A couple of years ago, one remarkable device appeared on the mobile device market, which immediately pushed regular shop shelves. The gadget did an excellent job with almost all the tasks assigned to it, and all the controls were built on gestures.
So, the subject of today's review is the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone: characteristics, description, advantages and disadvantages of the model, as well as expert opinions along with reviews of ordinary users of the gadget.
What kind of fruit?
Z10 is, in fact, the same magic pill that allowed Canadians with due chic to return to the mobile device market and take their rightful place there. A little earlier, "Blackberry" and its products were lost against the background of the "Chinese", "Koreans" and "apple" gadgets. But after the release of the brand new BlackBerry Z10 STL100 with a unique operating system, the competition unfolded in earnest. A very interesting device interested many potential customers, deploying them to the new BlackBerry brainchild from the already fed up iPhones, Androids and Windows.
The BlackBerry Z10 smartphone is seriously different from previous lines released by the venerable brand. Many fans of high-quality mobile devices have a new look at the company's products. Let's try to more carefully understand what exactly the BlackBerry Z10 gadget can hook the future owner.
Design
The appearance of the new device can be called with full confidence beautiful. By its features, it slightly resembles the “iPhone” of the fifth version, but only remotely - you will not see the familiar Home button here.
The gadget is made of matte and glossy plastic, and very high quality. This is visible not only visually, but also felt to the touch. Holding the Z10 in your palm, you feel that you have a monolithic device in your hands without the shadow of marriage and defects.
There are no distinctive features on the monoblock itself. The model can be called correct in terms of ergonomics. The device lies pleasantly in the hand, and there is absolutely no discomfort while working with it. A corrugated texture is applied to the back of the gadget, so the smartphone does not slip out of hand. In general, with all its appearance, the device says that it is intended for a business audience: elegant, classically beautiful and strict, without any ruffles and other “funny” surroundings.
Interfaces
On the right side of the BlackBerry (OS 10) there is a convenient button for launching voice search and a volume rocker. By the way, in numerous reviews, no, no, and even indignation slips about a not completely thought-out search. It’s not even Google Voice and Siri, which upsets. The model is very picky about intonations and pronunciation as a whole, so voice search is clearly not the thing about the BlackBerry Z10. The characteristics of the rocker were very pleased: the accidental pressing somewhere in the pocket of trousers or jeans is excluded, and during operation it is quite malleable.
On the left side of the device, you can see two connectors - micro-HDMI (for connecting to a monitor) and micro-USB (for network charging and synchronization with a personal computer). The interfaces are pretty tightly placed, so using the dock is not very comfortable on the BlackBerry Z10. The characteristics of previous models made it possible to work calmly with peripherals due to special contacts on the case, but in Z10, alas, this moment is not provided.
At the top end, clearly in the center, there is a gadget shutdown button, it brings the smartphone out of sleep mode. A little to the left is the 3.5 mm port for working with a headset and headphones.
On the back you can see a metal logo, and in the upper right corner there is an 8 megapixel camera and a flash. We will talk about its capabilities below. At the bottom of the gadget there is nothing but a small groove for removing the cover.
It is also worth noting separately that the model has an external battery for smartphones, that is, a removable type, which means that it is easy to replace it in a emergency situation with a spare one. Under the cover there are slots for micro-SD cards, and with the possibility of "hot" replacement, as well as a place for a micro-SIM card.
The gadget does not have any special or remarkable buttons. Everything is about the same as with other similar devices. However, the BlackBerry Z10 case characteristics have their own unique features, which are not immediately visible. It's all about small magnets mounted in the design of the smartphone. They are responsible for the transition of the device to sleep mode. To make it work properly, you need a BlackBerry Z10 branded case. The process is quite simple: you put the device in the case - the screen goes blank, pulls out - it lights up affably. Owners in their reviews have repeatedly noted this original feature with a high rating. And you can immediately notice for fans of the “apple” products that Smart Cover for iPad is not the discoverer of such a chip, because BlackBerry became the pioneers of this principle.
Housing
The material of the case and the structure itself as a whole must be given their due - everything was done very well, and without any complaints. Even despite the presence of such a moment as a movable back cover (the ability to connect an external battery for smartphones), the gadget does not creak, does not play and does not crunch.
The device is sold in two colors - classic black and white. If you make some effort, you can stumble upon a model from a limited batch of red, but this is very rare. As for the cost of the BlackBerry Z10 (the price is about 14,000 rubles), the balance of price and return is, in principle, observed.
Screen
The gadget's screen is built on a TFT-matrix with a resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels with a diagonal of 4.2 inches. The specifications are, of course, rustic, but the picture is bright and really high-quality. Separately, it is worth mentioning the auto-adjustment of brightness, since it is extremely sensible here: in a poorly lit room, the screen does not blind, and on a sunny day all data is clearly visible. The only negative that owners complain about in their reviews is that they cannot disable auto-tuning, although this point cannot be called critical.
