Why is BB still considered the best email device?

Amp34 · 3 Nov 2011 at 23:36

After this came up briefly in another thread I'm intrigued as to why BBs are still considered the best email device around. Several years ago when the choice was a dumbphone, WinMo or BB then BES and BIS with BBs was probably by far the best. Now with WinPho and iOS (as well as Android) are any of the advantages Blackberries had actually still exist. Things like handling POP3 and exchange support are as good as you can get on WinPho at least, along with things like calander syncronisation. What other benefits are there?

The only positive I can see is the battery life, and for those that don't like touchscreens the clunky keys...

Robbo · 4 Nov 2011 at 00:36

As someone who has a 9900, I'm not really sure. It doesn't seem to do anything particularly special and you need special bolt-ons for it to even work.

Yes, I'm aware it adds security and so on but do non-businesses need that?

HangTime · 4 Nov 2011 at 00:43

Traditional advantage was because it had a keyboard but you can get other phones with that now.

I guess one advantage for businesses is that because BB has been around a long time companies are probably proficient at supporting it and have a lot of existing stock/contracts to distribute.

Popular with ne're-do-wells as well due to supposedly being uncrackable.

Slinky1989 · 4 Nov 2011 at 00:52

As far as I can tell, it's especially useful for people with isp based email or work email due to not having to faff around with pop/imap and smtp server settings to set up an account.

It just works, and having helped hundreds of people set them up, I'm yet to find an email account that it has trouble finding the settings for.

This can be fairly invaluable for some people as I've tried to set up some accounts on android and iphones and just not been able to get them to work no matter what. Grab a bb and shove in the email and password and it just works and that's that.

Other than that and the extra security you get from bb, there isn't really a lot else that they do. Certainly nothing that almost any other smart phone could do anyway.

Steve_bullockuk · 4 Nov 2011 at 08:06

"slinky" said:
Grab a bb and shove in the email and password and it just works and that's that.

Same as iOs and Android.

Unless they have a massive overhaul, I can see them doing a "Nokia" in the not too distant future. They were the "thing" to have a few years ago but they are now being left behind IMO.

Amp34 · 4 Nov 2011 at 08:10

Oh no it doesn't! We have exchange (I think- login through an office 365 portal on our website) and while on my personal phone all I needed to do was select the outlook option in my email client and type in user name and password... On the work blackberry the stupid thing can't seem to sync at all, emails randomly being resent and showing as unread etc. alongside it always taking longer for the emails to arrive on it. The security side is interesting along with the enterprise side of things like locking down parts and remote wiping. On the other hand there are several large companies trying out iPhones to replace them.

Imo no wonder they are hemmoraging sales. The only teal positives are the fact the base models are cheap as chips! I think they have essentialy fallen into the same trap as WinMo did. Used to have the lead in many areas then some young upstarts added these features without RIM ever really evolving.

Robbo · 4 Nov 2011 at 08:24

The whole email interface on BBOS isn't the nicest thing to use in the world either, I was expecting it to be better. It felt very dated to me.

Steve_bullockuk · 4 Nov 2011 at 08:29

Robbo said:
It felt very dated to me.

BB in a nutshell.

Myshra · 4 Nov 2011 at 08:56

In a word, BIS. While exchange is good it doesn't allow VPN services etc... and this is the difference as long as your company uses it. If it's just e-mail you're talking about then anything will do but for companies then BIS is a decent investment for the control system alone.

It is possible to do remote wipe and the like on Android and iOS but it's not entirely the same for reasons I don't really want to go into and on one of the OSes it's actually possible to block this currently (not what businesses want to hear).

englishpremier · 4 Nov 2011 at 11:23

Don't blackberries encrypt all data held on the device and all the data sent from the device?

That would be a major security advantage over other phones.

Columbo · 4 Nov 2011 at 11:37

Ive had a work BB (now a 9900) for the last 7 years and have to say its pretty much the same as it was back then.

It doesn't feel like its moved or evolved into anything more than it was 7 years ago.

OK the general OS experience in the 9900 is improved but for the purpose that it was intended (email, phone, txt) it doesn't feel any more useful or productive than the 9700 or even 9000 I had before it.

Using the Gmail client on my Android phone is better, simpler, more flexible and nicer to look at period.

The menu system for example is still a ******* nightmare in the 9900 and it does my head in.

