What happens when your Sister Site, CrackBerry.com, manages to score a BlackBerry Bold on eBay? What happens after they do their hands-on images, videos, and walkthroughs, that is? What happens is they start sending the beast around the the office. So here we have a full gallery comparing the iPhone and the BlackBerry Bold. Head to head images comparing size, UI, web browser (though that one's not quite fair since the Bold's web browser ain't anywhere near complete yet), and of course media capabilities.
Also after the break, a video walkthrough of the two devices. We've made fun of RIM's claim that the Bold isn't an iClone and now that I'm looking at the two devices side by side on my desk, that fun-making is half-true. Yes, they're different, but the metallic bezel around the edge of a glossy black face sure says "iPhone" to me.
More thoughts and comparisons after the break. What are you waiting for? Read on!
Of course, we're tagging this post Wait-a-Thon, so any commenters (with a valid email address) are automatically entered for a chance to win a $100 iTunes Gift Card. On to the Multimedia Smackdown!
iPhone vs. BlackBerry Bold Video
Gallery
Spec Rundown
Here's the spec rundown, with the advantages in bold (no pun intended)
| Spec | iPhone | BlackBerry Bold | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Size | 4.5" x 2.4" x .46" | 4.48" x 2.6" x .55" | |
| Weight | 4.8oz | 4.69oz | |
| Memory (Ignoring OS considerations) |
up to 16gig storage | 1gig storage + Expansion | |
| Battery Life | 8 Hour talk time | 5 hour talk time | |
| Network Supprt | Quad-band EDGE | Quad-band HSDPA/EDGE | |
| Other Comm | WiFi, Bluetooth, USB via Dock Connector | WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, USB via mini-USB | |
| Display | 480x320 touchscreen | 480x320 non-touchscreen | |
| Media Support | Auido: AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 1, 2, and 3), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV; Video: .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats | Audio: .3gp, MP3, WMA9 (.wma/.asf), WMA9 Pro/WMA 10, MIDI, AMR-NB, Professional AAC/AAC+/eAAC+; Video: DivX 4, Div X 5 & 6 are partially supported, XviD is partially supported, H.263, H.264 and WMV3, syncs with iTunes but likely not as well as iPhone | |
| Camera | 2 megapixel | 2 megapixel with flash | |
| UI | Touchscreen, Apple MoJo | non-touchscreen, trackball + BB Menu confusion | Web | Mobile Safari | Don't look directly at the screen |
| iPhone Mail client needs lots of taps | BlackBerry == email power |
...We could really go on and on with this chart, for every advantage we can think of for one, it seems to get cancelled out by an advantage by the other. Overall, though the BlackBerry Bold's new look -- both the iPhone-esque shell and the Sony-esque new skin on the UI -- doesn't change the fact that underneath it all this is still a BlackBerry. It's still more corporate friendly than consumer friendly.
