Blackberry Bold or Blackberry Storm?

Here's the dilemma, which smartphone to buy: iPhone, Blackberry Bold or Blackberry Storm? It's a tough decision, all three are great phones but each has at least one major handicap. While waiting for the Storm's release it was tempting to abandon five years of loyalty to Blackberry and swing across to the iPhone. Couldn't do it, I'm hooked on the Blackberry, but that was not the only reason. The AT&T factor also played a role.

What, No WiFi?

Having put aside consideration of the iPhone it should have been a simple decision once the Storm was released. A brand new Blackberry with a clickable touch screen, improved battery life, screen, camera, inbuilt GPS ... and no AT&T factor. But hold on, how about WiFi? I could not believe it. The so called iPhone killer was released without Blackberry WiFi. Until now it was unnecessary to talk about smartphones with WiFi. All smartphones came with WiFi until the Storm.

Storm Warning

The WiFi revelation stopped us dead in our tracks. Rather than line up to buy a Blackberry Storm on November 21st 2008, we decided to hold out and wait for the reviews. The consistent theme was that Blackberry had rushed the Storm's release to get it out for Christmas. Early users were unanimous, it was slow. They were frustrated by it's bugginess and the flaky behavior of the keyboard(s). These issues will no doubt be resolved with the release of new software, but at this stage the Storm has some way to go before it is business ready.

Blackberry Comparison

So having parked the iPhone and the Storm, where to now? Suddenly the Blackberry Bold began to look more attractive. It's a solid Blackberry. The bugs were sorted out long ago. It's absolutely business ready. What is more, it's got WiFi, as it should. It's not a clickable touchscreen phone, but so what? Personally I prefer real keys over the frustrations of a touch screen.

The Deciding Factor

Ah! but there is a catch. The dreaded AT&T factor. Can we rationalize our way around that challenge? Well, yes. AT&T's Blackberry Personal and Enterprise plans bundle access to some 17,000 WiFi hotspots at no extra charge. These locations include Starbucks WiFi hotspots!

Deal done, I'm signing up for a Blackberry Bold. The Storm's bleading edge technology and lack of WiFi were the determining factors for me.

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