BlackBerry 10 Review

Introduction:

Gosh, it still seems a bit mind boggling to know that BlackBerry has been pretty much non-existent in the last year, seeing that they’ve been proactively taking the time out to develop its new QNX-based BlackBerry 10 mobile platform from the ground up. Naturally, it’s a big undertaking in itself, much like any new platform, but as we’ve seen, it has to contend with the already existing platforms out there. To make matters worse, consumers have a minimum threshold in what they expect to see out of the experience, which is obviously version 1.0 at this point.

Regardless of that, BlackBerry has an established user base that’s been faithful all this time while patiently waiting – so at least they an existing pool to target. Google has shown us the complexity of its Android platform, iOS continues to be simplicity at its best, and Windows Phone aims to take the number three spot with its stylish appeal, but where is BlackBerry 10 going to fit in all of this?

The Visuals and Presentation:

Taking look at BlackBerry OS 7, which is running on the recent Curve 9315, it’s undeniably antiquated when pitted against its contemporaries. Luckily, the Waterloo based company threw out its antiquated design style and presentation in favor of one that’s gushing with a good balance between visuals and presentation. One part, BlackBerry 10 has a simplistic look similar to iOS with its app panel, yet, there’s more complexity with its layout, which gives the platform more depth. Sprinkling some pizzazz to everything, BlackBerry has done a tremendous job of throwing in a variety of detailed transition effects. From the way the animation of the app panel stack on top of one another, to the cool fading one used by the lockscreen, it gives some much-needed eye candy to a modern platform.


Beyond the glitz, we like how BlackBerry 10 incorporates a handful of gestures, which contributes to a higher learning curve from the onset, but once they’re mastered, it becomes second nature. At the same time, this heavy usage of gestures helps to give the platform its definition. However, we’re not too fond of how notifications are executed with the platform. At first glance, the thought of the BlackBerry Hub aggregating everything is great, but when it comes to accessing them, it’s a tiny bit of a laborious process – mainly due to the many gestures needed just to get to the BlackBerry Hub. From here, you can view everything in a unified inbox within the BlackBerry Hub, or simply check them out separately in the different categories. When it comes down to it, notifications should be previews that are quickly accessed, not this lengthy process with BlackBerry 10.

Rather than concocting something predictable, BlackBerry executes the task of multi-tasking differently. Again relying on gestures, the way it handles it reminds us of what was used by webOS, as a quick swipe up gesture from the bottom bezel “minimizes” an app and places it as an “Active Frame” in the homescreen. Naturally, switching is fast and simple with this routine, but at the same time, it would’ve been nice to see many apps take advantage of the Active Frames. For example, the weather app turns into a mini widget of sort – thus, providing relevant content at a glance in the homescreen. Meanwhile, other apps are simply in their “minimized” state.


Checking out the lockscreen, which displays notifications, the clock, and date, it’s fairly benign with its offerings. Yes, you can launch the camera app at a moment’s notice in the lockscreen by pressing and holding down the icon, but it still would’ve been nice to give users the option to place additional content in the lockscreen – like weather information. And finally, that leads us to the platform’s personalization aspect, which is lagging behind Android and Windows Phone – though, it’s similar to iOS. Essentially, personalization is limited to changing the background wallpaper and rearranging the icons in the app panel. Needless to say, it would’ve been snazzy if there’s just some unique way for them to personalize the look more.

The Core Goods:

Rummaging through BlackBerry’s 10 set of core organizer apps, there isn’t a whole lot to expect out of them, since they all provide the usual staple of functions we’d expect to see with other platforms. Therefore, if you’re using the Calendar, Calculator, Contacts, Clock, and Weather apps, you won’t be particularly blown away with their offerings and styling.


Considering that BlackBerry 10 adheres to an all-touch experience, they made sure to do justice with the messaging experience. Even though there are going to be BlackBerries with physical keyboard (think the Q10), the layout of the on-screen keyboard does its best to emulate the look and feel of a physical one, which is evident by the silver space bars between rows. On one side, it’s nice to see that typing is smooth with the usual tapping of our fingers, but alternatively, the voice dictation service works rather well too. If you simply prefer typing, there’s also the platform’s new way of offering predictive text, which pops up words over specific buttons. Indeed it’s useful, but we find our pace to be slower – whereas typing the normal way, we’re faster, especially when it offers great auto-correction too!

Email has always been one of those bread and butter things with BlackBerry, knowing that, we’re not disappointed with how it’s done in BlackBerry 10. Setup as always is a breeze with this, since we only need to provide our email address and password for it to automatically get things situated. As for the actual layout of the email app, it’s nothing out of the ordinary with its scrollable listing.



