BlackBerry Z30 At Rs 39,990: All You Need To Know About The Phone

BlackBerry isn’t a very popular brand at the moment. If I were to use a famous line from a competitor which has all but killed an underperforming yet overconfident BlackBerry in Western markets, you have to think different to be considering buying a BlackBerry today. But the truth is trailblazers do think different, they swim against the flow, though on the flip side trailblazers can often be wrong too. That is the risk that you take with BlackBerry today.

What we have with us for review is BlackBerry’s all new flagship, the Z30, the successor to the Z10, which got good reviews, but didn’t see great sales. To some, the Z30 may seem like just a larger version of the Z10, and that’s what I thought initially too, but I was wrong. Besides a larger screen, there is the highest number of microphones on a phone to enable voice clarity, there’s new antenna technology that BlackBerry claims will noticeably help in poor coverage areas, there are stereo speakers and most importantly, there’s a very juicy battery that really sets the Z30 apart from the rest. There’s an all new iteration of the Blackberry 10 OS too, and in areas like productivity and elements like touch screen keyboards, the big Z30 takes BlackBerry’s productivity edge to an all new level.

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But, should you consider buying the Z30, especially in the face of overwhelmingly negative customer sentiment? That’s a question that only you can answer, because that’s a risk you need to consider. But as for what’s measurable and reviewable, here’s the story:

Looks & Form Factor

I loved the Z10’s understated looks and feel in the hands. I have small hands and I don’t like phablet form factors. For that reason, I was a bit apprehensive about the Z30, which isn’t exactly a phablet but not too far from being one. But when I held it, the Z30 felt comfortable, and that comes from the subtleties in terms of the shape and form; the Z30 fit very well into the curvature of my hand, even though it’s a fairly wide smartphone.

What immediately strikes you at first glance is the large bottom frame in a brushed metal finish. Unlike the Z10, there’s no way you’ll mistake the top for the bottom, even if you’re blind or trying to use the smartphone in pitch darkness. The curved back is beautiful glass weave which BlackBerry says also helps with cellular reception, but also provides great grip. A brushed metal ring also runs all round the unit, with volume buttons on the right and below those two microphones; the power key and audio out are on top and the microUSB charging/data point and microHDMI ports are on the left. The bottom of the glass weave rear has dual stereo speaker grilles and more on top.

There’s also a strange area on the metal frame on the left, which looks like a flap and initially I thought it was removable to reveal a SIM/microSD card, and tried to open it. I have a feeling some folks are going to try harder and actually manage to damage their Z30s. What adds grist to this theory of mine is the fact that the removable back is pretty tight. But removable it is and surprisingly, for a removable back, the battery is non-removable and what you have are microSD and microSIM slots. What gives?

Accessories

A cover where the back cover of the Z30 is replaced by accessory’s back cover, with a flip cover on the front. Replacing the back cover with the accessory cover ensures the smartphone doesn’t get too bulky. Unfortunately, we couldn’t check out this accessory to decide whether it was really smart thinking or otherwise. But it does look good.

The edge-to-edge glass is premium too—we found no scratches despite keeping it in trouser pockets and sometimes with keys. Build quality is BlackBerry premium, which as most folks know, is as good as they come. Not plasticky, not loud, but solid.

Specs, Hardware & Display

Speaking of solid, one reason is the weight at 170 gms. The weight lends a definite solidity to the Z30 and you know the Z30 can take a few hard knocks. And with dimensions of height at 5.53 inches, width at 2.83 inches and depth at 9.4 mm, the Z30 will fit into most pockets. And as with all things BlackBerry, a holster accessory is also available.

The processor is a dual-core Snapdragon S4 Pro 1.7 GHz and there’s a quad core GPU (graphics processing unit) in there too, which gamers will especially love, especially since quite a few games are being released on the BlackBerry 10 platform. There’s also 2 GB RAM and 16 GB application storage, expandable using a microSD card of up to 64 GB. And for the first time on a BlackBerry you can also add USB devices (flash drives, mouse or keyboard for instance) using USB OTG (On-The-Go). Miracast, which in this case enables wireless delivery of HD video from a Z30 to a compatible device like a HDTV (or using a Miracast dongle), via Wi-Fi Direct, is also supported.

From a spec-focused buyer’s perspective this may seem like not-so-great specs, especially for a Hero phone, when compared to Android where quad-core processors are now commonplace and octa-core powered smartphones are being touted as Hero phones. But as I keep writing, in a tightly integrated solution where hardware and software is made by the same manufacturer, a quad core processor might appear better on a spec sheet but might not make a significant difference in usage and may indeed be a bad bargain when looked at from the battery drain to performance gain balance.

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/tech/blackberry-z30-at-rs-39990-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-phone-1191341.html?utm\_source=ref\_article