droids that I failed to mention is how beautifully their cameras work, and their browsing. The displays are terrific too. I've heard others say that they are much better than they used to be on battery life, but its still poor. The kids are savvy enough to strip down the apps and wifi and bluetooth to try and squeeze more life, but its a constant struggle. With the recent release of amped up 4G Droids, I naturally assumed my kids would ask for them. But as a few friends have already gotten them, they have instead selected already established models because they can be run with better battery life. I understand there is a lot of back and forth out there about this, and some support for the idea that Droid has been able to offset the increased battery demands of the higher specs, but in actual use, this hasn't yet been borne out in my extremely limited observations.
I don't mean to trash Droids -- they have a lot to recommend them, but if you read a lot of the recent unpleasantness here and elsewhere about all of RIM's comparative flaws, you would not expect to see most of the same complaints (with the exception of app availability) present with the Droids. One of my daughters had a Palm Pri, which she loathed in almost every respect. It was an ugly, cramped little spud and the WebOs didn't make matters appreciably more tolerable. It did most if not all of the things the other phones did, just none of it as well as the best of them and the overall package was a dud.07-11-11 12:03 AMLike 0 -
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One of the better and more honest Android/Blackberry comparisons I've read...
With the exception of my brief 11 day affair with the HTC Thunderbolt, I've been running Blackberries for the past 7 or 8 phones. I agree with the points that the Android does several things well, but as a device to use for business, and to get things done on a daily basis, I just can't beat my BlackBerry for productivity and reliability. It has some quirks, but at the end of the day, it just gets it done.07-11-11 04:39 PMLike 0 -
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Tre LawrenceBetween RealitiesSimpy put, Android device makers must figure out the battery issues. If they can make the Sensation with good battery life, they can do it on all devices.
VOIP over BBM? That would be a phenomenal feature.07-11-11 06:15 PMLike 0 -
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I use a Droid for work and Berry for personal. Once we bring our e-mail back in house, I am going to see if there is some way to put my Berry on a BES server and take over their Droid for personal. That would be the best of all worlds - BES for exchange and a Droid for everything else.
Still two devices, but I can't say as I could complain about that.07-11-11 11:41 PMLike 0 -
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Good unbiased post, but I have to say, 3.2'' phone screens are perfect, IMHO. Even 3.5'' is just fine. You start getting phones with 4"+ screens which makes the dimensions closer to a 5 inch device, it starts to get really uncomfortable and impractical in my pocket!!! Makes it look like I have a ***** all the time too!
Thanks! But I'll be the first to admit that I do have BlackBerry bias. I was talking to my partner about this, and I was offered a great Android phone for an amazing price (contract free!). While she switched from her BlackBerry Tour to the Android, with the full knowledge of how bad the battery life is, it just wasn't a concern for her. I on the other hand, despise battery anxiety.One of the better and more honest Android/Blackberry comparisons I've read...
With the exception of my brief 11 day affair with the HTC Thunderbolt, I've been running Blackberries for the past 7 or 8 phones. I agree with the points that the Android does several things well, but as a device to use for business, and to get things done on a daily basis, I just can't beat my BlackBerry for productivity and reliability. It has some quirks, but at the end of the day, it just gets it done.
I wanted to have an open and honest discussion (as much as my bias allows for it!) for what my experience was, and share without insulting two great products.
As for the size issue, I'm sad to say that my Torch is much more bulky then the Android phone I was using. I put the phone in my inside coat pocket of my suit, and it didn't show at all. If I did that with my Torch, someone might imagine I had fat deposits rather unevenly around my body :P
Rarely. It happened to me that one morning and never since. My Torch on the other hand has needed to be rebooted more times then I can count. I bring this up because regardless of the phone, reboots are going to happen. Smartphones are relatively new technology working its quirks while growing at breakneck speeds. Its just a matter of how frequent this phenomenon is. With my Torch, it's frequent enough for me to sell it, and go back to my much more reliable Bold. I have a feeling that the new 9900 with more processing power will also experience a bad day or two.07-19-11 09:03 PMLike 0 -
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As often as people wonder about the battery life on the upcoming 99** phones, isn't it safe to assume that a dinky 2.8" screen would use less battery (don't forget to take required processing into account and not just lighting) than a 4"?
