Q10 Sim Free Smartphone - Black

My comments will have to be limited to the phone's looks and stated capabilities as I am still awaiting a new SIM card from O2! The phone looks and feels tremendous, somehow sleeker than the BB Bold 9700 with a larger screen area but still the familiar (and, for me, indispensable) BB keyboard. The use of up and side swipes to control access to different, frequently used areas of the phone's software is a great idea and, from what I've read, the new OS is also an improvement upon the 9700. I look forward to coming back and editing this entry once I've been able to use the Q10 in real life! (It's currently a very expensive desk ornament - are you listening O2?). Revision: I've now got a micro G4 SIM card and been able to put the phone through its paces for over a month so, on with the proper review. Firstly, set-up: Blackberry have probably the best in-built set up system I know of (I've never used an iPhone and, for ideological reasons, never will), my previous Blackberry (9700 Bold) was pretty good and the Q10 follows in the same vein. Simply enter your main details, preferences and any email addresses you wish to access with the phone and it sets them - no murmur of complaint, no extra questions, very little waiting, it just does it. Usage: The phone is actually a dual touch screen (3.1" super AMOLED) and, for me, the essential QWERTY keypad - the mix works beautifully (though the diagrammatic instruction sheet could be a little clearer on what gestures to use). The phone as a phone is comfortable in the hand, quality of call (barring carrier supplier vagaries) is excellent. The phone as a mini computer is also exceptionally well laid out, using the "Hub" as a base for all operations, and easy to master. In operating mode this is a thing of beauty as well as a practical tool. The dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor is extremely fast and it does feel much more responsive than the 9700, the 16Gb of internal memory is more than adequate for my needs (not that this matters as the phone is linked to my various cloud storage accounts) and a joy to use. The Blackberry App store is getting better and there are more useful (rather than half formed, cribbed or plain useless) app's to choose from, many free. The connect and backup software have been updated and are a light year improvement upon the old (pre v10 O/S) version. Load it on your laptop or PC, connect the phone, activate your Blackberry account and sit back for about 30 seconds, Sync will have completed and a back-up can be performed which (dependent upon your laptop/PC spec') will add about another 30 to 60 seconds to your day. Activate Blackberry Protect on the phone, by entering your Blackberry account details, and the phone is now Geo-tracked in case of loss or theft. Dedicated Blackberry AV, from the App store for about £8.00, if desired and you're good to go. As with, I suspect, most smartphone users I feel an emotional attachment to my phones - not surprising as they do, to some extent, become an extension of your id - some have left me feeling a bit unsatisfied (some have been given away as soon as possible as being just plain terrible), a couple felt nearly there, the Bold felt "right" from day one and the Q10 feels like an old friend with a few new tricks. I only have two negative comments: using the phone hard (not a daily occurrence) will make a severe dent in battery life (as will leaving the phone on WiFi roaming mode - embarrassed look) but I haven't actually drained it - yet. The second is a bit more of a problem for those of us who fall into the large (or buttered) finger group - it is a little too easy to touch the wrong screen icon or cover two at the same time - something I've practised at now and have got to a minimum (even using my thumb). I'm willing to forgive that though as the Q10 is so deliciously attractive and efficient at everything it does.

I love this phone! Being a lover of BlackBerry with some not-so-good models previously, this phone is a breath of fresh air. I love the keyboard (which, let's face it, is what keeps any BlackBerry user loyal) - it's got a soft key feel. I also got used to the rest of it being touchscreen much quicker than I anticipated (though I was terrified about giving up the back button and the menu button). The BlackBerry hub is great. The speed of loading pages is fantastic and the phone works actively to switch to Wifi whenever it's in range or available, decreasing the amount of data you use through your phone network. I think it's useful to list the positives and negatives so here's a list: Postives: BlackBerry OS10 - sleeker and faster and more efficient than any of its predecessors BlackBerry Hub - combines emails, texts, What's App, social media and BBM all in one place Calendar - synchronises with other web-based calendars you may have (eg. Google) Very quick to lock/unlock the screen Touchscreen screen In-built torch Lovely feel keyboard Great tutorials to help you understand using Q10 Wireless syncing/back-ups and updating with a PC - planned/unplanned Ability to download non-BlackBerry World apps (such as Android apps) Massive internal storage (16MB) Extend storage up to a massive 64MB with a micro media card Quick to turn off notifications with clock app/bedside mode Better battery life than previous BlackBerries Much bigger screen than previous BBs Much faster switching on and reboot than previous BBs Negatives: Limited ringtones and text tones (but you can download/use your own music) Not Android or iOS so no Google Play or App store installed Turning off the device will not allow alarm to switch back on - turning it off will reboot device on switching back on - so phone needs to stay on to use alarm So, as you can see, not many negatives and they aren't important. I bought this phone outright on Amazon and am using it with a sim-only contract, which over 24 months, works out cheaper than previous 24-month contracts with previous phones. I envisage this phone lasting longer than 24 months, however as it is built well and functions seamlessly. I couldn't be happier!

