BlackBerry Q10 vs HTC One SV

How does the BlackBerry Q10 stand up to HTC's 4G-capable One SV? We find out

The yet-to-be-released BlackBerry Q10 will be the second handset to run BlackBerry’s (formerly RIM) new BlackBerry 10 operating system. It’s built in the old BlackBerry style with a fixed Qwerty keyboard and a smaller touch display.

The HTC One SV is the latest addition to the company’s One range of Android devices. It’s pegged as an affordable 4G-capable device, features an SLCD2 display and a dual-core processor.

HTC One SV: Key specs and what’s hot

The One SV has a reasonably capable processor setup with a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 chip clocked at 1.2GHz and featuring an Adreno 305 graphics processing unit along with 1GB of RAM.

It does a great job of running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich at a fast pace with no hint of stuttering or lag. Multitasking works well, gaming performance is decent and benchmarks are reasonably good too – it’s up there with Samsung’s Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 Android flagships.

The build quality is a mixed bag but just edges over more on the side of pleasing, primarily thanks to the back panel which features a really nice curvature that sits well in the hand and gives a distinctive shape.

Furthermore, the plastic used has a very premium-feel finish similar to the HTC One X’s matte polycarbonate.



The front looks and feels a bit cheaper and the silver edge surround isn’t great either, this is a disappointing contrast to the rear of the handset.

With the display you’ve got something that might not be the sharpest on the market but HTC has tweaked a couple of other elements to make up for this.

It’s a 4.3-inch Super LCD2 with an 800
x480 pixel resolution at 217 pixels-per-inch – nothing to sneeze at, but not the most dazzling in the current market of 320ppi plus screens and an increasing number of 440ppi models.

But, a coating of resin in between the display layers makes things pop more than your average screen while brightness and touch responsiveness are both excellent.

Android 4.0 is potentially a big point of appeal. While 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is no longer the most up-to-date build it’s still not exactly outdated either with many of the perks recently introduced which really put Android on the map.

It’s fast and stable, with some slick optimisation and a wealth of apps to choose from on Google Play. The menu layout is easy to get to grips with and even though HTC Sense does change the interface considerably there’s still enough of the good stuff bubbling through to the surface. Multitasking and notifications interaction are particular highlights.

The good news is, as with all Android phones, if you’re not feeling HTC Sense you can always add a launcher instead.

BlackBerry Q10: Key specs and what’s hot

Admittedly, we haven’t had hands-on time with the BlackBerry Q10 at time of writing, but we have got to grips with the BlackBerry Z10 touch-only model and we expect the build quality to be broadly comparable even if the design language is very different.

The BlackBerry Q10 features a glass weave textured back panel and if it feels as good as it looks it should make for a pleasing phone to handle.

The BlackBerry Z10 is made from premium plastics with a very solid fit and finish and there are rubber coated and textured panels which add to the high-grade feel – we think the BlackBerry Q10 will offer a similarly rewarding experience.

The display may be diminutive but in terms of quality it’s quite competitive. It’s a 3.1-inch Super AMOLED with a 720x720 pixel resolution at 328ppi. As is often the case for Super AMOLED the contrast is excellent and it’s reasonably sharp too.

The BlackBerry Q10 is in a much better position in terms of both internal storage and expandability. It has 16GB onboard and twice as much card expandability as its opponent with support for high-capacity 64GB microSD.



It’s very early days with the BlackBerry 10 operating system. Our overall assessment so far is that it has some very good ideas for making the phone easier to use and get to the things you want quickly, but in terms of execution it is unnecessarily fiddly.

Still, it brings some interesting methods to your smartphone experience.

The ever-present BlackBerry Hub is useful for seeing all your notifications, messages and social networking in one place, easily accessible from within any app or interface screen.

Once you get the hang of it, it does have its charm for doing away with the ‘in and out’ of opening and closing entire dedicated mail and messaging apps on rival platforms.

It’s primarily the menu layout and gesture control which could use some work and, potentially, BlackBerry could fix this.

The platform has also started off strong with 70,000 apps at launch and this number is expanding. Granted it’s nowhere near the 700,000 on Google Play, but it’s a stronger start than most and all the signs would indicate BlackBerry App World is a healthy and growing ecosystem.

BlackBerry has also done a good job of getting a good handful of some of the most popular apps into its platform’s app store, something that can’t so easily be said for other systems.

Direct Spec Comparison: Shootout

Device	BlackBerry Q10	HTC One SV
Dimensions	119.6x66.8x10.4mm,139g	128x66.9x9.2mm,122g
Display	3.1-inch Super AMOLED,720x720 pixels,330ppi	4.3-inch Super AMOLED,800x480 pixels,217ppi
Camera	8-megapixel,1080p video,LED flash	5-megapixel,LED flash,720p video
Storage	16GB,microSD up to 64GB	8GB,microSD up to 32GB
Processor, RAM, Graphics	1.5GHz dual-core,2GB RAM	1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core MSM8960,1GB RAM,Adreno 305 GPU
Operating System,	BlackBerry 10	Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
UI	n/a	HTC Sense
Connectivity	Bluetooth,microUSB,NFC,Wi-Fi,Wi-Fi Hotspot,GPS	Bluetooth,microUSB,Wi-Fi,Wi-Fi Hotspot,DLNA,GPS,NFC,4G
Battery	1,800mAh	1,800mAh

Points to consider: Practical use

We know it’s stating the obvious but a deciding factor here is whether you’ve got more love for the now ubiquitous dedicated touchscreen form-factor or if you still have a soft spot for BlackBerry’s old fixed Qwerty keyboard and dinky display.

The trade-off in display size makes it much less suitable for media consumption but it does provide a sharper picture than the One SV and you have the advantage of a physical keyboard if that’s important to you.

Of course, the opposite is true of the One SV, you’ve got far more screen real estate making it more suitable as a media consumption device but you’re reliant on touch keyboard input and the picture clarity does take a hit.

In terms of processing power they’re fairly evenly matched with both handsets running dual-core setups, however, the BlackBerry Q10 does have 2GB of RAM compared to the HTC One SV’s 1GB as well as 300MHz faster clock-speed.

In theory, there should be a noticeable difference in performance but in practice both phones are quite well-optimised to their respective software setups.

Android is a much more well-established platform and comes complete with Google’s suite of cloud-based apps, as well as having access to over 700,000 apps and games, plus all the films, music and books on Google Play.

BlackBerry 10 is brand new and as a result the app choice isn’t so diverse, but on the plus side BlackBerry has secured some of the biggest names.

However, you do get some built-in perks like the BlackBerry Messenger service with integrated video chat and BlackBerry Balance which effectively allows you to keep separate business and personal profiles with their own sets of apps and content.

Conclusion

The BlackBerry Q10 is a neat little phone with a lot of appealing points. It has an operating system with plenty of potential, a new take on interaction and a good starting position in terms of apps and content.

The display is decent despite its size and the phone is one of the few still providing the popular fixed Qwerty keyboard form factor. Power is great and the operating system well-optimised, while the phone has a lot more storage space than its opponent.

The HTC One SV is a good Android phone all round, but for a middle-range spec it is on the expensive side.

Much of this expense comes with getting it on a 4G contract but even limiting yourself to 3G it’s not very far away from HTC’s existing One X or Google’s Nexus 4, both of which have a better spec.

by via Know Your Mobile