Blackberry’s Z10 is the company’s come-back phone. It’s a solid, capable device. There’s much to like, but it may not be enough to revive the company’s fortunes.Let’s break the laws of reviewing and start with a history lesson to explain the opening paragraph.
Until Steve Jobs decloaked the first iPhone, Blackberry was the smartphone superpower. The company’s range of qwerty-keyboard equipped handsets and its back-end messaging services meant Research in Motion, Blackberry’s former name, dominated the business mobile phone sector.
Momentum, a strong brand and those rock-solid back-end services saw the company ride out the first iPhone waves, by the time Apple was on it third generation things started to look bleak. Apple showed you could type messages without a physical keyboard and safely send mail without heavy-duty systems.
Blackberry responds to iPhone
So the Z10 is Blackberry’s response to six years of the iPhone and the rise of the Androids. The company has learned much from its rivals, maybe not enough to steal the lead it so desperately needs, but enough to turn in a credible performance.
What needs to be kept in mind is the Blackberry isn’t priced as a premium smartphone. At around $800 in New Zealand it belongs to the second tier. It doesn’t come out badly when compared with other phones in the same price range.
Physically the Blackberry Z10 is an iPhone-like touch-screen phone. The company also has the keyboard-equipped Q10 for die-hard Blackberry fanatics.
The display is as good as any other phone I’ve seen. The phone feels good in my hands. It has a rubbery back cover which makes it comfortable and easy to grip most of the time. Unlike the more sleek models, it won’t slide out of your hand.
The Z10 is roughly the same size as an iPhone 5. You can do most phone tasks using one hand and your thumb. It weighs a fraction more than the iPhone 5 – but you don’t notice the difference in practice.

Camera weakness

On paper the Z10