Bold and Beautiful: BlackBerry Q10 Review

My short-lived love affair with BlackBerry’s new smartphone began when I received a sleek box containing the Q10. At first I thought the Q10 would be like the usual BlackBerry QWERTY smartphone but I ate my words upon using it. I’m telling you why in this review.

The Look

I’d like to applaud the Canadian manufacturer for sticking to its signature look that is classic yet modern at the same time. Just by looking at the Q10 – even without turning it on – made me say that this is a BlackBerry.

However, the BlackBerry Q10 isn’t your ordinary smartphone. It has a hard-button QWERTY keyboard, which is a BlackBerry feature that goes from way back, that I think is still quite good for hassle-free typing.

What’s even more interesting is that, the Q10 has a 3.1-inch Super AMOLED display with a fantastic 720×720 pixels. This alone is a great feature especially for professionals and bloggers that need to be connected 24/7 because it offers vibrant colors and perfectly contrasted images. On the sides of the Q10 are a microUSB and micro HDMI ports, 3.5mm headphone jack, volume rockers, and power button. By the way, I love the fact that the Q10 is very handy with dimensions 119.6×66.8×10.4mm.

The Performance

Did I mention that BlackBerry Q10 is fast? I’m talking about its 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, with a backup of 2GB in RAM. Still not satisfied? The Q10 boasts a whooping 16GB of memory that is expandable up to 32GB using a microSD card.

It also has an 8MP rear camera and a 2MP front-facing camera that’s quite awesome for video calling and the oh-so-popular “selfies”. I’ve tried Googling a lot of things using its speedy Internet connection (thanks to the Q10’s 4G connection!) and even if my social media accounts are running, lagging is never an issue. Admit it, there are smartphones out there that take ages to load when there’s a lot of programs running.

The video is great too! I was able to record myself using its front-facing camera and the result isn’t that bad after all. Believe it or not, the Q10 is capable of shooting 720p HD videos that can be zoomed in 3 times. I know, splendid!

I have to burst your bubble, though. There’s no denying to the fact that the Q10 is probably BlackBerry’s best smartphone so far, but it comes with a shortcoming. Its 2100mAH removable battery heats up every time I use the Web even for a short period of time. I still need to check why it happens.

The Features

I usually think of BlackBerry as a must-have for business people. When I used the Q10, I realized that it isn’t just for the professionals, but also for bloggers and students alike.

One of the many features this BlackBerry Q10 offers is the BlackBerry Hub. It’s like Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter in one. Placed on the left side of the home screen, the BlackBerry Hub lets you access everything – from your text messages to e-mails – with just one swipe. Now you can check updates without loading three to four programs simultaneously.

BlackBerry Story Maker, Documents To Go, Print To Go, LinkedIn, Foursquare, YouTube, and Smart Tags are some of the really cool features you should try when you get one. However, BlackBerry World is worlds apart from Google Play and Apple’s App Store. Why? There aren’t too many applications that can be installed and work in the Q10. It saddens me since I love downloading gaming apps to brush off my boredom and I just couldn’t do it with this beauty.

Conclusion

Generally, I find the BlackBerry Q10 very stylish and convenient too. For P31,990, you’d get to experience a whole new world from the BlackBerry 10 series. Whether you’re a business person or someone who wants to enjoy the Internet, then I suggest you take the Q10 into consideration. Despite its present struggle to keep up with the you-know-what brands in the industry, I still believe that BlackBerry will do better if only the Q10 gets a much lower price tag.