BlackBerry Z10 vs Apple iPhone 5

Introduction:

Crazy to imagine it nonetheless, but we finally have a hotly contested BlackBerry smartphone that’s worthy of being pitted against the greats in the industry. Although it’s still a while before it makes its presence in the US, the BlackBerry 10 trotting Z10 is making some noise of late, and knowing that, it’s bound to catch the iPhone 5’s direct gaze. Call it fate or maybe something else, but if we recall, it was Apple that was the underdog back in 2007, as BlackBerries were regarded as the premier force in the smartphone world. Well, now it’s the other way around, as BlackBerry is on the outside looking in, as Apple relishes its glory. Enough with the pleasantries between these competitors, let’s see which one will reign supreme!

Design:

As we’ve noted in our review, the first thing to come to mind looking at the BlackBerry Z10’s design was none other than the iPhone 5. Rightfully so, these two look like long lost siblings from the front, but that’s where it all end. Quite simply folks, the Z10 can’t match the kind of quality and love that’s seen with the iPhone 5’s design. Not only is Apple’s pride and joy thinner and lighter, but for a $200 on-contract smartphone, it’s undeniably worth every penny thanks to its premium choice of materials. Heck, it’s an all-plastic bland design with the Z10, which is hardly a head turner amongst other things – so that’s why the iPhone 5 will attract more interest even now.

Hardly a shocker, we find their earpieces, light & proximity sensors, and front-facing cameras above their displays – albeit, the Z10 packs the slightly higher 2-megapixel snapper, whereas it’s a 1.2-megapixel one on the iPhone 5. Sure, you can snap those pretentious self-portraits, but they both can also shoot video in 720p. If there’s one thing we surely appreciate seeing on the Z10, it’s the LED notification light that’s nearby.

Although their power buttons and volume controls are springy to the touch, we prefer the iPhone 5’s set more because of their prominent feel. Checking out the rest of the stuff around their trims, it’s pretty much the ordinary gang of ports – such as their 3.5mm headset jacks, speaker grills, microphones, and charging ports. Yet again, we appreciate the fact that the Z10 opts to use a more favorable microHDMI port for quick video-out functionality.

In the rear, they’re undeniably regarded as high-end smartphones with their 8-megapixel auto-focus cameras with LED flashes. Well, it’s worth noting that Z10 employs an f2.2 lens – while the iPhone 5 has an f2.4 lens and a backside illuminated sensor. Beyond that, they both share the same 1080p video recording capability. Yet again, some will no doubt like that the Z10 features a removable back cover, which gives us access to its battery and microSD slot – the latter of which is seemingly becoming a rarity for some strange reason amongst top-tiered devices.


Display:

On paper, the Z10’s 4.2-inch 768 x 1280 LCD display delivers the higher pixel density of 356 ppi, but honestly, we’re hard pressed to visually see its superiority against the 326 ppi pixel density of the iPhone 5’s 4-inch 640 x 1136 IPS-LCD based Retina Display. From a normal viewing distance away, their displays ooze with plenty of sharp details – especially in a zoomed out view in the web browser. However, there’s a hint of warmth attached to the color production of the iPhone 5’s Retina Display, which ultimately gives it some prominence over the colder tones of its rival. Although the two are visible in outdoor settings, the iPhone 5 is able to maintain its clarity thanks to its better viewing angles.

Interface and Functionality:

Putting these two side-by-side, there is one noticeable similarity between the two platforms – the grid-like styling of their app panels. However, that’s where it pretty much ends. Now here’s the thing, it’s yet again a matter of personal choice when it comes to picking out the preferred platform experience. As usual, we always draw back to the simplicity and intuitiveness seen with the iOS experience of the iPhone 5. It’s just so easy to comprehend and navigate, especially for first-time users. Oppositely, there’s a higher learning curve with the BlackBerry 10 experience of the Z10, but at the same time, we prefer how it better makes use of the touch experience with its various gestures. Furthermore, there’s more eye-candy with the BB10 experience, as it makes good use of various transitions and animations.



Sure, iOS might appear static in the face of BB10’s glitzier presentation, but despite that, we see that it’s the more mature platform. Needless to say, we appreciate how notifications are all handled by the BlackBerry Hub on the Z10, but it’s a process on its own getting there – and simply, it’s not as quick as the pull-down menu of iOS. When it comes to multi-tasking, we can’t complain about either execution, since they’re practical and make plenty of sense. Maturity is undoubtedly on the side of Apple’s platform, as both its home brewed Apples Maps and voice control service in Siri are light years ahead of the BlackBerry Maps and barebones features set of BB10’s voice control service.

Keeping your emails organized is a simple experience with the two, seeing that setup is a breeze and their layouts adhere to our stringent requests. However, when it comes to the messaging experience, we’re digging what BlackBerry has done. Always a praised item, we continue to rave about the fantastic on-screen keyboard of the iPhone 5, but we find the BB10 keyboard better. In fact, we like how it employs swipe gestures to quickly switch between layouts. And even though its predictive text feature can be a bit slower in terms of input rate, its auto-correct feature rivals that of the iPhone 5.




