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I'd like to point out before reading this yes obviously this is not the best comparison as the price ranges aren't the same and the Note 3 should be classified as a phablet (S4 would be better). All that aside here are a few quick observations and pros/cons of both.
Note 3 (Jellybean 4.3)
N3 pros:
- Screen quality: nice and bright even though its amoled easy for media consumption/pictures
- camera: light picked up by the sensors is good quality of the image isn't mind blowing but has no difficulties in poor light situations. More camera modes then you know what to do with. Dual video from the back and front cameras? Why does anyone need this I don't know but its there.
- Google now/playstore: Never used Google Now until now (yeah I know I'm late..) this is amazing the accuracy of this is just great. Having Playstore access is nice even though I can get it with Snap especially for the non tech savvy user.
- customization (some gimmicky some useful) - lots of setting options like having the ability to set lockscreen wallpapers and other notification settings in depth. Easy to move things around how I want them which is a plus in my books
snappy no lag - no hangups at least now but haven't loaded up much on it. Its got the horsepower to handle intense tasks.
N3 cons:
Size- personal preference but I think anyone using this for phone calls looks ********. Unusable with one hand. 4.7-5 inch is a ideal screen size IMO but I guess if you watch lots of movies or play a ton of games this would be preferable.
Build quality sucks- has fake leather back like the old legacy phones feels cheap non premium.
Battery meh expected better - probably early in device use but the battery isn't great not terrible but nothing special. Quad cores and huge screen factors into that.
Unintuitive OS - Things are all over the place but got it
holy bloatware S everything - S health, S beam, S pen, S shop, S app store, S hub.....and on and on wow I didn't realize it took up like a 1/4 of the device memory with this crap. Touchwiz is bleh I know you can remove it so that's a pro/con.
BlackBerry Z30 (10.2.1)
Z30 pros:
battery is a beast - Watched a movie on the flat screen, played music all day, CB, internet browsing, Blaq, lots of BBM's, facebook, few active frames open. Still going like a champ 53% left after 15 hours.
Build quality great - Has a much better premium feel than the Z10, heavier than comparable devices but some may think that's a pro/con
keyboard/hub - self explanatory if you need to get stuff done and be efficient there is nothing better
Speakers - Amazing speaker set on this phone. Great pure sound on a cellphone.
OS much more fluid/integrated - I found Android so cluttered everything is much more integrated on BB10 I can be in one app and go into multiple apps within the same app. (will make sense to you if you have a BB10 device)
no lag -Played graphic intensive games without issues increased dual core CPU and quad core GPU help in this regard. APK installs/lock screen actionable notifications/quick settings etc of 10.2.1
Z30 cons:
-Not enough customization (lockscreen/OS/settings) - on Android you can switch it up to just about anything you wish. This is one area just like Apple they're lacking in
-No G Play store- Personally I only run so many I have about 90% covered in BB World and the rest I've either sideloaded or direct installed with Snap but everybody always harps on APPS APPS APPS you only have X number of them. So well this would solve the dilemma in theory.
-camera subpar, features& low light performance - Its not great to be honest for a top of the line flagship model the camera features should be better.
Conclusion: while I still like the Note 3 it has a lot of positive features and aspects I still prefer the Z30. The note 3 is not my cup of tea. Doesn't mean that will be the case for you but it doesn't fit my usage needs.
So what did I learn I want to see from BlackBerry going forward that they need to change/add going forward?
Needs :
- Google now or something that has the same AI - this widget is KILLER I hardly ever use the voice control on my BlackBerry 10 devices even with the Wolfram Alpha advancements there is no comparison
- GPlay access or vetted GPlay app section in BlackBerry World (I know you can use Snap already)
- More lock screen customizations/ separate wallpaper options
- Camera features - the BB10 camera is so bare bones compared to the competition - Needs at a bare minimum panorama/enhanced low light mode/more light modes and filters
- More notification customizations like options for holster profiles
There is much more stuff I'd like to see changed but this is what I realized after using both these devices. Hope you enjoyed the quick overview of what's good and not so good about both.Last edited by R Field; 12-14-13 at 11:42 PM.
12-14-13 11:04 PMLike 7 - Not a bad list, however I don't understand why people call android unintuitive. I don't have a problem with the way apps are intergrated into the Os, unlike os10 where everything seems half arsed. For example, I have to leave slick task, and bebuzz open in order to get full functionality. And push notifications for check, the score, and stocks is non existent. You can customize the note (by downloading a theme)to the point of having a hub that houses all of your email/social media accounts, im, phone calls heck you could even throw in rss news feeds. the z30 looks like a decent upgrade over the z10, however I can't think of any reasons why I would choose it over the note III (from a hardware/software pov). I like a lot of the features in 10.2...hopefully blackberry can deliver a kick ?"" device next year.
Sent From My New IPad using Tapatalk12-14-13 11:22 PMLike 0 -
BlackBerry Z30 | 10.2.1.1055 | C0006E21212-14-13 11:46 PMLike 0 -
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As for battery life on the note2 and 3... you might just need to let it settle... you should be getting more than 5 hours of screen-on time at least.
Posted via CB1012-15-13 12:03 AMLike 0 - Nice objective write up.
Pretty confident panorama mode is coming soon. If you extract the 10.2.1.1055 camera bar you will find it has panorama as a menu selection, it simply isn't activated in this build.
Posted via CB1012-15-13 10:34 AMLike 3 -
- I'm going to get a moto g just because of Google Now. I miss it soo much. It's like a stalker that is actually useful and doesn't freak you out. I have no idea why some people compare it to suri. GNow is on another level.
As for battery life on the note2 and 3... you might just need to let it settle... you should be getting more than 5 hours of screen-on time at least.
