[Roo Zilla]

Asking whether you should get a Windows Phone over a Blackberry at a Blackberry forum is like going into McDonald's and asking if you should get a Whopper.

[astraith]

So, I have officially made up my mind. BlackBerry 10 will be my home, as long as ATT get's one (I am sure it will). The main factor here was Google. I considered switching email providers. But I have so much in Google -- from Google Drive, to Calender, to my Gmail. To change that would be very difficult, not impossible, but I am someone who innately wants less change and chooses what he likes. Gmail is simply the best email provider, there is no denying this. It might lack some AMAZING features that I would love -- like email aliases -- but I can easily add a new email to my many accounts (and GMX.com provides all the aliases I could ever need). But, atlas, in the end completely getting rid of Google would be very difficult.

And with BlackBerry 10, from what I have been able to read at least, the open standards are being supported by BlackBerry 10. So syncing my Google info should be possible. So, for at least two years, I will be with BB10. Ubuntu Phone might switch me sometime in the future though -- being an Ubuntu fan -- but we'll see how that pans out.

[magutwit]

I know I am crazy and that it isn't necessary safer, however I just feel safer using an App then a browser. But I'm a crazy security person who works for a security company so it comes natural for me to want to be safe.

I think you should choose BB then. I may be mistaken, but I've never seen anything safer then BB (and I don't use even 15% of all safety options the phone provides).

[gezzledinho]

So, I have officially made up my mind. BlackBerry 10 will be my home

Take THAT, impartial advice!

[astraith]

I think you should choose BB then. I may be mistaken, but I've never seen anything safer then BB (and I don't use even 15% of all safety options the phone provides).

Yeah BB is known for it's security. Another good reason to choose BB

[BCLoco]

So, I have officially made up my mind. BlackBerry 10 will be my home...

Well chosen sir, well chosen.

[canderson85]

Why would anyone want to carry Windows 8 around with them wherever they go?

Posted via CB10

[Admorris]

Why would anyone want to carry Windows 8 around with them wherever they go?

Posted via CB10

Same reason they'd want to carry around a BB10 I guess

Sent from my LG-E970 using Tapatalk 2

[canderson85]

Same reason they'd want to carry around a BB10 I guess

Sent from my LG-E970 using Tapatalk 2

Sense.. that makes none.

Posted via CB10

[sportline]

I got a 820 Lumia. Got tired of back button.

Battery life is similar to z10. The only positive point of Lumia vs Z10 is the map anf gps.

[anon5771888]

I had the Nokia 810 and the HTC 8X running the Windows 8 mobile OS and both the phones had some good points. I like the tile concept and I found it save me allot time bouncing between apps.

I am now on the BlackBerry z10 and found that this is what I wanted out of my blackberry I had years ago and and it's designed as a messaging machine, the BB Hub, BB Flow and Gesturing are great and have grown on me.

The z10 is a device that has to put into the hands of the buyer and let them experience it for themselves.

The windows phone is great for folks who need a phone for basic message, social and picture functions. For me it wasn't what I was looking for. If you use GMAIL as I do, Windows 8 does not work well.

Posted via CB10

[joensgi]

I can understand the animosity since both platforms are fighting for the same spot (the 3rd spot) but come on... How many of you have used a Windows Phone 8? I have a Lumia 920 and a Blackberry Z10 and IMHO the Lumia 920 is better as a daily driver. The Z10 is close, but it is not there yet, maybe in a few months.

The Z10 is outstanding at notificacions, the Hub/peek function is excellent. You can send e-mails, use twitter, facebook, foursquare, linkedin and that is about it (I am obviously exagerating, but you get the idea). Well, but notificacions are excellent; provided you only use what you are given, which is not a lot. The on-screen keyboard seems to have mind-reading powers, it is so good. Battery life is very good, as well as photos. It supports VPN as well as tweaking notification settings on a per-app basis (shame on you WP...).

