The BlackBerry Torch 9800 has just been introduced onto the smartphone scene, offering a capacitive touchscreen, upgraded OS and a whole lot more to boot.A whole bunch of BlackBerry newness is making its debut on the Torch 9800, which for the moment really sets it apart from other BlackBerry devices on the market. It's the first and only slider BlackBerry. It's the first BlackBerry to feature a 'proper' touchscreen (no SurePress clicking on the screen required). It's the first BlackBerry to get the bump up to a 5 megapixel camera. It's also the first BlackBerry device model to have BlackBerry 6, which ushers in a bunch of new features, including the new WebKit rendering engine.
Here is the comparison between BlackBerry Torch 9800 and iPhone 4:
Screen
If we're going to compare numbers, the iPhone 4's screen wins hands down, with a much higher resolution 640x960 pixels, 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen, but don't rule out the BlackBerry Torch's 360x480 pixel, 3.2-inch display. It's crisp, bright and flawless, just as the BlackBerry Bold 9700's is.
The iPhone's resolution may be higher, but seeing as it has more pixels than the human eye can actually see, it's more show over substance.
It is very responsive though and for this reason, the iPhone wins, but after all Apple has had much more practice with capacitive screens than BlackBerry, so you'd kind of expect them to win this one anyway.
Winner: iPhone 4
Processor
The iPhone 4's 1Ghz processor may pack a punch, but this doesn't mean it runs faster than the BlackBerry Torch 9800's. The latter may only pack in a 624MHz processor, but BlackBerry memory management is much better than the iPhone's.
At some points, the iPhone struggles and without full fat multitasking, this is a little bit disappointing.
The BlackBerry Torch, however, steams along and doesn't need an enhanced processor to power multitasking as the iPhone 4 does.
Winner: BlackBerry Torch 9800
Browser
The iPhone 4's Safari browser was certainly the best on a smartphone up to now, but the BlackBerry Torch 9800's WebKit browser beats the iPhone's. Firstly, it supports tabbed browsing. Sure, you can access multiple pages on the Safari browser, but it's not as smooth as switching between tabs.
The browser also uses your text size preferences to resize text within the browser - ensuring it's always the size you want it to be. The Blackberry webKit browser also renders websites much better than the previous browser, finally!
Winner: BlackBerry Torch 9800
Applications
Although BlackBerry will be introducing new APIs to developer, including access to the HTML 5-powered WebKit browser API and carrier billing, applications still come secondary to the App Store's offering. Sure, BlackBerry offers more CRM apps for business users, but for consumers, the iPhone easily conquers BlackBerry.
BlackBerry apps are also notably more expensive than iPhone applications, while there's a lot less choice in App World. You may be able to buy BlackBerry apps from third parties unlike for the iPhone, but iPhone apps are much more inventive and cover a wider range compared to BlackBerry.
Winner: Apple iPhone 4
Keyboard
As every touchscreen phone user will agree, touchscreen keyboards are great once you've got used to them - the iPhone's most certainly included. But hardware keyboards just work, no getting used to required.
This is especially the case when using one so marvellous as the BlackBerry Torch's. Although you can opt to use one of the Torch's virtual keyboards (there are four choices - landscape Qwerty, portrait Qwerty, Alphanumeric and BlackBerry's Suretype), we'd highly recommend using the hardware slide out Qwerty if you're planning on writing a long email.
Winner: BlackBerry Torch 9800
Operating System
With two new operating systems battling it out, it's no wonder this is a hard call. the iPhone 4's iOS4 was a big improvement over previous iPhone operating systems, down to its multitasking capability, universal inbox and better exchange support.
The BlackBerry already supported these, so instead RIM has added a number of more consumer friendly features into the mix including easier set up for email and social networking, plus push support for RSS feeds, enhanced homescreen customisation, plus a universal search tool that competes with Apple's Spotlight search.
Winner: It's a draw
Storage
The iPhone has always excelled when it comes to storage, but to the annoyance of many users, there's still no microSD card slot for you to bump up the memory.
The BlackBerry Torch 9800 ships with a 4GB memory card, but you can give your phone a boost with a microSD card up to 32GB, and more when high capacities become available.
Winner: BlackBerry Torch 9800
Camera
Both the iPhone 4 and the BlackBerry Torch 9800 have seen a higher resolution camera installed compared to previous versions. Both 5-megapixels, the iPhone 4's camera supports HD video recording, where the BlackBerry's camera only shoots in SD (VGA resolution).
BlackBerrys have always had great image quality and the Torch 9800 is no different. However, the iPhone 4's camera offers much crisper photos, and a secondary video camera too!
Winner: Apple iPhone 4
Kudos does have to go to Apple here - the company has finally managed to produce a phone that lasts all day. However, RIM has always produced handsets that offer the stamina of a horse, because of the company's data management.
The iPhone may have a higher capacity battery (1420mAh in comparison to the Torch's 1300mAh), but it won't keep going for days on end like the BlackBerry will.
Winner: BlackBerry Torch 9800
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