Nokia E7 vs BlackBerry Torch 9800

Nokia and BlackBerry have long since been seen as stalwarts of the demanding business community. They have, for many years, been relied upon as must-have devices to manage ones professional life but their appeal has seen something of a drop in recent years.  The introduction of Apple’s iPhone saw a shift in demand, and the smartphone market took a decidedly sharp step forward, leaving Nokia and RIM behind.

Nokia’s E7 and BlackBerry's 9800 Torch each represent a re-evaluation from their respective stables and a fervent attempt to bring both manufacturers back in line with the current smartphone market. So, let’s do the decent thing and pit them against each other to see which one sinks and which one swims.
The BlackBerry Torch 9800 is something of a hybrid. It offers users a solid touchscreen experience but marries the much-loved ‘Berry keyboard to the package, allowing for the fast, accurate communication that RIM has been lauded for providing for two decades. While the touchscreen is nice, it’s not quite up there with the industry leaders and we can’t quite work out why RIM opted to mark its new era with something which was ostensibly behind the times.
The device itself is nice though, with a pleasing feel in-hand. It weighs in with almost identical dimensions as it’s cousin, the 9700 Bold, except for a millimetre or two here or there. The guts of the device punch well above the weight of the 9700 though, with both RAM and ROM doubled to 512MB. What is a shame is that RIM decided to keep the 624MHz processor of the Bold which, though sufficient, won’t set the world alight and certainly won’t hold its own against the standard 1GHz Snapdragon found in most of its competitors.
 Messaging is and always shall be the bread and butter of a BlackBerry though, and the Torch is no exception. It performs tirelessly and the keyboard is great for typing longer communications. ‘Berry’s messaging chops are all subject to subscription though and it’s worth noting that without subscribing the device is little more than an expensive paper-weight.
Conversely Nokia’s E7 offers all of the above (and some might argue, more) without so much as a sniff of subscription fees.
Nokia’s E7 is a Symbian^3 based messenger, which doesn’t quite cut the compact figure that the BlackBerry does. What it lacks in bijou design it makes up for it specification though, with 256MB RAM, 16GB on-board storage and a 680MHz ARM Cortex processor with 3D graphics acceleration. The chassis, while burly, is well constructed and has the same re-assuring feel as other Nokia devices.