Shortly after Sprint launched the Nexus 5
in the United States, multiple Canadian carriers started to sell the
smartphone as well.
MobileSyrup reports that Nexus 5 is now available for purchase at Bell, Rogers, TELUS, Virgin Mobile,
Koodo Mobile, Fido and Videotron. Customers can grab the smartphone
from any of these carriers for no less than $500 (€355) outright.
However, Bell, Rogers, TELUS and Virgin Mobile
also offer the Nexus 5 for only $100 (€70) on two-year agreements. Fido
is also selling the Nexus 5 for $200 (€140) on two-year plans, while
Videotron is only asking $50 (€35) if you're willing to commit to a new
2-year contract.
SaskTel and WIND Mobile are expected to add the Nexus 5 to their portfolios of Android smartphones within the next couple of days. Stay tuned for more updates on this one.
We reported a few days ago US Cellular and
Samsung plan to start rolling out the long-awaited Android 4.3 Jelly
Bean update for Galaxy S4 on November 8.
The information was mentioned in an internal memo leaked via AndroidPolice and it seems that it was pretty accurate. The official changelog of the update went live recently on Samsung's website and AndroidPolice reports lots of US Cellular Galaxy S4 owner have already started to receive the upgrade.
Keep in mind that update R970VXUAMJA, also known as Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, is pretty big so we'd recommend Samsung Galaxy S4 owner to download the update via Wi-Fi network or Samsung Kies desktop software.
As previously promised, Samsung added Galaxy Gear smartwatch support to US Cellular Galaxy S4 smartphone via this Jelly Bean update.
In
addition, it also makes the device KNOX-ready. The bad news is all the
carrier-related bloatware will be kept preloaded on the phone even after
the upgrade is applied.
The following apps and services
received an update via Android 4.3 Jelly Bean: City ID 1.25.11, Mobile
TV 5.1.3.65-265549, MobiTiles 5.30.0.20, Slacker Radio 4.0.1034, TRD 2.0.32b, WiFi Now 4.5.90, YND 3.2.3.7230059, Mobile Security 6.6.16.32 and Amazon Shopping 2.6.0.
Android 4.3 Jelly Bean is pushed OTA (over the
air) in stages, so it might take a while until it reaches all Samsung
Galaxy S4 devices at US Cellular.
We recommend users to manually
check for the update if they haven't been automatically notified yet,
by going to Settings / More / About device / Software update / Update.
In other news, Samsung has yet to roll out the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for Galaxy S4 at T-Mobile and AT&T, but we're confident both carriers will offer the upgrade by the end of this month. Stay tuned for more updates on the matter.
BlackBerry Z30
The last BlackBerry smartphone to be
released in 2013, the Z30, is also the largest handset launched by the
Canadian company in its entire history.
The sequel to
the Z10, BlackBerry Z30 offers users a large 5.0-inch display along with
some more than decent specs. The bad news is that the phone's design is
not really on par with what it has to offer in terms of hardware.
Aside from a few features, both BlackBerry Z10
and Z30 are similar when it comes to specs. The most important aspect
about the Z30 is the fact that it ships with BlackBerry 10.2 operating
system out of the box.
All other BlackBerry 10 devices released
on the market until now are running a previous version of the platform.
The good news is that BlackBerry promised the OS 10.2 upgrade would be
available for Z10, Q5, and Q10 beginning mid-October.
Until
then, BlackBerry 10.2 is one of the many reasons customers will purchase
the Z30. Another one would be the large 5-inch display, though
BlackBerry fans who already own the Z10 may want to skips this one.
Given the fact that we've already reviewed the BlackBerry Q5 and BlackBerry Q10 smartphones, we will focus on the features that make the Z30 different in comparison to the other two.For those unfamiliar, BlackBerry Z30 was
officially introduced back in September and hit shelves in a few
countries in October. Customers can purchase the smartphone in black
color version for no less than $675 (€500) outright.
Design
At first glance, BlackBerry Z30 looks big and slightly stylish.
Unfortunately, it took me a few hours to realize the smartphone is
pretty bulky and hard to operate with one hand.
BlackBerry Z30
measures 140.7 x 72 x 9.4 mm and weighs no less than 170g (battery
included). That's at least 30g heavier than the Z10, which sports a
4.2-inch display.