Web Browser:

Boy do we remember using the web browser on the original BlackBerry Storm! Why’s that you ask? Well, that’s because the experience was downright terrible – frustrating on so many levels too! Fortunately, the BlackBerry 10 web browser is a huge leap forward, as it performs handsomely to not only live up to the expectations of its rivals, but surpass them as well. First and foremost, page loads are extremely quick – while rendering is done in the blink of an eye. So much so that we can start scrolling and pinch zooming as soon as things start popping up – and there’s rarely any sluggish performance! Showing its worth, the browser also boasts a variety of “sharing” functions and a friendly “reader” mode that rearranges pages for a column view. However, we were hoping to see some gestures being incorporated, since it’s heavily used by the OS – such as one where we can switch between tabs quickly.



Camera:

Sadly, the BlackBerry 10 camera interface is too lacking with its feature set. Specifically, it doesn’t command a plethora of shooting modes and manual settings to appease serious photogs. In addition, we’re not thrilled by how it handles focus and exposure adjustment, which requires us to press and hold the square box in the UI to move it around. Sure, we have the neat feature of “Time Shift,” which takes a variety of snapshots before and after to get the best faces in the shot, but it’s not something as valuable as something like being given manual controls for exposure, ISO, and metering. Likewise, it’s not as cool as having a panoramic mode or Google’s Photosphere.

Music Player:

Quite frankly, BlackBerry could’ve spent some more time with the music player, seeing that it’s as cookie cutter with its layout and presentation. When it comes down to it, the presentation is bland – and nothing more. When there are so many flashy looking music players, like cover flow with iOS, the Modern UI of Windows Phone, or the cool 3D effects with Android’s stock music player, the BlackBerry 10 music player is stale in comparison.

BlackBerry World & Third Party Apps:

BlackBerry World is now the one-stop hub for apps, games, music, and video content. With videos, it’s nice that certain titles can be bought or rented. Luckily, it seems as though BlackBerry World offers a wide range of movies and television shows – both new and old. Currently, it’s mentioned that there are over 70,000 apps available in BlackBerry World, which is a comforting figure for a new platform and all, however, it doesn’t have the breadth of popular apps like its rivals. At the moment, though, we’re pleased by what’s available – these include apps like Facebook, USA Today, Flixster, and Accuweather.


Needless to say, we can’t be too demanding with a platform that’s still getting its feet wet, but as we look at some of the other third party apps meant to work with the QNX-based PlayBook, such as the Pandora client “Apollo,” it shows us that not all apps have been optimized for BB10. Regardless of that, the general consensus of apps appear to be polished and make good use of the touch-friendly interface. Likewise, games like Radiant Defense and Angry Birds Star Wars run fantastic. In the end, it’ll boil down to how quickly BlackBerry can bring over many of the popular apps we’re accustomed to using with other platforms – like Instagram, Pandora, and Netflix.



Maps, Voice Control, & NFC:

When we know what the competition is offering, it’s undoubtedly disappointing to see that there isn’t much to like about BlackBerry Maps. Honestly, we’re confused by it, since it lacks things like transit directions and satellite view – yet, it offers voice guided turn-by-turn directions. Knowing what’s out there with the competition, BlackBerry Maps seriously needs to work to at least become usable on an everyday basis.


Likewise, we can say the same thing about BB10’s voice control service, which offers just the bare necessities. Out of everything, it’s just not as smart as Siri or Google Now, since the majority of requests results in a simple response to search them on the web.

Although it’s going to be a new concept with most old school BlackBerry users, BB10 fully takes advantage of NFC, which is a comforting thing to find. Obviously, we can share photos, videos, and music tracks by simply using the NFC feature, but in addition to that, the “Smart Tags” app enables users to custom set NFC embedded tags to do something specific – like sending contact info, opening a web site, or sending an email. For now, it’s very bare in what it can do, but we hope some additional functionality will be thrown in later.

Conclusion:

The more we think about it, we can’t help but draw comparisons of BlackBerry 10 to webOS , since there are similarities. Visually, BB10 is an enticing platform that greatly makes use of the touch experience, which is evident by the amount of gestures in play with it. Considering this is a version 1.0 platform, BlackBerry manages to deliver something that’s inviting and modern enough to tangle with the competition.

However, knowing that they had over a year to develop this platform, it would’ve been nice to see a more comprehensive features set – so it can at least be a valid argument for a smooth transition to those used using other mobile platforms. Needless to say, if you’re comfortable using the full arsenal of apps and functionality with your existing platform or choice, say Android or iOS, it’s going to be rather difficult making the switch. On the flip side, if you’re willing to take the gamble, with the hope of BlackBerry expediting the further development of its platform, we’re certain it’ll ultimately prove to be a justified response.

Once highly regarded as the platform of choice by business and enterprise users, as we’ve seen in the shift over the course of the last several years, BlackBerry has relinquished its hold to some of its main rivals. Still, they’ve tweaked the experience in BB10 to strongly make it a focal point – such as the case with BBM’s new video chatting and sharing services. Going back to where we started, this all reminds us and brings back memories about webOS. Right now, BlackBerry is in a tight spot, but the new platform seems equipped enough at the moment to build buzz amongst its existing user base. Simply, it’s a valiant effort on their part, but the future hinges on how proactive they’ll be in continuing development to make BB10 a complete OS from top to bottom.

BlackBerry 10 Video Review: