BlackBerry Bold vs. iPhone 3G: yeah, we definitely went there
If there’s ever been two devices so closely pitted against each other, it would be none other than the BlackBerry Bold and the iPhone 3G. Heck, people we’re even putting the original iPhone against the Bold. We’re going to break down each device piece by piece and give you an unbiased comparison of both. We’ll give you our personal opinion at the end, but besides that, we’re going to be completely accurate and fair. Hopefully this will help you make up your mind on what phone you’re going to get. You know, if the Bold is ever released, and the iPhone 3G is ever in stock. Hit the jump for the craziness!
Design:
BlackBerry Bold:
Some could agree the Bold is the sharpest and cleanest-looking BlackBerry ever to come out of Waterloo. With a complete black face, chrome border and sides, and faux black leather back, the device looks great. From all the matching chrome accents all over the phone to the simple and not confusing layout, RIM has designed a great BlackBerry which should set the bar for future devices down the road.
iPhone 3G:
If there’s one iconic handset design in the last couple years, it would certainly be an iPhone. There’s not too many people on earth who couldn’t easily recognize the device. The iPhone 3G is a logical extension of the previous model, still holding true to its original design roots. While there are two color choices, each both work marvelously well with handset’s design. It would be hard to find a more solid and sexy design on a phone. From the gorgeous screen to the matching black (or white) back, you’ve definitely got a true Apple product — totally minimalistic, yet offering enough access to the most commonly used functions.
Even though the Bold is definitely a looker, we’d be hard pressed to find anyone who wouldn’t give the design award to the iPhone 3G.
Build quality:
BlackBerry Bold:
The BlackBerry Bold is built extremely well. Not including minor screen scratches and things of that nature, the Bold should be able to last you as long as you want to keep the thing. The unit is a little lighter than it looks and there no creaks or anything to get you worried about. The only negative thing we’d have to say, it that the build quality on the BlackBerry Curve slightly trumps the Bold. We’d ever go as far to say that the 8800 does too. But not the Pearl. Hell no.
iPhone 3G:
Unless you’re talking about military-grade handsets, we don’t think you’d have an easy time finding a handset as well built as the iPhone. From precision-laser-cut glass, to the absolute stunning engineering on the inside of the device, we see the iPhone 3G lasting you a very long time. Even with key scratching and concrete-dropping, the iPhone 3G definitely holds its own.
The BlackBerry Bold’s build quality is great even if its not as good as the BlackBerry Curve, but we can’t help but feel the iPhone 3G will last the average user longer. You know, there’s no moving parts. That alone gives the iPhone a head start, and since the screen is proven to stand up to a lot of abuse, the most fragile part on the device is actually the strongest.
Size:
The Bold is the biggest BlackBerry to be released in a pretty long time. Well, since the 8700. It is larger in every way than the BlackBerry 8800 and can sometimes feel a little hard to hold in one hand. It’s definitely no Curve. Comparing it to the iPhone 3G, the iPhone is a tad bit taller than the Bold, but less wide, and thinner. The iPhone 3G feels much better when holding it and using it, but since the Bold’s keyboard makes use of the larger size, we’re going to call this one a tie because of the pretty comfy Bold QWERTY.
Screen:
As much as we we’d love to say the iPhone’s screen is better, it isn’t. Not in terms of displaying graphics, text-based content, or even videos. Everything looks better on the Bold due to the incredibly dense ppi ratio. You have to see it to believe it. Honestly. On the other hand, the iPhone’s screen is a close second, with a vibrant and large 3.5″ display. When you’re not using the on-screen virtual keyboard, the entire screen is your oyster, and you can make full use of it. We’d rather look at awesome MP3 album images, watch videos, web browse, and even look at our email on our iPhone rather than our BlackBerry Bold. This is going to be another tie, fellas. We’d rather use the iPhone specifically looking at the screen side of things, but we’d rather look at the Bold’s screen.
