I am not sure how many consumers were looking at getting or already picked up the new Blackberry Z10. We heard a lot of consumers excited about it and received a lot of questions right up until delivery day back in March. There has been quite a few concerns surrounding the (not so) new Z10 since. We decided to take a second look at BlackBerry’s new start into the smartphone arena.
We here at TGSB were fortunate enough to get our hands on the Z10 and let you know how we felt about it early on. It is very evident that this is different than any smartphone experience that you have ever had. The Z10 relies on the gesture functions for most of the standard functions. As we discussed previously there are no standard hardware buttons to get you back to your home screen. Swipe from the bottom up to wake the unit or unlock it. Swipe from the bottom halfway up then to the right to get to the home screen, and swipe left to right to get to your notifications. BlackBerry seems to have taken a page right out of the Windows Business Model by revamping what was beginning to become dated and too prehistoric familiar and delivering what more of the top players were creating. How will they fair?
It would seem these gestures are easy enough to follow but it does take some getting used to especially if you are coming from another touchscreen platform. You don’t have that safety “middle” button to take you right back to your home screen, you have to remember the swipe gesture. The swipe is very easy to do but just takes some getting used to. Even just getting through your different notifications you have to remember to swipe from left to right to access each notification group. I do have to say I enjoy having all my notifications in one area off the screen just waiting idle until I call upon them.
The BlackBerry Z10 really brings back a great design to a familiar face. One of the biggest complaints about the current state of smartphones was the accuracy of the QWERTY keyboards on touchscreen devices. The Z10 is quite on target just as it’s predecessors. Another feature that is easy to use but takes some time with is the predictive text. When you first see it you would think it was easy enough, just swipe your finger up above the letter to select the word but if you are swiping to fast or not fast enough it doesn’t recognize you choosing a word but instead the corresponding letter. Once you get the hang of it you will wonder what were you doing wrong in the beginning. Making the touchscreen typing experience easier and more user friendly. As it learns how you type it just about completes your sentences for you.
Throughout the functions of the Z10 you have to remember the menu options are not what you are used too. BlackBerry has totally rethought the menu access and integration. This is not a negative at all. The ease of use is definitely there. Everything is literally just a finger swipe away. You need to cut and paste on a text file just double tap and the menu options appear on the screen. When it is not in use it is not there, leaving more screen space for your text. As I have stated it takes a little getting used to with these new features, but well worth it.
There are 4 physical buttons on the device, Power, Volume Up and down, and a customizable button (out of the box it does Blackberry Voice commands) which is in the middle of the Volume controls.
Those needing to take screenshots will be able to by pressing both the Volume up and down at the same time. Screenshots are fairly simple if you need to use them, otherwise you may never concern yourself. Take time and really handle the Z10 to see if it is right for you, you just may find out what you have been looking for the whole time is a traditional QWERTY keyboard like that of the Q10.
Many people have asked me which would I prefer of the new BlackBerry devices, the Z10 or the Q10? My answer is simply, I would wait to see what the Q10 is like. I think the performance may be different because it is what BlackBerry has been known for as far as QWERTY keyboard devices. That is a lane that I feel they are comfortable and have worked hard at getting it right. I understand their need to combat the touchscreen market but not at the cost of risking what made them stand out in the first place. Remember there are many devices out there, you have to find the one that is right for you. I truly think that there is a happy median for the QWERTY keyboard and touchscreen and if anyone can find it, it may just be BlackBerry.
Stay tuned as we find out more about the newly announced and highly anticipated Q10 from BlackBerry. The original best working QWERTY keyboard is back!!
