BlackBerry Z10

“The design and build quality of the Z10 just makes it seem like a cheap plastic iPhone to us. Hardware is reasonable with the screen being the stand out feature and the BlackBerry 10 software makes this the most attractive BlackBerry smartphone to date. However, given the price, the iPhone or a decent Android handset is still a preferable option.”

“BlackBerry's BlackBerry Z10 is genuinely a pretty nice phone. Performance, helped by the lightweight QNX-based OS, is more than acceptable. The form factor offers you plenty of screen size in a device that may not feel luxurious, but does at least seem durable. And, bucking the trend, the battery is removable. Camera performance is adequate in most cases and overall there's really a lot to like.But, tragically, there's really nothing to love. Nothing in the Z10 stands out as class-leading and, while the BB10 OS does have a lot of charm and brings all the best productivity-focused attributes of BlackBerry to bear in a much more modern package, the app selection is poor and the gestures here aren't so good that they make up for that major shortcoming. Will more and better apps come with time? Absolutely, but after waiting this long (and then making Americans wait another month yet) BlackBerry really needed to make a huge impact out of the gate. Unfortunately, it hasn't.All is not lost: at $199 (which BlackBerry says is the suggested on-contract price in the US), the Z10 and BB10 are a nice piece of kit. The BlackBerry faithful who've been waiting patiently for something more modern will flock to this (and its QWERTY-having cousin) in droves, but there simply isn't enough here to woo those consumers who have already made investments in Android or iOS. Too little? Maybe. Too late? Sadly.”

“The Z10 is a good smartphone. Frankly, it's a better smartphone than I expected from RIM at this stage in the game. It does everything a modern phone should do, usually without hesitation. It doesn't do everything perfectly, but it does many things — most things — reasonably well.The problem with the Z10 is that it doesn't necessarily do anything better than any of its competition. Sure, there are arguments that could be made about how it handles messages or the particulars of its camera, but no one could argue that there's a killer app here. Something that makes you want or need this phone because it can do what no other phone can do. That's not the case — in fact if anything is the case, it's that the Z10 can't yet do some things that other devices can. Or at least, can't do them quite as well.And that's where I end up. The Z10 is a fine device, well made, reasonably priced, backed by a company with a long track record. But it's not the only device of its kind, and it's swimming against a massive wave of entrenched players with really, really good products. Products they figured out how to make years ago. Products that are mature. The smartphone industry doesn't need saving.If you love RIM and the BlackBerry brand and really want to keep supporting them, buying a Z10 wouldn't be a mistake. But I think there are better phones on the market, and I don't yet see a compelling reason for most customers to choose this phone over those better ones. So why the Z10? Why now? Until BlackBerry can answer that question, I would be careful about how you spend your money.”

“BB10 and therefore the Z10 has some really nice features to it. Based on the time we've spent with it so far, we love the keyboard, although suspect Android users will get something equally as powerful in the next iteration of SwiftKey, and we like the Time Shift feature in the camera app.While the messaging element, or BlackBerry Hub, has remained core to what is on offer here and very nice too, we can't help feeling that RIM has done what it has always done: made an amazing smartphone for its customers and no one else.That's fine when RIM ruled the roost and it had lots of customers, but there is nothing overly amazing here that is going to woo back Android or iPhone users who are disgruntled.Those disappointed with the Android experience are likely to go iPhone or Nokia's Window Phone 8. BlackBerry is having to fight a battle on many fronts and we're just not sure this is the device to give them the power to survive that fight.This is not the end of RIM though: when it comes to enterprise customers, Android and iPhone don't come near it. The BlackBerry Balance feature will be applauded by system admin guys around the globe, while BlackBerry Bold users who are brave enough to ditch the keyboard will now own a device that means they won't have to carry two phones with them.But the Z10 isn't going to appeal to the kids, another of RIM's core audiences, or pull people back from self-imposed exile.For some the Z10 will be amazing, but for most, it just won't cut it against the incredibly strong competition already out there.”