WP8 is on the other hand crappy at notifications. Oh yes, there are 'toast' notificacions, which basically mean that if you are not looking the screen when the notification is shown, you are toast. And if you forgot to 'pin' the app to the main screen, you are roasted (good luck opening all your apps to find what the **** you were being notified about...). But the system has a wider range of apps, Whatsapp is working properly without vanishing contacts, there is Line, WeChat, Skype, Kindle, excellent HERE Maps from Nokia, Internet Explorer is actually very good (surprise!), the e-mail application is outstanding and the Office presence and Skydrive integration are helpful. Overall OS desing is simplistic but effective and stunningly responsive with no lag whatsoever (Android I am looking at you). Battery life is excellent, camera is brilliant. Updates come direct from Nokia (unlocked handsets ARE directly updated but only after updating 'operator' handsets ). It is Windows only by name.

I like BB10 but I like my Lumia 920 and WP8 more. WP is far from perfect, but it is not nearly as dreadful as you say. Be serious guys!

[shads77]

So BB10 is more resourceful when it comes to : Messaging, Notifications, Hub/Peek (part of OS), great keyboard, good battery life, supports VPN, tweaking Notifications, good camera.

WP8 : Maps Apps, Photo, Office/SkyDrive Integration


sold on BB10

[InvalidUser0510]

I can understand the animosity since both platforms are fighting for the same spot (the 3rd spot) but come on... How many of you have used a Windows Phone 8? I have a Lumia 920 and a Blackberry Z10 and IMHO the Lumia 920 is better as a daily driver. The Z10 is close, but it is not there yet, maybe in a few months.

I have. In fact, I owned a Lumia 920 for 2 weeks, and didn't like it. Sure, there are some great things, as you pointed out, BUT notifications are a *much* more important factor in daily use than having those apps you pointed out. Also, I hate WP multi tasking. It's horrendous in its current form, and MS really needs to do something about that. The fact that you have to click back 50 times to close an app is ridiculous. The tile interface is not bad, but its definitely not a notification replacement, since you can only have like 15 apps running in live tiles. Any other app gets a notification and you miss the toast, you will literally have no idea anything happened. At one point, I hadn't put my whatsapp on the homescreen, and missed a toast. I didn't respond for a full day because there was no way for me to know that I ever got a notification. The lockscreen, while cool, also falls flat on its face. Why can I only put 5 apps to show notifications? WTF? I understand if they wanted to limit the number of notifications that get shown, but at least make it any app. Instead, you have to actually choose 5 apps? I guess that's the thing about WP though. They heavily favored aesthetics over function. Even the way apps are laid out (I have to scroll through the top just to view all the headers? Really?).

Oh, and the Whatsapp "vanishing contacts" - the Whatsapp app on WP is a lot worse than the one on BB10, and you can just click "Refresh contacts" and you have all those "Vanished" contacts back in a few seconds. And for Skydrive integration, there's a native 3rd party app, which works really well. It's called "PlayCloud."

Also, don't get me started on the Lumia 920 crap build quality. I had to send two units back because of the dust issue, which is absolutely ridiculous. A lot of people have the same issue on the WP forums, and yet it is very under reported.

Another thing to consider (and one of the reasons I returned the Lumia) is while MS is sitting on its *** doing nothing and not updating enough, I had a major update which fixed most of my issues with BB10 after just a few days.

I find it really ironic how you come in here asking people to be realistic, yet inject your opinion all over your little speech with no regard to realism. Look around you; how many WP8 --> BB10 switchers are there? Now go look at the opposite direction. There's a reason it's like that.

[ommoran]

I ran a 920 for about six weeks. At first I loved it. Then the emails piled up. And piled up. I'm a mobile worker and the phone was fine for scanning emails. Not for responding nor for managing them. Dealing with stuff was hard to do but looking at them was pretty.

I also felt disjointed. Somehow the dammed thing just didn't work right all the time. The Z10 does. The multitasking is clear, the messaging on the phone is stellar and it works better as a - wait for it - phone.

One of the things that drove me nuts was the bt handling. When I finished a call the 920 randomly started to broadcast stuff from X box Music for no clear reason. It was so incredibly annoying.

I have had the z10 for 10 days. I want to ask Nokia for my 6 weeks of life back!

