Mobile phone Blackberry Q10: a review, specifications, reviews

In early 2013, Blackberry began to develop a new market for smartphones with touchscreens. And when the hype around the new Z10 has died down, the manufacturer released a model of the Blackberry Q10, which returned to the area where the former RIM steadily holds the lead - smartphones with a keyboard.

Both models are designed for well-off customers. So, the Blackberry Q10 will cost at least 12-15 thousand rubles., Depending on the additional services, the price may rise to 20 thousand. For laser engraving of the Russian-speaking keyboard, you will have to pay about 5 thousand rubles.

What can Blackberry Q10 boast of? The review will tell in detail about its characteristics, interface features and users' opinions.

Appearance

The smartphone replaced the somewhat outdated and so not very popular models Bold 9900 and Bold 9790.

It is made in the traditional design for the brand.

Strictly speaking, an inattentive look will completely take him for the Bold 9900. But still the brand new appearance changes have also occurred with the Blackberry Q10 - the keyboard has become flat, instead of rounded. Between the rows of buttons are protruding metal bands, which make it easier to find them blindly.

Despite the fact that the smartphone has a full QWERTY keyboard, it can not be called huge. Its dimensions are 12x6, 7x1 cm. Its weight is also small - 139 g. Unlike its relative Z10, the Blackberry Q10 has a back made of carbon fiber with a beautiful pattern (the rest of the body is made of plastic). The material looks solid and rigorous, it is quite difficult, but it can be scratched.

One metal strip is akin to the fact that the buttons on the keyboard are separated, present on the back of the case. It separates the camera and flash, thereby lifting them and protecting them from scratches.

The part of the case below the strip is very easily removed by sliding it downwards. Slot for microSIM "hid" behind the battery, but the place for the microSD card does not require interference in the power of the smartphone and is to the right of the battery.

The manufacturer took into account the users' displeasure, caused by the location of the headphone jack on the side of the case, and transferred it to the upper end. There is also a metal button unlocking the smartphone, which is easy and convenient to press.

On the right side of the case are three buttons - volume control and activation of voice control.

On the left are microUSB and microHDMI ports, for connecting the smartphone to a computer, a TV and even a projector.

Equipment

Here's what's included in the standard kit when buying a Blackberry Q10:

• Instruction in Russian;
• The smartphone itself;
• Charger;
• battery;
• MicroUSB cable;
• headphones.

Characteristics

The smartphone has a dual-core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and 2 GB of RAM. This is more than enough to solve most everyday tasks, so most often the smartphone works quickly and without freezes.

The model has 16 GB of internal memory, of which 5.5 GB are occupied by the operating system and other system files. Also, the Blackberry Q10 phone supports microSD cards up to 32 GB. Total you can increase the available memory of the smartphone to 42.5 GB.

Interface

This model, as well as the Z10, supports the BlackBerry 10 operating system. Moreover, it even received its first update - 10.1 (10.1.0.238 to be more precise). The output of this operating system was expected and necessary, since BlackBerry 7 became very much losing iOS 6, Android Jelly Bean and Windows Phone 8.

Since Z10 got this OS first, it seems that it is designed for a larger screen. Of course, this does not mean that the information is ugly compressed / stretched, but not all the necessary icons are simultaneously placed on the display and often have to resort to scrolling. But the smartphone does a good job of flipping, without hovering in the process.

More demanding tasks, such as new games or loading maps, make it "think", but the process does not drag on for long.

The start screen shows all the necessary information: time, date, nearest notes from the calendar, missed calls, SMS, even alerts from social networks.

The Blackberry Q10 has a short menu that can be called by pulling the shortcut from the top of the screen (like Android devices). It gives access to settings, enable / disable Wi-fi and Bluetooth, an alarm clock and adjust the volume of the call.

With the help of the BlackBerry Balance settings, the workspace is divided into 2 parts - corporate, to which the company-employer has access, and personal - in which only the owner of the smartphone manages.

True, after the release of OS 10.1 update, the employer has the ability to completely block the device if it believes that it contains secret information.

Keyboard

Without a separate mention of this characteristic feature of the Blackberry Q10, the review will be incomplete. After all, it is the main competitive advantage of this model, on which users are ready to exchange large 5-7-inch screens of sensory smartphones.

