BlackBerry Q10

Overview

Ultimate BlackBerry

BlackBerry lovers who love to type fast BBM messages will love Q10 because of its extended keyboard design.

BlackBerry Q10 Design and Build Quality

There are very few phones today, which has a keyboard and Blackberry Q10, stands apart from the rest of them. Q10 is not a conventional phone and therefore its design is also different. The dimensions of the phone are 119.6 x 66.8 x 10.4 mm and it weighs 139 grams. The screen of the phone is 3.1 inches and blackberry has done away with the sensor button. The touch screen of the phone makes it very easy to use. The rubberised back of the phone gives it a very easy grip. The battery life of the phone is 10 hours with full talk time and it is enough to please even dedicated BBMs.

User Interface and Comfort to Use BlackBerry Q10

The combination of touchscreen and edge-to-edge keyboard makes it very easy to use the phone. The phone screen has a resolution of 720x720, which is quite clear. There are four screens, which house the most popular apps on the screen. The home screen keeps changing with the most frequently used apps, which we feel, is a very innovative feature. The keyboard is wide and the keys are separated by a fret that makes it very comfortable to use. There are no cursor buttons and arrows on the keyboard and therefore correcting the mistakes you make when typing can be a cumbersome process. The phone has an immense capacity of 16GB and the ability to support 64GB of micro SD card. The phone runs on Blackberry 10OS with 1.5 GHz dual core processor and 2GB of RAM.

Telephony and Phonebook

The phone supports 2G, 3G and 4G modes. Unfortunately, 4G is still in the beginning stages and therefore you would not get much use from it. But both 3G and 2G networks work beautifully on the phone. The calls are pretty clear. And we did not have any problem in switching from loudspeaker to earphones and vice a versa.

Messaging and Emails

The phone’s fast processor and excellent BBM service ensures that messaging are even faster and quicker. Integrated inbox makes it possible to see all the messages, emails, and text messages at one place.

Gallery, Photo Viewer and Video Player

These features are very standard on the device. The screen size not optimum for long time video watching but you can easily watch small message videos. Video player supports DivX/XviD/MP4/WMV/H.263/H.264 formats. The photo viewer is simple with basic scrolling options.

BlackBerry Q10 Music Player and FM Radio

Music player is decent at its best and supports all music formats. We used the blackberry link software reformat some of the files and it worked very well.

BlackBerry Q10 Camera and Image Quality

The camera on the phone disappointed us. The rear camera is 8MP and the front camera is 2MP. Although the features include flash, autofocus, and geo-tagging, we found that the autofocus feature does not work as well as it should. The photos are good but not very crisp.

Video Camera and Video Quality

Videos can be recorded at 30fps but again the quality and lack of focus and light gives you wobbly videos.

BlackBerry Q10 Connectivity Options

The phone has a host of connectivity options including Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, Wi-Fi, 3G, and USB. There is even a HDMI out to connect to the TV to watch your photos etc. on bigger screen.

Organiser and Other Utility Tools

The phone has basic organiser tools plus the access to the over 10000 blackberry apps that will take care of all your needs.

Web Browser and Applications

The browser of the phone is excellent as expected of a Blackberry and it supports flash. The best part is that it offers a thumbnail view of your recent visited pages, which makes it easy to track and respond.

Maps and GPS

The phone comes with Blackberry maps which are not as good as Google maps but still very passable. The things we found lacking are lack of reviews, and refined search. GPS latching is OK if you are in a high-density area.

Distinctive Features of BlackBerry Q10

The distinctive features of the phone are BlackBerry 10 OS and the initiative home screen.

Value for Money

The phone is priced on a higher side at INR 43000 (approx., may vary) in India. The price is very high considering the features of the phone.

Verdict

The phone as good features like great hardware, fast messaging but the mediocre camera and lack of apps pull down its rating. We would give the phone a 4 star rating out of 5.