BlackBerry has been in a complete rebuild mode over the last 3 years. They have started to change the face of their smartphone lineup with BlackBerry 10. They have also released their newest, all-touch device with the Z10. Despite the Z10 selling several million units, the company has not forgotten their heritage of QWERTY keyboards.
Enter the new BlackBerry Q10. BlackBerry has been the king of the QWERTY keyboard for more than a decade, and the Q10 is well in line with that heritage. The Q10 is a solid smartphone with a throwback design, but how does it matchup against the new generation of mobile computing?
Hardware
The Q10 is a well built, sturdy smartphone. The 3.1" touchscreen is bright and responsive. The keyboard is exactly what you would expect from the BlackBerry. Keys are slightly raised and easy to press. Internally resides a dual-core 1.5Ghz processor and 2gb of RAM. Flash memory is set at 16gb and the Q10 allows for 32gb of expandable storage via micro-SD. Outside the casing, you have a 8 mega-pixel camera on the rear and 2 mega-pixel on the front.
Software
The Q10 runs BlackBerry 10 version 10.1 by default, and is the first device to have the point one update at launch. Many of the new features of the OS are tuned towards the physical keyboard of the Q10, with things like keyboard shortcuts seeing some love. Quick Actions allow you to start tweets, or Facebook updates, without launching the apps via the keyboard. All your basic BB10 stalwarts are here. Swipes and gestures are your friend, and the Hub is your central station for all your notifications.
Much like my experience with the Z10, the Q10 is handicapped by a lack of quality apps for the BB10 platform. Big name developer houses are simply not producing applications for BlackBerry. The lack of Netflix, Amazon, Rdio, or Spotify, to name a few, hampers the positive experience of the operating system. There are some very good 3rd party apps to fill most voids, but the lack of key apps makes the OS hard to use as a replacement for iOS or Android.
Performance
The Q10 is a snappy device to say the least. I found the overall performance of 10.1 on the Q10 slightly faster than the same OS version on my Z10. It could be that the 3.1 inch screen allows the system to process information faster, but either way, the Q10 is quite responsive. Battery life also was slightly better on the Q10 in comparison. I easily had it last all day with no issues.
Conclusion
I am torn with the Q10, and BlackBerry 10, as a whole. Honestly, the Q10 reminds me of a NFL fullback. It's not flashy. It's stocky, solid form factor make for a quality player, but never makes it stand out as a superstar. The physical keyboard makes for a solid member of your roster, but is somewhat of a dying position.
The same can be said for BlackBerry 10. The underlying operating system is fast, and responsive with some truly good UI elements and ideas. However, the lack of top-level apps, and the chicken-egg problem this presents for the platform's future success, I just can't recommend the OS to most consumers. I just don't see any big names moving to support BB10 with the current financial state of BlackBerry, and this, unfortunately, directly correlates to the success of the OS.
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