The Z10 is BlackBerry’s last shot in the mobile world; in fact, it’s so crucial to the company that they’re not longer RIM anymore, they’re just BlackBerry. So, how’s their last stand going? Well…
The Verge
Thorough as ever, the Verge tested video, camera, other hardware, call quality, native apps, and the new OS. They’ve got good things to say about the Z10’s clean hardware design, keyboard, and new OS, and bad things to say about the phone’s battery life, UI, and sore lack of third party apps. After giving it a tepid seven out of ten, the Verge writes:
“The problem with the Z10 is that it doesn’t necessarily do anything better than any of its competition. Sure, there are arguments that could be made about how it handles messages or the particulars of its camera, but no one could argue that there’s a “killer app” here. Something that makes you want or need this phone because it can do what no other phone can do. That’s not the case — in fact if anything is the case, it’s that the Z10 can’t yet do some things that other devices can. Or at least, can’t do them quite as well.”
Ouch. Read The Verge’s full review here.
AmberMac
Amber likes being able to share images and documents during video chat, time-shifting images, having multiple active frames open at once, the intuitive (and learning) keyboard, and the availability of third-party apps. So what’s bad about it, then? Nothing, apparently. Amber loves the Z10 and thinks that it’ll “win back some users who loved the BlackBerry a few years ago and really want to give them one more try.”
[youtube width=”640″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUI8wDapNs0[/youtube]
Engadget
Engadget thinks that the Z10 is not a phone that says “prestige”, doesn’t like the range of volume, and isn’t impressed with its web performance. They like the OS and the timeshift feature for pictures. Bottom line:
“But, tragically, there’s really nothing to love. Nothing in the Z10 stands out as class-leading… All is not lost: at $199, the Z10 and BB10 are a nice piece of kit. The BlackBerry faithful who’ve been waiting patiently for something more modern will flock to this (and its QWERTY-having cousin) in droves, but there simply isn’t enough here to woo those consumers who have already made investments in Android or iOS. Too little? Maybe. Too late? Sadly.”
Again, ouch. Read Engadget’s full review here.
Ars Technica
It seems like the best thing the Z10’s got going for it is its keyboard, with Ars Technica praising both its accuracy and predictive typing. They also liked the Z10’s mostly smooth performance, camera, and build quality. However, and this is a big however:
“The Z10’s main crime is that it doesn’t really do anything that other phones on the market aren’t already doing. It does some of those things exceptionally well—the Hub’s general implementation is sound, its multitasking implementation is good, and the keyboard is stellar—but they’re not so much better that they’re worth giving up the ecosystems you’re already embedded in if you’ve owned a competing smartphone for a year or two.”
One more time, ouch. Read Ars Technica’s full review here.
