The IT Nerd

The latest smartphone in my possession is a BlackBerry Q10 provided by Rogers. The key feature is the keyboard in addition to the to the touch screen. The screen is smaller than the Z10 but it’s no less clear or usable. I found images to be sharp and clear. In terms of the typing experience, it was great. Even though I’ve switched over to the iPhone 5, I loved typing on the keyboard as it had good travel, well defined keys, and lots of feedback. Clearly BlackBerry spent a lot of time and effort to make sure that they got this right.

Another thing that I liked was the fact that while the screen did attract fingerprints, the rest of the case did not. Plus the case felt solid and well put together. It felt nice in my hand and fit easily in my pocket which is not a surprise since it’s smaller in terms of length than my iPhone.

The software that comes with it is exactly the same as the Z10 that I reviewed not too long ago. You can take a look at part one of that review to see my thoughts on it as they haven’t changed with the Q10. The fact that it isn’t any different isn’t a bad thing. In terms of speed, it is quick just like the Z10. On Rogers LTE I got an average of 61 Mbps downstream and 11 Mbps upstream. That is quick! If you get this BlackBerry, speed will not be a problem. If you want to save some cash, it does 802.11 B/G/N as well. Plus it has NFC as well for mobile payments among other functions.

In terms of photos, it has the same 8MP camera as the Z10 and produces the same stunning results. I used it all week to take pictures for my review of the Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit and got very good results. Just to illustrate the detail, take a look at this picture of the headlight. Make sure that you click on it to get the full detail and you’ll see the words “Since 1941” in the headlight.

I didn’t notice that when I looked at the headlight with the naked eye. but when I  was putting together the Jeep Grand Cherokee review, I saw it. Also, note the clarity of the photo. There’s no artifacts or anything of the sort. Clearly the Q10 excels as taking still photos.

Now when it comes to videos it’s equally as good. I’ll let the results speak for themselves. Make sure to set the video to 1080P and set it to full screen.

The sound quality is good and the video quality is good as well. No complaints here other than the same complaint I made about the Z10. When uploading to YouTube, there is no progress indicator. Simply a notification in the Hub saying the upload is complete. BlackBerry really needs to rethink that.

Some important specs at this point. It has 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage built in. Want more? You can put a 64GB MicroSD card. That’s great for anyone who has to store a lot of content on their smartphone.

How about battery life? This BlackBerry can all day and then some without a charge. Impressive. Sound quality? It’s as good as the Z10 and that’s not a bad thing at all. Criticisms? The closest thing to one that I had was that I was looking for the trackpad that older BlackBerry products had. Perhaps out of habit having used BlackBerry products until very recently. I missed it despite the touchscreen. I suspect some people may feel the same way and that might be a bit jarring for them at first.

So my verdict? This is the best BlackBerry that I’ve seen. Existing BlackBerry users who have been waiting for a keyboard based BlackBerry finally have their BlackBerry. Will it steal users from other smartphone platforms? That’s a different story. I think it will grab some new fans. But we will see how it does against the competition from Android and iPhone. If BlackBerry can put out more smartphones like this, they have a chance. It is enough to make BlackBerry fans wish they came out with this phone 2 years ago. Had BlackBerry done that, they wouldn’t be an afterthought in the smartphone market like they are now.

This entry was posted on June 18, 2013 at 9:14 am and is filed under Products with tags BlackBerry, Rogers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.