Blackberry Z10 (Review): The Dawn or Dusk of Blackberry?

Is it an iPhone.... is it the HTC One. No its the Blackberry Z10. The Z10 is the first phone to support Blackberry 10. According to Blackberry, This smarrphone is meant to signify a new start for Blackberry (Formerly known as RIM.) Blackberry 10 is the company's last attempt at success but with assets drying up and time passing by, will it be enough to keep the company afloat in this vicious smartphone tide. to put it simply, The Z10 is the rather disastrous Dawn of blackberry 10 but I can already see Blackberry's Dusk soon approaching!


HARDWARE

At first glance, the device does look stunning. Its glossy 4.2 inch screen, its smooth edges and bold buttons as simple yet utterly elegant! The immersive screen has a good re
solution (of  359 pixels per inch) The screen makes for clear, crisp and immersive content viewing (if your battery isn't dead.) Its when you hold the device in your hands when the problems roll out. The device has that common mid-range plastic-feel and it just seems too small, its definitely small for previous Galaxy S users but it may be okay for previous iPhone or Blackberry users. Overall, I like the look of the device. It undoubtable looks premium but it doesn't feel it. The phone's design is unique however It still isn't better than the Galaxy S4, the iPhone 5 or even its twin, the HTC One.

A SPEC-SENTENCE

A spec-sheet thats so short, it can be called a "Spec-sentence." We've seen amazing spec-sheets over the past few months from Samsung and Nokia, Spec-sheets that I struggle to write on one page. Then you get Blackberry with a few average specs that we've seen 2 years ago. The saddest part is that blackberry openly boasts these "Features"on its websites. They expect phrases like, "Front-Facing camera" and "3G ready" to draw customers in. * Lets take a moment of silence to show how pathetic is, if you can stop laughing. *  

TOUR

On the front of the device, you will find The 4.2 inch screen. Blackberry branding below the screen. The headset speaker, LED indicator and the illusive Front-facing camera. Something I really don't understand is the dual bezels on the device, many people have commented that they are for 'design' purposes but if so I really think it doesn't look nice (at all.) It would have been good to see some speakers on them (like the HTC One.)  but the again Blackberry has so little content to play through the speakers. On the bottom you shall find the primary speakers, which make for muffled sound quality. The positioning of the speakers are bad as I find myself covering the speakers when holding it in landscape mode. The Top of the device has a Sleep/wake button which is also oddly placed right in the middle. Although it looks better, its just hard to press the button when using the phone with one hand. The right side is home to two volume rockers as well as a programmable button in the middle. (similar to the one found on the 9900.) The left side houses the connection ports, The MicroUSB Charging port and the HDMI Port for sharing your screen. Finally we yet to the removable back panel which you will remove to install a Sim card or MicroSD as well as to remove or change the battery. Speaking of the Battery, The Z10 has a fairly large 1800 mAH battery which is good for about a day however the battery life does tend to deteriorate after a few weeks of usage. Getting back to the Back of the device, the Z10 has a textured Back panel which isn't as good as the one on the Q10 but its really nice and gripp-able. On the back you will also find the fair 8MP camera and the Blackberry logo. 

CAMERA

The Rear-shooter is a 8MP camera which is very similar to the iPhone 5 and the Q10's. It makes for Clear and crisp pictures. The camera is amazing and is definitely a camera I would use for everyday photography. Although the flash helps in low-light situations, I find that the flash gives pictures an unusual glowing hue. The Z10 also has a fair front-facing camera that can be used to take pictures of yourself and for 3rd party apps like Skype.

BLACKBERRY 10 OS

Blackberry 10 is Blackberry's last attempt to get you, the end user to join the Blackberry eco-system abandoning all android and iOS have to offer for what seems like a joke if you ask me. Blackberry 10 virtually takes features from iOS and Android and calls them their own! Apple and Google  haven't even bothered to do anything about it because I think even they feel sorry for Blackberry's failed attempt. Blackberry 10 just feels like you living in 2008. The software has a good look to it but at the end of the day the features are outdated and aren't useful. An example is one of Blackberry 10's key features is Blackberry Remind which does what Apple's Reminders did in iOS 5 (in 2011)!

BLACKBERRY BALANCE

Blackberry Balance is a feature that separates your work files from your personal files, which I think is an amazing feature. It works well and its definitely a feature I love in Blackberry 10. It really defines Blackberry as a work phone and a personal phone for real business people.  Its more features like these that I want to see.

