[Pete The Penguin]

Now since you have a review comparing it with android... I want to ask the technical guys out here... that BB has already got 4.2.2, is it possible to update it further with 4.4(kitkat) especially with ART thing rather than dalvik box...???
And if yes, should it be more fast and more battery friendly? And if no, is it the end for BB in terms of updating the runtime beyond this and just maybe work on refining it further?

BB10 uses an implementation of the Dalvik VM, it doesn't use the full Android OS so won't be getting ART as that is proprietary to Google.

[rio devin]

So my contract ended and i fancied a new phone. The z30 is not worth the extra money they want over the z10 so i decided its been a while since i've used Android, it's time i refreshed my view of what the competition can do. i researched my choice of phone extensively and chose the moto x as it focuses the most on communication which is what i want from the phone and why i've been with Blackberry since OS4. Below is my view on how the two operating systems measure up.
Disclaimer: this is purely my view point. I have been using the moto X for a few weeks in order to get used to it. I used the Z10 for over a year.

Operating System performance
We all know Blackberry 10 is smooth. It reacts quickly. I could go into this further but its been done to death here.
Android 4.4.2 is as smooth as blackberry 10. I have not suffered any lag in running the operating system at all and it certainly is a huge improvement from the gingerbread days. The moto X has similar specs to the Z30 and is classed as midrange. It proves that the claim that Android needs mega processors to run is a myth. Motorola did not fill their phone with bloatware and it makes the point that efficient design can bring huge results in performance.

OS overall
I had a few complaints with Blackberry 10, mainly to do with missing legacy features. But these are all issues that can be resolved with updates. As far as the OS is presented, i can find little to complain about but nothing to boast about either. Visually it is similar to iOS and i cant be the only person who hears these comments when showing off a z10. Blackberry 10 integrates nicely with apps like Box and Dropbox from the start.
Android does not have that integration with apps from the start. You can set it up yourself though. Visually Android trumps Blackberry with its customisation. I have 5 home screens on the moto x each set up to show the majority of information i need to see at a glance. The benefit of this is that i find myself having to actually use my phone less these days as i can see what i need to see without opening apps. Of course this does involve the use of widgets. Obviously Blackberry 10 has the Active Frames option, but they are not the same thing. If blackberry can add some sort of interactivity to the active frames it will go a long way.
So to conclude here i will say that if you want a phone taht you can use out of the box and do not want to spend time researching all the possibilities then Blackberry 10 is for you and it wont let you down. If you are willing to spend a bit of time setting up your phone (took me 2 days on and off) then Android can offer you a much more personalised experience.

Apps
We all know Blackberry's weak point is the number of apps. Android has loads of apps. If you want choice then its not even close. Android wins.
However there are a lot of Built for Blackberry apps, and a lot that should qualify for BfB but do not thanks to Blackberry's process, that are of a high standard. These apps are nice to use.
Android has a lot of apps as said before. The result is the much wider range of quality of said apps. So what you get is a rollercoaster of experiences when using apps. One app can be a joy to use, while others are a pain. It may be my inexperience in browsing the Play store but it is what it is. I have actually downloaded less apps on my moto x then i had on my z10. What i'm trying to say is that you get a more consistent experience in using apps on Blackberry 10 then you do with Android.
i also noticed my z10 ran some android apps better then the Moto X did. However i upgraded to the ART player on the Moto X and the performance beats BB10. BB10 is not an awful android player, but if it can get ART then it will be up there with the best of them. Using these two devices has really shown me that the so called app gap is completely meaningless.

Communication
This is what i value in a phone the most and it was a hard decision to give up Blackberry. The Hub is great, i don't need to elaborate surely?
Where the Z10 let me down was notifications. Mainly the sound. the speakers on the device were sub par. Voice calls had to have the volume all the way up. But messaging on BB10 is a great experience. the led. the new lock screen display. peek and flow. I thought i was going to hate the Android experience.
Surprisingly i don't. I have customised my SMS app and it is pleasing to use. BBM works really well on Android other then reliability issues. Its a shame that the friends i do have that uses Blackberry still are still on legacy and do not have the latest features of BBM. Android tries to ram Gmail down your throat but i still use my Outlook account as my primary with no issues. I chose the Moto X as the Active Display makes it the most like a Blackberry and it really works well. peeking at incoming messages is just as good as BB10. Notifications is much louder then the Z10 and possibly nicks ahead of the Z30 although i will need to test it more. motorola have a good reputation with signal and voice calls and it showed. Calls were clear and volume was never an issue and reception was on par with the Z10. i have managed to find a launcher that pretty much gives me a Hub that i can use anywhere. Although i only use SMS, BBM and Facebook. if you are someone who has multiple instant messaging apps then BB10 is your friend. Likewise if you rely on multiple E-mail addresses. notifications came through at the same time as each other during testing, with the z10 maybe a split second quicker.
Something that the Moto X has is the ability to see and respond to your text messages and phone calls on your desktop browser, as long as it's chrome. This is insanely useful and really has me wondering why Blackberry has not done this yet.
The Keyboard. This is the one thing that i really miss from BB10. Android keyboards are nowhere near as good.
So when it comes to communication, i will say that Blackberry 10 is the clear winner, although if you don't use multiple messaging platforms like me then Android gives just as good an experience. if you want a business phone that needs multiple emails then You wont get better then a Blackberry. likewise if you're someone who has lots of IM apps.

Other features
The moto X has touchless controls which while gimmicky is actually really useful. Google Now is the voice assistant and it works really well.
I used Sayit and the native voice assistant on BB10 and i will say that the native one is the better of the two that can stand up to Google Now.
Battery life. The Moto X blows away the z10. I can get 24 hours from the Moto X whereas the Z10 barely lasted 6. To keep things in perspective the Z30 can outlast the Moto X. both the Z30 and Moto X has a non removable battery.
Display- The Z10 beats the Moto X on display. it just looks nicer and crisper. I prefer LCD to AMOLED although the Moto X has to use AMOLED for its Active Display. The Moto X display is nicer than the Z30's and noticably brighter.
Build quality. The Z10 and Z30 both feel nice to hold but the Moto X just feels a lot sturdier. i'm much more confident in wielding the moto X without a case then i am with a z10. The Moto X has a soft back similar to the Z30's and its a curved design that just feels nice to hold. not that the berry devices are horrible to hold. The screen size on the Moto X is 4.7, which worried me coming from the Z10's 4.2 display as i dont like big phones. however the Moto X is noticeably smaller than the Z10. I hope BB designers can make a successor to the Z10 that is a similar size to the Moto X.
Camera. the Moto X is inconsistent with its camera. Some pictures look fantastic and others look awful. the Blackberry Z10 is more consistent. The Moto X has a neat trick which lets you open the camera app if you flick your wrist twice.

Conclusion
Android has come a long way since 2.3. it is smooth and quick. likewise BB10 is a different beast to legacy OS and just as smooth and quick. Is one better then the other? i would have to say no. They are both very capable systems. I can see myself using the Moto X for the next 2 years with no issue. A Samsung may have had me running back to the Z10. it really does show how manufacturers customisation of android can lead to varying experiences.
As for after that? Well we'll see how both platforms have progressed by then. But for now, both are solid platforms.

[akawarrior]

You have no evidence of Google keeping info just for the NSA.

If Google are "the evil Empire", then why are they fighting the NSA?

See here:
Apple, Google, Microsoft and other tech giants team up to fight NSA spying tactics - http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/23178...spying-tactics

Even BlackBerry store data about you on their servers.
If you don't want tracking, don't use any modern phone.

Did you not know or forget Google rolled over for the NSA at first.. Who knows
behind the curtain what evils lurk..

True fact, you don't want everyone to collect data on you?
Stay off the streets, don't go to the supermarket, stay the
heck off the internet and sell your cell phone.. Oh, wait
only a million other things in life you can't do but breath
and they already charge you for air and water which used
to be free.. lol Digital life sucks.. Dang..

Great review OP.. Don't agree with everything but
that's what makes the world burn, er-ahh.. Turn..

akawarrior

[systemvolker]

Good review.

I can't live with android devices without customizing it... from system to ui. Because stock is too simple for me. Until I got fed up... too much time consumed. I hated it when there are some updates for custom OS come up and when you try it, it's buggy... then you have to reload your stuff again back from where it was.

hehe anyways its not a con for android and it doesn't take long to reverse a backup...

I just found peace in BlackBerry 10.




Posted via CB10

[kjjb0204]

Absolutely loved 90% of the Moto X and almost sold my Q10. Tried the X for two weeks and just couldn't go without the keyboard and hub. Back to the Q10. Wife loves 100% of her new (my old) Moto X. Other than typing and the hub, the moto X was as good as or better than the Q10 in just about every other category that matters to me. Even multitasking was great. Best full-touch smartphone I've owned, and I was a big hacker/rooter/rom guy as far back as the Droid Incredible.

[darkehawke]

I Still think Android seems very messy, with the comparison to the desktop with Random icons floating around. Also I'd miss my hub my preinstalled preemptive texting my virtual keyboard and active frames. You been very Thoruogh in your review. But all you really done is say that things evolve for Android and things evolve for BlackBerry. I get the feeling that you prefer Moto X over BB Z30 but have no idea why

I favour the Moto x over the z30 as a personal choice. The z30 is essentially an upgraded z10 and offers nothing unique in terms of experience. That's not to say that the z30 is a bad phone. It's not. But its far too expensive to justify an upgrade from a z10 for me. I wish blackberry would offer an upgrade scheme like they did with os7 devices

Posted via the Android CrackBerry App!

[bekkay]

Sorry, I should clarify a bit. My point was that there's no way to always stay within an app and respond to messages, at least not in 4.3. This seems to be available throughout BB10.

Even if your ROM does not support QuickReply, you can always install something like these:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...droid.smspopup

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ndcent.nextsms

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...mp.smsnotifier

[raino]

Even if your ROM does not support QuickReply, you can always install something like these:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...droid.smspopup

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ndcent.nextsms

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...mp.smsnotifier

Those look pretty good, but seems to be just for SMS? What about email, BBM, Whatsapp, etc.?

Regardless, a third party which has access to my messages is not for me. Thanks for posting though.

[kjjb0204]

Those look pretty good, but seems to be just for SMS? What about email, BBM, Whatsapp, etc.?

Regardless, a third party which has access to my messages is not for me. Thanks for posting though.

Unified inbox is one of the top reasons I'm back on BB. Having to reply from 4 different apps is a pain on Android. Love the Moto X, but not quite as much as Q10.

[bekkay]

Those look pretty good, but seems to be just for SMS? What about email, BBM, Whatsapp, etc.?

Regardless, a third party which has access to my messages is not for me. Thanks for posting though.

GMail has Quick Reply. So does WhatsApp. Go to Settings > Notifications > Popup notifications.

Not sure about BBM. But the feature is available for use by any developer.

[1magine]

People really need to give up this whole privacy crap. Give it a rest. You have none. Your physicians share your medical records (Never filled out a HIPA form), your internet service provider share your browsing history, email, tv watching history etc. (It's not just google or netflix). Have a supermarket card (those lists are sold and shared bigtime! Most of your public data comes from supermarket and drugstore cards). Got a checking account or a credit card? What about an EZ pass? Trust me. For 99% of people in the industrialized, democratized world, you could throw your smartphone in the ocean and those private and public agencies that really want your info, that want to know what your doing and when your doing it, will get at it. 30 years ago private investigators were posing as all sorts of folks to plant listening devices in 'targets' homes. It is legal and in use to point a specialized listening device at windows and be able to fully hear every word spoken inside. Infra-red technology can be legally utilized to see into someone's home. Anyone can be legally followed.

In the USA, since the Patriot Act, anyone's communication can be tapped and all phone, email and other records turned over to a requesting government agency for more than 30 days without first obtaining a warrant.

You don't have any privacy. You don't You should not expect that you do. And you should certainly not expect that anything you do or say is ever beyond the reach of those who want to know. Move on, get over it or go live an electronics free existence in a cabin in the mountains, and hope that noone wants to follow you there. But for G-d's sake, please stop acting like you have now, will have or have ever had some true expectation of privacy or the ridiculous notion that a choice of phone or search engine or email account will insulate you from prying eyes. You are throwing a match in the ocean and thinking you will set the world on fire.

[dbmalloy]

Good... better.. best.... all subjective.... OP just proves the point... have used many different platforms in the past and have found all have something to offer.. we tend to stick with what either offers us the most.... or stay because we cannot admit we might have made a mistake in our choice.....

[iN8ter]

Definitely a nice, fair assessment. My only thought would be what your comparison would look like if you had jumped from the Z30 to the Moto X. I agree and have heard the Moto X is a great device, but while it may stack up to the Z10 well, I'm not sure it holds its own versus the Z30. Good luck with your new device.

