Originally Posted by
jrohland As soon as the author says too little, too late you know the writer is an id10t and no further reading is warranted.
It really isn't a bad review, although it certainly suffers from the commonplace defect in the way it arrives at a conclusion that isn't quite supported by the components of the review.
For example, the reviewer concedes,
"the Z30's software keyboard is one of the best I've used. The bigger screen makes for more comfortable typing than the smaller Z10 and I also appreciate BB10's impressive predictive text abilities."
Keyboard and text entry is a very major factor for many smartphone consumers, yet it seems to carry little if any weight for the reviewer. The Z30 call quality and speakerphone quality are similarly discounted, as if no one ever took calls, used a speakerphone or listened to audio on a smartphone. This undercuts his otherwise valid observations about the Z30, and I agree the review headline is a dead giveaway as to what seems a foregone conclusion. Z30 strengths, such as screensize, text entry, call quality, battery life, are brushed past because they don't support a negative assessment. What carries most weight, is app echosystem. I'm not saying this isn't a valid basis for differentiation, or that app availability is unimportant. But why bother reviewing a non-Android or non-Apple phone if in the final analysis that factor will carry the day? The other glaring omission is the lack of reference to any Windows Phone alternative. Apple's abscene in the review reflects their non-presence in this form-factor segment. But particulalry if you are going to talk about camera quality, how do you ignore Nokia and try and maintain that you're being objective?
I do think the reviewer makes an interesting point about BB10:
"I attribute much of the Z30's lack of pep to BB10's animation-heavy interface. For instance, when you tap on an app to open it, BB10 first slides your view to the Active Frame panel which shows windows for all currently running applications. After that happens the device will then (and only then) present a full-screen look at your selected app. It's a chain of events that adds a fraction of a second to every app-launching process. Sorry, BlackBerry, I know you want to highlight how many pieces of software BB10 can handle at once, but I'd rather not wait longer just so your phones can prove that point."
Not my experience with BB10 but an interesting pov. Maybe there are some unecessary, nanosecond-eating flourishes in BB10, but its still a developing OS and I expect it will continue to become leaner and quicker. Already, though, it is more rational and direct and intuitive than either the Android OS or IOS, IMHO. I know what I'm running in a heartbeat with BB10 and can switch to or shutdown what I want in another heartbeat. With rival platforms, I am continually going back to Square One and then finding and launching. If its fair to note that we don't always need to see what we're running under BB10, its also fair to recognize that many people find the competing platforms wanting when it comes to this aspect. Once you've gone through your memory-muscle drills of orienting yourself to IOS or Android, maybe the speed-to-launch is narrowly better, but it takes me longer to get back to the launch point. Whenever I use either of those platforms, I really, really feel the drag of having to reroute back to start. Android's pulldown options are improvements, but to me, BB10 is superior in this regard. I haven't used WP 8 enough to make a comparison. My sense is that WP are the most customizable if you want lean and simple. It's realtively easy to pair the homescreen down to your most-used choices. I do think its well past the time when WP can be ignored, however.
Most of the major tech sites and outlets still primarily follow the money, though. Some of this is straight bias, IMHO, and there is likely a general sense for outlets that with so many Android and IOS users out there, it pays to tred lightly when making any comparisons, and to tend toward offsets whenever you begrudgingly tip your cap to a rival platform. Good screen, good keyboard, good speakers, good call quality. What were those Canucks thinking?
Me too.
