What's good
- Attractive design and good build quality
- Good screen sharpness and color quality
- Good battery life
What's bad
- Noticeable lag during normal usage
- Mediocre camera
- Poor bright light legibility
The BlackBerry Z3 is the company's first smartphone that came from its 5-year Foxconn partnership and the third full touch BlackBerry 10 smartphone. In order to gain back market shares from Android, the Z3 offers a budget price tag, though this also means that it doesn't have the latest and greatest hardware. At a glance, however, the phone's design and build impressed reviewers. NDTV describes the Z3 as "ridiculously good looking" and adds that the rear textured plastic makes it pleasing to hold in-hand. Spanning the front is the 5-inch LCD display. Although it only offers a qHD resolution of 540x960 experts were satisfied with the overall sharpness and color quality although they did have issues with bright light legibility.
As an entry-level device, the Z3 internal hardware is utilitarian. It offers a scant 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 1.5GB of RAM but critics add that it still manages to offer decent performance and run multiple apps in the background. Still, they did notice some lag when swiping through the main menu and when playing some games. Included with the phone is 8GB of internal storage, which can be expanded up to 32GB via a microSD slot. The 2500mAh battery is non-removable and, according to reviewers' real-time tests, averages around a full day of moderate usage.
Like the rest of the phone, the main camera for the Z3 is decent but not great. It offers a 5MP resolution and an LED flash for low-light photos. Critics note that while it takes okay pictures in good lighting, it struggles with focusing in low light situations. Fone Arena notes that while daylight and macro shots are good, "…details are missing and the colors are not vibrant." N4bb, on the other hand, states, "I consider the Z3 to have one of the best cameras for BlackBerry 10 device."
While the Z3 doesn't sport the highest specs among the BlackBerry family, experts were pleasantly surprised. Crackberry describes it as "…a very well-rounded device overall" despite some issues with lag and underwhelming camera.
What the Critics Are Saying...
- Jamshed Avari, Gadgets 360The BlackBerry Z3 is a solid phone. Comparing specifications and capabilities, it doesn't look good next to Android-based phones in its price range. On the other hand, if you value build quality, deal with hundreds of emails per day and don't have any use for multimedia features, it comes out on top...
- Anil Satapathy, The Mobile IndianThe BlackBerry Z3 impresses in terms of design, battery back up, and performance. However lack of dual SIM, average cameras and the absence of games especially would definitely push some potential buyers away from it.For BlackBerry loyalists, the Z3 definitely is a good choice. Even those who are lo...
- Srivatsan, Fone ArenaThe BlackBerry Z3 is a bit overpriced compared to Android smartphones with similar specifications in the price range. Even the BlackBerry Z10 with a better display and hardware is available. For the price, the Z3 has a solid build, comes with a decent display and offers good battery life. It can als...
Prices (Where to Buy)
Common Questions
We've got you covered! Download a free PDF copy of the BlackBerry Z3 user manual here.
BlackBerry backs up the Z3 with a 1 Year parts & labour warranty.
If your Z3 has problems and is still within its warranty period, you could contact BlackBerry support or the retailer you purchased the phone from. You'll find BlackBerry's contact information here. If your phone is off warranty and needs repair for a physical problem such as a broken screen or bad battery, you should visit an authorized service centre or a local phone repair shop. You can also connect with others in The Informr Community Forum to find and share answers to questions.
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Resources
Manuals / User Guides
- BlackBerry Z3 Manual (PDF)
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