Stay Away OR Burn your Hands. Review on Blackberry Z10

I was in two minds, whether to go for a Samsung Note 2 or Z10. I have no use of fancy/fun apps. Most of my usage is emails, and features on a phone related to emails, SMS etc. I do use apps like Facebook WhatsApp etc, but tons of apps, games, is not my cup of tea. Also, I have been using Blackberry handsets ever since BlackBerry 8500. I have upgraded to newer models from time to time and have been quite happy with them, with the kind of use I have. Hence, I thought it better to go for a BlackBerry again.

THIS WAS A BLUNDER !!!!

When one buys a phone, with a NEWer operating system, one expects that there will be something MORE than what already existed on earlier versions. But RIM has gone ahead and released a newer version with much much LESS than its own earlier versions of OS’s. EMAILS :

The feature of having an option to delete emails either “On Handheld” or on “Handheld and Server”, is done away with. This feature, available in earlier versions of OS, was one of the most effective and secure feature to handle and manage one’s emails efficiently and securely.  I for one would certainly prefer the earlier method of configuring emails setting them up using a computer or the “set up” app on handheld felt much much more secure and feature rich rather than the present mode in OS 10 (akin to Android or iOS)

ADDRESS–BOOK

The feature of being able to form “Groups” in “Contacts” (Address Book), has been done away with.  This was such a convenient feature available in all earlier versions of OS. The ease of sending same message to multiple contacts via email/SMS/MMS using this extremely useful feature is no longer available in OS 10.

Wi–Fi

The Wi-Fi connectivity is atrocious. While it does connect seamlessly, from time to time drops out of connection. I have to switch and switch back on again, to be able to use Wi-Fi. Whereas, other phones in the same vicinity as my Z10 remain connected without any hitches. Leave alone other, Android or iOS brands, even my earlier BlackBerry Torch 9800 had better Wi-Fi connectivity. A 3.5Mb video took about 7+ minutes to download while in the same vicinity (same room) Samsung Galaxy Note 2 took under 2 minutes to download the same video. I have a 10 Mbps FTTH connection. I use DropBox and BOX, cloud applications, the synchronization of other phones (Android and iOS) works at least 5 times faster than my Z10.

FILE HANDLING

The feature of being able save SMS/MMS/emails no longer exists. In earlier versions of OS, it was such a helpful feature to be able to save, and later refer to them save under the “Saved Folder”

The feature of being able to back-up/restore contacts, emails, BBM groups etc. to BlackBerry servers, using “BlackBerry Protect” no longer exists. BlackBerry Protect IS there, and the security features introduced to be able protect one’s data in case the phone is stolen, is commendable, but it no longer gives us the facility of backing-up/restoring contacts etc. to BB (RIM) Servers, anymore. This was available in earlier versions of OS.

APPS :

No “Social Feeds” app. This has been such an important app in previous versions of OS. Being able to subscribe to various New-Feeds, keeping “in-touch” on the go. Even separate download is not available for OS 10. One has to rely on third party software. BlackBerry Maps does not work at all. It only shows a blue dot with rest of the screen "blank".

Very popular apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, are so incomplete/underdeveloped for this OS 10. Facebook does not have a “settings” feature within the app, any changes one wants to make it takes you to the website, does not allow you to manually link facebook contacts with those in your phone’s address–book, a feature available on FB app developed for all earlier versions of BB OS’s. WhatsApp keeps getting disconnected. For long periods one gets no messages, and suddenly there is a barrage of 20–30 messages.

All–in–all, AVOID Z10 or any other BlackBerry phones with OS 10.