[BoldtotheMax]

I have a mytouch 4G and have over 100 apps on it. Only have about 800mb left internally. I store majority of my stuff on my16g card. My phone has never lagged. I also get to texts and or my dialer as fast as I did on my 9700, which I still have and love.

I am torn, I love both brands, but currently Andriod is still my #1.

Sent from I am on Fire!

[louzer]

First of all, what a pleasure to read a thread like this. I haven't seen such a civil discussion genuinely discussing (as opposed to admitting) flaws and strengths of each type of device.

The big point that I see in this thread is that it seems that since technology limits very little today, that people are gravitating to phones that suit their styles rather than adapting their styles to the phones. People who like to tinker and have their phone experience change and evolve will love Android. People who have a defined workflow to their life and want a device that will help guide them through it will love Blackberry. People who need a phone, love technology and gadgets, but don't want to have to know how or why stuff works, and loved their ipods and macbooks will love Apple.

They each do a lot of stuff really great (especially right now). They all also have some shortcomings. From what I'm seeing lately, each is addressing the shortcomings at a pace where people will be able to purchase a device that simply suits their fancy. There is no wrong device to own. They're all pretty good each in their own right. I think that's pretty cool. Now carry on.

[Guatiao]

lol, that's exactly what I thought too when I went to see how many apps I had. I just went through a cleaning after realizing how many apps I had installed. I'm down to 112 now. A lot of them were games I don't play anymore, different calendars, different launchers.

So a big thanks to this thread...I just got some phone spring cleanin done

Have you noticed any positive impact on performance?

[malyfsborin88]

Interesting conversation in here. Just here to see the opinions.

Same here. I like the fact how everyone is having a normal civilized debate rather than all out "flame war" in some other sections *cough*9900*cough* probably has to do with maturity level more than anything!

[qbnkelt]

My heart is split 60/40 BB/Atrix. That is a HUGE difference from the days that I HATED Android.
What I've learned over the last few months is that I had to come to terms to each platform's approach. While I reach for my BB each time I want things done NOW, I find myself reaching for my Atrix when I want to....say....use Poynt. On another thing, I will not use Google Latitude on my BB since it seems to crash it, but I love it on my Atrix. And while I use all my banking apps on my BB I have none on the Atrix.
As far as customisation....on the Android you have to spend time finding ways to get things done how you like them....on the BB some wonderful things come out of the box...like putting the phone on Phone Calls Only at night. I'm sure there's an app for that in Android, but I haven't found it.
If I could get profiles and notifications on the Atrix, trust the platform enough to run banking apps on it, and have BBM on it, I night use the Atrix more than the BB. But right now, I continue to rely and trust my BB more.
As far as iPhone, I'd intended to get the 4S, but was completely underwhelmed when I saw it. Same icons, same layout. Same look, same feel. Meh....decided that for me, it wasn't worth spending $800+ on it.

[Rootbrian]

I couldn't get used to a touch screen only smartphone, so I stayed with blackberry. I did have experience with android with an LG device and at the stores holding those tablets and live display models. I just can't, to be honest, get used to the touch screen keyboard. I haven't tested out the HTC style (or whichever it's called lol)'s qwerty keyboard yet though, it's like the 9900 I have with the touch screen keyboard combo. I wonder if the popularity of extended batteries is available. But I wouldn't jump ship just to try another platform, I'd have it as an additional device to enjoy and use. Just my thoughts.

[kilted thrower]

Have you noticed any positive impact on performance?

I did. But I also moved everything to my system memory and cleaned out my internal and ext SD cards and cleared the cache. What I noticed immediately was how fast it scans through the SD card when booting up now. Not that it took a long time before, but it's smoking quick now.

I never really had a performance issue (insert bad joke) when gaming or anything like that. But I'd say that it's 'smoother' now.

[kilted thrower]

I couldn't get used to a touch screen only smartphone, so I stayed with blackberry.

I thought so too but, man, touch screen + swype = scary fast at responding to emails and texts.

For me anyway

That Blackberry Milan is realllllly nice looking. But I don't know what I'd do with physical keys. And it looks like the screen is about 3.8" . I wish Blackberry would come out with a 4.5" touchscreen and widget capability.