Posted via my BlackBerry Q10 or Z30 on VZW from Philly

The Droid Maxx is the Motorola equivalent to the Z30 and it holds its own fairly easily.

[goku_vegeta]

I did asking people whether or not we really have "bad devices" in a forum which I'm not allowed to tell you guys about yet

Basically the consensus was the same as previously mentioned. All the mobile platforms are excellent, no doubt about that. It's the use case scenarios of individuals which make a certain product or operating system more appealing and suitable for an individual.

Posted via CB10

[kylef5993]

I completely agree with this thread. Too bad Motorola was sold to Lenovo. I would have liked it more as a Google company

Posted via CB10

[NinjaB]

as most said, fair and informational write-up... I learned a few things about Android..

one question I have though, what in THE WORLD were you doing that your battery only lasted 6 hours? streaming or playing games for a majority of the time is the only way you could kill a healthy battery that fast... either that, or u had a defective one... my batt lasts all day easily...

[Pete The Penguin]

People really need to give up this whole privacy crap. Give it a rest. You have none. Your physicians share your medical records (Never filled out a HIPA form), your internet service provider share your browsing history, email, tv watching history etc. (It's not just google or netflix). Have a supermarket card (those lists are sold and shared bigtime! Most of your public data comes from supermarket and drugstore cards). Got a checking account or a credit card? What about an EZ pass? Trust me. For 99% of people in the industrialized, democratized world, you could throw your smartphone in the ocean and those private and public agencies that really want your info, that want to know what your doing and when your doing it, will get at it. 30 years ago private investigators were posing as all sorts of folks to plant listening devices in 'targets' homes. It is legal and in use to point a specialized listening device at windows and be able to fully hear every word spoken inside. Infra-red technology can be legally utilized to see into someone's home. Anyone can be legally followed.

In the USA, since the Patriot Act, anyone's communication can be tapped and all phone, email and other records turned over to a requesting government agency for more than 30 days without first obtaining a warrant.

You don't have any privacy. You don't You should not expect that you do. And you should certainly not expect that anything you do or say is ever beyond the reach of those who want to know. Move on, get over it or go live an electronics free existence in a cabin in the mountains, and hope that noone wants to follow you there. But for G-d's sake, please stop acting like you have now, will have or have ever had some true expectation of privacy or the ridiculous notion that a choice of phone or search engine or email account will insulate you from prying eyes. You are throwing a match in the ocean and thinking you will set the world on fire.

Thank you for a common sense reply.

True privacy is an illusion - people need to realise that.

[chiphazard]

How many times a day do you have to force close apps? The keyboard on android blows as well.

BlackBerry Since 2006. Rogers Halifax, NS - Z10 Official 10.2.1

[Troy Tiscareno]

How many times a day do you have to force close apps? The keyboard on android blows as well.

The last time I force-closed an app on my Nexus 4 was back in July, about 8 months ago. It's VERY rare for me.

Also, $2.99 will get you SwiftKey, which is what the BB10 keyboard is built on top of, and licensed from.

[Hilman76]

Likewise, couldn't remember the last time an app had a force closed message.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using CB Forums mobile app

[Tre Lawrence]

How many times a day do you have to force close apps? The keyboard on android blows as well.

LOL. If people were force closing Android apps on the regular, folks wouldn't use Android.

"The" keyboard sucks? The keyboard situation is a bit different from BB10. Android users are not stuck with the keyboard the manufacturer installs on the device.

[collinc93]

Happy its your perspective OP....on the other hand there are those who see it the other way Z10 or Z30 being the better choice.....would hope if it is written it is also taken as fair assessment?

[Tre Lawrence]

Unified inbox is one of the top reasons I'm back on BB.

I do still miss the unified inbox at times, though, on Android, the notification system somewhat makes it easier to deal with.

[dannejanne]

I do still miss the unified inbox at times, though, on Android, the notification system somewhat makes it easier to deal with.

It's easier/faster to access one specific notification at a given time. The difference is you don't have all the power in your hands when dealt with the notification.

Sent from my C6833 using Tapatalk

[BergerKing]

How many times a day do you have to force close apps? The keyboard on android blows as well.

BlackBerry Since 2006. Rogers Halifax, NS - Z10 Official 10.2.1

Once since November, and it was an app that had a flawed update. I emailed the developer, who replied less than an hour later, and three hours later sent me an email that a new version had been released, and after downloading, the problem was fixed.