Gadgetory

BlackBerry's back in the game and this time it's got its crosshair set on Windows Phone let's see how the two flagships compare I'm Michael Fisher this is PocketNow and this is blackberry z10 versus Nokia Lumia 920 we've already compared the new BlackBerry 10 platform to Windows Phone 8 in an earlier video and we have much more blackberry content at pocketnow.com so follow us in the links in the description below so you don't miss any more for this comparison we'll be looking at four broad categories hardware software ecosystem and camera diving right into the hardware the differences are significant between these flagships and blackberry was going for thin and light with its z10 and Nokia was definitely not the Lumia 920 is larger in almost every dimension most notably it's ten point seven millimeters thick to the z10 s nine millimeters the Lumias added bulk is significant especially since the 920 is 47 grams heavier than the z10 we've talked before about why the lumia 920 is such a tank there's good reasons for it and it does tend to make the windows phone feel more substantial in a reassuring way but there's no getting around it it is definitely the bigger of the two devices the design languages almost couldn't be more different blackberry z10 is an aggressive collection of all most brutal sharp right angles and a no-nonsense exterior very reminiscent of products from the Motorola Droid family the similarity to the iPhone 5 is there but it's not as pronounced in person as the z10 is considerably larger than the Apple device and it's much more rough in terms of tone in short the z10 looks like it means business which is probably what blackberry was going for the Lumia 920 conveys an entirely different feeling and not just because our demo unit here is white rounded corners dominate the hardware from edges to buttons to the camera bezel the curved back even carries a non-threatening nickname the nokia smile the design language here says piece of art that's also a smart phone whereas the z10 conveys the exact opposite message practical differences abound as well the BlackBerry z10 features a room 1800 milliamp hour battery and 16 gigs of on-board storage expandable up to 64 gigs additional with microSD the Lumias 2,000 milliamp hour battery and 32 gigs of on-board storage are each bigger than the blackberries but they're also non removable and non expandable so it is a less versatile device by the way we're still doing endurance testing on the z10 but early indications show that investing in a spare battery might be a good idea as far as the heartbeat is concerned both phones are running on a 1.5 gigahertz dual-core processor but the BlackBerry packs 2 gigs of ram to the Lumias single gig it also features a micro HDMI port if you want more wires in your life whereas the Lumia features wireless charging ability if you want fewer finally the display on the windows phone is a 4.5 inch panel - the blackberries 4.2 inches they're identical in resolution so pixel density is slightly higher on the blackberries smaller screen but the BlackBerry screen is also a tad dimmer than the Lumias and it doesn't feature the Nokia's 60 Hertz refresh rate otherwise the screens deliver similar performance both indoors and out but the BlackBerry doesn't feature Gorilla Glass protections so watch out for drops the profound differences in hardware also carry over to software as well we covered this in our BlackBerry 10 versus Windows Phone 8 video from Toronto but in brief the similarities on the lock screens don't carry over to the OS blackberry 10 is a highly gesture based OS with swipes in and out hidden side and top panes and even a gesture based unlock from the home screen most significant is the messaging experience probably the best feature of blackberry 10 featuring an integrated list of all notifications from almost every app on the device along with peak functionality that allows you to check what kind of messages are waiting for you without leaving the app that you're currently in and of course there's the spark of the iconic flashing red blackberry light Windows Phone navigation is similar with the familiar scrolling and swiping but there's very little gesture based input that means the OS is simpler to use with a less burdensome learning curve and visually the modern UI design language is much cleaner than black bear is offering Windows Phones lack of a unified Notification Center will annoy you if you want an aggregated list of what's new but if you prefer a glanceable look at alerts without having to jump into a hub Windows Phones live tiles do that better it all depends on your own workflow and style BlackBerry edges out Windows Phone in terms of a unified search typing a search term shows every instance of that term on the device and also lets a user jump out to various internet search engines and searchable apps as well most of that functionality is available on Windows Phone as well but in a very compartmentalized experience searching