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BlackBerry Z10

Price: Rs. 35000 - Rs. 37000
The arrival of BlackBerry Z10 has chosen to regain the BlackBerry market. It is the first phone to run the new BlackBerry 10 operating system. It is easier to use than an Android phone. It is more powerful, providing faster access to email, tweets, Facebook status updates and text messages.

The Good:

Speed and interface: The web browser of the device is faster than competitors. The loading speed extends beyond websites; many apps and email messages can be opened faster than on other phones. The speed merges well enough with BlackBerry’s “Flow” interface, which enables buttons for swiping.

Feel: The Z10 weighs around 137 grams which is neither hefty nor light as compared to iPhone5. It is little less likely to slip because of its textured back than many other smooth-backed phones. The screen measuring 4.2 inch also boasts 356 pixels per inch which is sharper compared to other competing devices on the market.

Hub: while the other phones have taken stabs at a unified inbox, the Z10 makes it easier to access the accounts from a single platform. All of the accounts, from email, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, text messages, notifications and BBM pings are all found in one location, which can be accessed by swiping in from the left of the phone.

Ready to work: It has arrived with several pre-installed productivity apps, such as Evernote, Docs To Go which lets you create documents, spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations, while Dropbox and Box cloud storage are integrated too. It lets the user work more smoothly with the phone as a whole.

Ports: In terms of plugging in and taking out, The Z10 is easier to handle. It has a removable battery, in case it goes belly up and an SD card slot to add 16GB of included storage. It also has a micro HDMI slot for connecting to a TV or a monitor, which hardly requires extra adapters to channel videos from phone.

The Bad:

Apps: The arrival of Z10 surprised everyone by announcing that it has 70,000 applications available. But there are hardly frequently used apps available; for instance, Instagram and Netflix. Despite movies and TV shows are available in the BlackBerry store.

Maps: even though the map is functional, it’s limited in its bells and whistles. It has turn-by-turn navigation, but fewer points of interest and no walking or transit directions.

Predictive typing: It has an impressive tool that predicts the next word which is about to be typed. The word appears over the keyboard’s letters, and if needed, it is swiped and it appears in whatever is written. When it works, it works well and can actually speed up typing, but it slows down to read the words, which are quite small.

Features And Performance

Design: The touchscreen Smartphone has a semi-rubberized back, a material that BlackBerry refers as ‘soft touch’. It’s also removable, which lets the user swap out a new SIM, a microSD card or a spare battery.

Processor and Operating system: The BlackBerry 10 offers a unique experience in today’s Smartphone market especially with the unveiling of Blackberry Z10. It has dual-core processor of 1.5 GHz. The 2GB RAM is made use for new BBM video chat and file sharing service.

Screen: It is designed with an impressive 4.2 inch multi-LCD display. The colours are rich and the application icons are crisp which makes it stand out in terms of screen. It also offers great visual performance and depth of clarity.

Battery Life: The Z10’s long, narrow 1,800 Li-Ion mAh battery is small when compared to those modern Smartphones and larger than the one in iPhone 5. It is expected to have 11hrs of 3G talk time or up to 408hrs of 3G standby from a full charge; alternatively, up to 60 hrs of audio playback or up to 10hrs of video. As the phone is powered with a faster processor and a higher resolution screen, the added battery life is an accomplishment for BlackBerry.

Camera: The touch screen Smartphone comes with 8-megapixels camera on the back and 2-megapixels on the front. It supports up to 1080p Full HD video recording from the main camera, and up to 720p from the front camera. The camera app bears the choice of dragging the focus point around by swiping the finger across the screen, and uses pinch gesture to control the 5x digital zoom. It offers optional geotagging.
The Z10 camera possesses the TimeShift feature which operates based on licensed processing magic from Nokia-acquired Scalado. The camera, while working in TimeShift mode, identifies any faces in the frame and allows the user to have a look through the different expressions captured. Tapping in TimeShift mode enables to cut closed eyes, skewed smiles or blurred expressions as each face can be processed independently.

Storage and Connectivity: The phone has an internal storage of 16GB and can be expanded up to 32 GB with a micro SD card. Connectivity wise, BlackBerry Z10 is uniquely packed with Wifi and Bluetooth 4.0 to DLNA support and even an HDMI port. To aid with the global positioning, the Z10 also features A-GPS and also utilize the phone’s high speed 4G reception, enabling other devices like tablets and laptops to feed the data connection. It is also stuffed with NFC which enables the wireless transfer content between handsets and other NFC enabled devices without network connection or wires.

Price and Availability: BlackBerry Z10 will be launched in India around mid-February. Keeping in mind the pricing trends for this Smartphone all over the world, it is estimated to be priced between Rs. 35,000 to Rs. 37,000.

Wrap-Up: The BlackBerry Z10 with its newly designed BlackBerry 10 OS is easier to use, appealing, more consistent and understandable for new users and sensibly implements touch screen gestures. Those users who give prime importance to social life can make the best use of BlackBerry Hub, where it collates every notification. It feels neither cheap nor expensive, neither fast nor slow in use and its specifications cover the necessary boxes but do not go further. Summing up, the BlackBerry 10 and the Z10 are good to use, but there’s hardly any feature that stops from going back to iOS or Android and their well-loaded apps.
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