BlackBerry Z30 review

BlackBerry Z30 :

Introduction

The BlackBerry Z30 launches in time of crisis and will be looked upon as the savior, or end up as the one that witnessed the company's undoing. Market share has hit the fan, as RIM of old which stood for innovation and vision, has turned into the money-losing, job-cutting, CEO-swapping, rescue-deal-awaiting BlackBerry that we have now.

Yet, in the middle of all this, another flagship gets unleashed to hopefully help and turn around the shrinking market share and ease the pressure from all sorts of competition. The BB 10 OS was indeed a great comeback, especially from such a conservative company, but the Z10 failed to become the kick-starter many thought - hoped - it would be. It's now the BlackBerry Z30's turn but the company may have already lost the smartphone battle and now running in survival mode.

   
BlackBerry Z30 official pictures

The Z30 isn't BlackBerry's first smartphone to entirely break up with the old ways and go after the multimedia powerhouses of the competition. In fact, a five-incher must've been on the cards ever since the 4.2" Z10 appeared early this year. This sure looks like a steep increase in screen size but Blackberry must've been aware of the fact that they needed to catch up and do it fast. It's a 720p Super AMOLED display too, a second for the company after the Q10, but the first full-scale touchscreen.

The Z30 is powered by an upgraded Qualcomm chipset with a more recent GPU and has better battery backup than the preceding Z10. The latest version, 10.2, of the BB OS brings lockscreen notifications, a new instant preview and reply feature, new Priority Hub, updated system apps, USB host and more.

Here is the BlackBerry Z30 complete feature list.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, penta-band UMTS/HSPA, penta-band LTE
• 5.0" 16M-color 720p Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
• Dual-core 1.7 GHz Krait, 2GB RAM, Adreno 320
• 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with face detection and Time Shift; LED flash, 2MP front facing camera
• Full HD (1080p) video recording at 30fps; 720p recording with front-facing camera
• 16GB storage, microSD card slot; built-in Dropbox and Box integration
• Ability to side-load and run Jelly-Bean-compatible apps
• Dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot; Wi-Fi sync
• Bluetooth 4.0
• NFC
• Standard microUSB port, USB host, microHDMI
• 3.5mm audio jack
• GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS
• BlackBerry 10.2 OS
• Office document editor
• BlackBerry Hub with extensive social networking connectivity
• BBM with video chat and screen sharing

Main disadvantages

• Below-par screen resolution, the competition has 1080p displays
• The UI poses a steep learning curve
• Thick and heavy, not quite up to the usual high standard of design and finish
• BlackBerry Maps fall short of the competition
• Camera offers little control over image quality
• Audio quality degrades with headphones plugged in (as opposed to an external amp)

BlackBerry 10 is still a toddler compared to iOS and Android, but the others can certainly learn a trick or two. And you can't accuse BlackBerry of not trying either. Many popular apps missing at the premiere of the OS are now available in the BlackBerry World. Popular Android and iOS games are making their way to the platform too.

The ability to run Android apps isn't new to the BB 10 OS but the 10.2 version is finally beginning to make a difference. There's Jelly Bean compatibility now - and hardware acceleration is enabled, so the experience should be superior to simply running ICS apps through an emulator. BlackBerry has finally unleashed the BBM messenger on other platforms too and it's enjoying a good reception. Overall, the BlackBerry 10 OS looks fresh and compelling with innovative gestures and attractive design, but it will definitely get the job done too.

   
The BlackBerry Z30 at ours

But will the BlackBerry Z30 succeed where its BB10 siblings failed quite miserably - make money and bring fresh users to the platform? That's what we'll try to find out.

Follow us after the break, where we start with our traditional hardware checkup.

Unboxing the BlackBerry Z30

The retail box of BlackBerry Z30 covers just the basics. We found a microUSB cable for data connections and charging, an A/C adapter and a headset. There is no extra UK plug adapter, which is the only difference to the bundle of the Z10.

   
BlackBerry Z30 retail package

360-degree view of BlackBerry Z30

The BlackBerry Z30 stands at 140 x 72 x 9.4 mm, which makes is a centimeter taller and 6mm wider than the Z10. Honestly we expected a bigger difference, which isn't bad at all considering what you gain in terms of screen real estate. What we find strange though is that the Super AMOLED screen hasn't resulted in a slimmer profile.