[Rickroller]

And it looks like the screen is about 3.8" . I wish Blackberry would come out with a 4.5" touchscreen and widget capability.

+1 I'd be all over a BB with those features as well.

[starrlamia]

I thought so too but, man, touch screen + swype = scary fast at responding to emails and texts.

For me anyway

That Blackberry Milan is realllllly nice looking. But I don't know what I'd do with physical keys. And it looks like the screen is about 3.8" . I wish Blackberry would come out with a 4.5" touchscreen and widget capability.

i absolutely love swype, i dont think i could live without it!

[Tre Lawrence]

Swype is a life saver. I also use the new ICS keyboard for longer documents.

Don't think I'd go back to a physical keyboard.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[E92Vancouver]

So I went phone shopping with a friend of mine. He is a 9900 user and a confirmed BB fanboy but he had the itch of having a plaything.
Long story short we centered on Androids.
Saw the Droid Razr and a HTC and was blown away. The graphics, transitions etc were sweet. The 8MP camera was awesome. Macro shots were like a pro camera.
I can totally see the love for Android by its users. My mouth was watering on the sheer gadget value of the device.

One thing I noticed was that it took a 1.5Ghz dual core Android to match the scrolling and flicking of the 9900.
Would I leave my BB? NO. The phone dialling, notifications, etc were nowhere near the BB. The BB gets things done quickly and in a no-nonsense manner.
It takes a couple of taps to dial a number.
Android is like a woman, it takes lot of rubbing to get it working . BB is like a guy, press a button and its good for action.
Do I want to buy the Droid Razr as a second device ..YESSS....
Will I leave my BB 9900, not a chance in he!!.

Long story, but I must admit that as a confessed BB fanboy, I get the Android and the fan following. The iPhone not so much.

I have a blackberry, iphone and android. I still love the blackberry because I do a lot of messaging. I love the keyboard on my berry. I love my android more and more everyday to the point that I am considering giving up on blackberry all together.

I am the biggest BB fanboi there is. I even own lots of their stock and have taken a bath on it. I am quite resentful of RIM management. How long do I have to wait to see a turnaround.

The android UI is fantastic. There is an abundance of free software in their app ecosystem. Apps such as FTP software, teamviewer, skype, etc. I have software that when I take a picture or video, it uploads to my home PC automatically.

The advantage of android is if you use Gmail. You get 100% and instantaneous synchronization of your android and PC inbox (using webmail). You get access to all your color labels.

It is kind of ironic. Blackberry was known for email and for the average consumer with a gmail account, blackberry is archaic. There is only 1 way sync with your blackberry email inbox and your PC inbox (i.e. mark as read on your blackberry is marked as read on your PC but not vice versa).

Blackberry hardware features are lacking compared to android. There is no wifi hotspot on the blackberry nor is there a front facing camera.

Battery life on blackberries use to be superior to other smartphones but the battery life on my Torch 9810 is no better than anything else now that it has the high powered processor.

I like my iphone the least. I bought it to see what all the fuss is about and don't get it. The apps are great but I find I have to back out of too many pages with that one button to get to where I want to go. Call quality is abysmal. You should be able to talk on a cel phone and you and your party should be able to hear each other. The control that itunes and the app store exerts over the user is obscene. I like dragging and dropping videos and music to my android and blackberry.

The iphone handles multiple email accounts poorly. Unless you buy an app, all your email accounts will have the same signature. Not good if you have a work and personal email on your iphone.

I think iphone people are sheep. The android is way superior.

Blackberry has too many models which takes too much resources. They need only 2 models. All touch and a model with touch and a keyboard.

I own a playbook. The fact that it does not have an onboard email client is weak. I feel mislead by RIM as they said an email client was coming in 2 months of the Playbook release. The fact that it is almost been a year now, suggests to me that they are having some issues with QNX. I hate Blackberry bridge and logging onto webmail for all m email accounts is tiresome. And where is my contact and calendar app for my Playbook.

It seems that RIM can't make a right move. It is torturous watching Ballsilly and Lastarthridiz run the company into the ground. I can't take it anymore.

No one makes a better keyboard than Blackberry and this is why they have my attention. I use my Blackberry for work and android for personal on evenings and weekends. I like both.

