Blackberry 9900 or iPhone 4S?

[Der Meister]

Hi everyone,
so I am due for an upgrade next week and thus my question. Blackberry or iPhone. To most people this would be fairly simple i suppose but let me explain. I have been using the the BB bold 9700 for the past 2 years and I must say that, at the time time of choosing this phone I was a first time BB user. A pleasant experience in deed. I purchased an iPad 2 about 9 months ago and at that time also a first time apple (mobile device) user. Needless to say the experience, for me, was also very good. My wife has an iPhone 4 and it's functionality is nearly identical to that of the iPad (both running iOS 5).

I have used the 9900 bold (from friends) and it seems, to put it fairly simple, that BB went and gave my 9700 a shot of steroids and the result...the 9900. Basically the same experience as on my 9700 but they jacked up most of the hardware quite a bit, the OS basically looks like a very fancy theme I loaded on my 9700. The first thing I experienced was that the touch screen functionality lacks behind that of the iPhone and it frustrated me a little. BB Messenger frustrates me because of the broadcasting, and there are key people which I simply cannot remove from my contact list... I am running whatsapp as well to communicate with people using other devices than BB. So I am not bound to BB by BB Messenger but will I miss it when its not there or will I simply adapt to using whatsapp?

On the iPad(which will be the same on the iPhone) the thing that frustrates me most is the nearly everyday app updates that need to be done. Aside from that most apps need internet access to function. The iPhone also has the memory that you buy it with...and not a drop more in any way.

To get to the point of my question...

- I receive between 10 and 30 emails on my phone per day.
- I do most of my browsing on my PC not my phone,
- Apple updates I do through my WiFi net work at home. I don't use Facebook/Twitter on my phone.
- I use Skype allot for business
- I am a Microsoft user (SQL Server, Visual studio, Office)

Taking any one of these phones on my existing contract would only change the following in the contract structure from MTN: The "unlimited" option (BIS) for R60 on the 9900 Bold or 250Mb of data on the iPhone 4S for the same total amount.

All of this has now left me in a gray area of indecisiveness.
Any input on which phone to go for with regards to what I said would be much appreciated.

[Der Meister]

Either this post is way to long to read or I have ultimately left everyone else in that gray area i was talking about...

[Fivel]

I use iPhone 4, iPad and Blackberry (mainly for my work emails.) I prefer my iPhone over the BB because of screen size, although if you like a qwerty keyboard then the Bold wins. I find my fingers a bit fat for the onscreenn iPhone keyboard, but you can turn the phone onto 'landscape' which gives you more space. I dont think you can go wrong with either.

The 250mb should be fine as long as you are not oulling down videos etc.

[Neo]

Hi there!

It's difficult for anyone on a public forum to reply to a thread like this and at the same time, with a clear conscience, basically TELL you what product you have to buy. At the end of the day you're the person spending your money and you're the person living with the product. From personal experience I can honestly say that I love my iPhone 4. I would like the iPhone 4S even more, but it's not worth the upgrade for me. However, for "upgrade" time - the iPhone 4S is a no-brainer.

The iPhone 4S is fast and reliable. The battery life isn't too terrible and you have loads of apps available for it. Mind you, the nicer ones are not free. Whatsapp, for example, is $0.99 - so you need to have a valid iTunes account with some money in it (not too difficult to achieve these days).

Personally (key word there) I would choose the iPhone 4S over any current BlackBerry any day. But if you asked me to choose between the iPhone 4S and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus - well, that would be tough. Unfortunately MTN doesn't stock the Galaxy Nexus (they are waiting for the Galaxy 3S).

My opinion - the iPhone 4S strikes a great balance between Work and Play. You've got good quality apps, the best touchscreen on the market and a lovely processor inside. It takes AMAZING photos (the camera in the 4S is brilliant) and it can handle e-mail and messaging as well.

Good luck on your decision.

[Der Meister]

Hi there!

It's difficult for anyone on a public forum to reply to a thread like this and at the same time, with a clear conscience, basically TELL you what product you have to buy. At the end of the day you're the person spending your money and you're the person living with the product. From personal experience I can honestly say that I love my iPhone 4. I would like the iPhone 4S even more, but it's not worth the upgrade for me. However, for "upgrade" time - the iPhone 4S is a no-brainer.

The iPhone 4S is fast and reliable. The battery life isn't too terrible and you have loads of apps available for it. Mind you, the nicer ones are not free. Whatsapp, for example, is $0.99 - so you need to have a valid iTunes account with some money in it (not too difficult to achieve these days).

Personally (key word there) I would choose the iPhone 4S over any current BlackBerry any day. But if you asked me to choose between the iPhone 4S and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus - well, that would be tough. Unfortunately MTN doesn't stock the Galaxy Nexus (they are waiting for the Galaxy 3S).

My opinion - the iPhone 4S strikes a great balance between Work and Play. You've got good quality apps, the best touchscreen on the market and a lovely processor inside. It takes AMAZING photos (the camera in the 4S is brilliant) and it can handle e-mail and messaging as well.

Good luck on your decision.

I do apologize for asking such a question on the forum. I am brand new to it and it is only now that you've mentioned it that I realize the implication that it might have. None the less, thanks for the input, it already helps allot.

[warr10r]

Galaxy Nexus. That's what I'd go for.

[The Joker]

Samsung Galaxy Note or Samsung Galaxy Nexus..

[Der Meister]

It seems a new rival has emerged...

[Neo]

Just bare this in mind

iPhone - made to be user friendly and fairly intuitive. The touchscreen is better than that found on the Nexus (tested it myself)
Android (nexus) - made for geeks and people who like digging around for stuff.

If you're after a simple-to-use experience, the Android might not be the right choice. Also, the Nexus might be a little too bulky for some. It's still a nice phone with great features, but you need to be very sure about it before you take that over anything else. The nexus is bordering on tablet-like territory.

[TBlaar]

I wanted to get the Galaxy Nexus, until I saw one and it's not pretty. Hence I will be going for the Samsung Galaxy S2.