While Blackberry's newest flagship phone no longer carries the same
high-profile as other manufacturer's top-of-the-line offering, that
doesn't mean the Blackberry Z30 is something to immediately pass up. Or
does it?
Design
In terms of design, the Z30 looks like any premium smartphone, with
rounded corners, predominantly black shell, silver accents, and
soft-touch back. Far as we can tell, there's really no distinguishing
feature that makes it a "Blackberry" as opposed to some other handset,
although it's stylish and comfortable all the same.
Display
Sporting a 5-inch 720p display, the Z30 is the biggest-screened
Blackberry ever. Brightness is a little lacking and the lack of a full
HD resolution, a standard among flagships, is a bummer, although the
screen does bring excellent contrast, wide viewing angles, and vibrant
colors.
Camera
It uses the same 8.0 megapixel sensor and LED flash combo as
Blackberry's newer smartphones, complete with the same software and
editing options, save for a few extras like a new HDR mode. Quality is
good, although indoor shots leave a lot to be desired, requiring plenty
of lighting and very steady handling.
Features
It comes with all the usual roster of wireless connectivity options,
as befitting a modern flagship. Running the new BlackBerry 10.2
operating system, the phone brings a selection of fresh tricks up its
sleeve. We're big fans of the Peek gesture for quickly glancing at
messages, the unified Hub inbox, the Priority Hub (automatically puts
threads with those it deems important to the top of the pile), header
notifications, Priority Calling, and more. While not quite as filled
with extras as iOS or Android, the BB OS is now a full-featured
platform, more so than it has ever been. The lack of apps, of course,
remains the sore thumb, considering some mainstream apps (e.g.
Instagram) remain missing from the selection.
Performance
A 1.7GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro orchestrates the action paired with 2GB of
RAM, making for zippy performance with zero delays both when navigating
features and launching apps. If there's anything that feels slow, it's
Blackberry's cosmetic touches to the platform, such as the split-second
full-screen view of a lunched app, many of which are absolutely
unnecessary.
Call quality is great, with voices coming through clear with a very
warm sound. Speakerphone is equally impressive. In fact, those on the
other end, said it sounded even better than regular calls. There's
plenty of volume to go, making it viable for use even in loud
environments. The Z30's 2,880 mAh battery lasts quite a long time,
going a full day (as in, near-24 hours) on moderate use with a
single-digit percentage remaining.
Overall
Priced at $199.99 on Verizon, the Blackberry Z30 is easily the best
all-touch smartphone the company has ever made. At that price point,
though, it's competing with the best of the best in modern smartphones
and, compared to them, it just comes up a tad short.
0 comments:
Post a Comment