Also, the screen of the BlackBerry Z10 was notable for good viewing angles, even despite the TFT-layout. There are no problems when looking from above or from the side: the colors are not inverted, the contrast does not “dance”. Of course, the display could have been better for such a strategically important and serious model as the Z10, but despite this, looking through a photo or watching a video in the company of one or two like-minded people can be without any problems.
Camera
The BlackBerry Z10 gadget (firmware 10.3.1.2243) is equipped with a very good 8 megapixel camera that can shoot high-definition video in Full HD format. There is also a high-quality LED flash for more correct shooting. In general, the whole set is like in any other business-class smartphone, like the same iPhone 5 series.
There is no special button for activating the camera, so all the main actions (shooting and focusing) occur through manipulations on the touch screen. It is sad that there are no settings either. The company promises to finalize this point with subsequent firmware, because taking pictures without individual tweaks is the last century, and such a photo will only work for Instagram, but for now we hope and wait.
In principle, the camera in the BlackBerry Z10 LTE is not needed for this, especially in the device designed for the business segment. But in any case, you can click on the girl you liked on the street without any problems, but alas, it will not work to make a highly artistic shot.
Performance
BlackBerry (OS 10) is equipped with TI OMAP 4470 processors that support dual-core platforms at a clock frequency of 1.5 GHz. On board also has 2 GB of RAM, which should be enough for almost everything.
The gadget understands quite quickly, the processes do not freeze, do not freeze, and no serious brakes were noticed, which cannot but rejoice. The only benchmark that works more or less correctly with this platform is Geekbench. The result was very good - 1430 points. The indicator can be compared with the level of the same “iPhone” of the fifth series, “Samsung” “Galaxy” 3 and NTS One S.
Offline work
The model is equipped with a 1800 mAh lithium-ion battery. Such a capacity for a powerful processor and a large screen is clearly not enough. A more or less acceptable battery option for such characteristics is 2400 or 2200 mAh. Therefore, it is not clear what the company's engineers were guided at the time of the gadget.
But, despite such a modest battery capacity, the device can work for about 1-2 days on a full charge, and in active mode. The manufacturer promises the owner about 17 days of standby time. It seems like not bad, but that's just nobody uses smartphones in this way. In principle, the problem of device autonomy can easily be solved with the help of an external battery, which the same NTS and iPhone do not have, so this moment can be called critical with a stretch.
Nearest rivals Z10
Since the Z10 is the full-fledged flagship of BlackBerry, we will compare the gadget with the top devices of other venerable brands. Maybe this comparison is devoid of a certain sense, since the philosophy of these devices is very different, but it will help users to some extent decide on the purchase and put some points on the “i”.
iPhone 5
Here everything rests on the popularity of the platform for developers. Naturally, on the "apple" resources of all kinds of applications for the "iPhone" is much more, unlike the "BlackBerry". As for the technical component, the gadgets are on a par.
The Z10 is assembled no worse than the same iPhone: a good built-in camera, an ergonomic body, a pretty nice look, and most importantly - a smart and intuitive interface. The cost of the most modest configuration of the “iPhone” of the fifth series is comparable to the price of Z10, so the point here is in the taste and “worship” of any one particular brand.
Samsung Galaxy S IV
Galaxy S Series is rightfully considered the leader of the Android Brotherhood. According to his technical data, he easily steps over the fifth iPhone and our Z10. Nevertheless, a number of controversial issues still occur.
One of such moments is that the screen is too hypertrophied, due to which the Galaxy not only looks much larger than the Z10, but also suffers from extremely unbalanced ergonomics - it is simply impossible to work with it with one hand. In addition, battery life has never been a strong point of Android devices. Galaxy was no exception, literally devouring a battery in a matter of hours.
In terms of all kinds of software, “Android” is rapidly catching up with “Apple”, and also noticeably ahead of Z10. As for working in a multi-tasking environment, here BlackBerry with an enviable margin comes to the fore - the system works much better than Android and Apple combined. So admirers of high-quality and problem-free multitasking are welcome to the counter with Z10.
Summarizing
Judging by the reviews of experts in this field, the eminent BlackBerry managed to revive and embellish its product line with a new flagship. Yes, the gadget lost the familiar QWERTY keyboard, but it got a pretty smart and large screen, coupled with a completely new operating system. Some features of the new OS are somewhat similar to the moves of other competing platforms, and some are fundamentally different.
In general, working with the BlackBerry Z10 (price - about 14,000 rubles) is a pleasure, both with the smartphone itself and with its operating system.
Maybe BlackBerry does not have an ecosystem as well developed as the same Android or iOS, and finding a familiar application is a problem. But such stagnation can be called temporary, since the OS is relatively fresh, so you do not have to wait for a wide variety of software. It seems that the situation will gradually improve, as was the case with the mobile Windows.
If we talk about the quality of execution, the flagship BlackBerry is not inferior even to the “iPhones”. Z10 is already pressing models of other vendors, and the only thing that rests on the process of conquering the mobile market is the amount of software.