I bought this for my wife as she said she wanted a keyboard and didn't like touch screens. I got it home and its a good phone, but the lack of applications is a real bind. It means all she can use is basic apps. Twitter and Facebook have problems as out of the box Twitter needed re-installing, Facebook gives problems with certain content on your status page with no way round. For me the format is good, but the delivery is flawed - If only someone realised that some people like keyboards in Android world.

I like this phone. It's one of the only new ones in the market with proper buttons instead of those virtual keyboards while still retaining all the internet functionality. I have owned it for 4 days so far. I like the clickiness of the buttons on this phone. It's intuitive and has satisfying feedback to the fingers. Perhaps I would like more button travel but it's perfectly useable the way that it is. The curvature on the buttons got me by surprise at first. It felt like I was pressing the wrong buttons but as I looked at what I wrote, it was correct. I got used to it in a couple of days though. Also, the Shift buttons are a bit difficult to reach sometimes and the alternate key functions (the various symbols) are a bit tedious to use when I want to write many of them in sequence. The buttons on the side prove more useful than on any other phone that I've ever used before. Though I would like to have a trackpad of some sort, like the older BlackBerries and physical Back and Home buttons. The touchscreen is also quite slick. It responds to every touch so fluently and effortlessly. I am impressed, actually. The BlackBerry Hub and all the gestures seem a bit overwhelming at first, but they greatly ease the life with this phone and improve the multi-tasking ability. Coming from Symbian and Android, the OS is a bit unfamiliar, though rather easy to get into. I had trouble at first with contacts on the phone. It wouldn't create new contacts or update the existing ones with additional info that I've added. No error messages, too. After a bit of research and trial & error, I figured a way to fix it. It turns out that Facebook was messing with the OS because of all the contacts from FB. I simply logged out of FB and got rid of all the local contacts from it, then added all the new contacts and updated their details. Now I've signed in with my FB account again and everything works like it should. No problems anymore. I am impressed by the battery life of this phone. In every review that I've read or watched, it was said that the phone can barely make it through the day without charging up, even without any massive useage. However, from what I've experienced so far, it's even difficult to intentionally use up all of its battery in one day. With Bluetooth, NFC, Mobile Internet, Wi-Fi and all that stuff constantly turned on, hours of YouTube videos and chatting, it still has about 40% of battery left by the evening. That is great for me. One flaw that perhaps stands out the most for me is the width of the thing. It just feels too wide. It's difficult to firmly hold it in one hand. Height-wise it's decently sized and not too big (I don't like big phones) but the width makes it seem relatively massive. Also, its weight is a bit too much for me. It's on the heavy-side, for sure. I also like the speaker. By phone standards, it's very loud at max volume and the quality is not bad either. In most cases, 60-70% volume is sufficiently loud with crisp sound. Of course, there's not much in the bass department, but that's how every phone is. Though it manages to send it's vibrations through the whole phone and you can feel the quite powerful mid-frequency kicks and snares. It's especially satisfying when you are doing something with the phone with both hands while music is playing. Not only do you hear the music, but you also feel it through your fingers. Overall, I am rather satisfied with this phone. I hope it does not play any tricks on me in the future because I plan to keep using it for 3-5 years.

