AT&T BlackBerry Z10 Review

Our friends over at AT&T have sent us the BlackBerry Z10 to review! This is the first device to be running BlackBerry 10, which is the latest and greatest operating system from BlackBerry. The BlackBerry Z10 is cleared for landing on AT&T on March 22nd, but NJTechReviews has the full review for today. On AT&T the BlackBerry Z10 will cost $199.99 with a 2-year contract, but it is launching at a very competitive time. HTC has unveiled the One and Samsung just announced the Galaxy S 4, but is there room for another operating system? BlackBerry has put their all into this device and the new operating system, and it does pack several punches with some neat features. Time Shift lets you get the perfect photo and with the new BBM you can video chat on the go. It’s running on AT&T’s 4G LTE network and has many intuitive features. Will the BlackBerry Z10 be your next smartphone? We will answer that in the full review which begins now!

Unboxing Video

NJTechReviews unboxed the AT&T BlackBerry Z10 and gives some first impressions on the device, you can see it below!

 

Design

The AT&T BlackBerry Z10, this is the future of BlackBerry here today. Past BlackBerry’s that we have seen have not always had the nicest design. However, the Z10 feels like a high-end device and you can tell that BlackBerry took their time with the design process. The build quality may not be the same as the HTC One, with it’s aluminum uni body design, but it does have that feeling. It is a mixture of aluminum and plastic, luckily the build is mostly aluminum. The plastic is just the back cover of the device and it does make it easy to take it off. The main color of the device is black, the pop of color would be the BlackBerry logo on the back. BlackBerry wanted to make sure it felt good and natural in the hand as well, the back has a very nice grip to it. It is a soft molded plastic and it has a texture to it. It makes sure that the device wont slip out of your hand and that it feels nice in the hand. The BlackBerry logo on the back is silver and is slightly raised. Some may think that having the power/sleep button positioned right in the middle of the top of the device may not make it the easiest to use, but it does fit correctly in the hand and the button is very easy to use. The Z10 feels like a high-end device, and it is one.

 

BlackBerry 10 has a gesture based operating system. On the device there is total of 3 (three) buttons. On the top you have the power/sleep button which is silver in color. The right hand side is home volume rocker and a mute button. The mute button is a nice addition to the volume rocker. These buttons are also silver in color. If you hold the mute button in as well it will activate voice control as well and you can make it a shutter button for the camera. Your headphone jack and microphone can be found on the top of the device as well. Your speaker, which performs quite well, is located on the bottom of the device. The micro HDMI port and micro USB port are located on the left hand side. Your 2 mega pixel front facing camera, LED notification light, array sensor, and earpiece are on the front of the device. The main microphone and BlackBerry logo are found under the display, The sides of the device are glass and the gestures do remind of those found on the BlackBerry PlayBook. On the back of the device you will find the 8 mega pixel camera with LED flash, BlackBerry logo, and the AT&T logo. The BlackBerry logo on the back is actually where the Near Field Communications sensor is built-in to the Z10. The device does not say AT&T anywhere on it, the Z10 only has the AT&T logo. The Z10 has little to no carrier branding on the device at all, at least that is for the AT&T variant. The back of the AT&T BlackBerry Z10 is plastic, so be careful when you take it off. The Near Field Communications chip is built-in to the back so this another reason to be careful with the back cover. Under the back cover you will find the LS1 BlackBerry Battery, SIM card slot, micro SD card slot, and the speaker. The design of the AT&T BlackBerry Z10 complements its high-end feel.

 

Camera

BlackBerry knew that smartphones are known for their cameras and that  each of them usually has one feature that is a game changer. BlackBerry did provide the Z10 with an awesome feature and that is called Time Shift. Before I go into the details of that feature, let’s talk about the hardware. On the back of the Z10 you will get a 8 mega pixel camera with LED flash. It has 5-times digital zoom and auto focus, but the focus mode is a little different from the ones on other devices. There is not a dedicated shutter button on the camera application, you can tap on the screen anywhere and it will take the photo. While this does make it super easy take the photo quickly, focusing can take longer. But you can change how you focus in the settings of the camera application. It was nice of BlackBerry to provide a fix for this right in the application. Images taken with the back camera on the Z10 are very vibrant and look nice. However, if there is a lot of light in the photo it will become washed out. It performs very well in low and mid light conditions. The 8 mega pixel camera on the back of the Z10 is comparable to other cameras on other smartphones currently on the market.

