The BlackBerry Z10 is set to hit the U.S. in the next week or two, so how does it stack up to the phone to beat, the Apple iPhone 5?
Display
The BlackBerry Z10 has a larger display, 4.2 inches to the iPhone's 4 inches. But bigger isn't always better, as people with small hands will attest. However, the Z10's screen is also more detailed. It boasts a 1280x768, 356 ppi display. The iPhone can only muster an 1136x640 screen at 326 ppi.
Processor
These are a bit harder to compare, as iPhones run Apple's proprietary chips. The A6 in the iPhone 5 is good. The 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 in the BlackBerry Z10 is about on par with most Android phones, but it's less powerful than other phones hitting the market soon.
Storage
$199 and a contract gets you a 16GB iPhone 5. Pricing is still unavailable for U.S. versions of the Z10, but it comes with 16GB of memory and can accommodate up to another 64 GB on an SD card.
Operating System
The iPhone runs iOS 6.1, just like every other current Apple mobile device in the world. The Z10 comes with the totally revamped BlackBerry 10 operating system. Most reviews say BB10 is an excellent debut, and very polished for a first effort, but Apple has had years to perfect iOS. BB10 also has fewer apps available, and the ones that are on offer sometimes don't live up to the iOS counterparts. But BlackBerry loyalists who miss BlackBerry Messenger should love its newly updated features, such as video calling.
Camera
The iPhone has a typical 8 megapixel camera. It's good. The Z10's camera is similar, and the features it offers aren't anything you can't get with the appropriate camera app in the AppStore. The Z10's front-facing camera is 2 megapixels, a bit more then the iPhone 5's 1.2 megapixel camera.
In the end, the Z10 is in a similar position to the HTC One or the Sony Xperia Z. All of them are competent and impressive offerings from well-regarded companies. They each offer slightly different user experiences that will favor some lifestyles and hinder others.
The Z10 may not be a game-changer, but it will help BlackBerry stay in the game, assuming the BlackBerry base is up for it.
Which one