I have a Blackberry Curve (8300 or 8310 or something like that), and my husband has an iPhone. The iPhone does have a lot of neat apps and such, but yes, my husband has a horrible time sometimes with just talking to someone with it! He even went to the Apple store with it once because it was so bad and they exchanged it for a new one (under warranty), and they said it's a common problem with the phones when they get dropped.
My Blackberry is great with calls. I don't like the built-in browser, so I downloaded Opera Mini for it and it is great. I've got the Gmail app that will let me know when I get email. Also have Google Maps app, and the Google search app. Only problem with the Google search app is it uses the built-in browser and you can't set it to use Opera instead.
A newer Blackberry probably has better features, but I've had mine for 2 years with no major problems. My husband hasn't had his iPhone for a year and like I said, already had it replaced!
Oh, if you get a Blackberry, do NOT get any sort of water or liquid on it!! I killed the keyboard on my first one with just a few drops of water! whoops!