Blackberry Playbook Review

Despite its Adobe Flash support, the BlackBerry Playbook is not the most anticipated tablet on the market, due to its small size (7-inch) and the relatively small number of applications available on its new OS when compared to major competitors such as iOS and Android.
However, I personally like the design, the user interface, and the screen quality – very much. The device also has the reputation to deliver very good multitasking performance, which was surprising for a BlackBerry device. That’s thanks to the Playbook brand new OS, which is based on QNX OS, and to the Dual Core TI OMAP 4430 system on a chip (Soc).
The Blackbery Playbook is positioned as a consumer device which also offers advanced security features designed to appeal to RIM’s traditional enterprise customers.

Context

We all use gadgets in a different way, so “objectivity” doesn’t really mean much when reviewing a tablet or a phone. Instead, let me tell you about my tablet usage habits, and you can decide for yourself how that fits with your own usage.

External design (very good)

We have seen tons of tablets at CES and MWC, so we have enough references for comparison. The Playbook is one of my favorite tablet in terms of design, I love the sleek form factor with the subtly integrated physical buttons on the side, and the concept of making the touch-sensitive black display bezel a part of the user interface. The black metal body has a subtle rubberized finish on the back side where an elegant chrome “Blackberry” symbol (without the brand name) is displayed.  Both cameras are so well integrated that they are almost invisible, similarly, the stereo speakers are well hidden on the lateral edges of the front side. This is a great speaker location, by the way.

RIM has successfully crafted an elegant, thin (0.4-inch), light (0.9 lbs) and small tablet (7”x5”), that delivers a higher quality external design than its direct competitor: the thicker (0.47-inch) Samsung Galaxy Tab (4.74” x 7.48”), which feels like plastic in comparison.

Some people would like to get a larger tablet, but personally, I like the compact size: it can easily fit in a purse and the display size is sufficient to watch video, read books and documents on the go.

Display (ultimate)

When I saw the Playbook in action for the first time at Croma, I noticed the high quality of the display: the colors are bright and well saturated, the definition is crisp. The Playbook’s screen is my favorite tablet display, along with the iPad 2. The iPad 1 and the iPad 2 have an IPS LCD display manufactured by LG. A similar technology is also used in the LG Optimus 2X. We don’t know exactly what type of LCD display RIM is using in the Playbook, but it looks very good.

User Interface – OS (very good)

Gesture interface (very good)

The Playbook is one of my favorite tablet in term of user interface, I enjoy swiping through the screen and the bezel to interact with the OS and the applications, it is very intuitive and effortless. The ability to make the navigation bar and the keyboard appear by touching the bezels is great, and going to the home screen from any application is easy: you just have to swipe vertically on the bottom part of the bezel.

To switch from an application to the next while using an application in full screen, press on the bezel and swipe inward from the left/right side of the bezel to directly access the next/previous app.

RIM did a good job on the user guide side as well: when you first start the Playbook, an animation is launched to show how the gestures work with the user interface. To close a running application from the home screen, you throw its thumbnail away toward the top of the tablet, and to re-enter a running app, you just have to drag its thumbnail toward the bottom of the display.

Look and feel (very good)

The overall look of the Playbook OS is really elegant. In fact, it was “love at first sight” when I discovered the demo at CES, and using it has confirmed my initial impression. The harmony of the Playbook home screen lies on how it has been divided in three main zones:

1. The top bar is very thin and semi-transparent, it displays date / time and various information icons including software update alert, orientation lock, Bluetooth, Wifi, battery life, and settings. It lets you see the background image in a darker tone.

2. The middle area is the largest, it is dedicated to the running applications thumbnails, to switch from one to the other, you flick trough the thumbnails. The background image is seen in its original colors.

3. The bottom area of the display is smaller than the middle area, and similarly to the top bar, it is semi-transparent and darker. From there, you browse the applications by category: All, Favorites, Media, Games. It is possible to extend the application zone by swiping vertically to the top of the display. The “running application” thumbnails then disappear to let you see the entire list of applications available (per section).

Conclusion (mixed)

I love the Playbook interface, the device elegant form factor, the great display, the compact size and the performance. However, the lack of exchange support and the absence of native email, calendar and contact apps is an adoption roadblock for non-BlackBerry users. Messaging and emailing is one of the regular activities that almost everyone performs on a tablet.

RIM has a short window of opportunity to make its offering better, and they are probably working hard on it. The Playbook hardware deserves it.

By Adithya Siva (More of a smashing come-back post)!

Cheers!