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Input Devices
The black edge around the IPS screen seems to be very wide (1.7 centimeters), but it has a reason. RIM has omitted Home, Back and Menu buttons on
its tablet OS. For the record, these three standard buttons comes with
Android in the lower left. The PlayBook doesn't need them because the
same commands can be executed by swiping over the edge:
Wake up from standby: Swipe from the top to the bottom edge (or vice versa)
Switch among apps: Swipe from the left or right edge toward center
Close app: Swipe from bottom to center
Open Menu or app: Swipe from top to center
Switch among apps: Swipe from the left or right edge toward center
Close app: Swipe from bottom to center
Open Menu or app: Swipe from top to center
The virtual keyboard can be operated in
the 7-inch format in portrait mode by both thumbs. The BlackBerry
smartphone users already have practice with this. Unfortunately, there
is no microphone option for speaking a Web URL, for example. The
keyboard function crashed once during the test and couldn't be removed
from the foreground. A hardware reset was necessary here. We noticed the screen's slow change of direction with a bit of annoyance. It doesn't seem to be the sensor's fault since NFS Undercover shows a responsive control.
Tab Structure
The operating system is divided into tabs and categories. The opened apps are always shown on the Home screen in a large thumbnail view (upper limit: 8 simultaneously opened apps). We see the automatic categories Favorites, Media and Games below that. It is merely a filter for all installed apps that can also be displayed bundled as tabs via "All". The tabs in each category can't be relocated. Android 3.2 allows a greater personalization here.
The BlackBerry browser works fast.
Scrolling and infinite two finger zooming is easy and clicks are
accurate. The browser supports flash and HTML 5. The browser tabs appear
when the menu is pulled from the upper edge into the screen. In this
view, it's possible to scroll left and right between the previews. Honeycomb doesn't offer this feature.
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Display
The 7 inch IPS screen has a very high resolution of 1024x600 pixels
(WSVGA). In comparison: 10 inch tablets tendentiously have 1280x800
pixels. Technically, finger input is capacitive multi-touch, as usual.
The reflective screen leaves a sea of fingerprints, but that is a
drawback that all tablets have in common.
We measure a very good contrast of 780:1 with a black value of 0.64 cd/m2 in maximum brightness. The contrast is high particularly because it has a downright enormous brightness of nearly 500 cd/m2.
[08:31:52] Martina Osztovits: If the screen is dimmed, the contrast
even increases. This is particularly advantageous indoors, because the
light sensor automatically dims the screen in darker surroundings.
Consequently, black areas look even darker (white content sinks). The contrast is almost on a par with the iPad 2 (843:1), LG V900 (778:1), Acer Iconia Tab W500 (881:1) and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (805:1). However, Motorola's Xoom (1491:1) is clearly superior here.
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Information
Gossen Mavo-Monitor
Maximum: 500 cd/m²Average: 491.3 cd/m² Brightness Distribution: 95 % Center on Battery: 499 cd/m² Black: 0.64 cd/m² Contrast: 780:1 |
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The PlayBook's maximum brightness is in a class of its own because the distribution of brightness (95%) and the absolute brightness of 491 cd/m2 are
the highest we have ever measured in tablets (and notebooks). The
competition can't keep up: Although the Sony Tablet P (369), iPad2 (368), LG V900 (381), Galaxy Tab 10.1 (305) and Motorola Xoom (304) don't have a much lower brightness, they can't hold a candle to the PlayBook.
There's no doubt that the brightness will suffice for outdoor use, even despite the glare type. Reflections remain depending on the sun's position, but they are easily eliminated by changing the place.
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The viewing angles are good to very good from
every position. The following viewing angle picture from the darkroom
doesn't reveal any color deviations, regardless of which angle we look
at the screen. However, such wide viewing angles aren't anything special
in tablets with high-end IPS screens (iPad2, LG V900, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Motorola Xoom).
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Performance
RIM relies on an ARM Cortex A9 dual core processor with a clock of 1 GHz. It is the same one as in Nvidia's Tegra 250 range.
