Unusual review Samsung Galaxy Note (1) vs. Blackberry Bold 9900, grown-up phones & RIM stock price?
A few weeks ago I was at a drinks party, and needed to note something quickly down. I had a Note (Phablet) and a BB Bold 9000. I pulled out the Note, and then changed my mind, and used the 9900 instead. This article is all about some thoughts that stemmed from that.
We don’t just use our phones for making phone calls, in fact PSTN and Mobile phone calls have peaked, and will decline.
I used my phone for:
Phone calls
Organising
Messaging, Texting & email
Browsing the web
Maps and navigating
Listening to music
Apps
Watching the occasional video
Reading eBooks
So after having this moment, I bought a Bold 9900, and here is the comparison IN MY EXPERIENCE between the Bold and the Note :
Phone Calls: Bold The problem I have with the note, is that its battery life sucks, and at the end of the day, I would like to be able to make phone calls. Interestingly enough Blackberry missed a trick here, they should have had a bigger battery option, because if I drive the Bold hard, then it will run out of juice, before I give it its nightly charge, but if I used the Note that hard, I will have to charge it after lunch. Also the BB just makes better phone calls, I get drop out with the note, almost as if the processor is too busy running an app to give the phone call some CPU
Organising: Bold This might surprise you, but the trick here is the BB keyboard, and all the short cut keys. I can enter something in quickly, and be done very fast. Also the BB syncs better with exchange, which still is the best game in town for syncing Diary, Contacts, Notes, Tasks.
Messaging, Texting & email: Bold I do not want my email soon, I want it now, and I like it integrated. I’m so busy trying to save power with the Note, then I am hobbling its syncing, but even if I allow it to run at full blast, the BB is streets ahead. And then there is BBM, the reason why I bought the Bold 9000 was to keep in touch with my family, and BBM still seems to be “it” for a lot of school children.
Browsing the web: Note The Note is just fantastic, that enormous screen is just great, it is nowhere as good as my laptop, but hey it fits in my pocket. The Bold’s screen is too small, although I do like having the track button for precise navigation, but the screen is too small, and the browser is too slow.
Maps and navigating: Note The Note is very good for navigation, again its not as good as a Tom Tom, but when TomTom get their Android App act completely together, then it’s going to be an excellent navigator.
Listening to music: Bold Amusingly enough, this was a clear winner for me, as I like classical music as well as Pop, Rock, Jazz etc. The Bold allows me to chose a font, so I can see more of the title track on the screen.
Apps: Note The Blackberry App market is not on the ma
Watching the occasional video: Note The Blackberry is not on the map.
Reading eBooks: Note The Blackberry is not on the map.
So now I’m beginning to understand why BB did the playbook, but in my mind they made 2 big mistakes:
1) 5.5 inch as an option, and have it in my pocket
2) Run Android apps on it, call it a guest mode to save face, but the Android market is already there.
“grown up” uses for the phone, then the Bold 9900 is the clear winner. But the problem for BB is that we like having fun with our phones as well as using them for “grown up” things, and it’s fun to stay young!
The RIM shares have been moving up recently, at the expectation of the new BB 10 OS. But will RIM make a super new OS, but repeat their previous mistakes?