Applications:
You probably already know the answer to this one, but we’re still going to break it down for you. RIM has some very loyal developers working on applications for them, but the tools the developers use are outdated, and don’t give them enough access to core APIs on BlackBerry handsets. Ever notice how the nicest applications are always ones made by RIM? An outside developer could never create the BlackBerry Facebook application in a million years, again, because of the API access. We heard RIM is actively trying to listen to developer’s cries for help, open up some APIs, give them newer and better tools, and possibly include things such as OpenGL graphics support. But it’s still extremely difficult to develop for BlackBerry devices and distribute those applications. Desktop loading, OTA loading — it isn’t the most straight forward way to handle things. On the flipside, we have Apple who as you all should know, finally released their own SDK and have launched the App Store. Not looking at distribution for the meantime, we can honestly say that the iPhone is the easiest device to develop applications for. We’ve only worked on our BGR Mobile application for around a day, and even with some of the cool features like geo-tagging photos, commenting on posts, and more, it’s been a breeze. More on the BGR Mobile application another day. But don’t listen to us, listen to the thousands upon thousands of developers that have created beautiful games with full 3D graphics, or awesome instant messaging clients, and so forth. While the BlackBerry Bold is prettier than other BlackBerrys, the applications and tools to create them are the same. Without a doubt, this round goes to the iPhone. Scratch that, the iPhone wins over any other handset in the world in regards to applications.
OS:
BlackBerry Bold:
This is a tricky and sensitive subject for a lot of people. Many of us live and die by the BlackBerry OS. Some could say we even know it better than we know some of our significant others… But therein lies the problem. While RIM has been on a mission to revamp the BlackBerry from the old school “pager” into an all-in-one communications device for consumers and business alike, we can’t help but wonder when the OS will get a real makeover. Not a Mariah Carey cover page airbrushed makeover, more like a Carnie Wilson 300lbs to 150lbs makeover. But, we do have to say that RIM has a great thing going. The BlackBerry minions have figured out every single tip and trick there is to squeeze every ounce of usability out the operating system, and for a lot of people, the OS is fine. It does what it is supposed to, and there is nothing wrong with that. It’s just that the market has changed so drastically in the last year and half. People want to be connected more, they want to do more while doing less.
iPhone 3G:
Whether you believe Apple’s words of the iPhone OS actually running a scaled down OS X or not, it’s very difficult to rip apart the iPhone’s operating system. Sure, we’d absolutely love copy and paste, and it’s pretty sad we even had to write that, but for the most part, this is the finest and most technologically advanced mobile operating system on the planet. That’s not even open to debate, ok? There is always room for improvement, however, and we have no doubt that Apple will begin addressing some of the shortcomings of the operating system pretty soon.
iPhone 3G wins by a landslide.
Call quality:
Let’s assume we’re talking about voice-calling over a 3G network, ok? If that’s the case, then we think both devices held up pretty well against each other. The iPhone 3G sounded a tiny bit better and more natural than the BlackBerry, and wasn’t distorted as much. But that’s relative. Both devices fared extremely well with voice-calling, and you’d be pleased to use either one of them as your phone. Aww, how sweet!
Battery life
While the Bold has taken its fair share of battery life criticism, we’re happy to report than we don’t have a battery issue with the Bold at this point. The latest hardware and software are pretty top-notch when it comes to battery life, and you’d most likely get the same amount of usage out of the Bold as you would from your current BlackBerry. Now, going up against the iPhone, we’d say the Bold wins. Not by too much, but definitely by a little bit. Again, there isn’t too much of a difference that we’re finding, but the Bold does last a little longer in everyday usage. We’re not talking about talk time vs. talk time, or web browsing over 3G vs. web browsing over 3G. Just general everyday usage, and the Bold wins on this one.