Posted via CB10
Posted via CB1012-15-13 11:16 AMLike 0 - I haven't had a Note 3 but I have had an LG G2 and HTC One and so agree about the screen. Personally I never got into Google now. One of the sad things about moving back to the Z30 is that seeing how good it is reminds me how hopeless it is for BlackBerry. This sounds like a bizarre statement! But what I mean is, the build quality is vastly superior to the Android top sellers, pretty much all Android apps are available on 10.2.1 via apk. The email and messaging experiencie is vastly superior, battery like and speakers are vastly superior. Apart from the camera the Z30 beats the Android leaders in most areas. And yet in sales it's not even worth comparing, the Z30 doesn't even register on the scale. What this tells me is that there's NOTHING BlackBerry can do. They have a wonderful os and superb hardware (camera aside) they simply cannot change public perception or compete using the skewed metrics that the tech review community apply. They're like a big boulder rolling down a hill, they're going down and nothing can stop it. It's not a problem with the product, yes, they can improve the Z30, but to assume that building a better product will mean market success is, in my opinion flawed. The market isn't rational, consumer desire isn't rational.12-15-13 11:27 AMLike 5
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BlackBerry Z30 | 10.2.1.1055 | BBM Channel C0006E21212-15-13 01:12 PMLike 0 - I haven't had a Note 3 but I have had an LG G2 and HTC One and so agree about the screen. Personally I never got into Google now. One of the sad things about moving back to the Z30 is that seeing how good it is reminds me how hopeless it is for BlackBerry. This sounds like a bizarre statement! But what I mean is, the build quality is vastly superior to the Android top sellers, pretty much all Android apps are available on 10.2.1 via apk. The email and messaging experiencie is vastly superior, battery like and speakers are vastly superior. Apart from the camera the Z30 beats the Android leaders in most areas. And yet in sales it's not even worth comparing, the Z30 doesn't even register on the scale. What this tells me is that there's NOTHING BlackBerry can do. They have a wonderful os and superb hardware (camera aside) they simply cannot change public perception or compete using the skewed metrics that the tech review community apply. They're like a big boulder rolling down a hill, they're going down and nothing can stop it. It's not a problem with the product, yes, they can improve the Z30, but to assume that building a better product will mean market success is, in my opinion flawed. The market isn't rational, consumer desire isn't rational.
I work with nine other people and so far three have told me they didn't even know BlackBerry made smart phones anymore.
Keyboard as fantastic as it is needs swipe too.
Posted via CB1012-15-13 03:27 PMLike 0 - I agree, but it was a very tough job. The story about the sale of the company broke as marketing for the Z30 was about to begin. I think spending big on marketing would have been like throwing cash on a forest fire in the attempt to put it out. More marketing and a more comprehensive launch could have gotten the device into more hands, and it's a great device (I wouldn't swap mine for any phone in the world) so it would have been good for word of mouth. But given the sheer impossibility of a successful North American launch meant that any money spent would have been money lost.12-15-13 04:43 PMLike 0
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- The OP knows and says that apples to apples would be Z30 to S4 but he's provided a nice comparison of the Z30 to the Note 3 because he's used both extensively. Besides, depending on the set all manner of things can be grouped together. For example Hepatitis C and Android phones are both grouped together in the set "things I'm glad I don't have"12-15-13 07:15 PMLike 2
- I haven't had a Note 3 but I have had an LG G2 and HTC One and so agree about the screen. Personally I never got into Google now. One of the sad things about moving back to the Z30 is that seeing how good it is reminds me how hopeless it is for BlackBerry. This sounds like a bizarre statement! But what I mean is, the build quality is vastly superior to the Android top sellers, pretty much all Android apps are available on 10.2.1 via apk. The email and messaging experiencie is vastly superior, battery like and speakers are vastly superior. Apart from the camera the Z30 beats the Android leaders in most areas. And yet in sales it's not even worth comparing, the Z30 doesn't even register on the scale. What this tells me is that there's NOTHING BlackBerry can do. They have a wonderful os and superb hardware (camera aside) they simply cannot change public perception or compete using the skewed metrics that the tech review community apply. They're like a big boulder rolling down a hill, they're going down and nothing can stop it. It's not a problem with the product, yes, they can improve the Z30, but to assume that building a better product will mean market success is, in my opinion flawed. The market isn't rational, consumer desire isn't rational.
I do hope the new ceo can as I can't see myself using any other os and I usually replace my phone yearly sometimes twice.
Z30 - The Final Destination - 859 Portage ave, Winnipeg Mb Clothing|Footwear|Headwear|Headshop|Tobacconist|Ta ttoos - C00016D8212-17-13 12:32 AMLike 0 - Nice comparison - S Everything - LOL. They make it seem like it's loaded with very few apps, until you open all those crazy folders.
It's crazy how out of 4 Verizon stores I visited, only 1 store had a usable Z30. I kept playing with all the different features of the Galaxy Note 3, but after trying the Z30 at that one magical Verizon store, I knew it was the phone for me. One HUGE plus for the Z30 is swiping upward to switch/close an app. From my rooted HTC Thunderbolt, if an app froze, there was basically no way of getting out of that screen. If anything freezes on my Z30 (usually sideloaded Android app), I just swipe up, close, and get on with whatever else I was doing. I don't miss ANY of the widgets. None of the apps are running in the background. Yahoo app, Outlook app, Gmail app, Text app, Calendar app = Blackberry Hub!! And I can delete emails from each account through the Hub.
I actually got the Galaxy Note 3 for my wife (she needed Google apps bad). But even with the 3200 mAh battery she manages to drain it by the end of the day (might have to root it). All in all, I am super happy with my Z30.R Field likes this.12-17-13 05:10 PMLike 1
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