Ok, I admit it. While I've had Blackberries for years (my first was the original 850 pager), I was tempted by the "other" phones; not so much the iPhone (it's a fine device, just not for me; and I'm with TMO, so iPhone isn't an option), but more so by the Android phones. I've been using Google Apps for my business for years, and rely heavily on several Google services: Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Voice.
Last weekend TMO had a sale. It was finally time to pull the trigger on a new 9900 and retire my beloved 9700. There was just one problem...the other phone. The HTC Amaze. 4.3 inches of glorious qHD display, 1.5 Ghz dual-core processor, 1 gig of RAM.
Long story short (well maybe not so short), I left the store with the Amaze, instead of the 9900. The Amaze was everything they said it was: huge display, blazing fast internet, awesome Google integration, apps galore...but after 4 days I realized what is wasn't...my Blackberry.
Oh how I missed my BB form factor, especially the keyboard. I missed the battery life on a BB. I missed how easy it was to actually get something done: send emails, text, chat, make calls...real stuff, work stuff.
This isn't a thread slamming the Amaze or Android (or iPhone). The Amaze is an awesome device! In a perfect world, I'd have two phones, 9900 and Android, but if I only get one, it's a the Bold, and it's not even a close race.
As soon as I took the Amaze back and unboxed the 9900 I knew I had made the right choice...all was right in my world again. The 9900 is AWESOME!!!
Is the 9900 better than the iPhone or Android? I don't know and I don't care. The 9900 is the best phone for me.
I hope RIM survives, because I'm already looking forward to the BB10 version of the 9900.