Review: BlackBerry Z30
This latest review in this week of reviews is likely going to be the one that generates the most noise.
Let’s just deal with the elephant in the room for starters. BlackBerry is in trouble. It’s bleeding cash and subscribers like a gunshot victim in South Central Los Angeles. The world is just waiting for it to die. But their issues aren’t with their product as the Z10 and Q10 are top shelf devices. Plus the BB10 OS is an excellent smartphone OS. Thus when Telus provided me a BlackBerry Z30 and I started to look at it, I posted this Tweet:
Meet the @BlackBerry Z30 supplied by @TELUS and my review next Thursday will explain why this device will save them. pic.twitter.com/jEXJB95wgT
— The IT Nerd (@The_IT_Nerd) October 18, 2013
You might think that the above statement is overblown. But consider this. The iPod was the product that started to turn things around for Apple. So it seems perfectly reasonable to me to think that BlackBerry needs one product which would give people a reason to look at them for their next smartphone. And that would be the genesis of a comeback.
Ladies and gentlemen, the BlackBerry Z30 is that product. Here’s why.
It’s not a small phone, but it doesn’t feel big. It’s easy to hold (unless you have really small hands), easy to put into loose fitting pants or into your jacket pocket. Unlike some smartphone companies who are making their phones bigger and bigger, BlackBerry made this phone the right size, not to mention right weight as it feels light.
The picture above is the back of the Z30. As you can see it has a carbon fibre weave and it not only looks very upscale, but it doesn’t retain fingerprints. The edges have a metal ring around it which adds to the class to the phone. It has a 5″ screen that has the same resolution as the Z10 which is 1280×720 pixels. But it has amazing colour reproduction and viewing angles. Fingerprints don’t seem to really affect your ability to see things on the screen or make the smartphone look like you just had fried chicken and then touched the phone, as was the case with the Q5. Impressive. Images and text look extremely sharp on this display and watching media is really great. It feels solid and well built.
Now in terms of speed, there’s a 1.7 Ghz quad-core processor inside and it feels fast. Compared to the other BlackBerry models that I’ve tested, it easily feels the fastest of the bunch. But that’s not the only thing that’s fast about it. Using SpeedTest to test the Z30’s ability do upload and download over LTE produced an average of 23 Mbps downstream and 12 Mbps upstream. And it was able to do that consistently which is unusual as I don’t see that from most phones that I test. The only exception that I can think of is the Nokia Lumia 1020 that I tested earlier this week. Credit a brand new antenna design for that which will not only help you get good LTE speeds, but keep calls coming and going in weak signal coverage areas. My research also indicates that this antenna design will not stress the battery life. More on the battery life in a bit. On the connectivity front, there’s also WiFi, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0. When it comes to storage, it comes with 16GB of storage and you can use a MicroSD card to expand it up to 64GB.
One of the stars of the show is BlackBerry OS 10.2. You get better copy and paste support, along with lock screen notifications and message previews from within any app. But the key feature is the Priority hub. It learns what conversations and what people are important to you making it faster and easier to find the messages and information you want. It collects priority messages across email, social networking and other accounts and gives you access to the most important conversations. It works and it works well. This is easily my favourite feature of BlackBerry OS 10.2. In of the other software that comes with the Z30, it’s more or less the same as the other BlackBerries such as the Z10 and Q10. By the way, if you already own a BlackBerry device, BlackBerry OS 10.2 is rolling out this week to you so you can enjoy what Z30 owners will get out of the box.
There’s one other item that is very much worth mentioning. The Z30 comes with stereo speakers which has BlackBerry’s Natural Sound technology. Natural Sound is designed to let users hear nuances and variations in tone, making conversations sound closer and more natural. This too works and works quite well from my testing.
Now the camera is a 8MP shooter in the Z30. In the Q10 and Z10 it worked well enough. So, how does it work in the Z30? Let’s take a look by doing some photos and video outside Pearson International Airport. Click the picture to see it at full resolution:
Some things to note about this picture (and the video to follow). I took these on a rainy Saturday. So the lighting conditions are not ideal, but it still looks very, very good. Now let’s check the video which was shot at 1080P. Set it to 1080P and to full screen to see it as it was shot:
The video was equally as good as the photo. Given the conditions, I was impressed.
In terms of battery life, I got just over a day and a half on a charge while using it as my daily phone. That is impressive battery life by any standard. And I should note is the battery is removable (!).
So, let me wrap this up by justifying why I feel this phone is the game changer that BlackBerry needs:
- It’s well-designed
- It isn’t cumbersome to hold
- It looks really stylish
- It is fast
- The display is great
- It has impressive battery life
- BlackBerry OS 10.2 is great and users will find it useful
The BlackBerry Z30 is the best BlackBerry 10 device yet. In fact, it’s a pretty good smartphone period. If you are already a BlackBerry user and you want to upgrade to a newer BlackBerry, this should be your first choice. If you aren’t a BlackBerry user, you should take a good hard look at the Z30. I honestly think it’s on par with most Android, iOS, or Windows phones out there in the marketplace. I would recommend getting a demo from someone who understands how to use BB10 devices, then try it for yourself. I think you will be hard pressed to find a reason not to buy it. Here’s another value proposition: Telus sells the Z30 for $129 on a two year term or $600 outright. That’s cheaper than phones like the LG G2, The Samsung Galaxy Note 3, or the Sony Xperia Z1. It’s a price point that is hard to beat.
Now let’s see if BlackBerry can use the Z30 to change the conversation from doom and gloom to a resurgence of the company.
Your move BlackBerry.
[Tune in tomorrow for a fifth smartphone review that was added at the last minute]
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