Keyboard:
Let’s face it, virtual keyboards aren’t for everybody. Check out our personal thoughts and impressions at the end of the article for more information. The BlackBerry Bold holds true to RIM’s roots with their excellent QWERTY keyboard execution. The layout, key travel and feel make RIM’s keyboard a winner. But not so fast. Plenty of people don’t want a QWERTY keyboard. A lot of iPhone buyers came from a simple phone like a RAZR, and they rave about the keyboard. Well, it can’t take the place of a hardware keyboard, no matter how we try and convince ourselves. And if you’re going after a real keyboard on a mobile device, RIM is going to win. 9 times out of 10.
Email:
BlackBerry Bold:
Listen, you can’t throw around the word “BlackBerry” without thinking about email. That’s RIM bread and butter, and we don’t see that changing for a very long time. There are probably 500 competitors vying for the title of “Best. Email. Ever.”, but they’re not coming close anytime soon. While Windows Mobile offers some of the same feature-set, there is nothing like using a BlackBerry for email. From changing your out of office message, to configuring email filters on the go (what, you think we actually get all 6,000 comments from our iPhone 3G giveaway post on our BlackBerry?), to remote searching (awesome!), RIM has perfected email on the BlackBerry for the most part. When new features like full attachment viewing and HTML get introduced, though, it gets a little murky. Instead of viewing attachments natively off the bat on your BlackBerry, RIM’s data network will compress and send you what you need bit by bit. There is also a clear separation between RIM’s BES services and BIS services, and they are totally unnecessary. There is no reason we should have the ability to view HTML on BIS, but not on BES yet (unless you hacked that in), and there is no reason file type support is so convoluted. For instance, we can listen to our voicemail MP3s on our BIS email, but not on BES because even the latest BES service pack still doesn’t support the encoding used in our MP3s. Things like this really confuse users and there’s no reason for it. BIS features should mirror BES features as much as possible and be upgraded at the same time. If we have to email an attachment from our BES to one of our BIS email accounts one more time… One last thing, RIM. Please for the love of everything holy, allow us to edit forwarded messages. Please. Pretty please.
iPhone 3G:
Up for much debate is how well the iPhone 3G competes in the email arena. They have made strides in regard to improving the email application, even going as far to supporting full Exchange 2003 and 2007 email, but Apple has left a lot to be desired when working with anything other than simple POP and IMAP accounts. Forget the sexy stuff like filters and out of office messages, there is still no access to remote email search, or heck, email search period. There’s no way to mark multiple items read or unread, and if you have multiple email accounts, have fun switching back and forth to check them. Things aren’t localized like they are on a BlackBerry, and you don’t have the fun keyboard shortcuts to make things easier and get to them faster. When it comes to how email is rendered and behaves, though, the iPhone probably beats any other device out there. The HTML rendering is second to none, it murders the BlackBerry HTML, attachments can not be saved locally which is a real pain, but in terms of viewing them, it offers the most organic way of looking at them or playing them. From flipping the device to goto landscape mode, to double-tapping and zooming, the iPhone makes email a pleasure to read.
No question who the winner is here. RIM’s email can’t be touched, but for not-so-hardcore email users, Apple’s iPhone definitely offers a great experience, even with an Exchange server or their MobileMe service.
Corporate usage:
BlackBerry Bold:
RIM has made the BlackBerry the hands-down winner for a perfect desktop extension. Pretty much whatever you can do from Outlook on your Exchange server, you can do from your BlackBerry. In addition to looking at the device specifically, RIM’s BES server offers the now standard way of managing, controlling, and deploying devices across a corporate infrastructure. Their BES servers allow IT admins to tweak and configure every possible setting, making this is the ideal solution for mid-to-large businesses and government agencies. RIM’s focus on security also make the BlackBerry the most secure device on the planet to use in a corporate environment.
iPhone 3G:
The iPhone still has a lot to prove to corporate entities. Apple has made device deployment tools, but they aren’t as easy to use as RIM’s setup. While the iPhone is pretty secure, it’s security has not been fully tested, and there are many corporations still wary of allowing iPhones on their infrastructure. Sure, it has things like remote wipe and password enforcement, but it doesn’t come to offering the customization abilities of RIM’s BES servers and security.
