BlackBerry Z10 (CDMA)
Phone Scoop Review
Feb 8, 2013 by Eric M. Zeman
The Z10 is the first smartphone to run the new BlackBerry 10 operating system. It's a dramatic re-write for BlackBerry, and is now available from Verizon Wireless with LTE 4G. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
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Love this BB Z10
I've had my Z10 right at a year now and I'm still in love with it. I'm on the site now because I just ordered the Z30 a couple days ago.
I've had BB's since they were monochrome back in ~2003 and this newer OS and Z10/Q10/Z30 operating systems are just amazing and using current technology like swiping and touch screen, pinch and zoom, and a good quality camera!
Texting and e-mailing is so much easier than on other BB's with the predictive text. The only faster way to type/text is using voice to text, which the Z10 can do, for most people. My voice is so low that ANY voice recognition software has problems understanding me, but the Z10 does better than any other device I'e used. I've typed entire paragraphs using almost nothing but predictive text and only a few letters here and there to prompt for new words. I like it much better than the predictive text on my wifes Android based phone.
Signale strength and call quality is great (using VZW).
The camera works great for a camera phone. I was showing my phone to my brother (and avid iPhone user) and he was wishing he hadn't just upgraded or he would have switched to the Z10. The Time Shift (or whatever it's called) is amazing because it takes about 10 pictures over the span of a second and you can adjust the main picture to any of those 10 pictures, then go back to individual faces and pick which of the 10 face pictures is the best for each face. As others said, the HUB is great because you can see what's important at a glance...work/personal e-mail, social media etc.
Pro's:
-Predictive text
-Great screen
-At 1 year mark and maybe less than 5 battery pulls
-E-mail is great (enterprise and gmail)
-Ringer/Speakers have great volume
-Easily fits my pockets
-Love the OS - handles many apps with true multi-tasking
Neutral:
Battery life is OK
Apps...can still go to Amazon and use those
Con's:
-Would like more ring/alarm tones
-No QI charging
BB got it RIGHT this time!
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Unlike any Blackberry before it
Blackberry finally ditched their old legacy OS and wiped the slate clean here. The hardware has good specs and the OS is, dare I say...modern!
I'll have to admit that I felt a little lost turning this radically new OS on for the first time. Pay attention to the tutorials that play automatically first thing. It will teach you a couple of basic gestures to get you started.
No home button
no trackpad
no traditional home screen...
Instead your flicking apps out of the way when you want to go somewhere else, swiping from the sides to get to the main "hub", pinching, and pulling shades down at night when you plug in to get into sleep mode so no one bothers you when sleeping.
It's a heavily gesture-based modernized OS. Its frustrating for the first week maybe and after that, its fun and easy. Its easier because once you master it, you are spending less time getting where you want to go. You don't have to back out of apps to check emails or messages like IOS. You can peek into the message hub easily and move on!
This thing is a communications powerhouse and its better at it than anything else on the market.
Pros:
-email, social communications, message management are top notch...its all in 1 place in the Hub!
-perfect size. Not too small or too large
-sharp display
-well built
-built to be efficient at what you do
-First effort OS that IS ready for prime time. Smooth OS and fewer bugs than expected
-can handle many apps open without slowing down
Cons:
-Wish the side button was programable
-wish everyone made an app for it like the competition but to be fair I haven't tried sideloading Android apps which this is capable of.
Neutral:
Battery life is ok, not spectacular. Can still get me through a day though with no problem
Summary:
Blackberry managed to keep us business users happy and make it fun too. Tired of Android fragmentation or bored of IOS, give the Z10 a try. Its a solid phone!
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Confused but loving it
I am still getting used to the huge differences between it and Android and Swype (Galaxy S3 sitting in a drawer) . Had an iPhones 5s guy go "wow!" to the keyboard today but it took me a while to reach the point that I could even show him.
The learning curve is not that bad as I have had the phone only about 24 hours and I had to work today.
Did some searches and a bit of browsing and I have more than 3/4 battery and it and I have been up since before the sun
Pro - mostly everything. I like that many apps can be used but neutered in their data collection at the same time
Cons - sorry - none yet
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Not as good as I thought
I love the look and feel of the phone. Very beautiful and firm.
Pros:
Good call quality
Bright and clear display
Good camera
Good video recording
Loud ring tone
Cons:
Soft vibration
Battery life is horrible. Worst I've seen. I would unplug from the charger at 7am and by 2-3pm it's dead
Weak WIFI connection
BlackBerry world has hardly any useful apps
Lacks Netflix (huge disadvantage)
Worst GPS software with horrible turn by turn navigation compared to other platforms
Constant lagging
Freezes every other day... Power button doesn't function when frozen, complete phone freeze, requires to pull out the battery to reset.
No dedicated Gmail app. Must see your emails only in the BB Hub
Slow processor. Internet slower than expected. Even with a 1.5Ghz dual core processor it's extremely disappointing how slow it is.
I had this BB on Verizon with amazing 4G LTE coverage in my area and this phone under performed compared to other devices I've owned.
Bottom line, BB is trying hard to compete with the other top platforms but they still don't get it right.
Apple, Android and Windows all are awesome. Even Windows that would be considered my last choice in platform.. I would choose it over BB.
BLACKBERRY.. BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME!
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Excellent phone
Moved to the Z10 from my Storm 1, my only prior BB so I am not nostalgic about the old BB physical keyboards. They seem like crude little buttons to me.
I am very happy with the Z10. It does everything I need in a straight forward BB fashion. Love the predictive text. It always amazes me that knows what I am about to say. It makes messaging very easy. I thought I would miss the tactile clicking of the Storm 1's keyboard, but the Z10's keyboard and predictive text is way better.
Pro's:
Predictive text
Great screen
Decent battery life
WIFI works great (Storm 1 didin't even have WIFI)
Haven't pulled the battery once.
Email continues to be the best
The Hub is great. Everything in one place.
Screen customization.
Con's:
Not many apps (But most apps are for children anayway)
Bluetooth didn't sync well with my Garmin.
Not as many built-in ring tones as Storm 1.
All in all I'm very happy with it. No reason to look at Android or I-phone.
