The Z10 is perhaps the most important launch for a beleaguered BlackBerry. It makes no bones about its ambitions — a whole new operating system and fresh hardware — built specifically to reach out to a smartphone-crazy populace obsessed with appearances, apps and attention to detail.
Say what you will about the company, but you'll quite easily find scores of die-hard BlackBerry fans, eagerly waiting for their next fix. That being said, it is our opinion that BlackBerry should have launched both the Z10 and the upcoming Q10 simultaneously — to appeal to both BlackBerry loyalists (who only want a physical keypad) and the touchscreen savvy group.
In addition, launching from the top down — flagship device first — might just put off people who have more established (and cheaper) competitors to choose from. Here's our take on the Z10 after using it for a few days.
Camera
You can start the camera up from the lockscreen (with a long press), dock or from the app drawer. There is no dedicated shutter button but you can use the volume up/down keys or tap anywhere on the screen to take a photo. The default camera app is a bit bare with hardly any options to change modes or add effects (you can't even change image size). Thankfully, other camera apps (like CameraXFree) have started appearing which will give you a lot more options. The highlight in the default camera app is the 'time shift' feature - when switched on, the device captures a few photos before and after you actually click. If one of your subjects is not striking a good pose, you can just choose another pose/angle to 'correct' it. Overall camera quality is impressive, with high detail and good quality low light photographs.
The Operating System
The entire interface is operated with a combination of swipes and taps. This means you do have to spend some time learning and getting used to how the phone operates. The best part is that you can wake the device up by just swiping the screen up from the lower edge. Notifications (new email, Facebook, Twitter etc) are available at any time with a 'Peek' - swipe up and hold. Swipe up and right to get to the Hub, a central location for all communication. Any app can be minimised to a live 'card' with an upward swipe. Importantly, there is no separate BlackBerry plan required with this device - just a regular data connection will do.
Screen
The Z10 has a 4.2-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels. This gives it a pixel density of 355ppi (pixels per inch) — higher than the iPhone 5. It is pin-sharp and offers fantastic contrast and viewing angles. The high pixel density means that you will not see individual pixels even when looking closely at the screen — providing sharper images and easy to read text. Brightness levels may not be the best, but they are more than adequate — the screen is viewable even under direct sunlight. Notably, the screen does not use Corning's Gorilla Glass, but a generic scratch-resistant glass. Response from the 4-point multi-touch screen is fantastic. However, swipe gestures take some getting used to. A number of times, while swiping up from the lower edge for a 'Peek', we missed the starting point. Another oddity is that while viewing an app in landscape mode, you have a very narrow bezel. One big issue is that the display is a fingerprint and smudge magnet and requires constant cleaning, else it affects the touch recognition for swipe gestures.
Keyboard
The on-screen keyboard will be a hot topic of debate on the Z10. It looks a bit similar to the keyboard on the Bold series — large keys with metal bands adding space between the rows. It suggests whole words as you type and automatically corrects spellings in a non-intrusive manner (unlike an iPhone, which often makes embarrassing errors for you — if you're not careful). While there's no doubt that it's smart and keeps learning words as you type, it is not a 'one size fits all' type of keyboard — and you can't switch to another keyboard like with Swype or Swiftkey on an Android phone.
Battery Life
Battery life has always been a weak point with BlackBerry devices especially considering the kind of use they're put through. With an 1,800 mAh battery on the Z10, we weren't expecting much considering the large touchscreen and powerful hardware. With mixed use (calls, email, social networking, BBM, multimedia, brightness at 40% and data switched on) the Z10 will probably not last a full day. This is inspite of an extremely efficient Qualcomm processor and no apps running in the background. Future updates to the OS may increase battery life marginally, but we wouldn't count on it. We did not like was that there is no battery percentage or time remaining info given for the battery icon. Thankfully, third party apps like BX Battery Info can give you some real-time info in a live card.
The Biggest Issue
A basic suite of apps (document viewers, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare) is included. BlackBerry says that there are already 70,000 apps for BB10 on BlackBerry World — but you need to take that number with a pinch of salt. In reality, you will find that several of your favourites are not available yet. It's also apparent that many of the existing apps are hurried ports from Android apps — erratic, unresponsive buttons are usually the first giveaway. This is probably one of the biggest challenges for BlackBerry - in an app-driven world, it has to compete with the gargantuan and highly evolved app libraries of iOS and Android.
The Bottom Line
It's a trying time for BlackBerry but BB10 provides a glimmer of hope. Now, what needs to be done is to add the apps that everyone wants, regularly update the operating system to iron out bugs and to quickly launch more devices at different price points — especially in emerging markets. Considering the price, the Z10 has some stiff competition (see box below). Also note that while the launch price may be high, market forces will probably peg the price closer to Rs 40,000.
Specifications: ET Review
Price (Rs): 43,490
SCREEN: 4.2-inch (1280 x 768 pixels)
PROCESSOR/RAM: 1.5Ghz dual-core/2GB
STORAGE: 16GB + microSD
OPERATING SYSTEM: BlackBerry 10
BATTERY (mAh): 1,800
CAMERA (front/rear): 8MP/2MP
NUMBER OF APPS: 70,000
THICKNESS/ WEIGHT: 9mm / 137.5g
PORTS: Micro HDMI, Micro USB, 3.5mm
OTHERS: Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, BlackBerry messenger with video calling, predictive keyboard
Z10's Competition
Apple iPhone 5: Rs 45,500
HTC Butterfly: Rs 45,990
Samsung Galaxy Note II: Rs 35,600
Nokia Lumia 920: Rs 34,999
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