Just yesterday looking at the Spanish newspaper "El Economista" I was able to read an interesting article by one of his head collaborators who talked about 10 of the things you still like about Blackberry devices. At first I thought of creating an article in which I exposed the 10 things that I still like and have always liked about the Canadian firm's mobile devices, but finally I decided to bring you the entire article.
“When almost eight out of ten smartphones sold in the Spanish market are Android and most of the rest are iPhones, staying true to BlackBerry may seem like an eccentricity, but some users are reluctant to abandon them. I am one of them and with the list of my motives I start a series of analyzes of the four main mobile platforms today.
1. Physical keyboard
The defining element of RIM smartphones. While you play to hit the target on the virtual keyboard of a touch screen and despair with predictive text, I type emails, chats and even entire articles with total precision, thanks to keys whose design RIM has not stopped refining over the years.
2. Keyboard shortcuts
The efficiency of the physical keyboard compared to a touch screen is further improved thanks to the large number of shortcuts built into the operating system: 'T' to go directly to the top of a list (for example, to the first message in the tray input), 'B' to go to the bottom (the last message), 'N' to go to the next message, 'T' to go back to the previous one. And there are still many more. Yes, they save only a couple of seconds, but at the end of the day there are many.
3. Low battery consumption
It seems incomprehensible to me that smartphone users have meekly assumed being forced to always carry a battery charger with them or have one in every place they go. With most BlackBerry classical -the latest models with a touch screen are something else- you can leave the house in the morning and make it until dinner time without having to recharge them. In addition, the battery is removable, which allows you to change it for another if necessary.
4. Customizable side button
Most BlackBerry models have a side switch that can be configured to activate any phone function without digging deep through the menus, even without looking at the screen. I usually program it to take screenshots, but it could also activate voice recognition or a certain application.
5. Data compression
Less data is transferred between the BlackBerry servers and the phone than with any other smartphone, information being equal. This means that I consume less data than the monthly excess of my contract, and that I have an acceptable email performance even in situations of poor coverage. In fact, a month ago I disabled the 3G connectivity of my Bold 9900 - which also prolongs the battery life - and I am still perfectly connected. I challenge you to do the same with any other type of smartphone.
6. Social integration
Well-designed applications can communicate with each other, to share photos directly on social networks, or update the status of instant messaging with the text of the most recent tweet. The integrated inbox shows your email, SMS, social media, and chat messages. The flexibility in this regard is much higher than that of the iPhone and is only surpassed by that of Android devices.
7. Notification LED
With a BlackBerry you can know what type of message we have just received, without having to unlock the terminal and look at the screen, because the indicator light changes color. The number of third-party applications that emulate this feature on Android phones is the best proof of its usefulness.
8. Security
RIM's obsession with this goes to the extreme of encrypting the wireless connection between the phone and the Bluetooth hands-free headset, to prevent conversations from being intercepted. Perhaps a private user does not need so much, but it is reassuring to know that your smartphone is the only one that is systematically approved by most governments and large companies.
9. Data rate while roaming
Connecting to the Internet from abroad with any other mobile phone can be very expensive. With BlackBerry you can contract an international extension of the service, which works in all countries where it is available and allows you to surf the web and send / receive mail up to 300 MB for an approximate amount of € 60 per month. Furthermore, data compression (point 5) makes any excess data traffic more moderate.
10.BlackBerry Travel
This free service makes life much easier for those of us who travel often: it automatically intercepts e-mails containing flight ticket confirmations or hotel reservations, automatically creates an itinerary with all the data we need to have on hand during the trip, and notifies delays and gate changes, even before they appear on the airport screens. For other operating systems there are similar applications such as TripIt or WorldMate, but the equivalent service costs $ 50 per year. A pity that Travel still does not recognize the Renfe ticket confirmation messages.
Of course, not everything is perfect. BlackBerry also have some limitations that I find irritating:
1. BlackBerry Messenger
Technically speaking, the chat between BlackBerry phones is flawless: fast, integrated with the contact book, protected by encryption and with read notification of each message. The pity is that it does not allow communication with phones with other operating systems or with computers. Fortunately, there is an application for Google Talk (and also for WhatsApp, but I don't use it).
2. Lack of applications
Compared to the 750.000 titles available for iOS or Android, the slightly more than 100.000 that RIM's App World offers are very short, especially considering that many of them are not exactly applications, but graphic customization packages (themes, backgrounds) and sound (ringtones). The catalog is especially lame in the field of games and in that of applications linked to external devices. It should be said, of course, that the operating system performs by itself many functions that on other platforms require downloading and installing an application. And the truth is that most of the applications that I use every day to work and communicate are available.
3. Constant restarts
Either for security reasons or because of the operating system's age, every time an application is installed or updated, the phone must be restarted, an operation that is especially annoying due to its slowness. In many cases you also have to re-accept the fine print and re-enter the login credentials.
4.Trackpad
The desire to please everyone has resulted in some inconsistencies. The most recent BlackBerry models, such as the aforementioned Bold 9900, add a touch screen to the physical keyboard, but retain the physical button for navigating the icons and menus, which is redundant and so sensitive that it is sometimes difficult to hit the target. I have ended up deactivating it.
5. Camera
Mobile photography has never been RIM's strong suit. The optics are not all bad, but the shutter takes so long to shoot that it often does so when the subject of the photo has already disappeared from the frame, or the image is blurred. In newer versions of the operating system, the autofocus function has been lost. Oh, and there is no Instagram for BlackBerry. "
More information - Can the Blackberry 10 be born mortally wounded if Whastapp's absence is confirmed?
Source - The Economist