Bought wife her next phone.

[IHateMyJob2004]

My wife's basic requirements were good e-mail, good call quality and long battery life. I wanted to get her a 5" screen.

So it was the Droid Maxx (Android) or the Blackberry Z30 (BBB10). I have no interest in Apple phones. I think they broke new ground 6 years ago but have fallen behind.

I did this Andoird/BB10 shootout honestly. With requirements. Quite frankly, the stock keyboard and universal inbox on the Z30 are equal to if not better than anything that Android offers. The keyboard I can agree on equivalency between the two (after paying for a good keyboard on Android) but doing research, I found nothing that can be a Blackberry's Hub for e-mail (and facebook private messages, text messages, call history, etc).

So I went with a Z30 for my wife. Basically came down to games are not needed on the phone and if an Android app is actually needed, the Z30 can run most of them. Tested one I know she will want (the Disney World app) on my Z10 and researched that app a bit and it sounds like it runs fine on BB10.

Now I need to order a good case.

And I know what kind of responses I should expect. I was actually leaning Android at the beginning. Probably for 1-2 days. It was what my wife required that drove this decision.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Well that wasn't so surprising.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

I actually wouldn't mind a BB phone. Considering the fact that I don't play games on it and only really need it for calling and texting, it does the job.

 

[gmaster456]

I wouldn't mind one as a secondary phone or even a work one. But for personal use there's a few android apps I need and don't want to deal with sideloading.

 

[s44]

Well that wasn't so surprising.

Heh.

Funny how he had nothing to say between the BB10 launch and now.

And, oh yeah, the G2 and Note 3 beat the Maxx in real world battery life.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Hey if needs drives the decision nothing wrong with that.

My college girlfriend needed to run Linux on her laptop even though I couldn't get her wireless card to work. Needs drove decisions.

 

[Joe1987]

Well that wasn't so surprising.

I'm pretty shocked, was sure he'd get a Droid. :sneaky:

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

I wouldn't mind one as a secondary phone or even a work one. But for personal use there's a few android apps I need and don't want to deal with sideloading.

So long as Google services are not needed on the apps in question, sideloading is very easy. You basically need to sideload one app called Snap from your laptop. Snap is a nativeBB10 application. But Snap once installed on a BB10 phone basically gives you access to all Google Play apps that are free. Snap puts the APK on the BB10 phone and so long as you have a 10.2.1 or later version of the BB10 OS, the phone will package and install the APK for you.

Right now I have to sideload the 10.2.1 OS but Verizon is supposed to be pushing it soon. They are doing a slow roll out of it from what reports state.

Right now I have Netflix and Pandora working fine. Only tried a few. Basically things like Google maps will not work without some finagling. People have them working but they have to tinker with Google Services to get that working.

What apps do you need? I could probably tell you if they would easily sideload via Snap.

 

[notposting]

BB10 actually did sound interesting to me when they announced it. It seemed like it had a lot of WebOS/WP bastard love-child elements to it.

How is the camera?

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

BB10 actually did sound interesting to me when they announced it. It seemed like it had a lot of WebOS/WP bastard love-child elements to it.

How is the camera?

A lot of people say things about WebOS elements. That may or may not be true. Seems true from reading comments but I don't even know what that means since I have no care to investigate it. I will say that BB10 really does make the in/out paradigm of iOS and Android feel old when I have to use it. I'd even call it slow. Recent apps (stay open) are my home screen.

I have the camera disabled due to where I work. From reading, initially it sucked but they added all that HDR stuff that Apple and Android phones do in software. So, the quality is vastly improved since then. But the actual camera hardware on my Z10 was known to be inferior when it was released. Not sure what the Z30 is packing. I have a feeling it is still less than average compared to Android phones. The software does have some neat features. Take a photo of people and you can take the faces backwards and forwards in time slightly to get rid of closed eyes and such.

 

[dawheat]

Surprised that the Z30 is $500. For that money, you could have bought her a G2 with a larger 1080p screen in a more compact body (in every dimension), along with great battery life.

I'd be concerned with sideloading staying bug-free with future app versions and future proofing if you wife finds/is told of a new app that becomes popular.

BB Hub does sound interesting (never actually tried it) but it doesn't seem dissimilar to many Android launchers where you can have a 'homescreen' with a Hub-lke interface (summary of all messages and ability to swipe/launch them).

