Differences Between the Blackberry Playbook and the HTC Flyer

Blackberry Playbook vs HTC Flyer

The Blackberry Playbook and the HTC Flyer are two very similar tablets at first glance; and rightfully so, since they both share the same screen size, resolution, and even the weight is close to identical. But beyond the obvious similarities, there are also differences. The biggest difference between the Blackberry Playbook and the HTC Flyer is the OS. While HTC went with the popular Android OS for the Flyer, Blackberry went and developed their own, called the Blackberry Tablet OS. Blackberry says that their OS can run Android apps, but that is only the older ones meant for Smartphones and not for Honeycomb and later versions.

The Playbook seems to have the better hardware as it uses a dual core processor. The processor of the Flyer may be clocked higher, but the extra core makes a huge difference. This difference is apparent when you consider the video recording capabilities of the two. The Flyer is only able to manage 720p recording while the Playbook is capable of 1080p video recording with both cameras. And speaking of cameras, the front-facing camera of the Playbook has an uncharacteristically high resolution at 3MP.  In contrast, the Flyer has a more standard 1.3MP front-facing camera.

When it comes to storage, both the Playbook and the Flyer come in varying capacities. The Playbook comes in 16/32/64GB models while the Flyer only comes in 16/32GB models. To compensate, the Flyer has a microSD card slot that is able to take memory cards of up to 32GB. This gives you expandability and flexibility with your storage needs.

The most important thing that differentiates the Flyer from the Playbook, as well as all other tablets, is the Scribe. This feature uses a special stylus that allows the user to write and draw on the tablet. Don’t expect professional level stylus functions, but Scribe lets you write notes, highlight, and even draw just like you would with a pen.

Summary:

1. The Playbook uses Blackberry’s own Tablet OS while the Flyer uses Android.
2. The Playbook has a dual core processor while the Flyer does not.
3. The Playbook is capable of recording 1080p video while the Flyer is not.
4. The Playbook has a higher resolution front-facing camera than the Flyer.
5. The Flyer has a microSD card slot while the Playbook does not.
6. The Flyer has a stylus functionality while the Playbook does not.