Everyone knows BlackBerry is in dire straits, but that hasn't stopped
the company from taking one more stab at a flagship smartphone. In many
ways BlackBerry's latest creation, the BlackBerry Z30, is what the
BlackBerry 10 launch device should have been. Unlike the actual BB10
debut product, the smaller
Z10,
the Z30 is without a doubt the company's biggest, boldest, most
advanced gadget yet. Unfortunately, though, this fresh effort from the
Canadian handset maker comes way too late. Arriving at just one US
carrier, Verizon, this November for $199.99, I fear all those who would
have considered the Z30 over iPhones and Android handsets have long
since moved to greener pastures.
Sure, the Z30 is compelling. Despite boasting a large 5-inch touch
screen, handsome styling, and a high-capacity battery, the device falls
short compared with the competition. Specifically the $199.99
Motorola Droid Maxx and $199.99
Samsung Galaxy S4,
which, thanks to the growing strength of the Android ecosystem and
BlackBerry's uncertain future as a viable company, add up to much better
deals on Verizon.
Design
Shaped like your typical rectangular smartphone slab, at first glance I
had trouble telling the BlackBerry Z30 apart from the sea of
similar-looking Android devices now flooding the market. With its
jet-black color scheme, silver accents, and rounded corners, the Z30
could've been crafted by any of today's top handset makers. As a matter
of fact, the phone's soft-touch back and subtle striping bears a
striking resemblance to the Motorola Droid Maxx. That's a good thing,
since I'm fond of the Maxx's nano-coated back and soft-touch textures on
phones in general.
Prominent BlackBerry logos, both on the back and on the front below the screen, give the Z30 away as device designed in
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Verizon couldn't resist slapping its own moniker on the phone, either,
above the display and on the rear, but at least they're stenciled in a
modest gray.
On the left side you'll find ports for Micro-HDMI and Micro-USB.
(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)
Above the Z30's large 5-inch screen sits the earpiece, a 2-megapixel
front-facing camera, and the iconic red BlackBerry notification light.
The phone's left edge houses ports for Micro-HDMI and Micro-USB cables,
while on the right you'll find controls for play/pause and volume-up and
-down. Rounding out the Z30's bevy of physical buttons is a power key
on the top edge next to a 3.5mm headphone jack.
The right side holds controls for volume-up and -down plus play/pause.
(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)
BlackBerry makes sure to tout the Z30's noise cancellation abilities and
the fact that its flagship handset boasts not just two but an array of
four microphones. The mics ring the phone, one on each of the Z30's four
edges, and they complement the device's set of powerful stereo speakers
(top and bottom). Indeed, the first time I fired up the music app and
piped a tune through the Z30's sound system I was shocked. The volume
this phone's tiny drivers can produce is phenomenally loud, with loads
more sound than what you get from the HTC One and Motorola Droid Maxx --
both of which have muscular stereo speakers.
Screen
The Z30 is BlackBerry's biggest-screened smartphone yet. It packs a
large 5-inch 720p HD resolution display, which the company says has a
pixel density of 295 pixels per inch. Of course, that's nowhere near as
sharp as the displays on the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4, whose
full HD screens offer 468ppi and 441ppi, respectively. Still, it's
practically gigantic compared with the displays gracing the previous
BlackBerry Z10 (4.2-inch) and BlackBerry Q10 (3.1-inch).
The Z30's screen is big but not very bright.
(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)
I have to say, though, that the Z30's display isn't very bright. For
instance, the Motorola Droid Maxx, while it has the same 720 HD
resolution and OLED screen technology, is much brighter when viewed side
by side with the Z30. Still, one benefit of the Z30's OLED hardware is
that it has high contrast and wide viewing angles.
Software and interface
A bigger screen isn't the only improvement you'll find on the BlackBerry
Z30. The phone's software has been updated as well. The Z30 runs the
new BlackBerry 10.2 operating system, which has a few fresh tricks up
its sleeve. Along with the familiar Peek gesture that lets you quickly
see your messages and the BlackBerry Hub unified inbox, both of which
first debuted with BlackBerry 10, there's a new Priority Hub feature.
Priority Hub will pay attention to whom you interact with most, whether
on Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, or texts, then will float those
conversations up to the top of a Priority Hub view. By default, the
criteria for tagging messages as a priority is pretty straightforward.
Priority Hub will prioritize (hence the name) conversations from
contacts who have the same last name as you or those labeled as highly
important. The same goes for messages you select as vitally significant.
Simply long-press a conversation in your inbox to slap it with a
priority icon (represented by an up arrow) to accomplish this. You can
toggle these Priority Hub settings on and off as you see fit.
Use the Peek gesture to check your inbox from any screen and Priority Calling to respond to incoming calls with canned messages.
(Credit:
Brian Bennett/CNET)
It seems that every OS is catching notification fever, and BlackBerry
10.2 is no exception. Just like Apple's iOS 7, BB 10.2 now supplies
previews of messages as they hit your phone. No matter which app you
happen to be in or settings windows you have open, new notifications
appear as thin headers across the top of the screen.
Tapping these notifications will launch a full view of the message to
read its full contents and respond. Hitting an "x" icon within the
notification preview will dismiss it entirely. To quickly handle
incoming calls, a new feature called Priority Calling lets you receive
caller ID notifications then either accept, dismiss, or respond with a
canned reply. BlackBerry Messenger alerts provide the extra option of
responding inside the notification itself so you don't have to switch
out of the app or menu you're currently viewing.
For all BlackBerry's efforts to breathe life into its smartphone
platform, it can't hide the lack of many popular apps gracing its
virtual store shelves. Sure, many of the major players have found a home
on BB10, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Flipboard. The photo-sharing
service Instagram isn't available and neither is my current podcast app
of choice, Pocketcast.
Keyboard
I know many true BlackBerry adherents out there will bemoan the Z30's
lack of a physical keyboard. Even so, from someone who gave up tangible
keys years ago for tapping out messages on glass panels, the Z30's
software keyboard is one of the best I've used. The bigger screen makes
for more comfortable typing than on the smaller Z10, and I also
appreciate BB10's impressive predictive text abilities.
The Z30's keyboard is both comfortable and fast.
(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)
Able to learn over time what words you're likely working toward, the
phone also offers handy suggestions placed over the letter your finger
(and eyes) would have to travel to. Flicking upward pushes predicted
text into the body of your message. The Z30 also did an admirable job of
accurately detecting what keys I hit. The end result is that this
gadget lets me type fast and furiously without many errors.
Core components
Powering the Z30's software is a respectably zippy 1.7GHz Snapdragon S4
Pro processor and quad-core Adreno graphics. It's the same thing
Motorola packs into both the Droid Maxx and Moto X Android handsets.This
CPU engine is backed up by 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. As I
mentioned before, the Z30 also comes equipped with a microSD card slot
for extra storage.
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