 

[Red Storm]

I liked the swipe based navigation of the new Blackberries, but ultimately I'm an Android fan because I can make the OS function much like a standard computer.

 

[compman25]

At least Blackberry made one sale this yr!

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Surprised that the Z30 is $500. For that money, you could have bought her a G2 with a larger 1080p screen in a more compact body (in every dimension), along with great battery life.

1080p would be nice. Not required though. Hoping the next BB flagship goes 1080 though.

I'd be concerned with sideloading staying bug-free with future app versions and future proofing if you wife finds/is told of a new app that becomes popular.

The only issues that could come up is if an app goes from needed Android 4.2.2 to something newer. The only other issue is Google Play services. If an app were to move to that for some reason, it would no longer work.

BB Hub does sound interesting (never actually tried it) but it doesn't seem dissimilar to many Android launchers where you can have a 'homescreen' with a Hub-lke interface (summary of all messages and ability to swipe/launch them).

Hub is not home. Open apps is home. Hub is more of a quick and easy way to get in and out of your unified inbox from anywhere.

I spent a day researching what Android offers in this regard and found nothing. Sure it may exist. the fact that I found nothing is not my fault though. It is Google's. Even asked on the Android Central forums for unified inbox apps and was greeted by 0 replies. I did find some articles on unified inboxes. And the best one looks like a crappy version of the Hub ... that did less.

Anyway, BB10 is built around communication, not games. It's made for everything involving communication. That's what I bought my phone for and what my wife wanted.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Some guy came into my office yesterday needing help adding his phone to our wifi and he surprised the heck out of me by pulling a Q10 out of his pocket. Holy cow, I never thought I'd see a BB10 device in the wild. And that dude was rocking it like a pro.

We use all iPhones at the office, but I want to order myself a new Blackberry just for "evaluation and testing" purposes. But I think I'll just hold off and see if Blackberry launches a new phone this year, the Z30 looks a bit behind the times now.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Some guy came into my office yesterday needing help adding his phone to our wifi and he surprised the heck out of me by pulling a Q10 out of his pocket. Holy cow, I never thought I'd see a BB10 device in the wild. And that dude was rocking it like a pro.

We use all iPhones at the office, but I want to order myself a new Blackberry just for "evaluation and testing" purposes. But I think I'll just hold off and see if Blackberry launches a new phone this year, the Z30 looks a bit behind the times now.

A new Q series flagship is supposed to come this year. But it sounds like a new high end touchscreen isn't till next year. I'm hoping I can get whatever it is when my Z10 is ready for renewal.

I'm in Connecticut and I have yet to see a BB10 phone in the states. Not even on trips to NYC.

 

[PricklyPete]

So is it the Hipster thing now to buy Blackberry phones to go along with their handlebar mustaches and suspenders?

 

[OBLAMA2009]

My wife's basic requirements were good e-mail, good call quality and long battery life. I wanted to get her a 5" screen.

So it was the Droid Maxx (Android) or the Blackberry Z30 (BBB10). I have no interest in Apple phones. I think they broke new ground 6 years ago but have fallen behind.

I did this Andoird/BB10 shootout honestly. With requirements. Quite frankly, the stock keyboard and universal inbox on the Z30 are equal to if not better than anything that Android offers. The keyboard I can agree on equivalency between the two (after paying for a good keyboard on Android) but doing research, I found nothing that can be a Blackberry's Hub for e-mail (and facebook private messages, text messages, call history, etc).

So I went with a Z30 for my wife. Basically came down to games are not needed on the phone and if an Android app is actually needed, the Z30 can run most of them. Tested one I know she will want (the Disney World app) on my Z10 and researched that app a bit and it sounds like it runs fine on BB10.

Now I need to order a good case.

And I know what kind of responses I should expect. I was actually leaning Android at the beginning. Probably for 1-2 days. It was what my wife required that drove this decision.

man id say your wife has grounds for divorce. id hatemyjob too if it was to shill for blackberry on forums all day

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

man id say your wife has grounds for divorce. id hatemyjob too if it was to shill for blackberry on forums all day

What are trolls eating these days?

 

[WelshBloke]

I spent a day researching what Android offers in this regard and found nothing. Sure it may exist. the fact that I found nothing is not my fault though. It is Google's..

What stuff are you trying to unify?