The android/iphone suck for sending lots of messages. I am almost just as fast sending a message on an android/iphone as a blackberry, but don't like it. I can message about 20% faster on a berry and that makes it more comfortable and efficient for me.

The big screen on the android is awesome as is the browser. When you zoom in on an adnroid while browsing, all the text is formatted to fit in the window. On a berry you have to scroll back and forth across the screen to read zoomed in text which sucks.

There are just too many cool apps for android that are not available for a blackberry such as Slingplayer, Skype, Teamviewer, Netflix, etc.

[cbrown61]

My wife's bb style took a dump and I got a free android from a friend. After having it for about 2 days I went and bought an EVO 4g to replace my BB style also. I have not received it just yet but messing with her phone, I cant wait. I have been a big BB fan for along time, but the entertainment options on a android are just amazing. I know the style is not the best BB to use for comparison, but thats all I got. I just dont do enough email/messaging to warrant having a BB anymore. I am still a fan, I just think I am more of an android fan now...

[iN8ter]

iphones are completely different user experience if you own a mac. I noticed this from watching friends use. Their iphones with their mac books. On a pc it sucks though, but that really is to be expected, IMO.

Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

[E92Vancouver]

iphones are completely different user experience if you own a mac. I noticed this from watching friends use. Their iphones with their mac books. On a pc it sucks though, but that really is to be expected, IMO.

Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

You could be right!!! I don't own a Mac. Thinking of getting one though. They are so damn expensive!!!

[Nikhil_Kamath]

Android offers you millions of free and useful apps.Most of the android phones offers flash support in their browser.
whereas Blackberry apps are not good and there are only few free and useful apps.One will have to pay to use internet on it(special plan).

we have freedom to choose our plan in andriod phone.Andriod 2.3 froyo offers wifi hotspot which is not available in BB phones

The only thing i love about BB phone is that it's battery life is good

[Rootbrian]

Android offers you millions of free and useful apps.Most of the android phones offers flash support in their browser.
whereas Blackberry apps are not good and there are only few free and useful apps.One will have to pay to use internet on it(special plan).

we have freedom to choose our plan in andriod phone.Andriod 2.3 froyo offers wifi hotspot which is not available in BB phones

The only thing i love about BB phone is that it's battery life is good

The recently leaked 7.1.0.45 for the 9900 and the other one for the 9810, adds wifi hotspot to it. So two blackberries now have mobile hotspot.

[Toddzilla#WN]

I am at the end of a contract myself and have been trying to decide where to go from my 8530. The 9930 seems like an obvious choice but the bricking issue has me second-guessing and flirting with other platforms. This thread has been the best, most civil discussion on all three platforms yet. Thanks to all of you for keeping it civil and informative.

From what I need, I still think BB is the best (Communications, Calendar, BBM <keeping the family connected>, notifications, and sound profiles), but I am concerned about the company's future (I was with Palm when WebOS was going to be its savior). Regardless, I'll keep my eyes on the forums to help me decide and thanks again for the civil discussion.

[kilted thrower]

You could be right!!! I don't own a Mac. Thinking of getting one though. They are so damn expensive!!!

Nooooooo! I really wish everyone in the world would stop buying Apple related products until they quit suing everyone and their dog. The same way I wish when the professional athletes go on strike wanting another 10-20 million per year, everyone would boycott financially supporting them.

[Rootbrian]

Nooooooo! I really wish everyone in the world would stop buying Apple related products until they quit suing everyone and their dog. The same way I wish when the professional athletes go on strike wanting another 10-20 million per year, everyone would boycott financially supporting them.

Exactly what I'm doing: Keeping my current computers until they no longer function anymore. Then I'll get another pentium 4 (socket 478, 533 MHz FSB) computer and transfer everything over to it and continue where I left off until there aren't any existing working motherboards left. Talk about dedication.

[Squidley]

Again, not arguing (I like the civil debate), but the reason I and a few "techie" friends left BB was the lag. I couldn't use my phone, and memory drain was ridiculous.

Not having to do battery pulls is gold in and of itself; I don't have to kill programs or the like.

I do clear cache every no and then, but in my limited experience, BBs do not handle as smoothly as even older Android devices (admittedly, I have not spent extended time with an OS7 device).