for people requires you to search the People Hub searching for email happens in the email app searching for an app requires you to hop on over to the app list pressing the spyglass key lets you search online etc again it's just a different way of doing things which one you prefer is up to you personal preference will also dictate what keyboard you prefer we've always loved the Windows Phone typing experience and that's especially true on the luxurious and spacious keyboard of the Lumia 920 its responsiveness is great and it's autocorrect is outstanding but it's also quite conventional blackberry by contrast opts to save you time with a different approach an aggressive predictive text scheme that floats words up under your fingers as you type right under your fingertips it takes a lot of getting used to and it's practically useless in high-speed two-handed typing but if you're pecking out a text with one hand it's pretty handy and it's quite responsive in its own right speaking of responsiveness it's always good to have a quick look at browser performance while these devices are almost on even footing in terms of raw responsiveness scrolling and resolve is pretty fluid on each the BlackBerry offers additional support in terms of Flash on heavy pages though like the pocket now front page it does stumble a bit more than the Windows Phone browser and it needs to load for a bit longer there's clearly some optimizations still needed here speaking of optimization the last point we'll touch on in software is stability and here a windows phone doesn't just take the cake it devours it gives you the dirty plate and then runs away laughing blackberry 10 is a very cool new platform but it's also very young and we found many of the bugs you'd expect from such a youthful device everything from GPS not resolving to data failing with a full signal to strange minimized card views of the screen to being unable to return to the home screen at all taken together the quirks of BlackBerry's new OS significantly diminish the overall experience we're sure they'll be corrected shortly but for now Windows Phone 8 definitely wins as far as stability and reliability are concerned both Windows Phone 8 and BlackBerry 10 launched without an excellent assortment of apps but Windows Phone has had quite a head start on growing its selection while blackberry boasted 70,000 apps at last week's unveiling many of these have been ported from Android and the experience is less than stellar the nicely designed blackberry app world does in fact have some big-name titles with more coming but as of now they're few and far between in their place are knockoff titles often with poor review scores Windows Phone might still be fighting tooth nail for apps but it's finally got some momentum behind it and we're seeing a lot of big-name developers bringing their titles to Microsoft's platform that's further augmented by Nokia's enhanced exclusive apps for phones like the 920 which make it even better when you consider the hardware support for the Lumia line in terms of wireless charging audio docks and so on it's pretty obvious that the incumbent Lumia 920 has the edge in terms of ecosystem for now we'll have to wait to see how quickly blackberry is able to build momentum of its own though before we pass judgment overall the Lumia 920 has made a name for itself as an excellent camera phone on the basis of its 8.7 megapixel PureView camera with optical image stabilization and it's well earned the Lumia camera is one of the best we've used on a smartphone despite its occasional softness and focus and it's somewhat bare-bones viewfinder software the lenses offered by Nokia and others really do a good job of enhancing its aftermarket value as well the BlackBerry z10 s camera is also an 8 megapixel shooter with back side illumination but it doesn't deliver the depth or the sharpness that the 920 s camera does in still shot comparisons shots often come out darker and hazy ER and of course there's no hardware image stabilization to speak of it's not a bad camera by any means it's just not in this league as Nokia's premium PureView module we'll have video impressions shortly ultimately if messaging is more important to you than apps if you value fluid multitasking and enhanced search over glanceable information if you're willing to slog through the bugs and weirdness that characterizes a new OS and you need the old-world enterprise support only blackberry can provide the z10 is a good choice for you if you prefer a more established operating system with a stronger ecosystem a rock solid and stable interface backed up by hardware that includes one of the best smartphone cameras around the Lumia 920 will probably be a better fit folks that's going to do it for our BlackBerry z10 versus Nokia Lumia 920 comparison feel free to follow us in the links down in the description below stay tuned for a full BlackBerry z10 review coming in the days ahead and thanks for watching we'll see you next time you