just asking

[babysexy]

What's the different from talking on the phone or emailing each other ? I feel its the same thing ..

[MaidenMinx]

Talking on the phone is more intimate and real.

[tarakat]

In an email, you can hide more of your true feelings and edit what you say. A conversation is more revealing about who the person really is, how they think and how they feel. Emails are often a passive aggressive attempt at conversation, a way to be not completely engaged or good if you have something brief to say.
You can read anything you want into an email or convey yourself in an impersonal or even fake way with careful crafting.
A spontaneous phone conversation can be more intimate and yes, more real!
I

[bcgirl]

on the phone you are able to hear the person's voice. A voice can give off signals of nervousness, anger, happiness etc.

[thiudiskr]

When you talk on the phone, you get the prosody element of the dialogue. Email has something similar; tones and emphasis are portrayed in different ways - emoticons, usage of "lol", variation in grammar, etc.

I disagree that one is more formal or closer than the other. Typed messages can relay signals of nervousness, anger, happiness, etc., too. It always depends on the listener's ability to decipher the code that is the expression of dialogue.