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BlackBerry Z10 Band Switching LTE to 4G to EDGE

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I have been testing band switching (network mode)  on the BlackBerry Z10. As many of you are aware Z10 battery life is the one feature that is a nuisance.

To circumvent that issue, I thought if I switched from LTE  to 4G that it would somewhat improve battery life. Well it got even worse. Battery life lasted only about 6 hours. Whats up with that?

My next test involved switching network mode from 4G to EDGE. Traditionally BlackBerry phones that ran on EDGE could last for days with heavy usage. Unfortunately, that was not the case with the Z10. It average about the same battery life on EDGE as it did on 4G (moderate use).

Surprisingly LTE averaged the highest battery life on moderate usage at around 9 hours.

In conclusion, hopefully I have LTE coverage wherever I go, or I’ll need a secondary battery in my pocket.

BlackBerry Z10 Review (sort of)

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You will find internet flooded with BlackBerry Z10 reviews. Z10 has been around now for well over a year (Release: Jan 2013). But I thought I would give you a perspective from a dedicated iPhone user. A pure 5 month full time trial of Z10.

I took the sim card from my iPhone 5 (painful). I inserted into a fresh BlackBerry Z10. I must admit the boot-up time took forever. However, once the Z10 was up and running, everything worked the way I wanted it to. Email which BlackBerry has been known for, took seconds to setup. For 5 months straight I used the BlackBerry Z10 and it hasn’t let me down.

What do I miss (if comparing it to iPhone 5). There has to be something right? Or was I completely converted to BlackBerry (again).

OK here are the negative things about BlackBerry Z10:

  • Battery Life (lucky if I make it to dinner)
  • One hand typing (I found iPhone easier)
  • Editing (I found iPhone easier to edit text on)

OK now top positive things about BlackBerry Z10:

  • Two hand typing (is superb, almost as good as physical keyboard)
  • Voice clarity (crisp)
  • Calendar/Hub (productivity was better on Z10)

Now the big question. Will I be staying on BlackBerry? I’m very tempted to get another BlackBerry smartphone, the one I’m truly interested is the Passport. However, I also want to explore Android (again) especially the LG G3. Then there is iPhone especially with the upcoming iPhone 6 release. Needless to say, the consumer has a lot of options which is great.

In conclusion: I know this wasn’t the most in-depth review, however it wasn’t meant to be. It was a little study I did for myself to see if I could actually switch from iPhone and stick to it. And yes it worked and no I don’t have any complaints about it nor do I miss my iPhone 5.