BLACKBERRY HUB

Blackberry Hub allows you to have a peek at your notifications at a glance from any application by just swiping across the screen. The feature is similar to Android and iOS's Notifications but the layout is unique. It works fairly well, however I would have liked to see Blackberry allow you to reply to messages from Blackberry Hub. 

KEYBOARD

I hate to give it to Blackberry but the on-screen keyboard on the Z10 is undoubtable the best i've ever typed on. It just looks stunning and works even better. With the keyboard its just easier to draft an email or text a friend. It feels real, typing is not only easier but friendlier, The Blackberry keyboard learns your way of typing and adjust so you don't have to worry about miss spelling a word because the Blackberry Keyboard will correct you. It also looks at your most used words to give you word suggestions, all you have to do it swipe them up. Its as easy as QWERTY. 

DOCS TO GO

Edit and write your own Microsoft Office Word, exel or powerpoint documents ,basically polaris with blackberry branding! Docs to go is really helpful as you can edit documents on the way to meeting on the streets of south africa and nobody will steal the phone because even thieves don't want blackberrys. Maybe that would be a good feature for blackberry to add to their brochures... You're welcome Blackberry! No seriously , Docs to go on the Q10 is hard to use due to the small screen , so I find it useless on the Q10 also getting the documents onto your PC can be a lengthy task. (installing unneeded software)

BLACKBERRY WORLD

Blackberry World would either make or brake Blackberry 10. It doesn't matter how bad the Operating system is, if Blackberry world had a good selection of apps then the software would be shadowed. Sadly thats not the case. I do commend Blackberry for trying - blackberry gave out several "Dev Alpha"devices to help developers get a feel of Blackberry 10 but few of them developed worth while applications and as a result, blackberry world isn't just okay, its scarce! Although Blackberry now allows you to port android applications they don't work that well or they don't work at all! On the Q10 you will hardly find android applications that will run on its unusual square screen, same goes with the Q5. Another thing Blackberry introduced is music and videos to the Blackberry World, which indeed opens new opportunities but why buy music on blackberry when you can buy it on Apple and listen to it on your computer and on your iPad/iPods where as you can only listen to Blackberry music on your Blackberry 10 Smartphone. (Blackberry "World" isn't available on previous Blackberry devices)

BLACKBERRY MESSENGER

Blackberry Messenger got a new blackberry 10 facelift however no matter how popular BBM is, i still think the platform is slow and that other platforms like ChatOn and whatsapp are the best messaging platforms. BBM was the major factor on previous Blackberry smart phones but with no BIS (Blackberry Internet Services) It just isn't needed. I have also found lately that there are more people using whatsapp than BBM. I just think BBM features are outdated and Blackberry just played attention on useless details instead of focusing on the bigger picture. I find myself hardly using features like BBM Voice and Video as their simple aren't enough people with Blackberry 10 smart phones.

SEARCH

The search tool is really handy. Have you ever really needed a file but cant find it. Say goodbye to those angry bosses or teachers because this search utility beats Apple's by far. Blackberry Search suggest files from the device as well as suggestions on Blackberry World and the internet in order to supply you with the best search results on a mobile device. 

SOFTWARE CONCLUSION

Overall I think Blackberry OS 10 is a really big improvement from Blackberry OS7. It has better graphics, a better layout and is faster but with dated features and annoying gestures this OS update just isn't enough to make people move from Android or iOS to Blackberry 10. From a Software standpoint, Blackberry 10 just seems confused! Is it a flagship device? Is it a Social phone? Is it a Blackberry? It just seems as though blackberry tried too hard. They were to busy trying to mimic their competition that they lost view of what Blackberry was really about, now it doesn't feel like im holding a Blackberry in my hands. Blackberry 10 has some amazing features like Blackberry Keyboard and Blackberry search but will a search utility and on-screen keyboard really save Blackberry? 

CONCLUSION

Blackberry has done an amazing job with the Z10 its beautiful and its unique. No matter what people may say. The Z10 is in my opinion a bold and striking move for Blackberry. I like that they made that move but I question whether its enough for the company. A dated operating system, a seemingly confused design and a dead App Store means consumers aren't interested in the Z10. Why would they be when there are phones with better specs and software. Blackberry is dying, but they are ending on a good note. I see a device that isn't all that good but its reliable, its convenient and its just a statement to everyone on how far Blackberry has come. It may not be the best phone out there but as a business person, a social person or a student. The Z10 is a phone i'd buy. Features like Blackberry keyboard, blackberry search , Docs to go and even the annoying gestures makes this phone so perfect for everyday life. I like this phone because its not trying to be something its not! It may be the dusk of Blackberry but its definitely the dawn of something new, Something unique and something that I really like...