BlackBerry's Z10 and BB10 feel a generation late

New BlackBerry Z10 hands-on

The BlackBerry Z10 is the kind of phone Research in Motion should have made years ago.

The Z10 and the BlackBerry 10 operating system that powers it are rock-solid, and at times innovative. RIM (RIMM) (now called BlackBerry) is caught in the impossible position, though, of having to outpace its rivals on innovation without alienating its very, very, very loyal audience of existing users.

This keyboard-less phone needs to both please CrackBerry addicts and inspire lust and envy from Android, Apple iOS and Windows Phone users. That's a very high bar it doesn't quite clear.

There are several great ideas on display here, but everything still feels a generation behind.

Hardware: Let's start with the device itself. Unlike RIM's first attempt at a touchscreen phone, the ill-fated BlackBerry Storm, the Z10 is thin, light, and most importantly, attractive. That's a good first step.

The screen is as sharp and dense as you would ever want, even if it isn't quite as bright and vibrant as the best displays. At 4.2 inches, it's neither too big nor too small.

Related story: 8 cool BB10 features worth checking out

But -- presumably for shatter-related reasons -- almost everything that isn't the actual glass screen is made of plastic. The Z10 also has a removable back panel, which is good for swapping out batteries but breaks the illusion of premium craftsmanship. It's a trade-off that makes sense given BlackBerry's corporate clientele, but it means that the Z10 doesn't evoke the same sense of design awe that the best products from Apple, HTC and Nokia(NOK) do.

Software: And then there's BB10, BlackBerry's built-from-scratch operating system. Despite all the new ideas and concepts it presents, it still looks like BlackBerry software.

That's not a bad thing. Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) scared off many of its existing Windows Mobile users with its strikingly modern Windows Phone overhaul. BlackBerry didn't go to that extreme. It carried over fonts and icons that will be instantly familiar to BlackBerry users.

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