 

The front facing 2 mega pixel camera comes in very handy, from taking selfies to making BBM video calls, the Z10 has you covered. The 2 mega pixel camera features 3-times digital zoom and records video in 720pHD. When you video chat over BBM video calling it streams in 720pHD. The quality of the video call was crystal clear and looked very life-like. I was very impressed with the quality of the video during the BBM video calls. You can switch back and forth between the front and back cameras while video calling. In fact you can share your screen as well. Taking selfies or self portraits is a breeze with the front facing camera and taking it with a few friends is even better.

 

As I mentioned before Time Shift is one of the game changing features that the Z10 offers. You could call this BlackBerry’s version of Burst Mode, but it is presented in a much different fashion from how other devices showcase it. Time Shift is a mode that the camera can be in and it will take photos both before and after you take the shutter button. This is perfect for taking photos with multiple people, as it will track there faces. So if someone closed their eyes during the shot, you can go either before or after and find the frame that works the best. This is a really unique feature that will come in very handy.

 

Overall, the cameras on the Z10 are good. They have one knock out feature called Time Shift and I would say that the other features are comparable to other smartphones. Sometimes the images will appear washed out, but it is very possible to get a nice image with the back 8 mega pixel camera. The BlackBerry Z10’s 8 mega pixel can record video in 1080pHD and it looks very good. In fact you can judge it for your self in our camera test below. Check out our gallery of images taken with camera’s as well below.

Camera Gallery

 

Hardware

The BlackBerry Z10 features a 1.5GHz Dual-Core processor with 2GB of RAM. This is a common processor that we see in many smartphones that are currently on the market. It does keep the Z10 moving, but it does take some time for the device to turn on and off. For the most part I did not have any hiccups with the multitasking or using the operating system. It may have slowed down once or twice throughout my entire testing. Some applications took longer to open than others, this did come as a surprise to me. When using the gestures that run the operating system, they worked well and got the job done. Accessing your menus and BlackBerry Hub is as simple as just one swipe away. Accessing them while having other applications open did not cause them to crash or slow down dramatically.

 

For storage on the device you have plenty of options. You will find 16GB of built-in flash storage right on the device. To mange your files you get a “File Manager” application that does come in handy. If you are a fan of cloud storage, pre-loaded on the AT&T Z10 you will find Box and Connect To Dropbox. Being able to expand your storage is an important option for the consumer to have and BlackBerry has answered this by adding in a micro SD card slot that is simply found under the back cover.

 

The BlackBerry Z10 has a 4.2-inch multi-touch IPS LCD touchscreen display. It has 356 pixel per inch and a resolution of 1280 X 768. In comparison to older BlackBerry’s this screen is huge and like on the original BlackBerry’s text is incredibly clear on the Z10. BlackBerry did a nice job with the viewing angles as well, and the Z10’s display is 720pHD. Colors look vibrant and have good contrast on the display. Interestingly enough the glass of the display is slightly lower than the body of the phone.

 

The BlackBerry Z10 has an 18,000mAh battery called the LS1. It is thin and does not resemble the batteries in smartphones like the Galaxy S III. The device does take some time to boot on, but it does last for most of the day. I got around 9 and a half hours of usage time with the Z10 on a full charge. Luckily, BlackBerry does sell extra batteries and a unique battery charging system. If you think the battery may not be good enough to last for a full day, you can choose to carry a secondary battery with you. The LS1 is small enough to carry around in your pocket.

 

The BlackBerry Z10 has plenty of connectivity built-in. AT&T’s 4G LTE network is on board and this will give you some of the fastest speeds out there. Keep in mind that coverage depends on your specific location. Now, if AT&T 4G LTE is not yet available in your area you will be running on AT&T’s 4G HSPA+ network. AT&T’s 4G networks have an extensive backend and they have built up over many years. The device features a mobile hotspot mode as well, this way you can share your internet with up to 8 other WiFi devices. In fact the BlackBerry Z10 has Dual Band 802.11 a/b/g/n directly built-in. Bluetooth 4.0 and Assisted, Autonomous, and Simultaneous GPS are on board as well. You can take advantage of Near Field Communications or NFC, as it is on board for the ride also. NFC is an easy way to share files, control smart tags, or pay with your smartphone. For those of you who travel out of the country frequently, you will be happy to know that the AT&T Z10 is a global device. The Z10 is loaded with many options for connectivity.