The only way I can justify Z30's heavy
weight is the fact that is powered by a high-capacity, 2880 mAh Li-Ion
battery, but other than that I don't see a reason for BlackBerry to make
it so bulky and uncomfortable.
The entire front side of the Z30 is taken by the
larger 5-inch display. The bezel at the bottom is huge and it reminds me
of the bezel of high-end Windows Phone handsets, such as Nokia Lumia 920.
The bottom side is made of a silvery plastic stripe, while the rest of
the front part is covered by a protective glass. Right above the display
is the 2-megapixel secondary camera, as well as a notification LED and
the standard sensors.
The left side of the device features the
microUSB and HDMI ports, while the right side has a Pause/Mute button
between the volume up and down keys. The bottom side is buttonless,
while the top of the phone features the 3.5mm audio port and the power on/off button.
Just like the Q10, the back cover of BlackBerry
Z30 is made of glass weave finish and seems to be the only piece that
makes the phone look a bit more stylish. It is also worth mentioning
that the Z30's back cover can be pulled, but you can't remove the
battery.
As soon as the back hood is removed, users will be
able to notice the microSIM and microSD card slots on the right side of
the phone. There's also an 8-megapixel photo snapper on the back, which
features autofocus and LED flash.
Display and Camera
BlackBerry Z30 sports a huge 5.0-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display, the biggest screen ever packed onto a BlackBerry smartphone.
Although it only offers 294ppi (pixel) density in comparison with Z10's
display that supports 355ppi (pixel density), quality-wise, the former
is much better.
It can be easily read under strong sunlight and
features a very good color contrast. The Z30's display supports HD (720
x 1280 pixels) resolution and consumes less energy than any other
BlackBerry 10's display.
BlackBerry Q5/Q10 owners thinking to
upgrade to the Z30 will be happy to know that browsing on a 5-inch
touchscreen display is a real pleasure. The colors are bright, vivid,
and better looking than on any previous BlackBerry 10 smartphone.
The 8-megapixel camera on the back features
autofocus, LED flash, and full HD (1080p@30fps) video recording. The UI
is straightforward and users won’t have any issues finding the most
important settings and options within the camera.
You can
choose one of the four modes available: Normal, Stabilization, Burst,
and HDR. Several Scenes are available for users, including Action,
Whiteboard, Night, Beach, or Snow, as well as Auto. You can also choose
the picture ratio before capturing it: 1:1, 4:3, and 16:9. This is the
only option that allows you to change the resolution of the camera.
Although the phone does not have a dedicated
button for camera, BlackBerry added a shortcut on the phone’s lock
screen, right at the bottom. If you tap and hold this icon you will be
taken directly to the camera UI without having to browse through menus.
Quality-wise, BlackBerry Z30 takes decent pictures when light
conditions are optimal, but fails when it comes to night pictures. The
2-megapixel front-facing camera is perfect for BBM video, but it can
also capture 720p@30 videos.
Menu and Software
The first smartphone to ship with BlackBerry 10.2 operating system out
of the box, the Z30 offers slightly more features than any other
previous model.
Those who want more insight on BlackBerry 10 and its features can head over to our news section and read our BlackBerry Q5 review and/or BlackBerry Q10 review.
I’m going to highlight some of the features that are only included in
BlackBerry 10.2, so those who already own any smartphones previous to
Z30 know what to expect later this month when the latest version of the
operating system is said to arrive.
First of all, there’s a new Dark Theme that allows
users to keep their phones on a darker theme in order to preserve
battery. Currently, this feature is missing from the Z10, Q5, and Q10.
And of course you get to use Flipboard.
Next in line is
Priority Hub, a new option that allows users to filter messages by
importance. Simply choose which messages to be prioritized and, upon
opening BlackBerry Hub, choose to show only priority messages, as they
will be highlighted in red. The Priority Hub has its own Settings menu
where you can go as deep as possible to make sure you prioritize the
right messages.
Another brand new feature that will probably be
most welcomed by those who are still stuck on BlackBerry 10.1 is called
“lock screen notifications at a glance.”
Basically, every time
you receive a notification, you will be able to see a short preview if
you tap on it. More importantly, these notifications appear on the
phone’s lock screen, so there’s no need to open up the BlackBerry Hub.