Posted via CB10

[ferazzz1985]

I now own both the Lumia 920 and a z10 since I could not let go of my beautiful Nokia offline maps and the Awsome Lumia 920 camera and vid cam. Wp 8 is far from perfect but the live tiles are a joy to look at the OS is pretty. Sky drive is a major plus and there are more working apps. However as a business device for messaging and flow the BB10 wins hands down. I would say the build quality of the z10 is decent, but not as good as my 920 I never had any problems with it although there are many I've heard of. Both OS are great at what they do and you need to try them out before you make your choice. Just remenber the windows phone keyboard is actually very good, better than ios or android but it doesn't hold a candle to the keyboard on the z10. Each have pros and cons and you need to decide which you willing to accept for daily use. I love having a choice between devices every day )

Posted via CB10

[Dave Bourque]

I can't stand windows 8 on my laptop... I'd never give windows 8 phones a try for that reason alone.

Posted via CB10

[ferazzz1985]

I can't stand windows 8 on my laptop... I'd never give windows 8 phones a try for that reason alone.

Posted via CB10

They are completely different. Windows Phone 8 is truly a marvel ..

Posted via CB10

[proudtobe_bb]

I have a blackberry Z10 and am constantly intrigued by windows phone 8. I have always had a soft spot for it, and will one day get a Lumia, I can imagine. I hope that blackberry can get ahead of wp8 in terms of apps, funny how bb10 has BBC I player already, not an app but link that works in the browser, and wp8 has been asking for this for ages but have still not got a function able app or link! We got it on launch, they've had years! Other examples of this include nova 3 and beach buggy blitz, rip tide gp etc. They don't have those. We are graced with their presence. The same applies the other way round though I suppose, they have Netflix and amazon etc. We will get them soon though, and then we will be miles ahead.

Posted via CB10

[dcbo89]

For me I've also been looking at Windows Phone but what it ultimately came down to is updates. Microsoft doesnt feel like its as invested in WP as BlackBerry is in BB10. We've already seen 3 updates for BB10 in the month and a half that the Z10 has been out, the last update for Windows phone was 6 months ago.

Pushing out the updates is essential for young platforms, if you look back at Android and WebOS, they both recieved a lot of updates in the early days, Windows phone gets a big one every year but it doesnt feel like the development pace or commitment is there.

It also feels like Nokia is a lot more interested in moving the platform forward than MS, the best apps, the best hardware have all come from Nokia. For me anyways, Microsoft just isnt doing enough, Blackberry is.

[independentvolume]

I can't stand windows 8 on my laptop... I'd never give windows 8 phones a try for that reason alone.

Posted via CB10

I couldn't stand the Storm, should I not give the Z10 a try?

[svartrayne]

Having spent the best part of the last 2 years with WP, it was hard to leave and go to BB.

Personally, the XBL integration is pretty good - looking through my Gamerscore I picked up close to 3K in GS just through my phones, which always helped give the impression I wasn't "wasting my time"

Love the office, skydrive integration and email was always very good.

Build quality is hit and miss. My 920 has NO issues with dust that several other people complain about, and is perhaps the most solid feeling device I have ever used. My HTC titan was ordinary, as was the Lumia 800.

I would agree with the perception that Nokia is driving this more than MS, but MS has a lot of say in how Nokia do things currently, so perhaps that perception is misleading.

I like the z10 though, and am not looking to move away any time soon

[independentvolume]

Having spent the best part of the last 2 years with WP, it was hard to leave and go to BB.

Personally, the XBL integration is pretty good - looking through my Gamerscore I picked up close to 3K in GS just through my phones, which always helped give the impression I wasn't "wasting my time"

Love the office, skydrive integration and email was always very good.

Build quality is hit and miss. My 920 has NO issues with dust that several other people complain about, and is perhaps the most solid feeling device I have ever used. My HTC titan was ordinary, as was the Lumia 800.

I would agree with the perception that Nokia is driving this more than MS, but MS has a lot of say in how Nokia do things currently, so perhaps that perception is misleading.

I like the z10 though, and am not looking to move away any time soon

You can do what I do and get both. I have a Trophy right now but I'm going to buy the Z10 at full price and get the 928 when my upgrade happens in May. It's going to be rad.

