With each passing day, more and more folks here in Nigeria are being drawn into the BlackBerry circle which in my opinion is a good thing 'cause I'm on #TeamBlackBerry all the way and would love to see RIM rise above its recents financial losses.
Despite being a fan, I do have to admit that Research In Motion's BlackBerry smartphone has its' shortcomings just like the mighty Apple iPhone does. If the BlackBerry is going to be your first smartphone, you can go ahead and purchase one without much hesitation but if you've been a proud owner of one of those hi-end smartphones like the Nokia N8, N900 and E7, there are a few things you must take into consideration before doling out cash for a BlackBerry device.
BLACKBERRY DATA SUBSCRIPTION IS COMPULSORY
Without a BlackBerry Internet Plan or Wi-Fi access, your blackberry device is just a texting and voice call device with mediocre camera. Internet traffic on BlackBerry phones is routed through RIMs servers in different strategic locations across the globe. Access to these servers is limited to those with an active BIS plan. I think Nigeria uses the servers in the UK. Your regular smartphone data plan will not work on the BlackBerry Platform. Even the Wi-Fi itself requires an active blackberry data plan.
There's nothing as annoying as having BIS connection go awol while regular internet is still working just fine especially when you have important stuff to do online. It makes you want to slam the device across the nearest wall.
LACK OF PLETHORA OF APPS
Mobile application guzzlers and those of you who have experienced the richness of the Android Marketplace and Nokia Ovi store, will have a hard time adapting to BlackBerry's Appworld as it practically has
just a little over a mere 60, 000 applications only.
You can imagine something as simple as an effective download manager is still missing from the BlackBerry Appworld.
CAMERA SUCKS
If you're addicted to taking clean hi-resolution pictures with your Nokia N8 or Samsung Galaxy S II, I strongly advice you not to make the BlackBerry device your primary carry-everywhere-you-go device as you'll be disappointed. In my experience the quality of pics on the BlackBerry Bold 9900's 5MP camera is almost the same as those obtainable from the 2MP camera on the budget feature phone, Nokia Asha 200.
Let's just say quality cellphone cameras are not one of the BlackBerry's strengths.
If you can overlook these setbacks of the BlackBerry phone, then I say go for it.
In my opinion, I've been able to adapt to the BlackBerry's shortcomings quite well as 99% of the apps I truly need are available via BlackBerry Appworld for free and I'm never keen on taking pictures with my Bold's camera.
The compulsory BIS thing still pisses me off though and I wish RIM Canada would just offer some form of alternative in the BlackBerry Operating System that allows us use of the internet when the BlackBerry Internet Service temporarily goes down.
As always feel free to ask any question and I'd be glad to help out. Don't forget to share on twitter and facebook.
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