[dalekirkwood]

This is an article I wrote. I hope it helps someone else unsure whether to take the jump back to BlackBerry.

Blackberry Q10 vs iPhone 6

Having owned a BlackBerry Bold 9780, a BlackBerry Curve, BlackBerry Playbook, iPad Mini, iPhone 4s and a iPhone 6 for both business and personal use, I felt there is a need to write a fair unbiased comparison on some of BlackBerry's and Apples latest phones. I live in the UK so please bear that in mind when I discuss App availability and pricing.

Look and Feel
Starting with first impressions I will discuss the look and feel of both devices. The iPhone has a nice solid but light feel to it, with its cool aluminium frame and gracious curves it certainly isn't the ugly duckling of Smartphones. It does however feel very slippery and drop able, which a quick search on Google would confirm this a correct assumption to make. There have also been reports that the phone bends in people's pockets. After some extensive research I do not truthfully think this will be a concern for the normal user, I haven't managed to bend mine as of yet despite being slept on and in my pocket all day.

The BlackBerry is also a lovely looking phone with the first thing that stands out is the screen size, traditionally Blackberry Devices have small screens. The Q10 has a large 3.1” Touch Screen with 330ppi Display. The Blackberry is an extremely light phone, something blackberry actually aimed to do, despite it feeling light it also feel robust. Made of high quality lightweight materials.

Both phones have stayed true to their roots here, there is no radical design changes compared to previous phones so they both seem familiar and homely.

Winner - Draw

Performance
Both phones boast decent CPU's and although Apple are not keen on saying how much RAM they put in there phones, I imagine they are again of similar amounts.

The iPhone Running iOS 8 is a fast phone. It doesn't stutter when loading demanding App's and handles Web Browsing and Video's with ease. The Q10 is also a fast phone, running Blackberry 10 OS, Blackberry's new OS, it handles all media task easily with only the slightest lagging on high performance Apps.

Something else worth a mention is the fact that the BlackBerry has a MicroSD slot so you can add up to 64GB of additional storage whereas the iPhone has fixed and expensive storage.

Winner - iPhone

Battery
Battery life has always been Apple's weak point. The iPhone 4s was lucky to see a day through with light use but Apple has pulled out all the stops on the iPhone 6. You can use it all day and still have a bit of battery left. I expected the Q10 to wipe the floor here but Blackberry have sacrificed there always great battery life for improved performance, but saying that, the phone still offers slightly better life than the iPhone 6.

Winner – Blackberry

Price
This is where the Blackberry can shine. How much do you want to spend on a phone over 24 months? £1113.75 or £479.76. That's the price difference between the iPhone 6 and the Blackberry Q10 (Correct at time of writing). Both Plans come with the 16GB Model, 4G with EE, 1000 minutes, 1GB Data and Unlimited Texts.
The iPhone is from – shop.ee.co.uk and the Blackberry is from mobilephonesdirect.co.uk

Winner – Blackberry

Software & Apps
The iPhone had a huge head start over everyone on Apps but in recent years Apple is actually behind Android on this. The Apple AppStore boasts a huge 1,200,000 apps whilst Blackberry has a measly 130,000. Android is the leader with 1,300,000 apps in its Google Play store. I think it is worth noting that the quality of Apps in Blackberry World isn't great but they are working hard to improve this.

Despite Blackberry being so far behind there is a bright light at the end of a short tunnel. Blackberry can now support Android Apps and they are easy to install (Unlike the Blackberry Playbook). There are stores that can be downloaded, the main ones are the Amazon Appstore (240,000 Apps) and Snap (A Port of Google Play with the full 1,300,000 Apps). Please note that not every app works but its a great start and means that your not going to left out as a Blackberry user anymore.

The Blackberry 10 OS is also great for communication with a new feature called 'The Hub' which lists all your accounts including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Whatsapp. The Blackberry also displays all your notifications on the lock screen which usefully don't disappear as soon as you unlock the device.

I still think iPhone has the best software and the best Apps but Blackberry are catching up quickly and with the release of Blackberry 10.3 OS I think Blackberry again will be a real contender.

Winner - iPhone

Overall
There has to be an overall winner to this, the phone I choose to keep and the one I would recommend you buy. This isn't an easy decision. The iPhone is used by everyone, its a status symbol and a known brand, whereas Blackberry used to be a business phone, it has tried to change before and failed but is back with a fighting chance. It is up to the individual, if you want a phone that is great for communication and being a phone then the BlackBerry is the best choice whereas if you want the latest mobile games and apps then the iPhone is the winner.

Personally I'm keeping the BlackBerry, and I love it. I even typed this article on it.

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[hlg8888]

Great post, well written and pragmatic. As the most powerful mobile business tool in the world, we are not at the mercy of Apple like the rest of the herd.

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[Spinal]

Good post OP, pricing is going to vary by region though, and the iPhone is a new phone whereas the Q10 is 3 years old this year, so it should be cheaper. I do wish the Q10's screen brightness had more variation, even the lowest settings is still very bright, but oh well.

[skstrials]

Good post OP, pricing is going to vary by region though, and the iPhone is a new phone whereas the Q10 is 3 years old this year, so it should be cheaper. I do wish the Q10's screen brightness had more variation, even the lowest settings is still very bright, but oh well.

Your math seems to be broken.

Q10 was released in May of 2013. Now it is January of 2015.

That makes it 1 year and 8 months. Not even two years.



Posted via CB10 using BlackBerry Z10

[Dave Bourque]

Try to compare passport vs iPhone 6. See who wipes the floor lol.

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[anon(4067838)]

Try to compare passport vs iPhone 6. See who wipes the floor lol.

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Was just thinking the same thing!

Posted by Passport, Blackberry's Beast!

[salmanseahmed]

A phone needs to be a communication device first. Q10 wipes the floor against any Iphone being just that.

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[Lag_Fisher]

Agree to the posts above. As a communication device, that includes composing SMS & emails, it's absolutely one-sided. You know the answer.

Posted via BB Q10

[BB1999]

Cool Review

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[michael banjany]

Good review. Very similar feelings towards both phones . However, I picked up the 6 plus a few days back and I truly like this phone way better than the regular iPhone 6.

It is big, but somehow fits in my hand better (I do have big hands) it's just more comforting and less prone to clumsy acts like I felt unease with the 6.

However the Q still just suits me better with true multitasking, keyboard and more comfortable in a suit pocket.

[Kanishk Amin]

About battery life, try using iPhone (any) full day texting and music (say for 5 hours in 12) the iPhone gives up. It needs charging again. Whereas BlackBerry is known to last at least for the whole day, so maybe you haven't used both your phones (iPhone and BlackBerry to it's full potential.

Blackberry 10 device.

[dalekirkwood]

Just want to say thanks for all the positive replies. Kanishk thanks for your comment on the battery life. I might do a more structured test on the battery life's and report my findings.

Thanks again.

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[Dave Bourque]

Just want to say thanks for all the positive replies. Kanishk thanks for your comment on the battery life. I might do a more structured test on the battery life's and report my findings.

Thanks again.

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Will you review again with a Passport? Q10 was not released on the same year as iPhone 6

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[Lag_Fisher]

Just want to say thanks for all the positive replies. Kanishk thanks for your comment on the battery life. I might do a more structured test on the battery life's and report my findings.

Thanks again.

Posted via CB10

Looking forward to the structured battery life test! For Q10 that is.

Posted via BB Q10