Blackberry phones have long been the phone of choice for people looking for a reliable and secure messaging service. The full keyboard they offer is a big plus, as is the excellent software. However, there is a newcomer vying for its crown in the form of Nokia, which has always been successful with its “communicator” series of phones. This success has evolved and now we are introduced to the Nokia E6, an excellent smartphone that is possibly the best Qwerty phone Nokia has ever produced. Hot on its heels, however, is the Blackberry Bold Touch, the device that Blackberry lovers everywhere have been waiting for thanks to its touchscreen and revamped operating system. Which of these great phones is the perfect messaging device?
The brand that produces the Blackberry range, RIM and Nokia are long established names in the world of mobile phones and naturally you expect both models to have excellent build quality, which they do. After both manufacturers played around with the design of some of their latest models, it’s nice to see them return to the familiar portrait format that has, over time, proven to be the ideal design for phones like these. This sees the keyboard located below the screen with both elements taking up about half of the phones fascia. There is very little to choose between these two models when it comes to looks, but if I had to pick one model it would be the Blackberry thanks to its overall premium feel. This doesn’t mean the Nokia feels cheap, far from it, but the Blackberry does have something the Nokia lacks. As far as phone screens go, the Bold Touch has a larger 2.8-inch screen compared to Nokia’s 2.46-inch. However, both models have the same 640 x 480 resolution, which means the Nokia’s screen is slightly smaller.
One area where the Blackberry Bold Touch has a big advantage is the use of the Blackberry operating system instead of the Symbian version used on the E6. Despite its latest makeover, the Symbian platform still feels outdated and pales in comparison to the new system found in Bold Touch. This is the new version 7.0 of the platform and it introduces a great voice search feature which is time saving and effective. The entire interface of this phone also looks great thanks to “Liquid Graphics” which makes the entire operation of the phone much more like the incredibly easy to use HTC and Apple devices. Since this is the area that the user interacts with, this is one of the main attractions of the Blackberry, perhaps more so than many of the other great features on offer.
Messaging devices have come a long way from the unreliable models we saw introduced a few years ago. These two phones are the best currently on offer and both are remarkable devices, but the Blackberry Bold Touch looks like the better option thanks to its great build quality along with the excellent OS upgrade.