RIM, the maker of the iconic Blackberry,
has been struggling for years to make a
comeback into the market. After defining
the world of smartphones, the market
share of the Blackberry plummeted.
Consumers voted with their feet,
choosing the modern iOS and then
Android, over the quaint operating
system that RIM loaded on its devices.
RIM wants to change everything with
BB10 and the new phones that run it.
The Canadian company announced two
devices today, an entry-level model with
the traditional Blackberry keyboard that
some people still love, and the Z10, a
high-end full touchscreen smartphone.
How does the new Blackberry Z10 fare
against the best that Android has to
offer? Let’s compare them!

Design and build
Let’s say that the designers of the Z10
paid homage to the work of Sir Jonathan
Ive… The Blackberry Z10 resembles the
iPhone 5 closely, having similar rounded
corners and a similar design language in
general. That’s not to say the Z10 is ugly;
on the contrary, I find it quite appealing,
with a sharp industrial look to it.
I haven’t had the chance to handle a Z10,
but from the many videos that leaked, I
can say that the device is solid. And it’s
relatively thin and light, weighing in at
just 135 grams.
In the other corner, we have devices like
the Nexus 4, Galaxy S3, Xperia Z, and HTC
Droid DNA/Butterfly. Each of these
devices has unique designs, ranging from
the glossy shell of the Galaxy to the
smooth glass-faces of the Xperia Z and
the Nexus 4.
Design is inherently subjective, but one
thing that the Z10 has going for it is the
compact build. On the other hand,
Android delivers something for every
taste.

Display
The display on the Z10 is a smallish 4.2-
inch LCD of 1280 × 720 resolution. At
4.2-inch, an HD display offers a 356ppi
resolution, which is far from the records
set by Android devices like the Xperia Z
or the Droid DNA, at 441ppi.
However, consumers have made it clear
that they like bigger screens, even moving
into phablet territory. About the ppi race,
that’s mostly for marketing, but still, the
Galaxy S4 and the HTC M7, both
expected soon, will leave the Z10 in the
dust.

Specs Android flagship devices have always excelled when it comes to raw specs.
Hell, we are talking octo-cores, and quad-
cores CPUs are the current baseline. How
does the Blackberry Z10 fare?
The Z10 will come with a dual-core
OMAP4470 processor clocked at 1.5GHz,
2GB of RAM, and 16GB of storage.
Nothing to write home about really, but
probably adequate for the job. Other
highlights include a microSD card slot,
NFC, and a removable 1,800mAh battery.
Your mileage may vary, but with these
specs, the Z10 would qualify as a good
mid-ranger in the Android world.
Devices like the Xperia Z and the Galaxy
S4 are pushing the specs boundaries, so
we will hand this round to the Android
camp.

Camera
A few shots snapped with the Blackberry
Z10 have leaked, and from the looks of it,
we can tell that the camera is… decent.
How else could you call, in this day and
age, an 8MP camera, with autofocus and
1080p HD video recording?
Meanwhile, Android’s finest are moving
happily to 13MP sensors, and features
like HDR video, HDR photos, ultra slow
motion, and others. We’ll wait for some
comparisons to emerge, but from the
looks of it, it’s not looking pretty for the
Z10.

Software and apps
The most important aspect of any device,
the software and apps are defining for
the user experience. The Z10 comes with
the long-awaited Blackberry 10, a brand
new operating system that RIM
developed based on the QNX OS it
acquired in 2010. The Z10 comes with
some interesting features, such as the
new smart keyboard, the built-in unified
messaging center, or the ability to run
multiple user profiles. The design seems
well polished, and we liked the new
swipe-based interface. More about some
of the features we liked at BB10 here.
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is definitely on par
or better with BB10, in most areas, save
perhaps for the security and enterprise-
focused features. We love the multiple
options that you get with Android, thanks
to overlays, themes, launchers, custom
ROMs, and more. Overall, we feel that
Android is much more flexible and
powerful than BB10, although it does
require some work to customize just the
way you like it.
Apps make or break a platform, and RIM
knows that. The company effectively
bribed developers to create apps for the
new BB10, and their efforts paid off to
some extent. The Canadians promised
70,000 apps available in store (Blackberry
World) by launch, with many of the crucial
apps, like Facebook or Foursquare already
there. Nevertheless, 70,000 is a far cry
from the 700,000+ apps available in the
Play Store, so before jumping on the RIM
bandwagon, you better check that your
favorite apps are on board.
RIM has just unveiled the new Blackberry
World, which now sells movies and music,
in addition to apps and themes. RIM
realized that they couldn’t compete
without a media storefront, so they
whipped something up. I haven’t
compared the offers of BB World and
Google’s Play Store yet, but I have a
feeling that Google has a clear advantage
here.

Conclusion
The Blackberry Z10 is a nice phone, but
that’s about it. Android already offers
some superior alternatives, and with the
upcoming HTC M7 and Galaxy S4, the
lead is bound to extend even more.
Blackberry 10 has its strong suits,
especially in the area that define RIM as a
company, enterprise, but for the vast
majority of consumers, I fail to see a killer
feature. Android is just bigger and better
in almost every area.
The biggest appeal of the Blackberry Z10?
For me, it’s the novelty and the fresh
look of the operating system. The design
is nice, but if I were to buy phones based
on that, I wouldn’t be writing for Android
Authority.
To wrap up, RIM has made a good first
effort with the Blackberry Z10, and for
the sake of competition, I hope they
manage to turn the ship around. But for
me, Android is still king.

http://www.androidauthority.com/blackberry-z10-vs-android-152197/

RIP to blaq berry. Xperia 4 life (android)