I used to make similar claims about my BB also, until I got my HTC EVO 3D. It was waaay faster than my THREE year old Storm. But then I'm rocking 1.2 Ghz and a lot of memory, so it should be...This was my first use of an Android device. Then I began to notice that friends of mine who also had Android devices less than a year old thought my EVO was really fast too, but in comparison to my wife's current Storm 2, the difference wasn't so great. I started playing with the different devices when I went into different stores, Sprint, Verizon etc. and I realized my Evo was noticeable faster and smoother than most of the Android phones. In talking to the sales reps, they would tell me that Android was getting better with each new release of their OS.

I like my Evo and I'm always using it, but to play games. If I need to make a quick call I'll just grab my wife's Storm 2. When I first got my Evo 3d I was gung ** about her getting an Android also, but now I'm over the infatuation and can see it for what it is. And I don't think for regular phone usage its head and shoulders above the BBs. I'm still struggling with my Gmail. Yes I can see all my folders, but my notifications leave a lot to be desired. My wife is up for an upgrade and I'm pretty sure we'll be getting a Torch, unless we jump ship to Windows phone...

As far as customization, my barber had an Android from AT&T and she didn't have a clue as to what to do to really get it customized, she just used the phone as it came and for her it wasn't a good experience. She's not a techie so the ability to customize was not all it was cracked up to be.

To me it seems the newer Android phones are quite a bit better than the older BB's which there seem to be quite a few floating around still, but I wonder how an Android phone from a year or two ago compare to BBs from a year or two ago.

[cbreze]

Believe me, Androids can be customized to be just as fast and efficient (and even more so) than BB's for most functions. once you really sit down and explore the phone, you'll see it's much more than just a good looking "gaming" device.

But trust me when I say, I can bring up the phone launcher in one "tap", and can also direct dial anyone I have set up with on "tap". No multiple swipes or taps needed..and I can set this up from any Android..not just specific ones.

+1 for the above^.
I love BB, but not a fan-boy of anything. I don't do games and just like a fast phone. Playing in store with any device does not do it justice. Android can be setup to do almost anything with one touch and the customizations available are seemingly limitless.
Whatever works for ya is what you should be using, just don't judge a book by it's cover or another device OS with a little in-store time.

[NFLPLAYBOOK]

i absolutely love swype, i dont think i could live without it!

It's the one thing I miss on my 9860. I hope Rim gets something for its touchscreen devices. Once you get use to it it is so fast.

[SHADMOS]

I dont know if its cuz im getting older or what. I would rather turn on my ps3 and play call of duty lol.

THANK YOU!..WOW. my friends keep annoying with with their stupid games. Well put.

[rquinn4]

I used a BB Bold 9700 for about 2 years and now a Bold 9780 through work.

This summer I switched my Bold 9700 for a Nexus S because of the lower data plan prices I get by avoiding BES/BIS support with my carrier.

Things I miss about my personal blackberry:
- Ease of messaging. I love that keyboard.
- Alerts and calendar are quick, easy to use, and wealthy in options (recurring, until, etc)
- Data efficiency, more below.


Things I love about the Nexus S:
- The wealth of applications. There are so many things I couldn't do with the blackberry. From apps to get class notes from school, Mint.com for budgeting, free Google Docs for document editing (BB has a paid app for this).

I have the confidence that whatever I want an app for, there will probably be one.

- Browsing the web, reading epubs and watching media is more convenient on the larger screen.


The one thing I can really credit BB over Android on is data efficiency. With the BB, I had a 2 GB plan where I would never exceed 200 MB; on average I used ~50 MB. I changed my plan down to 100 MB on a talk and text package with incredible savings; but lost BES/BIS access by doing so. I was able to manage without it; but losing BES/BIS really gimp the BB experience.

When I bought a Nexus S, I was happy with the fact that all my apps worked as normal again; but was absolutely shocked at the data-usage figures. I went from ~50 MB / Month to over 300 MB on average. With higher peaks.


In the end, it's really the apps. There's a big screened BB with a keyboard; there are Android phones with keyboards. They have relatively similar hardware (at least compared to the Nexus S; don't know if they compete with the Galazy S2 or Galazy Nexus) - but they don't have the app support.

If they provide Android Market on their next line of phones like they intend to do with the Playbook; then I may switch back.