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com07-20-11 02:27 AMLike 0 -
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Not necessarily. If we're talking specifically about display settings here, you'd have to consider resolution (more pixels would theoretically increase power consumption) so that's one consideration. Second is, as you said, lighting. What if the 2.8" screen by default is brighter than the 4"?As often as people wonder about the battery life on the upcoming 99** phones, isn't it safe to assume that a dinky 2.8" screen would use less battery (don't forget to take required processing into account and not just lighting) than a 4"?
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
More importantly, battery life is sucked from radios. Wi-Fi/Bluetooth at constant use is going to do more damage than a 4" screen. Further, the key is optimization at the processing level. RIM (hopefully) got this right when they were writing the stacks for the 9900. That's why (again hopefully) they can put in processor with double the speed from the prior Bold, smaller battery, and still (hopefully) get the same if not better battery life.
My point is: there's a lot more than just screen real estate that goes into dictating the phone's battery life....gunderscorewil likes this.07-20-11 02:51 AMLike 1 -
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Absolutely.
I was only aiming at what I felt were comparable differences between devices and foregoing the things that all said smartphones have in common (his Droid would have BT, wifi, etc as well). I was taking consideration too, that as often as people wonder about battery life or comparing Droids that they'd know about disabling unnecessary radios, adjusting brightnesses, etc.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com07-20-11 04:55 AMLike 0 -
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I went to a Vodafone store to check to see if they had any cool news for me(playbook + bb being sold as a pair). And while I was there I thought I'd ask to see if they had a Samsung Galaxy S II demo unit. They sure did. Wow! That phone is cool. I thought the 4.5"(or is it 4"? I'm not really sure
) screen would be huge but its really not that big. Its also really light for the size that it is. I'm not really into Android but would suggest that phone to anyone that is. Anyone who isn't into Android should still check it out at the shops.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.comLast edited by eKafara; 07-20-11 at 05:06 AM.
07-20-11 05:03 AMLike 0 -
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Tre LawrenceBetween RealitiesSame for me. I wouldn't ever use a device that exhibited such behavior.
Fortunately, my current device is the most stable I have ever owned. No pulls or random reboots, which were the benchmark of my BlackBerry experience at the time.
Battery life is okay (with tweaking). It could be better.07-20-11 09:22 AMLike 0 -
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Gotcha.Absolutely.
I was only aiming at what I felt were comparable differences between devices and foregoing the things that all said smartphones have in common (his Droid would have BT, wifi, etc as well). I was taking consideration too, that as often as people wonder about battery life or comparing Droids that they'd know about disabling unnecessary radios, adjusting brightnesses, etc.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
My assumption (and I'm far from a programmer so I can only guess) is that the reason for Android's battery issues when compared to a BlackBerry is optimization and priority. RIM I believe focuses on long battery life being crucial for their user, as the target is the business person who needs their phone all day and doesn't have time to charge it. On the opposite hand, the target customer has always been phone/sms/bbm/email heavy, so that's where data optimization plays a role as well.
If we go to the Android device, being more of a multimedia device means it's difficult to reduce data usage (and thus how frequently the radios are being utilized) along with the fact that no matter how much you optimize the processor and software hand-in-hand, running OpenGL games and videos is going to drain your battery faster than typing up emails or BBM messages all day.
I still think the manufacturers and developers have some work to do because even if you do use your Android phone like a BlackBerry (communication over multimedia), the battery life still doesn't compare (even after accounting for differences such as screen real estate). Bottom line: better optimization is needed as larger batteries would just add weight and bulk that consumers don't want. (We all want the thinest, fastest, and longest lasting phone out there....not always practical in the real world)07-20-11 06:37 PMLike 0
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