[ferazzz1985]

Having spent the best part of the last 2 years with WP, it was hard to leave and go to BB.

Personally, the XBL integration is pretty good - looking through my Gamerscore I picked up close to 3K in GS just through my phones, which always helped give the impression I wasn't "wasting my time"

Love the office, skydrive integration and email was always very good.

Build quality is hit and miss. My 920 has NO issues with dust that several other people complain about, and is perhaps the most solid feeling device I have ever used. My HTC titan was ordinary, as was the Lumia 800.

I would agree with the perception that Nokia is driving this more than MS, but MS has a lot of say in how Nokia do things currently, so perhaps that perception is misleading.

I like the z10 though, and am not looking to move away any time soon

This

Posted via CB10

[BrennanR2]

I commented about this extensively on reddit. Here it is.

I'll throw out some thoughts on windows phone 8 vs bb10. Disclaimer, I have not used a windows phone 8 device or the Z10. I own a couple windows phones on 7.8 and am currently in possession of a dev alpha B, however. The difference between 7.8 and 8 is basically "NFC, integrated Skype, e-wallets, and background multitasking".

Apps:

Anyways. Skype. You'll always get better Skype support on windows phone then you will on BB10. Microsoft owns Skype so this is a really obvious point. Still, that being said, Skype is apparently coming to BB10 so although you won't get the best experience, it will exist.
Netflix. I do not foresee Netflix support for BB10 within the year. Is it possible Netflix will come? Sure. Do I think they will? No. Do I care about Netflix support? No. However, many people seem to want to watch tv on their tiny phones :S
As far as ecosystems in general go, I'd judge them to be pretty similar pertaining to other apps. Some apps and games will only be on BB10 well some will only be on Windows Phone. For instance Super Stick Golf, a relatively big name game, supports BB10 but does not support Windows Phone. As far as sheer numbers go, Windows Phone has moderately more applications as of now.

OS Specific:

Notifications on windows phone are abysmal. I bought TWO windows phone 7.5 devices. I saw huge depths of potential for windows phone, yet they still have the glaring issue. There's no notification center. This is the single reason I to this day do not consider purchasing a Lumia 920. It makes the phone unusable for me. Sure, tiles show notifications, but that isn't good enough. The alternative is BB10, which I would argue presents notifications in the most intelligent way of any OS.
The application paradigm on windows phone is bad. They largely make use of "panorama" and "pivot". This makes for bad applications, in my experience. It also makes for boring UIs. Looking at many of the native twitter and reddit apps you can see what these designs look like. Rowi, Baconit White text on a black background in a "panorama" styled app. I don't think these UIs are inherently bad, I just think they're ugly and don't make for a good user experience as compared to paradigms used on other platforms. Namely making use of a navigation stack on iOS and BB10.

Hardware:

The Lumia 920 is a nicer piece of hardware then the Z10 as far as I'm concerned. Certainly from a spec sheet standpoint it is. Hyper sensitive touch screen you can use with gloves, wireless charging, substantially better camera, etc. I think Nokia will always lead BlackBerry in terms of hardware, in all aspects except physical keyboards. You mention you want a Q10, you have no keyboard experience available to you on windows phone 8, and if you did the BB keyboard would still be better.

Q10:

It remains to be seen what kind of application support the Q10 will have, and I'm somewhat concerned. I hope my concerns are misplaced, but many developers might be left in a position of having to rewrite their Z10 applications for the Q10. I know my application will need modification to work properly. Not a lot of modification is needed, but even very little could discourage some developers who have not seen runaway success with the BB10. The screen size is not ideal for games and I suspect many games like angry birds will not support that screen size at all (I could be wrong however). I would keep this in mind and watch out for it.

I could talk about pros and cons of each for days. At the end of the day if I was deciding between windows phone 8 and blackberry 10 I would choose blackberry 10 because of the substantially better notification system and better 3rd party application paradigms (which is largely driven by the developer toolkits the companies provide).

I'm an application developer, by the way. I wrote this for WP7 and it is available on WP8, hence a lot of my concerns with application design and paradigms on the platform. I have also done development for BB10.

brennanr comments on BB 10 users: How does BB add up to WP 8??