The latter is a so-called system on a chip (SoC), which unites
processor, graphics, memory controller, audio and video de/encoder on a
single chip. The platform is called OMAP 4430 in the PlayBook and comes from Texas Instruments. The graphics is a PowerVR SGX540 (DirectX 10.1, Shader 4.1), which is also etched into silicon under license by Texas Instruments.
Our test sample comes with one gigabyte of DDR2 RAM and features a mass storage capacity of 16 GB,
which cannot be expand because the tablet lacks an SD or micro SD slot.
Thus, if you need a higher capacity, you'd have to go for the 32 GB
(489€) or 64 GB model (575€). The extra cost is steep considering that
the 16 GB version is sold for starting at 390€.
System information: BlackBerry Playbook WiFi 16GB
BlackBerry's Tablet OS is based on QNX, which is a UNIX based system with microkernel.
The advantage compared to a standard kernel structure, such as in
Android (Linux kernel): An operation isn't processed as a whole, but as a
series of smaller tasks (called servers). Third party app developers
therefore only have to take care of the relevant servers of their app
and not the remainder of the operating system.
An obvious advantage is real multi-tasking,
which is also supported by the dual core CPU, 1024 GB memory and the
flexibility of QNX. That's not only theory, but also visible. The thumbnails on the Home screen aren't displayed as captures, but continue to run (webcam, video, browser, games, etc.).
The keywords for unlimited WWW fun are Flash 10.1 (Full HD video playback) and HTML 5 (improved implementation of multimedia and graphics). Tablet OS supports both. But that also applies to Android 3.2.
The TI OMAP 4430's performance is located in the back rows of tablets, but it's enough for the top among smartphones. The LG Optimus P920 3D (OMAP 4430, SGX540) manages 47337 points in Browsermark. Our PlayBook, with the same hardware, is present with 43375 points. The Galaxy S2 (Samsung Exynos 4210), also a smartphone, only achieves 35139 points.
The tablet comparison in Browsermark, Google V8 and Sunspider 0.9.1 is poor to average. Browsermark and Google V8 check the JavaScript / HTML capabilities of
the browser. The Sunspider test only focuses on JavaScript. Thus, the
measured results are not sufficient for a final evaluation of the
system's performance.
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Videos and Games
We tried out a range of HD test videos (720p,
1080p) in MPEG4 and WMV formats (as well as H.264 codec). None proved to
be a problem for the PlayBook.
Games aren't an issue either - after all, the tablet is named PlayBook. In addition to the installed games, Tetris and NFS Undercover (car
race), games can also be found in the App World. The offer doesn't seem
as abundant as that of the Android Market. There is particularly a lack
of big publishers who offer tablet versions of their games. Rockstar
Games, with their remake of Grand Theft Auto 3 (Android only), would be
an example.
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Emissions
System Noise
The Playbook works noiselessly since it doesn't have a fan.
Temperature
The case gets warm during normal use without
hours of video playback or uninterrupted gaming, but hardly ever exceeds
30 degrees Celsius on the rear-sided soft-grip surface. The temperature
however increases to 38 degrees during a load scenario, which we induced with a 1080p trailer. But that is only selective. The average remains at a tolerable 33°C. The rubber coating has a higher heat storing effect than plastic or aluminum casings.
Idle
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| Maximum: 32.3 °C Average: 28.3 °C | Maximum: 30.7 °C Average: 27.9 °C |
Speakers
The speakers are hidden on the screen's right and left. Their volume is remarkable for a small tablet. Rock music with a lot of bass sounds tinny and faint at maximum volume.
Up to a level of about 75%, the sound is fairly balanced, has a small
amount of bass and even lets the case vibrate. Interesting: The player
stores volume settings for the headphone out and for the built-in
speaker separately. That prevents a sudden sound explosion over the
internal speakers when the headphones are disconnected.
