BlackBerry Z10 unboxed, in the flesh!

We finally got ourselves a review unit of the BlackBerry Z10 and went thru some more details that we’ve not yet covered in our previous articles about it.

There are actually 3 color variants of the Z10 but we think only the white and black colors will be available. We prefer the white color better than the black one though. Here’s a quick video run-through:

The Z10 represents a drastic design change that BlackBerry introduced into their newest line. It has now followed the usual design signature of Android’s vast competitive market — large capacitive screen, powerful hardware, LTE support and an app-centric environment. It’s short of BlackBerry saying “me too can play that game!“.

What is most compelling about the new BlackBerry offering is a tight integration of hardware and software. Just like how Apple perfected the marriage of iPhone and iOS, BlackBerry’s edge will also be the control between both the hardware and the software.

As such, we’re more inclined to compare the iPhone 5 to the BlackBerry Z10 instead of any other Android handset.

Probably the biggest challenge for BlackBerry right now is to get the consumers to be more familiar with the BB10 OS and its UI. We have to admit that the UI will be somewhat confusing at first. This is because it’s a huge departure from the usual Home-based navigation we’ve seen in iOS and Android (even including Windows Phone 8).

To the un-initiated, the BB 10 UI could be a challenge to use but once you’re completely acquainted, you will notice the maturity and elegance of the interface.

Our review unit supports Globe LTE, based on the nano-SIM we used with it. The signal indicator shows 4G when connected to the LTE network. Speedtest is giving me a downlink speed of of 28Mbps and uplink of 9Mbps.

BlackBerry Z10 specs:
4.2-inch display @ 1280×768 pixels, 356ppi
Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon 1.5GHz dual-core Krait
2GB of RAM
16GB of internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD card
8MP rear camera
2MP front-facing
micro HDMI
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, dual-band
Bluetooth 4.0
NFC
LTE
GPS w/ aGPS support
Li-Ion 1,800 mAh battery
BlackBerry 10 OS
137.5 grams (weight)
130 x 65.6 x 9mm (dimensions)

The BlackBerry Z10 will officially be available in the local market on March 19 with a suggested retail price of Php29,990. It will also be free on Smart Data Plan 2000 and Globe Plan 1799.

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