 

Software

BlackBerry 10 is the latest and greatest operating system for BlackBerry’s. It is the newest operating system for the smartphone world and has some neat features. However, like Windows Phone 8 the application store is still growing. It brings back BBM in a new way with some awesome new features. If you swipe to the left you will find BlackBerry Hub you new way to look at you social media, notifications, emails, and more. The best part is that is all organized and all in one place.

 

When you first turn on your new AT&T BlackBerry Z10 you will be greeted with quick start or setup wizard. First you select the language and then it will connect to the mobile network. After that you can choose to connect to a WiFi network and then create your BlackBerry ID. Then it will give you a brief overview of how the new operating system works. If you want to go back to the setup at any time there is handy application called Setup, that will let you do this. BlackBerry does a really nice job with making a first impression.

 

The user interface of BlackBerry 10 is a new look at BlackBerry and it is similar to other operating systems on the market. It is very easy to use and this will set it apart from other operating systems. The home screen now shows you the time, date, notifications, easy access to your camera, networks available, and more. I wish they let you swipe on the notifications so you could go right in the operating system. Hopefully this will come in a future update. The camera can be easily accessed, just simply hold down on the icon and wait for it to open. Or if you want to enter the operating system, simply swipe up from the bottom of the screen. Once you unlock the device you will be greeted by your applications. Out of the box on the AT&T variant you will get 3(three) pages with applications. If you swipe to the left you will enter BlackBerry Hub.  On the bottom of the display you will find the phone, search, and camera application buttons. This makes it super easy to access the applications from wherever you are in the operating system.  If you swipe down from the top of the screen you will find easy to use settings. You can turn on rotation lock, turn Bluetooth on or off, turn WiFi on or off, turn notifications to normal or silent, access your alarm, or enter settings. The top bar will show you the time WiFi signal, network signal, the time, and battery levels. If you have applications open they will show up on the multitasking page this will automatically appear in between BlackBerry Hub and the applications pages. If you open an application you can exit the application by swiping up from the bottom of the display. If you want to close out of the application you can hit the “X” in the right hand corner of the box on the multitasking page for that application. This is a brief overview of the new User Interface in BlackBerry 10.

 

BBM or BlackBerry Messenger has been one of the best feature on every single BlackBerry that has come out. It makes a grand appearance on the Z10. Not only can you still make free WiFi voice calls, but you can now video call over BBM. In fact you can even share your screen. Video calling with the AT&T BlackBerry Z10 is crystal clear and it truly was an awesome experience. Both the quality of the sound and voice were great. The world-famous BlackBerry Messenger Emoticons are back as well and they still work great. You can easily share a voice note, photos, videos, files, contacts, appointments, and your location with your BBM contacts as well. When you are messaging with BlackBerry Messenger you can see when the message has been delivered and read. And of course you can see when the other person is writing you a message.

 

The keyboard’s on BlackBerry’s have always been the best features on the devices, but there is not a physical full QWERTY keyboard on the Z10. The entire device is touch screen and let’s just say that BlackBerry has once again killed it with the keyboard on BlackBerry 10. The keyboard on the Z10 fills the display from side to side and still gives you enough room to use the screen. It learns how you type as well, so if you are constantly hitting the wrong key and going back to hit the right one, the Z10 will learn this behavior and will automatically correct it once it learns it. It has a built-in phraseology of words that you commonly use, so let’s say you type “BlackBerry” a lot. Well the Z10 will learn this and when you type “B”, BlackBerry will appear over the letter “L” and you can simply swipe up on the letter and the word will appear in the text box where you are typing. If you swipe down on the keyboard you will enter the section with numbers and symbols. If you hit the space bar twice it will add a space and capitalize the next letter of the word you are about to type. The Z10 does support speech to text as well, but it could work better. If you swipe down with 2(two) fingers it will close the keyboard. BlackBerry did an amazing job with the keyboard on the Z10.

 

BlackBerry calls “BlackBerry Hub” the universal inbox, but they say it is more than that. This is one of my most favorite features of the Z10 and BlackBerry 10. It gives you a super easy way to manage all of your messages. You can easily access BlackBerry Hub from almost any application by swiping up and to the right. BlackBerry Hub works great and easily the best way to view all of your messages. You can compose a new message directly in BlackBerry Hub as well and if you don’t want everything combined into one simply tap the Hub button and then you can break it down to just viewing your email, Facebook, Twitter, and other messages. Let’s say your reading an email in BlackBerry Hub right from there you can reply, reply all, forward, mark unread, flag, file, invite the person to a meeting, add them as a contact, or delete it. BlackBerry Hub is the killer feature of BlackBerry 10.

