Blackberry Vs iPhone 3GS: An Experience Comparison

I recently switched from a Blackberry Curve to an iPhone 3GS. Here is a detailed comparison of not the specs, but the experience.

Why did I switch from my Blackberry to the iPhone?

• No WiFi on my Curve (I know other BB’s have that feature, so this can be treated as situation specific)
• Lack of application space: Blackberry only makes available the tiny space of 64 MB  /128 MB to install apps. Common RIM, really? I had a 4GB card in there and I got the message to uninstall some app to install the additional apps I wanted to install, even though I only had a very few apps installed. Given the frustration, iPhone’s 16GB sure looked inviting.
• Applications: Many iPhone apps were not available on the BB at all. Some apps like Facebook lacked major funtionality on BB as compared to their iPhone counterparts. Some apps like Yahoo Messenger were losing future development resources. With the hardware resources available, being able to use the wanted apps is important.
• User Interface: Touchscreen is definitely a plus. I remember getting a mail from evite once where I was simply not able to click a button because the tab sequence did not recognize it as something that could be interacted with and hence the browser would tab through the other hyperlinks and not give the button any focus for me to click it. I can still live with scrolling with the trackball but lack of functionality can be frustrating.
• Multiple steps in podcast syncing and lack of video podcast transfer : I tried many podcatchers but honestly, iTunes is one of the best.  So I was using the Blacberry media sync to sync the podcasts downloaded by iTunes to the BB but video podcast transfer was not supported. I did not have the patience to  convert the video format of each one to fit the BB and copying them over manually.
• Lack of multiple simultaneous browser instances: I know the iPhone also limits it to 8 but thats much better than the single instance you can have with the BB.

What do I miss about the Blackberry now?

• Keyboard Shortcuts:  I had about 20 quick dial numbers, which meant just keeping a key pressed from the home screen and boom, I was dialing a number.  iPhone now supports double clicking the home button to open up the phone favorites to decrease the path to make a call but it doesn’t  come close to having 20 speed dials. In addition, I had the shortcuts for most applications memorized. Reply, Refresh, Home, Clip, etc etc..it sure is convenient to press a key and perform an action.
• Background apps: I am used to logging on to Yahoo Messenger and Google Talk, and staying logged on. If any one sends a message, you get notified with an icon on the home screen. You are permanently connected.  If there is any activity on Facebook, same thing. You get alerted via the icon and any other vibrate/sound alert that you may have configured. The lack of this support is a big disappointment on the iPhone. However, I hear rumors that this may be supported in the future, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
• Customized alerts: I liked the granularity of control that BB has over each aspect of how you want to be alerted by various events in the different applications.  You really have complete control. On the iPhone, its a very generic configuration that has to suit all needs.
• External Mute button: It is convenient to be able to quickly mute/unmute during a call and also pause a a song quickly using the same button.
• Collation of all mail accounts in one place: It was nice to have the mails from different accounts funnel into one place and not have to check each one individually. Of course, push support on all accounts was great, but its not something I care too much about.
• Work calendar: I use lotus notes at work, and share a personal google calendar with my wife.  On the BB, life was good. Work appointments were synced with the phone through USB and Google sync was used to sync the personal calendar OTA.  With the iPhone, it was easy enough to sync the Google Calendar with the built in calendar but there is no good way to get my work calendar on the phone.
• Flash: The camera flash was extremly handy and useful on many occasions so I know I am going to miss it.

What else do I love about the iPhone?

All the reasons I mentioned under “Why I switched…” apply here. In addition, here are some other features:

• Accelerometer+Compass:  I see great potential in the future usage of the accelerometer with the magnetic compass by applications. Already, Google Maps looks pretty neat with the usage of maps+compass.  It is certainly not a reason for my switch but rather, a bonus.
• Bluetooth A2DP: Another feature I always loved the Blackberry for that got added into the iPhone now is the support for stereo streaming over Bluetooth.  In the near future, I’ll have a Bluetooth stereo headset and may be a simliar set up in the car to avoid the wire clutter altogether.
• App Store: Blackberry’s App world does not even come close to the AppStore. Selection, Variety, Ease of use. No contest.

Verdict: Even though I am missing some of the features of the BB that I had become so used to, I am happy with the reasons for making the switch. Is one device completely better than the other? No. Depending on your specific case (especially if you receive work mail through Blackberry Enterprise Server which I did not), one device may be more suitable for your needs than the other. My suggestion: Do your homework and make the right choice.