Processor and Memory:

Would you look at that? There’s nothing but smooth buttery goodness seen with the performance of the two smartphones. Seriously, we can forget about what they’re running under the hood, since they execute all tasks with finesse and ease. If you must know, the Z10 is packing a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus chipset with 2GB of RAM – while the iPhone 5 is outfitted with a dual-core 1.3GHz Apple A6 processor coupled with 1GB of RAM.

As we know, the iPhone 5 is available in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB variants, which are all separated by $100 increments. On the other hand, the Z10 is stuffed with 16GB of internal storage, however, it’s packing an always-useful microSD card slot to complement its capacity.

Internet and Connectivity:

With 4G LTE in tow, there’s no arguing the kind of peppy data speeds they’re capable of achieving. However, you get that slight desktop-like experience with the Z10, since its browser has support for Adobe Flash. Aside from that, we love the two for their instant page rendering, fluid navigational controls, and sharp visuals with their high-resolution displays. Moreover, they boast a “Reader” function for easy column view reading, and the ability to share pages with social networking accounts, email, and more.



Depending on which version of the handset you select, they’re available in both CDMA and GSM flavors – with each offering 4G LTE connectivity as well. As always, aGPS, Bluetooth 4.0, and 5GHz 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi are all in for the ride with these two beauties. However, the Z10 is blessed with NFC to give it that modern touch.

Camera:

After snapping up the same set of shots with their 8-megapixel cameras, we determine that the iPhone 5 is the more well-rounded performer. As a whole, shots taken outdoors with sufficient lighting come out nice with both, but details are slightly sharper looking with the iPhone 5’s snapped images – in comparison to the dull tones seen with details of the Z10. Meanwhile, there’s more saturation evident in the Z10’s snapshots as well. And finally, the iPhone 5 shows its worth in low lighting conditions, as it’s better able to produce photos that are brighter – while still drawing out details.

Moving onto 1080p video recording quality, it’s downright a long shot win for the iPhone 5. In fact, it’s the consistency of producing sharp visuals that really stand out between the two. Well, the artifacting elements seen with the Z10’s production also stand out, but not to its advantage. Rather, it dramatically softens its details to the point that speckling becomes prominent.



BlackBerry Z10 Sample Video:



Apple iPhone 5 Sample Video:



Multimedia:

True, there’s not much separating the presentation of their music players while listening to songs, but for a platform that’s employing more visual eye candy, we’re disappointed to see a stale player with the Z10. Obviously, cover flow mode with the iPhone 5 continues to impress us in this day and age, which is significantly more pleasing. Going back to Apple’s prodigy, the audio quality of the iPhone 5’s speaker is easily the preferred with its slightly stronger output and cleaner tones.



With only two-tenths of an inch separating the size of their displays, it doesn’t matter as much when watching videos. In fact, the size difference is negligible here, and instead, it’s the iridescent glow of their displays, and excellent playback performance, that captures our attention the most.

Call Quality:

You can’t go wrong chit-chatting away on either device, as call quality on both ends of the line are clear, audible, and distortion-free. Also, it helps that their noise-cancellations features kick in at a moment’s notice during windy conditions. However, the only blemishes we see are related to their speaker phones – voices sound distorted on the iPhone 5, while there’s some strain evident at the loudest volume setting with the Z10.

Battery:

After spending a good amount of time with the Z10, it still baffles us with its poor battery life – and that’s not even using it via 4G LTE connectivity. Specifically, we’re able to push the 10 hour mark with normal usage on the Z10, which is unacceptable compared to the 1 day of usage delivered by the iPhone 5.

Conclusion:

Pricing, of course, is a matter that’s very important to many people, and in this specific case, the two start of at the golden price of $200 with a 2-year contract. Talking about value and getting the most bang for the buck out of a device, there’s plenty of it behind the iPhone 5 – like its premium construction and better hardware performance in several key areas. In contrast, if we’re to look strictly at the platform experience, there’s no question which one is boasting that dreamy level of form, function, and depth of features. Heck, looking at the maps and voice control experiences might be enough for people to make a valid decision.

Honestly folks, it’s a valiant effort on BlackBerry’s part with its brand spanking new platform, but when there’s a healthy ecosystem surrounding the iPhone, it’s going to be hard to pull people away from those comfortable confines and bring them to a new mobile operating system that hasn’t fully matured yet. On the surface, BlackBerry 10 is visually impressive over iOS, but it simply lacks that breadth of features we desperately want (and expect) in a mobile OS. For now, if you’re itching to experiment and give it a shot, the BlackBerry Z10 is definitely worth a look, but if you’re a power user and prefer an established foundation, stick with the iPhone 5.

BlackBerry Z10 vs Apple iPhone 5