BlackBerry Z30 Pro Reviews

Leave the continuing struggles of its parent company out of the picture, and the BlackBerry Z30 is a pretty good alternative to the iPhone or your many Android phones, particularly if you’re looking for a device that’s focused more on messaging and long battery life than apps or excellent imaging abilities. The Priority Hub alone, once it learns what’s truly important to you, has the potential to make work life a lot less stressful, particularly if you juggle more than one email account, along with social networks. Still, at $200 on contract with Verizon, the Z30 feels a bit more expensive than it should be, given its decidedly mid-range specs. The HTC One, for instance, while it’s now nearly a year old, has better internals overall, build quality that also looks and feels great, and currently costs just $50 on contract. Granted, Android and Blackberry are two very different operating systems. But Android can be customized to deliver at least some of Blackberry 10’s features (like notifications on the lock screen). And with an army of app developers, if there’s something else you really like about BlackBerry 10, chances are, someone’s working on implementing a similar feature in both Android and iOS. Without the same developer momentum as its rivals, Blackberry’s OS just can’t evolve that fast. Combine the Z30’s so-so specs, high price, and limited app selection with the company’s continuing struggles and reports of millions of unsold last-generation Z10 and Q10 devices, and the Z30 becomes hard to recommend, no matter how much we like the hardware and software in isolation.

There isn't the app ecosystem of the big two competitors but we can see the BlackBerry Z30 as a useful compromise of the needs of businesses that rely on BlackBerry's security model, and users who'd like something with the touchscreen power of iPhone-based handsets. This big handset deserves to win friends from anyone that can value its secure and robust features.

The best BlackBerry yet, but it's too little too late

It's not rocket science that BlackBerry's days of making consumer mobile phones are numbered. Even so I still got excited when the Z30 landed on my desk. You see, I too was once a loyal BlackBerry convert, a disgruntled refugee from the tragically terrible Windows Mobile 6 OS. Way back then I sang the praises of my BlackBerry Pearl replacement. Then Android came along and seduced me with its charms, namely power and customization. That said, I have a serious soft spot in my heart for BlackBerry devices (perhaps always will). It's also why my time with the Z30 has been particularly poignant. Within the Z30 I see all the promise of what the BlackBerry platform could have been. If this phone had debuted two, maybe three years ago, today's smartphone landscape would be a very different place. I mean, imagine if the Z30 was the official device for BB10, not the less impressive Z10, and that it launched in early 2010. I know that I personally wouldn't have committed to Android as completely. It would also help if the Z30 weren't only sold in the US by Verizon. As it stands, though, even with its enhanced messaging and notification features the $199.99 Z30 can't surpass what modern smartphones have become. For the same $200 price tag, the Motorola Droid Maxx offers battery life to match the Z30 plus access to the vast world of Google services (not to mention plenty of third-party apps). Samsung's $199.99 Galaxy S4 provides all that and all the whiz-bang Samsung software extras you could shake a stick at. That's why the Z30 only makes sense to those absolutely committed, or locked into, the BlackBerry brand.

If your company's IT department is invested in the BlackBerry universe, and your colleagues are mostly on BBM, the Z30 is your best bet. It folds all the security and messaging features of the BlackBerry platform you are used to, into a consumer-centric big screen phone with premium design and decent specs. The BlackBerry Z10 is a natural competitor to the Z30, but its 4.2” display is no match for the pretty Super AMOLED 5-incher on the Z30 in terms of typing, browsing or media consumption, despite the lower price. Other than that, a pragmatic person would be hard-pressed to acquire the BlackBerry Z30 at the $600+ price it commands off-contract, considering that's the tag for flagship handsets on mobile platforms that are more proven than BB 10, and have a lot higher app count. Unless you are bored with the Android/iOS/WP mafia, that is, and want to explore a fresh new interface take like BB 10.

The BlackBerry Z30 is the best Blackberry 10 model so far, bringing the benefits of a large display, plenty of power, a much imporved design compared to the Z10, and solid battery life that has seen us through the day. There are some new software tweaks in BB10.2 and the device feels fast to use. The apps on offer are getting better and some of the early troubles with apps have now been resolved, so BB10 is a better offering than it was earlier in the year. But for those who want the latest apps, then BlackBerry isn't the world for you: stick to iOS or Android. But all of these positives are set to the context of uncertainty. What's going to happen to BlackBerry? It's hard to tell. Although the company is set to continue to work in enterprise and "prosumer" markets, it's difficult to wholeheartly recommend a BlackBerry at this moment in time with those dark clouds looming overhead. And while other manufacturers surge forward with multiple device options, it's taken BlackBerry this long to reach this point. That's a great shame, because the BlackBerry Z30 feels like the device where BlackBerry finally got it right. But there's one critical question: are people still interested?