BlackBerryZ30 Sim Free Smartphone - Black

Like many others who've already posted, I am a previous user of Blackberry devices for work, and used to be frustrated by the awkward last generation operating interface. At the same time, the battery life made it a practical tool for core work activities like answering emails.having read the reviews for the Z30, which were generally positive, I took the plunge and invested in a Z30 for my own use. This, along with a Tesco Pay Monthly 4G SIM only contract.After about an hours use of the Z30 (which arrived promptly in perfect condition), I was blown away by the user experience: Phone quality is superb, navigation is excellent and they've really thought through the UI in detail: it's one of those interfaces where you are doing something (like sending a text), then say to yourself " if they've really thought this through, it should be able to do this..." Pretty much every time, what you thought should be possible, is.The main gripe up until recently, has been the lack of Apps. As mentioned elsewhere, this has been addressed in the most recent software release through the incorporation of an Android Emulator and support for Google Apps: Evernote, Spotify, Netflix and all the others are now all available and work perfectly.Good points:+Screen+ support for Micro USB memory cards - bypassing massive extra cost for in-device storage. hugely important for me+Build quality+Excellent call quality - much more reliable than previous smartphones (Apple i4S, Samsung Galaxy S2) on the same carrier+Long battery life - as a heavy user, one to two days of battery life for a smartphone is unprecedented - thanks to the 2880mAh battery+Blackberry Hub - centralised messages, will learn what you consider important, and put these communications into a "priority hub"+Excellent and intuitive UI+Sound quality is impressive+ I love the screen unlock process: to set this up, you choose a favourite photo, then drag a particular number from a superimposed random number grid onto a particular area of the photo: to use, the screen will present your photo, and the number grid, just drag the chosen number to the area of the photo. - no-one overlooking can know your access code..Minus Points:- Camera. not terrible at all, I just find the photos quite dark..- Quirky button position. I find my natural grip on the phone seems to mean my thumb interferes with the volume rocker switches located towards the upper right hand side.- when using third party car brackets (I have several), the side-mounted USB charger point combined with the volume rocker switches makes it hard to mount the phone satisfactorily.In summary, I find this phone to be by far the best I have ever used. Strongly recommended!!

Fast delivery, unlocked Z30, takes all carriers' microSIMs. Cannot add to how good this phone is but iphone it is not. Greatly needs direct download of Android apps as BB apps lacking, but now possible direct from Amazon App Store. But let it be said that BB10.2 works flawlessly and connects and syncs to both Macs and PCs effortlessly. Very good buy for a business phone. Wish there were more BB apps.After 4 months use, this phone is just great. I don't regret swapping my overhyped and overpriced iphone for it. So far it has performed flawlessly and I have all the apps I use either from BB world or amazon App Store, 5 panels full of apps, fantastic HUB and 32GB of type 10 in the SD slot.It's still very fast. Display under the sun could be better and I'm still getting used to its phablet size.Looking forward to buying the new Q20 for my wife and the 10.3 update.

I have used this phone for 3 months. I can confirm that the battery can last 4-5 days since last charge with proper settings and good habits, under normal usage. Some configurations have to be done if you want to save the battery:I suggest to turn off WiFi, NFC, 3G data service, location service, Bluetooth, and VPN unless you need them. These functions are combined on the screen-swipe menu. So they can be set up very easily. Using flight mode at night will help saving battery too. For internet accessing, WiFi costs less battery and network flow than 3G data service, so if you have choice WiFi would be better.Screen brightness can be set up to a low value and it won't hurt your eyes; I chose the lowest value. Screen time out I set up as 10 seconds.Battery Booster (S4BB's app) is okay to use, or some other apps which can be downloaded or purchased from BlackBerry World. However you need to be careful before you actually trying it, and check its permission to avoid Battery Booster or other apps invoke BBM's service or other services. If that happens the battery level drops dramatically. It once happened to my phone, one night under flight mode the battery dropped 50%.If any battery problem happens, please check the App Manager to see the battery using details. One solution is checking all the apps one by one in the Permissions menu. Some apps automatically open unnecessary permissions which you have to reset.Data refreshing apps such as weather, news, twitter costs loads of network flow and battery, so better keep the amount of these apps at the minimum level. BlackBerry Protect can be turned off too as it sends data to server. If you worry about your phone maybe stolen one day then you need to turn it on, with the location service on too. Else don't need to enable this service.Only log in Facebook, Skype, etc., when you need to do so would be helpful for a long lasting use. Logging out when you complete.The BlackBerry's sleep pocket is very helpful. When you are not using the phone, insert it into the pocket immediately so the phone will sleep until phone calls or SMS wakes it up. By the way you may need to find the right direction to insert the phone; I used to do it in the opposite direction as I did not understand what the sleep pocket was for. :)With these settings the battery should be able to last 4 days without any charging, even 5 days if you treat it very carefully. But I would say 3 days maybe more usual. I know people normally charge their smart phones once even twice daily so Z30 is worry-saving.I once had a BB 8520 for 4 years, never had any problem of it. However it was not a smart phone so I bought this one. I do like this Z30 as it got everything I need. I appreciate Its good logic, detailed design and robustness. You will be surprised about what it can do for you if you take care of it. Wish you good luck if you get this phone.

Super phone, big blackberry fan , however...massive problems with the power button. gets jammed unless back cover is removed. also dont like the fact that it is a U.S import , which wasnt stated on the advert

The phone is great - but there is a definite learning curve for newbies. Probably best to keep your old phone in service and run the Z30 on a pay as you go contract till you are comfortable. I think it is probably true that sophisticated devices - which the Z30 definitely is - are bound to take a while before the user is fully confident. Also I recommend setting up an IMAP mail account and syncing the device with Google contacts so the address book is always up to date.