Again, corporate usage goes to the BlackBerry. Heck, without corporate users, we don’t think RIM would still be in business. We don’t see the iPhone 3G making BlackBerry users in mid-to-large corporations switch that quickly, but we do see the iPhone being a possible device choice for small businesses that don’t rely so heavily on RIM already.
Pricing:
BlackBerry Bold:
Bold pricing has not been fully announced, but we’d wager on it being $199-$299 with a 2-year service agreement. Probably $299, but let’s see what happens. We know RIM went back to the negotiating tables after the iPhone 3G pricing was announced, as they were going to price the device much higher.
iPhone 3G:
You have a choice of $199 (8GB) and $299 (16GB) for the iPhone 3G. People have said that the pricing scheme is confusing because of the eligibility factor and upgrade factor, but that’s how mobile operators have worked since we can remember. So, that’s not new to 99% of people. Some will have to pay more, some will get to pay the aforementioned prices, just like with the Bold.
Pricing looks to be pretty even between both devices, so we’ll call it a tie.
Device longevity:
This is hard to speculate on, because we’re not talking about which device will physically last longer in terms of not breaking. We’re talking about how long the device can last you, the consumer, as a phone. And how long you’ll want to use it for. Taking a peek at RIM’s road map, we know that they’re coming out with four new devices (including the Bold), all likely to appear before the year’s end. We’d also bet on them churning out update replacement handsets a lot quicker if they can manage to. There will also likely be a new iPhone in a year’s time, or even less. Assuming you don’t upgrade to a new handset, we’d say the iPhone will last longer as you have an ingenious method for doing software updates and upgrades, and you have the App Store which will constantly be fresh with newer and better applications.
Personal Opinion:
Here’s where we’re going to voice our opinions of both devices as we kept the head-to-head review completely unbiased. True BlackBerry fans will want the Bold. It honestly is the best BlackBerry ever. There is no other choice — it’s the Bold. Plus the Bold spoils you. We cringe at the sight of our friends using Curves now. From the screen, to the keyboard, to the OS, which hate it or love it is pretty darn solid, the Bold is fantastic. But when you throw the iPhone 3G in the mix, it’s gets pretty difficult. A lot of early criticisms surrounding the original iPhone have been addressed. Corporate email, 3G, GPS, price, 3rd party applications, and so on. The honest truth is that if we had to use only one of the two devices, we’d be happy enough with whichever one you gave us. We could deal with the email shortcomings on the iPhone, and we could deal with the improved but not incredible browser on the Bold. It really comes down to what you need more in a phone. While the Bold certainly has improved media and other consumer features, it really is a business device at the end of the day. The iPhone 3G is a consumer device that happens to play nice with a lot of corporations, and we honestly think you won’t find many people dropping their BlackBerrys for an iPhone. They’ll carry both as long as they can afford it.
What about the voicemail comparison? The visual voicemail is pretty good on the iphone – I’m not sure how this works on the Bold.
Thank you for the even handed comparison of these two popular devices. This article certainly helped me decide which way to go.
Thanks for this article.
good comparison! i have an iphone and a nokia E71. tried Bold for a week. i love iphone. nothing compares to it!!!
Don’t forget that with the iphone you are stuck with a $30 data plan every month whereas the blackberry can be turned off. I even heard that if you ever upgrade to another phone your iphone would be useless and could not even use the ipod side of it.
Let’s not forget that the blackberry also has blackberry instant messenger. This very pleasant feature allows one to text other blackberry owners all day long and free of charge. So whether it’s colleagues, family, and/or friends, you can always stay in touch. I have saved, literally, hundreds of dollars.
