BlackBerry v/s Android

BlackBerry v/s Android

BlackBerry, Android, and iPhones are the three big names in smart phones today. Let's specifically look at Android and BlackBerry.Both the Android OS and BlackBerry OS are considered smart phones but they are vastly different and they cater to different groups of people. Instead of saying which operating system is better, let's take a look at the differences between the two and you can decide for yourself what would you prefer to use.

Android and BlackBerry are both smart phones. What exactly makes a smart phone smart? Smart phones are cell phones that can make calls, text message, email, browse the web, and offer multimedia playback in terms of music and videos. Both Android and BlackBerry can do these things although they do it differently.

Blackberry OS 6

(found in latest Blackberry smartphones)

Pros -

1. The very USP of a Blackberry smartphone is its messaging system. With unified inbox and push-email, it is undeniably the most powerful messaging handheld device in the market.
2. Another major feature that Blackberry users dread missing is the Blackberry Messenger, popularly known as BBM. Of course, today a lot of new cross-platform messaging systems have cropped up (like WhatsApp, LiveProfile and Kik). Yet, none of them has managed to touch the popularity of BBM.
3. As already mentioned earlier, nothing can beat the feel and experience of a set of QWERTY physical keyboard. And RIM has mastered that with elan.
4. Every single Blackberry device supports true multitasking.
5. While you can choose between a couple of data plans for a Blackberry, all of them allow unlimited download/upload of data.
6. Blackberrys are inherently smart and compress all data being transferred to ridiculously minuscule levels. That ensures faster access of data.
7. It is only a Blackberry that allows you to assign separate notification alerts for almost every possible event. And it works for both native and third party applications.
8. One can even customize the notification profiles depending on whether the device is in the holster or not.
9. Thanks to BIS, you can open almost all websites even if they are banned by your ISP, since all traffic gets routed via their servers in Canada.
10. It is possible to cut, copy and paste almost any piece of text across the OS. And the experience is also very painless.

Cons -

1. The App World integration with BB apps is not streamlined. So, even if an app gets upgraded on the main server, your device won’t get the notification for almost a day or two more.
2. The Blackberry phones get almost paralyzed while installing/upgrading applications.
3. No support to purchase apps from the computer unless the phone is already connected via a data cable.
4. Till date, the Blackberry smartphones house the lowest spec of hardware, and the hour glass icon is very common.
5. Memory management system on the Blackberry smartphones is one of the worst, and “battery pull” is a daily affair for almost all the Blackberry owners.
6. RIM hasn’t launched any Blackberry yet that houses a front camera. That means, no video calls.
7. The multimedia capabilities of a Blackberry is hardly a talked about feature.
8. Blackberry OS 6 is still pretty buggy, and OS 6.1 promises to sort out a lot of those issues.
9. If you wish to purchase the same app on multiple Blackberry devices at the same time, you need to buy those apps those many time.

Android v2+

(found in a myriad of smartphones and tablets, like Samsung Galaxy S, Nexus S, Galaxy Tab)

Pros -

1. The ONE advantage of the Android OS that facilitates all the others that follow is the fact that it’s an OpenSoftwareSource .
2. Android devices support true multitasking too.
3. Supports Adobe Flash. However, Flash is still awaited for Android v3, aka HoneyComb.
4. Google apps are tightly integrated and updated most frequently on Android devices. And since most of us have a Google account and use Google products these days, it improves the user experience on an Android device many folds.
5. Applications can be bought via the computer (or any other device) and can be installed over the air on the device.
6. Multiple hardware manufacturers producing even more models of smartphones for the Android platform ensures more choice for the consumers.
7. Android App Market has more free apps than any of the other platforms.
8. The browser of an Android device is as good as the Safari on iOS. And yet, surfing experience is much better on Android OS thanks to the compatibility with Flash.
9. Applications and data can always be backed up on the cloud (Google’s servers). So, an Android device runs out of the box over its lifetime without ever needing to be connected with a computer.
10. Personalization options on an Android device are endless, compared to a Blackberry or a iPhone.

Cons -

1. One major reason for Android owners’ heartbreak is its abysmal battery life. Compared to an iPhone and a Blackberry, an Android phone’s battery life is hardly appreciable.
2. Android apps have no intuitive ways to be killed. While there is an application management page hidden will within the menu structure, it’s hardly intuitive.
3. Again, no unlimited data plan provided by the Indian mobile carriers.
4. It is not possible to organize app icons in categories/folders out of the box.

Well, while the choice of a device and an operating system are solely personal choices and extremely subjective , but there topics will surely help you out . If any point is missing , the comments section is always there .

At the end of the day, Android always felt like a computer trying to become a phone while BlackBerry is a phone trying hard to become a computer.