It needs addressing imo because as iOS, Android and WP7 move with the times, in general I think that Blackberry's have pretty much stood still.

Our IT dept are actively testing 5 WP7 phones currently and the feedback currently is very good, I for one will be very happy if they choose to shift.

Gaygle · 4 Nov 2011 at 11:38

englishpremier said:
That would be a major security advantage over other phones.

In the world of corporate espionage maybe, but the majority of people with BBs wouldn't even know what the word "encrypted" meant.

Jay794 · 4 Nov 2011 at 11:42

Who exactly considers blackberry's the "best email device"? After using my iPhone I find that the email client, now that it (finally) supports hotmail. I think the iPhone Mail app works great.

After using the iPhone's touch screen interface, I dislike the idea of going back to physical keys

mrk · 4 Nov 2011 at 11:59

As above, BB is dated now, we have Torches and Storm 2 devices at work here that I administer on the BES and the interface is just clunky, there are screens for options AND settings, why not all under Settings?

Unlike iOS and Android's long press = menu approach to virtually everything, BB has none of that, relies on you pressing the bb button or cycle various sub menus to get to certain stuff,

Over all, there's not enough polish and it's not hard to see why RIM are losing a whole batch of users every other month to iOS and Android.

Tunney · 4 Nov 2011 at 13:00

Steve_bullockuk said:
Unless they have a massive overhaul, I can see them doing a "Nokia" in the not too distant future. They were the "thing" to have a few years ago but they are now being left behind IMO.

RIM still have time to turn things around. Their userbase is still very loyal on the whole. While the rest of the market has changed, RIM's marketshare in the UK has remained stable.

RIM's new BlackBerry OS look competitive.

Trifid · 4 Nov 2011 at 13:01

englishpremier said:
Don't blackberries encrypt all data held on the device and all the data sent from the device?

That would be a major security advantage over other phones.

Not anything you can't do on other phones (iPhone, don't think android can fully encrypt the phone yet and I believe they have removed(!) the feature from Windows phone 7?).

Myshra · 4 Nov 2011 at 13:32

Indeed it's possible to do encryption via Exchange policy but the way it sets it up isn't as "nice" as the initial setup from a BES server to do secure comms and it requires later versions of Exchange (BES does not) which is a MEGA sticking point for a lot of companies. Add to that the years of design and experience both for Admins and users alike has lead to an intrenched infrastructure of BES.

There's also some businesses which are forced to use BES really (Banking, Aerospace, Arms manufacturing) due to the options available in BES that arn't in Exchange.

The point isn't the handsets, it's the ecosystem that allows companies to securely provide their employees with mobile email.

cu3ed · 4 Nov 2011 at 13:40

I think its always down to the reception quality.

chrismscotland · 4 Nov 2011 at 15:31

I've been a BB user now for a couple of years now having come from the iPhone and HTC Desire and Nokia E72, I find the email to be fairly fuss free, it "does what it says on the tin" no more no less, I think the keyboard is the big draw really, the only other thing that seems to have come close is the Nokia E series (E71/E72), which was lovely but the Symbian OS was horrible

I'm happy with my Blackberry, they are in a difficult space right now as BBOS is dated, even OS7 (Although web browsing is much much better than it was), owning a Playbook I can see what they're wanting to do with the Smartphone OS (PB OS is basically the testbed for the new Phone OS) and its nice, if they can launch it successfully then I think they've still got time to save themselves... if not I wouldn't mind Blackberry hardware running the full Android OS............

Yas786 · 4 Nov 2011 at 15:54

Steve_bullockuk said:
BB in a nutshell.

Which works in a nutshell

Theres nothing fancy about BB or the OS, it just works and plus having the keyboard is a major plus. For me i dont need all this fancy widget crap that you find on Android or even the iphone4, which i have but used mainly for my music collection, games and other useful apps that arent available on the BB OS.

I love the simplicity of the BB, im hoping that they pick it up with the new BBX OS that due to be out sometime next yr.

For me its all about simplicity and thats why i love the BB system and also to an extent the ip4....Android i find too cluttered and fractured as an OS...perhaps things have changed and im definitely going to have a look at the new google nexus phone thats due out soon...my brother in Canada keeps harping on about it yadda yadda but i dont think it will sway me to ditch my BB or iphone4 anytime soon.