I have an iphone now, but im debating whether or not i should trade it for a black berry bold. Like all the features are the same except the applications apple offers
awesome comparison though
I am thinking of purchasing the bold. Would never own the iPhone for the simple fact.. No mms. like wtf?? lol. I have the nokia N95. it is gr8. cannot fault it. and for everyone saying the E71. no camera.. hello.
so…I am going upgrade in November, I have never owned a BB or an Iphone…which should I buy??
well i have to say i lost my iphone about a week ago now and i have decited to get a bold. I loved my Iphone and miss it really bad but you would think that Apple would have put out a better product when it comes to basic stuff…for example, key reasons why i dont want to replace my iphone
1. no copy and paste function? WTF so i have the “best phone in the world” and cant even FWD a damn text message…ok that makes no since to me since cell phones from the beginning of time have been able to FWD a text message..thats standard Apple!!
2. (co-ensides with 1.) Lack of MMS capability, another STANDARD feature on every cell phone in america is the abliity to recieve and SEND MMS messages…however with the iphone you can only recieve MMS messages and even when you get one it is such a complicated process to have to go to that viewmymessage.com and type in that stupid ass message id and password…hmmm do you think a COPY AND PASTE would be good to do that with….yes it would but since its not on the damn phone oh well you get to have fun trying to get the “message id” and “password” to work on viewmymessage.com
3. maybe it was just me but my iphone 3g had ok call quality but only if i had my headphones in could i actually hear and understand what the other person was saying…the external speakers on the iphones are horriable as well so i hope you dont want to talk to anybody on speaker phone because you will have i really hard time hearing them. especially in public or a kind of noisy place.the speakers aren’t loud at all either talking to someone or listing to music..they are horriable…just horriable
4.BLUETOOTH: this is another major setback of the iphone and another standard function its missing.. i always hated not being able to pair up with my friends phones to send and recieve files with eachother (as i commonly did with my previous phones) that always pissed me off that the only thing you can pair with an iphone is a headset and thats it? give me a break Apple!! you mean to tell me i cant even pair my damn phone with my Mac? (witch you CANT) last time i checked the Mac is put out by Apple so why cant I pair my phone with product’s you make??? SO FRUSTRATING!!! because i diden’t sync my contacts with Itunes because i never liked the way it handled them…i do however have all my contacts synced with my Mac but since i never could pair my phone with my Mac it was useless!!
5. (Last but certenly not least) A few days after i got my shinny new Iphone about a year or so ago I got a letter in the mail from the AT&T “wireless device insurance department” stating that AT&T does not reconize the iphone as a standard phone and therefore would not carry insurance on my device….GREAT!!! now i have this awsome phone thats not insured?..man that really made my day!! all i can say is if you pay $599 for a phone it best have insurance on it!! but nope AT&T DOESEN’T CARRY INSURANCE ON IPHONE’S just wanted to let everybody know that so if you lose it or it gets stolen (as in my case) your out your $$ because they damn sure wont replace it for you…oh and the kicker here is if you have to get a new iphone you won’t be paying the $199 price for it either because thats with the contract price for 2 years..no sir…thats the discounted price…i was told the replacement price would be at regular retail price of $599 since i still have 9 months left on my original contract..BULLSHIT!!! and thats why i switched to a BB…oh yea and this phone is covered by insurance…so whatever happens happens and i can get a new one if need be for $100 or so
Sorry for the long post people i just wanted to let people make an educated decision from someone thats had the all mighty iphone for a while…and if you ask me its not all that mighty behind all the hype and combine that with the lack of basic functionality and the smoke and mirror’s when it comes down to it…its just not that great…a great phone indeed but not that great