 

As I mentioned before the main issue for the new operating systems would be the application stores. While the Windows Phone 8 store is up and running it is still growing. The Z10 has BlackBerry World and this is where you can purchase your applications, movies, books, music, and more all on your smartphone. The issue is that many big applications like Instagram aren’t yet available. The store is still growing and it has the important applications like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Angry Birds and others. Favorites from Disney like  “Where’s My Water” are on board as well. The important and crucial applications are there and the store is growing rapidly. With many new applications being made available daily. I have high hopes for the store and have a feeling it all continue to grow at faster rates. Renting movies will cost you around $3.99 and you can buy them for around $19.99 . A song will cost around $1.29, while prices for albums are all over the place. If you are looking for magazines, Newsstand is where you should go. Magazines cost around $2.99 and $4.99 . Currently the store may not have all of the applications you want, but I think they are coming and when they do the Z10 may be a good choice for you.

 

The AT&T BlackBerry Z10 does have some pre-loaded applications out of the box. Surprisingly, there are not too many pre-loaded. AT&T has added 3(three) applications to the device and they are really just shortcuts to websites. Since the browser is HTML 5 you can easily view these webpages. The browser does perform very nicely and it works very fast. These applications/shortcuts from AT&T are myAT&T, AT&T Device Help, and AT&T Family Map. The other pre-loaded applications are Contacts, Browser, Calendar, BBM(BlackBerry Messenger), Text Message, BlackBerry World, Remember, Docs To Go, Pictures, Music, Videos, Story Maker, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Maps, Games, YouTube, Newsstand, Voice Control, Weather, Clock, Calculator, Compass, File Manager, Box, Connect to Dropbox, Print To Go, Smart Tags, Settings, Adobe Reader, Phone, Camera, Setup, and Help.

 

BlackBerry 10 is a very unique and intuitive operating system. From BlackBerry Hub, to the new gestures, or to the awesome keyboard. It brings many new features to the table. The main issue with BlackBerry 10 would be the lack of applications available in BlackBerry World. However, I think this will be fixed in a few months as the BlackBerry Developer Community is very large and still growing. If you loved the physical keyboards on BlackBerry’s, the Z10 keyboard is amazing and will impress everyone. I enjoyed the BlackBerry 10 operating system and I cannot wait to see the future devices.

Software Gallery

 

Bottom Line

The AT&T BlackBerry Z10 is a great phone and it was a long time coming. It feels like a high end device with it’s design, it is pretty light at just 135 grams as well. I am happy that the design is a mix between aluminum and plastic. The 8 mega pixel back camera performs very well and the 2 mega pixel camera on the front is great for BBM video calling. Time Shift is a killer feature that will help you get the perfect shot. The 1.5GHz Dual Core Processor keeps the Z10 moving, but it can get hung up on something everyone in a while. It has a very nice 4.2-inch multi-touch IPS LCD touchscreen display. You have plenty of storage options available, thanks to the 16GB on board and the micro SD card slot. The removable 18,000mAh battery will let you carry an extra one to make sure it will last the full day. You will get some of the fattest speeds thanks to AT&T 4G LTE. With Near Field Communications built-in you can easily share files and pay with your smartphone. BlackBerry 10 is the newest operating system, that is both intuitive  and unique. BlackBerry Hub is the easiest way to see all of your messages and notifications. BlackBerry Messenger is back and better than ever, with new video calling and screen sharing capabilities. It has an amazing touchscreen keyboard that works really well. The main issue would be the BlackBerry World Store and I am hoping that some of the best applications, like Instagram, will make their way to the device. Overall, I really enjoyed the Z10 and BlackBerry 10. It comes in at a pretty good price point of $199.99 with a 2-year contract from AT&T. It will be landing on March 22nd and is available for pre-order now. If you currently have a BlackBerry I highly suggest that you upgrade to the Z10. For business I think they will be pleasantly surprised with the BlackBerry Z10 and it will be a great option for them. If you switched to Android or another operating system, I think you will enjoy BlackBerry 10 but, I have a feeling you may wait to switch until your favorites applications become available. Keep in mind that the HTC One and Galaxy S 4 from Samsung are still coming. The BlackBerry Z10 is entering the market at a very busy time, but it has some killer features that the other devices do not offer. For More Information On The AT&T BlackBerry Z10, Please Click Here. We would like to thank AT&T for providing us with a copy of the “AT&T BlackBerry Z10”.

 

AT&T BlackBerry Z10 Gallery