Battery Life
Power Consumption
We use a voltmeter at the 10 watt power adapter
of the PlayBook to measure the power consumption. The battery was fully
charged for all measurements (can't be removed). The 7 inch tablet only
consumes 1.7 to 3.3 watts in idle. The load power consumption of 5.4 watts corresponds to other 7 inch tablets (also Tegra 2): Acer Iconia Tab A100 (4.8W), Dell Streak 7" (5.4W), HTC Flyer 7" WiFi+3G (5.3W) oder Creative ZiiO 7" (6.9w).
The comparatively low standby consumption of 0.1 watts is
relevant for practical use. The PlayBook should be able to last for
weeks with one battery charge when only used sporadically. Devices, such
as the Dell Streak 7", draw 0.8w out of the power outlet (measurement) or out of the battery.
Current consumption
| Off / Standby |   0.1 / 0.1 Watt |
| Idle |  1.7 / 3.2 / 3.3 Watt     |
| Load |
4.1 / 5.4 Watt |
    
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Key:
min:
,
med: ,
max: Voltcraft VC 960 | |
Battery Life
What runtime can potential buyers at best expect? Our chart shows 12:20 hours in idle (not
standby!). That seems like a lot, but is unrealistic due to inactivity,
lowest brightness and disabled wireless modules. The PlayBook lasts
for 7:07 hours in the WLAN test with low brightness (100 cd/m2) in a mix of website surfing and video clips. The Galaxy Tab 10.1v (9:35) even achieves that as a 10 inch device. The 8.9 inch LG V900 (7:15), the iPad 2 (7:30) and the Motorola Xoom (7:26) are approximately on the same level.
Two 10 Wh lithium ion batteries ensure
the runtimes. They are located on the left and right inside the case,
and thus the weight is distributed evenly. This capacity is fairly low
in comparison: Acer Iconia Tab (35 Wh), Motorola Xoom (24.5 Wh) or iPad2 (25 Wh). The nevertheless good battery life speaks for the PlayBook.We couldn't open the device, but there is an article on silicon.de where the BlackBerry PlayBook has been disassembled.
Battery runtime
| Idle (without WLAN, min brightness) | | 12h 20min |
| Surfing with WLAN | | 7h 07min |
Verdict
The
BlackBerry PlayBook looks like an alien at first glance. While Android
is becoming very fashionable at the moment and the apps for it are
emerging fast, RIM's tablet is on the shelves with the proprietary
operating system, BlackBerry Tablet OS 1.0.
The PlayBook's strengths are revealed when the user is open for the operating concept and
the details of the BlackBerry Tablet OS. The manufacturer hasn't
promised too much here. Sensitive edges make the Home and Back button
unnecessary and we can switch among opened apps with a swipe of a finger.
Android needs two steps and "built-in" buttons for this. The cursor
tags allow a more accurate change in text than we know it from Android.
In terms of software, the Tablet OS proves to be a clearly arranged system with a lot of security functions (e.g. application authorization) and synchronization options. BlackBerry's App World is well-sorted,
especially in the categories finances, productivity or business. The
tablet benefits for the existing BlackBerry smartphone developer
community.
Even more interesting, though not absolutely necessary for the efficient use of the PlayBook, would be Android apps on the device. But this will first be possible with the successor version 2.0 of the OS (platform BBX with Android Runtime).
The 7 inch tablet shows itself at its best in terms of measurable mobility. Although the screen is reflective, the brightness of 491 cd/m2 can
stand up against sunlight. When the brightness is set to maximum
outdoors (ambient light sensor off), it won't be possible to enjoy the seven-hour battery life. The compact, stable case is without flaw and we appreciate the high contrast of the screen.
What are the drawbacks? The manufacturer
warranty of 12 months is quite short and it is quite annoying that the
timeout can't be disabled. We don't consider the Tablet OS to be a
drawback, quite the opposite. Many good ideas were implemented in the BlackBerry OS and future Android releases can learn from these.
BlackBerry smartphone owners will feel comfortable with its handling, since data sharing between these two end devices is possible and the tablet can use the smartphone's Internet connection. In this respect, users don't even have to wait for the more expensive 3G version (not yet in German retail).
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