With the new Z30, BlackBerry joins the popular 5-inch phone market.
BlackBerry has introduced its latest flagship smartphone, called the BlackBerry Z30. Successor to the full touch Z10, the new BlackBerry smartphone runs v10.2 of the BB 10 OS and is powered by a dual-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro along with 2GB of RAM.
Corroborating the series of leaks in the past, the BlackBerry Z30 sports a 5-inch Super AMOLED display with 1,280 x 720 pixels resolution and 295ppi. The smartphone comes with 16 built-in storage and has an option to augment that via microSD.
The Z30’s camera appears to be similar to the Z10’s – 2MP front facing capable of 720p video recording and 8MP rear with an f2.2 lens capable of shooting video in 1080p.
The BlackBerry 10.2 update brings a new Priority Hub feature, which allows users to manage all their conversations and notifications at one place. It also includes improvements to the audio of BBM Voice and BBM Video chats.
In terms of connectivity, the Z30 will support 4G LTE, dual-band WiFi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC. The BlackBerry Z30 smartphone includes a 2,880 mAh battery, which the company says is the largest battery ever built into a BlackBerry smartphone.
BlackBerry Z30
“The new BlackBerry Z30 smartphone builds on the solid foundation and engaging user experience of the BlackBerry 10 platform with features like the powerful BlackBerry Hub, its exceptional touchscreen keyboard and industry leading browser,” says Carlo Chiarello, Executive Vice President for Products at BlackBerry in a release.
“The smartphone rounds out the BlackBerry 10 portfolio and is designed for people looking for a smartphone that excels at communications, messaging and productivity. Having apps like the full Documents To Go suite that comes preinstalled, together with its 5” touch display, the BlackBerry Z30 smartphone gives you a best in class productivity experience on the go.”
The BlackBerry Z30 is expected to go on sale in UK and Middle East next week.
BlackBerry has been long rumoured to join the 5-inch smartphone/phablet segment. However, the 5-inch 720p display on the Blackberry Z30 is quite a step down in terms of sharpness and the big screen viewing experience (which is what the Z30 is all about, apparently).
Most of the advertisements on the Blackberry Z30 talk about the big screen and the “view more, do more” promise. But, with a 295ppi display, the Z30 technically has an inferior display when compared to the Blackberry Z10 (356ppi).
With many budget Android smartphone moving to 1080p 5-inch displays and almost all flagship big brand phones offering 1080p displays, the Z30 seems like a serious disappointment. The low resolution might have more to do with the BB 10 OS not ready with support for 1080p displays rather than a conscious decision by Blackberry to go for a low resolution 5-inch display on a smartphone that is all about the big screen experience.
What do you think of the new BlackBerry Z30 smartphone? Let us know in the comments section below:
Source: Engadget