on a last note i used my iphone like a milion other people do…mostly for music…if you wanna hear your iphone through a stereo or through your radio in your car you have to buy a transmitter to listen to it…the BB has bluetooth stereo with it so you dont have to buy any transmitters or nothing like that you can just straight up play it through any stereo anywhere right from the phone…that had a big part in my decision too. Only time will tell if i like this BB as much as my iphone (its my first one) but the lack of basic stuff on the iphone was rediculis thats why i dont think ill miss the old boy too awful bad
Actually that is not true. YOu can get a Sim free iphone they are available in many countries around the world and people are selling them here in the US. Some call it factory unlocked, legally unlocked and so on whatever you call it its better then jailbreaking the iphone
i remain disappointed with the Bold keypad comapred with the old 8700 that we had in Australia. The 8700 keypad wins hands down for rapid and accurate typing. used 8700 for 2 years and it is still functioning. bold now for 4 months so i am used to it. i would be interested in a BB that have a ‘8700′ style keypad. and battery life has taken some getting used to: charge every dat for Bold, the 8700 still gives c 3 days. Cheers D
a question, if this is permissable: i want to try and use my BB bold in the US for a month or so, while visiting from Australia. is it possible to pay for a prepaid BB service to give me push email, without taking on a term contract? have tried asking through BB sites but cannot determine that my question is going anywhere. Thanks, DonP
The review failed to compare the two phones on other functions, like Bluetooth. As simple as Bluetooth technology is, the iPhone fails in this area. After many hours with Apple and my services provider, I had to returned the iPhone for a blackberry. The iphone has issues with pairing with most built in Bluetooth system supplied by car manufacture, that Apple Corporation can not seen to correct.
ive owned an iPhone since the summer of 08 and while i agree that it is indeed a great device, ive been contemplating on wether or not i should switch to a BOLD. it could just be me but i believe that in time the iphone will adopt the “kiddy” look much like the sidekick did. at one point everyone loved sidekicks than the “cool” factor went out the window when ppl started feeling like it was a kids phone. if theres one thing i could say, that’ll never happen to Blackberry.
i just thought that today! but then i’ll have to carry around 2 devices? urg
its definitely iPhone…………… iPhone is thinner n its touch screen it rocks!!!!!
Thank you for helping me make my decision… I’ve been debating this for weeks!!
Bold, it is!! (I’ll miss my touch screen palm device though)
Though not so eloquent, it seems to convince me not to go with iphone. Thinking of upgrade today/tomorrow, and was going through reviews.
Another neat little trick with data plans for iphone vs others. For iphone it is $10 more. Like if you paid 59.99 for non-iphone, it is 69.99 for lowest form of talk/data plan. That amounts to $240 for the period of contract, so $ 200 + 240 = $440 is the actual price of iphone. Interestingly, even if you buy for $399 (full price) you stillpay $10 more for the plan. Money sucker ! For what ? Just get a ipod touch from Costco and go with the Bold ! You can browse using ipod touch with wifi & phone with BB !
I sent an MMS of myself to a friend in Hawaii using my BB Bold. She didn’t know at the time but she complemented my “camera” how crisp and clear my picture was. She was amazed!
Agreed. The thunder (i.e. Storm) is much worse then the iphone… I would love both BB and iPhone. I am a big ipod user and also own a 4gb zune. It is a hard choice but believe that i would rank nano above small zune but 120 zune vs. 120 ipod i will call even. But Apple comes on top because of the ITouch. I would choose BB over iPhone. But I would love both
I am a avide Hp user I am not a fane of Mac Book. But I love iPod. Zune is okay (I said that in my first one) BB wins in my book. But I would love both. I would not compare Storm vs. iPhone. I do not think it is necesary to embarres Storm
iphone of course,bb is not even an option now whose wid me/???????????
Very good evaluation… And i can never choose between these two phones, but to narrow it down, i think the Blackberry Bold is more of the business type of phone, and the iPhone 3G is more practical, and less complicated.
Overall i would say its a TIE. Two amazing phones, but i have an iPhone 3G.
I have read the review and a lot of the comments here, and I am STILL unsure! Dang! I guess if it was an easy decision there wouldn’t be so much chatter about it. ho hum!
I have the Google G1 for my personal phone and love it, and have the oppourtunity to get either the iPhone or the BB Bold for work. Much of what I do is in Outlook email. Comments welcome…