Ok, so this is my first EVER one-star review on anything, believe it or not!! Having upgraded from a humble 8520 but also having used iPhones & such previously, I can say the following based on a full 24h usage: Whoever designed this product should be ashamed of themselves! SOFTWARE Environment: badly thought out, why oh WHY do they need all those acrobatics to get to the Hub??? On Bb OS7 & 5 there was one main *button* for this one could just click and get to all messages, Bb10 makes us go through all sorts of antics to get to "The Hub" , WHY?!?!?!!! The Hub and direct communications were Blackberry's massive competitive advantage... and they've WRECKED it!!! Messaging: Bb10 actually has LESS options for messages!!! (delete original message: gone; delete from handset OR server: gone, etc. etc.) 'App'/"Blackberry" world: more like a sorry excuse for a waste of battery - there is literally 1/100th available on there compared to IOS (Apple) and a LOT less than the equivalent for Blackberry World for Bb5 & Bb7 - ab-so-lu-tely resolutely BIZARRE. SLOW. Veeeeery SLOW (after 5mins use). HARDWARE: shoddy, shoddy, shoddy!!!!!!!!!!!!! USEless screen which loses (!!) its touch sensitivity entirely at the edges once it gets hot, oh yes, and does it get hot!!!!!!! Give it 5mins use and you're there! The 'Space' key is starting to come loose!!!!!!!! (after just 12hrs full use!) keyboard quality a *lot* worse than 'basic' 8520, a LOT worse. Battery time AS good as cheapo Blackberries (eg. 8520) running Bb5. Shame on you Blackberry!!!!!!!!!! I am now looking into sending it back to coporate HQ with a nice little letter attached, I've already spent the cash, I'm never going to get a refund anyway, and will be looking to buy a *proper* phone i.e. the iPhone 4c! *DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!!* If you want a Blackberry, buy the Blackberry 5 or 7 models, they are just so much BETTER, so much more functional, so much more qualitative, don't waste your money on this, it is ONE Biiiiiiig *flop* (if ever I saw one).

This telephone would be perfect if you could move the cursor using the keyboard or a 4 way cursor button. As it is, it might as well not have a keyboard because the cursor can only be moved around using the touchscreen. The cursor interface is clunky and wayward. If you need to do any editing then you will most likely spend more time faffing with the cursor than you spend typing. It really is very, very poor and cursor movement is such an essential requirement. If nothing else, all they needed to do was implement a "cursor mode" and use W,S,A,D keys, but they didn't. You simply can't use the keyboard to move the cursor around and you have to use the touch screen - there isn't a choice in the matter. I would give this device five stars if it didn't have such a stupid, frustrating interface for the cursor. I don't understand how their testers thought that having no cursor movement from the keyboard would be a good idea. My guess would be that they designed the OS for touchscreen and then just stuck the keyboard on at the end to keep the Blackberry image. It isn't too late - they could upgrade the OS and include this feature but looking at the forums, I'm not hopeful. If you don't care about the cursor functionality then this device is fine and this review shouldn't put you off.

Moving from a blackberry curve to this is like going from economy in a plane to first class! The phone is well made and feels solid in use. Keyboard is brilliant and typing long emails isn't tiresome. I use this primarily for work, in my view this is the best business phone out there. Leisure wise the camera is good enough and shoots videos fine. Music I have downloaded neutron which beats my sisters iPhone 5 for playback quality. Battery lasts me just 2 days which is fine as I do make a lot of calls and send/receive emails from 4 inboxes as well as browsing news sites and use a Bluetooth headset. My cousin used to have the Bold 9900 moved to HTC and now wants to come back to blackberry. If your more of a leisure/games user then apple/android is for you. You will enjoy this phone for its superb keyboard and business mode credentials. BB apps are limited but all the core ones are there and I cannot figure out how to reprogram the $ key to £ even though in my settings the phone is in UK mode. I did expect a slip case for this high end phone and better quality headphones but everyone's buys their own anyway. When awaiting delivery which took 3 days to an Amazon locker ( should have been next day but amazon apologised) the price was reduced and Amazon refunded the difference without any hassle, Great service overall.

I knew this phone was going to be SIM free but what I didn't realise was that I then needed to send for a MICRO SIM from my provider or go to my nearest store which is about 10 miles away. Being a Saturday when I received it they didn't despatch the card until Monday. That one got lost in our dear Royal Mail (bless 'em) so I rung my provider again and received the second one on the next Saturday. I reckon I could have walked the 10 miles quicker. I'd love to know why Blackberry can't supply these new phones with the old SIM cards (I've had Blackberry's for years with no problem), or why Amazon can't supply them with the MICRO SIM card for the sake of £10. Its still cheaper than buying from a phone shop or direct from Blackberry! The phone itself isn't exactly a doddle to use unless you're into gadgets. I spent a few days on the Troubleshooting Guide but please don't be put off. Now I have my business account on the phone separate from my other emails, facebook, Linkedin and Twitter. I'm texting downloading music, taking photos, games and videos more than ever so it doesn't take long. The amplification is FANTASTIC - like an FM radio and the camera is SUPERB too. Much better than my Blackberry Curve. Because it has the largest screen ever and a keyboard you can look at huge websites without being blocked out (this was happening on my old phone) and I'd never be without a QWERTY keyboard - so much easier! I hope that helps somebody out there.