Apple and Blackberry have had contrasting fortunes in the smartphone market over the years. Apple blasted on to the stage with the Apple iPhone series and has had an incredible success with their iPhone deals, selling by the million. Blackberry was an earlier entrant to the smartphone market, but was then left behind by the Android, iOS and Windows platforms. Now, Blackberry is changing. They are evolving to offer better smartphones, and have produced an operating system that is capable of competing in todays market place.
iPhone Deals
iPhones have become an iconic symbol of wealth and style. Its possible to get iPhone deals on all the models, but the iPhone 5 at the moment is extremely expensive. The reality is that the iPhone 4S is very similar in terms of performance to the iPhone 5. So if you are looking to go into the iPhone series for the first time, you may want to consider the 4S.
Without further ado, lets have a look at these two phones and see how they stack up against each other. We should start with the design.
The Designs of the phones
The Blackberry Z10 is very reminiscent of a black version of the iPhone 5. They look alike as if they were manufactured by the same company. On close range inspection you will realize that the iPhone is built with love and attention. The choice of materials in the iPhone, certainly make it more premium and youre more likely to have people flock in to iPhone deals than to the Blackberry Z10 deals that are available. In many regards the phones are of course the same with the earpieces, proximity sensors, front-facing cameras and so on all located in similar locations. The phones are both attractive, but for me the iPhone is simply more iconic and more premium.
The Displays
The displays on the phones are very similar in size. The Blackberry has a 4.2 inch, 768×1280 LCD display. It has a higher pixel density than the iPhone 5 at 356 ppi versus the 326 ppi on the iPhone 4 inch screen. They are pretty much similar in terms of performance. Both are very good when viewed at different angles and provide very sharp, crisp pictures. The retina display of the iPhone 5 does, however make colors a bit deeper and warmer and this can be a nicer experience than the cold-colour nature of the Blackberry.
The Cameras
Blackberry used to have serious issues in terms of the cameras that they had on their phones. After all, their phones were primarily geared towards business and perhaps not much research and development went into the camera on the phones. Both cameras have an 8 megapixel capacity but the iPhone 5 is still probably a better all-round performer. Both phones do extremely well in good light outdoor conditions but the iPhone pictures are a little bit crisper. The Z10 can be a little bit dull in its picture colorization and theres more saturation as well on the pictures from the Z10. In low light conditions, the iPhone 5 is much better than the Z10. However, in terms of the historic performance of Blackberry cameras, this Z10 does a good job. It certainly is a leap forward for Blackberry.
Quality
Both phones are excellent for conversations, offering distortion free, clear sound at both ends of the line. The noise cancelation features on the phones are speedy to respond to differences in the background, and so in windy conditions you can quickly have your phone performing admirably. The only challenges with the phones are with the speakerphones. The iPhone 5 can have some distortion and the Blackberry Z10 likewise when turned up to high volumes.
The Batteries
The iPhone 5 is sufficient to get you through a day of normal consumption. However, it has around half the performance of the average phone on the market. Compared this with the Samsung Galaxy SIII, the previous model of the Samsung Galaxy S series, and youll see that the battery life and talk time is about a quarter of the Samsung. However, the Z10 does even worse, youll probably struggle to get through a day with the Blackberry Z10, even with 4G LTE connectivity turned off. The Blackberry really does defy belief in its underperformance on the battery. It should be a lot better than it is… A real negative
The Verdict
Price is crucial in this comparison; however, the iPhone 5 is the better phone with the better camera and nicer design. It has better build quality and materials, and also the Apple brand behind it. The new operating system from the Blackberry camp is much better than the old systems, but there are still some buggy performance issues that need to be resolved. Its a good step forward for the Blackberry but it certainly wont set the world on fire and people will still be looking for iPhone deals over the Blackberry deals available in the market.
Only time will tell whether Blackberry can truly break into this Smartphone market in a big way and gain a significant market share. They are moving in the right direction but they still have a long way to go.
The smartphone market is heavily influenced by brand image, and Blackberry is having to rebuild from a pretty poor starting point. They are in a similar situation to HTC, who are still building their brand. The difference between HTC and Blackberry is that HTC are consistently releasing top 3 in industry phones. You only have to pick up the HTC One to see what great manufacturers they are.
Apples brand is on the slide it seems. They are still extremely popular, but the demise of Steve Jobs, and the lack of positive critique from smartphone industry analysts, has really affected their image. Time will tell whether their new releases will correct the trend.
Sam Jones knew that his neighbour was looking for the best iPhone deals. He showed him how to find them using uSwitch and similar comparison services online.
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