Elysium Magazine was recently invited to the launch of the brand new Blackberry Q10. The brand new operating system from Blackberry combined with an actual keyboard did fill us with excitement – with a full hands on with the device that has Blackberry investing heavy do we think its worth the wait? Read on to find out.
Design
The BlackBerry Q10 looks and feels a lot like the Blackberry Bold range – one of our favourites, the difference is a much larger 3.1-inch screen and a wider keyboard with bigger individual keys. This means It’s a delight to type on. Like many of you, its rare that we use phones with a physical keyboard – the keys are designed with thought and precision, which meant typing, was easy. It’s definitely a better and more accurate experience than most touchscreen keyboards.
The Q10 feels great to hold too, thanks to a special rubbery coating specifically designed to ensure it was protected from scratches and accidental falls. The entire phone is just plain solid. There aren’t any creaks or squeaks like you see on many non-metal smartphones. It also has a removable battery and SD card slot for extra memory, two other retro features that’ll please BlackBerry lovers.
The phone has certainly been designed with the premium customer in mind – a serious phone made for those who mean business.
The OS – Blackberry 10
Anyone new to the Blackberry 10 OS will see a nice improvement to the previous and out-dated Blackberry OS. Blackberry were aware that this would attract many new customers and therefore has invested in a great navigation setup to help you ensure you get the best out of the new features it created.
The notifications center, called the ‘Hub’, has also been tweaked to help you tell the difference between what apps are sending you updates. It is now easy to see what updates you are getting from various social media feeds or e-mail accounts. A simple sliding gesture ensures you can see your notifications during a quick game of Angry Birds, updating your Facebook status or taking a picture – brilliant!
Apps
The Q10 comes with a variety of applications pre-installed. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to name a few. Blackberry world has a nice selection of applications, music and movies to select from however, the app range is limited. The variety of applications available on Android and iOS platforms puts the selection to shame – a problem which was apparent with the Playbook. However, the scope for new applications is there, this is only the second Blackberry phone using the new 10 OS. We are hopeful that more developers will seek to take advantage of the market and create new apps for the range.
Verdict
It is important to clarify that the Q10 isn’t for the typical consumer. It’s a serious device and designed to be a premium product with the discerning gent in mind. It has a smaller touchscreen, which isn’t the best for gaming, streaming video, or BBC iPlayer. It’s an email, messaging, and productivity beast, which does what it says on the tin. Many of the traditional Blackberry enthusiasts will immediately see the value of the keyboard, no more messy typing messages and reducing the length of e-mails to avoid strain injuries – the Blackberry Q10 is the best Blackberry to date and not only that, it’s the best smartphone on the market with a physical keyboard.
The Q10 will not appeal to the mass-market consumer looking for hours of entertainment on gaming apps – the Internet browser is good for basic websites, the battery life is good but the app range is limited. For business on the go, no smartphone does it better.
Our Rating: 4/5
Blackberry Q10 is available from Selfridges from £579.99 contract free.
Specifications
3.1-inch, 720×720, 330 PPI display
2GB RAM
16GB storage, expandable via microSD (supports up to 32GB cards)
Dual core 1.5GHz processor
8 megapixel, 1080p rear camera; 2 megapixel, 720p front camera
microHDMI out
WiFi/4G