The BlackBerry Z30 is in the sub-centimeter club but, admittedly, looks nowhere near as impressive as some competing flagships that are less than 8mm thick - and there're a select few handsets that are even less than 7mm. The Z30 not only looks somewhat chubby - it can be felt too. The phone weighs 33g more than the Z10 for a total of 170g. Now, that's massive compared to the iPhone - and while it's got a smaller screen, even a metal-clad five-incher like the HTC One weighs less than the Blackberry flagship.

Design, build quality and handling

Speaking of which, the carbon fiber back cover looks all the more puzzling - to say the least, it will have you totally unprepared for the weight of the handset. We can see how Blackberry were after some continuity - the Bold Touch 9900 has the exact same pattern. But we cannot help the thought either that they went for it so the Z30 didn't look like a Samsung midranger.

No, we're not impressed with the looks of the BlackBerry Z30 - and not because the phone looks appalling - it's just short of the premium look that we've come to expect in a Blackberry, a flagship at that.

How we feel about it aside, it's clearly a mixture of the Z10 and Q10 designs, which makes sense and handles fairly comfortably. The front of the Z30 is similar to Z10's, but while the latter was in a way a nod to the iPhone, the Z30 has an uncanny resemblance to the HTC One.

It could be down to the accent at the bottom - a faux metal plate that's an extension of the silver frame that goes all around the handset.

   
BlackBerry Z30

The BlackBerry Z30 is nonetheless a solidly built smartphone with a practical design and secure grip.

  
Handing the BlackBerry Z30

Controls

Now let's explore the BlackBerry Z30 controls. Above the screen, we find the earpiece flanked by the traditional status LED and the front facing camera. The latter has a 2MP sensor capable of 720p video recording. The hidden proximity and ambient light sensors are also around.

 
A peek above the Z30's display

As usual there is nothing below the display, not even a Home key. The Power key being dead center at the top would've involved quite a bit of a stretch of the finger, but luckily you don't need it to turn the screen on. A swipe up from the bottom of the screen will unlock the phone instead - and it will do it straight from sleep - no need to wake up forts and then unlock.

The right side of the BlackBerry Z30 has the volume keys, separated by the voice command button. The volume keys can be configured to double as music controls.

There're two pinholes below the volume keys, which may as well be for the extra couple of microphones the Blackberry Z30 is said to have. They just can't be the main mics to use in calls, though honestly we couldn't spot those anywhere.

  
BlackBerry Z30's right side

The microUSB and microHDMI connectivity ports are on the left. There is no adapter in the retail package, you'll need to buy one if you want to use the TV-out functionality of the Z30. BB 10.2 has introduced USB host support though.

  
The left side of the BlackBerry Z30 has the connectivity ports

The top side of the Blackberry Z30 features the 3.5mm audio jack and the Power key. As we already said, you don't need the Power button to wake the phone up.

  
The top has the audio jack and the Power key

The bottom of the BlackBerry Z30 has no controls: you'll only spot a slit to place a fingernail and pull the battery cover open.

  
There is nothing on the bottom of the Z30

Flipping the device over, you'll spot the 8MP camera lens and single LED flash in the top left corner. The pair of stereo speakers, two grilles each, are placed at the top and bottom of the Z30's back.

   
A look at the BlackBerry Z30's back

The rear cover of the Z30 is removable, but unfortunately the battery is not user accessible, so DIY replacement is a no go. You can find the microSD and microSIM slots on the right and the memory card is hot-swappable. Popping a SIM card in will prompt a reboot of the device.

  
A peek underneath the rear cover • the microSD and microSIM slots on the left

The BlackBerry Z30 managed an Endurance rating of 52 hours meaning it'll easily cope two days of 1 hour of web browsing, video watching and 3G talking each.

BlackBerry Z30 battery life test scorecard

Learn more about our battery testing procedures here.

Display

The Z30 boasts a 5.0" Super AMOLED screen of 720p resolution (720 x 1280 pixels). It's only the second AMOLED unit on a Blackberry phone, after the Q10 messenger. The pixel density clocks in at 294 ppi, which is way below what this season's flagships offer - but, admittedly, crisp enough for comfortable reading and viewing.

 
The 5" Super AMOLED 720p display on the BlackBerry Z30