There’s also a new option in the App Manager where you can set a
certain application installed on the smartphone to open various types of
files. This is very useful when you have more than one app that can
handle same file formats.
With Smarter Sharing, users will be able to share
the last picture taken and still be able to take pics with the camera.
Lots of other sharing options have been added that will allow users to
quickly share captured moments on various social networks.
The
integrated browser has been further improved with a Reader option that
allows users to load a page with small pictures and lots of text.
Last but not least, you can now set more than one alarm, something
that’s not yet possible on previous BlackBerry 10 smartphones without
10.2 OS.
Communication
Hardware-wise, BlackBerry Z30 is a top-notch smartphone. It comes
packed with most connectivity options usually embedded into a high-end
device, including HSDPA, HSUPA, LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC (Near
Field Communication), microUSB with USB on-the-go, and HDMI port.
BlackBerry’s main innovation in the 10 OS, the Hub, should be the main
selling point. It’s the best messaging hub available on the market and
it’s the easiest to use, even though it might seem complicated at first.
Processor and Memory
BlackBerry Z30 is equipped with a 1.7 GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960T Pro Snapdragon processor and an Adreno 320 graphics processor. That’s slightly better than the previous BlackBerry 10 models.
Furthermore, the smartphone packs 2GB of RAM and
16GB of internal memory, which can be further expanded up 64GB via
microSD memory card. Keep in mind that BlackBerry decided to put the
microSD card slot on the left side of the phone, but you will still need
to pull out the battery cover. That’s a pretty weird design choice from
the Canadian company. Overall, the Z30 is quite snappy and I had no lag or freezing issues.
Multimedia
The Z30 doesn’t improve on the previous models when it comes to music
and videos, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The Q5 and Q10
smartphones offered a surprisingly good audio output with the right
headphones. The bad news is the integrated music player lacks any
advanced features, such as equalizers.
Well, BlackBerry Z30 is
no better than the Q5 and Q10, but it offers the same quality. The
integrated video player supports multiple file formats, including H.264,
XviD, and DivX, but subtitles are a no-go.
Battery
BlackBerry Z30 is powered by a high-capacity 2880 mAh Li-Ion battery,
which is rated by the manufacturer for up to 384 hours of standby time
or up to 18 hours of talk time.
The high-capacity battery is
the main reason the Z30 is so heavy, but the fact that it offers a lot
more autonomy than any other BlackBerry 10 device available on the
market doesn’t make it a downside.
We’ve managed to get about
two days of medium use. This may seem a bit low at first glance but,
taking into consideration the fact that Z30 packs a huge 5-inch display,
there’s nothing wrong with our number. Those who are heavily relying on
their BlackBerry Z30 smartphones will be able to squeeze a full day of
use without too much trouble.
Impressions
Although some of the premium materials used for the Z30 look very nice
and stylish, I couldn’t help not noticing some weird design-related
decisions and the heavy weight of the phone. Since I used both Z10 and
Z30 I can say the latter is a major improvement, but design-wise it is a
total mess.
BlackBerry Z30 gives me the feeling of a rushed
product featuring some very good points, but also suffering from stupid
downsides that could have been removed had the Canadian company’s
engineers been more focused on their work.
The good news is
that BlackBerry Z30 is a worthy spiritual successor of the Z10 and those
who need a bigger (much bigger) device will have no trouble in finding
the Z30 the perfect mobile companion.
The Good
Aside from the fact that it comes with BlackBerry 10.2 platform out of
the box, BlackBerry Z30 offers a few improvements over its predecessor
(Z10).
There are only a handful of features that BlackBerry Z30
lacks, which makes it an all-rounder. LTE support, the
amazingly-looking 5-inch display, 8-megapixel enhanced camera, and
powerful processor inside are among the strong points of the phone.
The Bad
The bulky form factor is the only major downside of the BlackBerry Z30.
Although the BlackBerry 10 app ecosystem is constantly expanding, the
quality of some of the most important apps is far behind in comparison
with other major platforms like Android and iOS.
I also think
BlackBerry Z30 has been overpriced, especially if we take into
consideration the financial status of the Canadian handset maker. The
Z30 is definitely not the device that could turn BlackBerry right on
track, but it could be a very popular handset if priced aggressively.
Sales Package
BlackBerry Z30 handset
Compact charger
USB cable
Stereo earphones
Leaflets