The manufacturer slightly expanded the keyboard, which made the buttons a little more, but, of course, affected the overall size of the model. So you have to hold the smartphone with both hands and use both thumbs to get a good print speed.

The symbols are arranged in the same way as on a conventional computer keyboard, each key has a bevelled edge. In combination with metal strip-separators, this allows them to be easily distinguished and not to be mistaken when printing.

But this is not all that the manufacturer tried to make life easier for the user. The Blackberry Q10 has an updated dictionary and a word prediction system that analyzes which words and phrases you use most often and changes its suggested options according to this data.

Screen

For phones with a full keyboard, this is usually a sore spot. Since it occupies half the body, in this respect they can not compete with completely sensory giants.

Mobile phone Blackberry Q10 has a large, by the standards of models with a keyboard, Super AMOLED screen - 3.1 inches diagonally, resolution 720x720 pixels with a resolution of 330 pixels per inch. But compared to the bestsellers of other manufacturers, it seems unusually small and too square.

If you set the maximum brightness settings, it is convenient to work with the screen even in sunlight.

How long does the battery last?

The smartphone runs on a 2100mA battery, which is even higher than its Z10 relative (1800mA). The charge is sparingly consumed and the Blackberry Q10 can work up to 2 days without recharging.

This distinguishes it from competitors. But we must not forget that a small screen and a weaker processor consume much less battery power, so it can hardly be considered a great merit.

Photo and video

The main camera of the smartphone is 8 Mp with LED flash, front - 2 Mp.

The application for working with them opens about a second. Autofocus works well, but the manual focus is somewhat difficult. The fact is that the entire preview area of the frame plays the role of a shutter button. Clicking in its area, you take a picture. Therefore, to manually set the focus point, you need to use a tug-of-war gesture.

The settings buttons on the sides also need to be pressed gently, otherwise the phone will take pictures.

The nice news is that the volume buttons duplicate the shutter function.

The smartphone offers to take photos with a ratio of 16 to 9, 4 to 3, and 1 to 1. The latter option looks good on the square display of the Q10, but is strange to be perceived on other widescreen devices.

The application offers 4 shooting scenarios and HDR mode. The latter significantly improves the quality of the result, making the colors more vivid and clear.

In general, the result of the camera can be quite good at normal illumination, and in more difficult conditions, the quality is noticeably inferior to the smartphones of the same release time - HTC One, Nokia Lumia 920 and Samsung Galaxy S4.

And what about video shooting? The main camera allows you to record in HD quality with a size of 1080 pixels, and the front camera - 720 pixels. And although the result looks good on the smartphone itself, when playing on other devices it is not particularly impressive.

Customer's opinion

The smartphone Blackberry Q10 reviews are quite contradictory. Mostly, the purchase was made by the already established fans of the brand, customary to its characteristics. Many liked the updated operating system and its new features, especially the innovative management of gestures. But also many users were disappointed by the fact that the usual options for them were lost.

Moreover, now many have several smartphones and Blackberry does not always win in comparison:

• The number of applications caused by the uniqueness of the OS is very limited;
• There are no standard functions - for example, you can connect a smartphone via Bluetooth to the car stereo, but it will not be able to play music;
• A small screen of a custom size and as a result, the stripes at the edges of the screen when watching video and in games.

Complaints also cause the device responsible for removing the cover of the case. "Out of the box" it works perfectly, without backlash, but soon begins to wear out. There is a risk that when you get your smartphone out of tight jeans, the lid will remain in your pocket.

Most of all buyers like the keyboard, which is convenient for quickly typing texts, high level of data security, as well as a battery that is guaranteed to keep the charge all working day. Therefore, many people use this smartphone to do business. But for personal purposes, it's more convenient to use Android or iOS.

Summing up

Blackberry Q10, Z10, Z30 - this is an attempt by the Canadian brand to keep pace with the times. However, they are still focused on the fans of the brand. The main advantage of Q10 is its keyboard. This is a smartphone for people who print a lot and are accustomed to the peculiar operating system Blackberry.

But if you do not concern yourself with this and just look for an option that will allow you to stay in touch and enjoy all the multimedia advantages of the Internet era, then the expensive Blackberry Q10 with its small screen and a limited number of applications is unlikely to suit you.