The Blackberry Z10, complete with an all new OS, is out in the market (or at least in UK and in Canada). It has a very sleek and classy professional look that Blackberry lovers will surely love. Spec-wise, it is no slouch either. It’s got a dual-core Snapdragon S4 chip to juice up the device.
This is the device that should bring RIM(now known as Blackberry) back in the map. The phone looks good and it does perform well. A lot of what we love about Blackberry was brought back and improved on this phone. For one, it is very secure and allows you to separate work apps and files from personal ones. The Blackberry Messenger and Email functions are also upgraded.
But as much as there is a lot to love about the Z10 and its new OS, there are also some flaws that might be hard to overlook.
The New OS has a Learning Curve
Apple’s iOS was pretty simple and easy-to-use. Android is a bit more complex than the iOS especially with OEMs slapping their own skins to customize the OS. But still, a few minutes into the interface and you get around easily enough. The Blackberry 10, however, is an entirely different beast.
The OS is operated mostly through taps and gestures. If you are used to button-based OS then this might get a bit difficult to get used to because a lot of what you expect from the interface is done in a different way.
For people who value simplicity and do not have the patience to learn how to operate a new OS, they might give this a raincheck.
Minor Glitches in the Blackberry 10 OS
The OS looks sleek and professional, and for Blackberry fans that might be enough. The Bedtime mode is cool and Blackberry balance is very practical. However, there are some glitches, which although are minor stacks up, still make the experience less than fulfilling.
There is also the issue with screenshots and camera images being placed in the same location. There is also the inconsistency in some of the gesture actions like accessing the context menu. Sometimes you have to swipe over to the right and sometimes you have press the surface for a couple of seconds.
There is just a lot of these small things that you might feel should have been polished before release.
Lack of Camera Options
Blackberry has always struggled with their device cameras. They decided to rectify this by packing an 8MP rear shooter to the Blackberry Z10. It has autofocus, burst mode, and stabilization settings. You can also use the volume rocker to snap images. For average shooting, this is adequate enough especially for outdoor photos. Video was pretty good too. Audio was clear and playback showed smooth clips.
But if you are looking for more advanced options, you might get disappointed.
There is no HDR mode.
There is no geotagging.
There is no drop resolution option.
There is no ISO adjustment setting.
And finally, you have to live with a loud shutter because there is no option for silencing it.
Lack of Apps
Like the Windows App, the Blackberry APP world suffers from the small number of available apps compared to the iOS and Android. If the OS becomes successful in the future, there will be more developers clamoring to create apps for the OS. But for the meantime, it will remain as a disadvantage.
The Blackberry Z10 is a fine business phone which is also offered by RingCentral, but these minor flaws can add up and decrease the possibility of switching from Android or iPhone.
