[jefbeard911]

Since the Z3 is only currently available in the S. And SE Asia markets and many CB fans have only read and seen photos I thought I'd give everyone a short review of my thoughts with my 1 Month old ZED 3.

I'll confine my comments to hardware only since we all have different preferences when in comes to features of BB10.

I will say it runs a full fledged version of BlackBerry 10 (10.2.1.2977) and is in no way limited or inferior to other BlackBerry phones on the OS front. It's fast, smooth, and in every way a BlackBerry 10 device.

First off, a quick review of the specs:

5" 540x960 (220ppi) screen, 1.5 ram, 8gb storage with Micro SD slot. 5mp auto focus w/led flash camera, front facing cam
Dual core 1.2 Snapdragon Krait. 10.2.1
2977. 164gm.

First impression - its heavy, in a good, solid feeling way. No creeks, flex ect. Foxconn built a great phone. The rubberized backing is nice, and the screen is big and bright.

Specs aside, if you handed it to someone who didn't know anything about the Z3 or the reasonable price, they'd say it's a premium phone.

At 220ppi you could say it's a low res screen (and you'd be right) but in everyday use its fine, more than fine, it's a good screen. It's pretty bright, clear, and responds to the touch well. In short -No issues here. It doesn't have Gorilla Glass but I would be very surprised if it didn't have another, unnamed glass suppliers coating like Dragon Trail or Schott.

The camera, at 5mp, is on the low end side spec wise. I find it in everyday use just fine. I have used much worse 5mp cameras. In good light the pictures are actually very good. Also, the shutter speed is very fast.

The battery is excellent. It lasts all day with moderate to heavy use. 16hrs without a charge. In my view, that's about all you can ask for. Also, it charges very fast. From 10% to full charge in a little over an hour. And that with the phone still powered on.

Not much else to say. Most publications and reviewers always add the caveat "for the price" it's not bad...to me that's a backhanded compliment at best. Of course we give up certain things when we don't buy the absolute top of the line, but I will say that those compromises are mostly in the head. In normal day to day use the Z3 is a great phone. Period. You get the entire BB10 experience in a modern, well-built package. That's all I need.

PRO'S : Great Build. Solid performer. Fast
Nice, large screen. Phenomenal battery which charges very quickly. Full BlackBerry 10 experience for $200 usd.

CONS: Not many. Relatively low res camera, low light photos just average. Can be a big phone to handle, especially typing. Would have preferred it to be dual sim.

via CB10 from my awesome BlackBerry Z3

[LeeU1911]

Nice review! I have the same comment on my 2 months old Z3 too. Very solid phone! People keeps asking me how much it costs and they're pretty much surprise for the price.

Posted via CB10

[HereticHermit]

I'd say its a poor men's Passport without physical keys ;-)

[henry007]

I'd say its a poor men's Passport without physical keys ;-)

That would be the q5. Poor man's z30 hehe


Posted via BlackBerry Z3

[neel69]

That would be the q5. Poor man's z30 hehe


Posted via BlackBerry Z3

Or a rich man's secondary phone?

Posted via CB10

[Gilda675]

Overall I am very pleased with my Z3. It is smooth, has decent colours, built well, no lag and looks the part. My only complaint about it is the camera. In good light, it is acceptable. In low light it is really bad. And I have noticed that most of the pictures taken with the flash come out with an orange tint. Almost like sepia.

Posted from my Blackberry Z3

[scrapmetal58]

Overall I am very pleased with my Z3. It is smooth, has decent colours, built well, no lag and looks the part. My only complaint about it is the camera. In good light, it is acceptable. In low light it is really bad. And I have noticed that most of the pictures taken with the flash come out with an orange tint. Almost like sepia.

Posted from my Blackberry Z3

in 10.3.1, the camera is improved. It may help with the Z3.

Posted via CB10