Blackberry Z10 Headphone Jack Not Working

The BlackBerry Z10 is a conservative slab that still manages to exude the essential qualities of the BlackBerry brand. Headphone Jack (3.5mm), NFC. For years Blackberry and Mac didn't work. The Z10 is the first BlackBerry 10 smartphone. It doesn't work like most other smartphones (notice there's no home button), so it has a fairly steep learning curve for anyone used to iOS or Android. They still go in all the way and when I plug in my headphones while wearing them I can hear some sort of sound when they first go in. I've been hearing this song since even when it was brand new and on my Z10 so I know the sound is a good thing. Actually, rather than being loose, my headphones are trapped tighter in to the headphone jack than.

1. Blackberry Z10 Headphone Jack Not Working Iphone
2. Blackberry Z10 Headphone Jack Not Working Windows 10
3. Blackberry Z10 Headphone Jack Not Working Together
4. Blackberry Q10 Headphone Jack Not Working

Ever since I dropped a beautiful, pristine BlackBerry Z10 on a sidewalk and rendered it useless, I've wondered why the Z10 failed where other smartphones survived.

As you may recall, I performed a series of drop tests from three heights (waist, ear and over my head) on three different surfaces (rugs, wood and concrete). The Z10 made it through to the ear-high, concrete drop, which shattered the screen and, to my surprise, made the touch-screen function inoperable. The LCD continued to work, but I could no longer control the phone.

I've seen a lot of broken smart phone screens, mostly iPhones that, despite a fractured-glass spider-pattern on the display continue to respond to touch. What about the BlackBerry Z10, a flagship phone that the recently rechristened BlackBerry — nee RIM —- is more or less betting the company on, made it so different that a broken screen would render it useless?

Screen Tech

All mobile phone displays have three layers: a glass cover panel, a touch layer, and an LCD screen. BlackBerry used what's known as Touch On Lens technology to produce the Z10's 1280 x 768, 365 PPI screen. This increasingly popular touch-screen construction removes the air layer between the translucent touch layer and the glass cover panel. The benefits? Lower costs, a thinner phone body and, most importantly, measurably lower screen reflectivity.

I wondered, though, if this change was the reason my drop test killed the touch function on the phone. To learn more, I spoke to display expert Dr. Raymond Soneira, president of DisplayMate Technologies. Soneira told me that Touch On Lens is one of many touch-screen strategies that actually remove a layer of glass or film that houses the touch layer.

Blackberry Z10 Headphone Jack Not Working Iphone

Similarly, the iPhone 5 uses in-cell touch, which Soneira said is better 'in principle,' but may also be the source of the iPhone 5's production delays.

Overall, these new display production strategies do reduce reflectance, but, Soneira explained, 'because the touch layer is on the bottom of the cover glass, if the cover glass cracks you're finished.'

'For mechanical survivability, nothing beats the older cover glass with an air gap between it and the separate display with touch. It has much higher survivability; you just have to replace the cheap cover glass rather than the entire display including the touch screen, but it is much thicker and has high reflectance,' said Soneira.

There is another problem. The BlackBerry Z10 is not using Corning's resilient Gorilla Glass (I confirmed this with Corning). So you have some kind of hardened cover glass (BlackBerry has not specified what type) with a touch panel applied directly to the back of it. This gives you a thinner smartphone, overall, but one that may not be as strong as other Gorilla Glass sporting devices on the market today.

Break It Down

The BlackBerry Z10, which should ship in the U.S, this week, is not a flimsy device. Quite the contrary. It has a thin rigid frame and feels solid, yet lightweight in the hand. Even so, I wanted to see if the guts of the smartphone offered any further clues to its relatively poor drop performance.

So we tore it down.

First of all, like most of today's mobile gadgets, the BlackBerry Z10 is really not designed to come apart or be repaired. Yes, the back comes off easily to remove the battery and SIM and micro SD cards. After that, though, it's pretty tough going.

There are a half-a-dozen torque screws to remove before you can get to the phone's motherboard, and that's held in place with additional, smaller, torque screws and a bit of glue. Under that is an aluminum plate that was essentially sealed in place. We only managed to pry it back enough to see the flexible TFT panel. The broken glass cover and its attached touch panel were virtually impossible to access.

Throughout the process, we also took note of the modular 8MP camera, Samsung processor, microphone, speaker and host of carefully sealed and largely inaccessible components.

You can watch the tear down in the video above to learn more.

What have I learned? As of now, I'm fairly confident I know why the BlackBerry Z10 screen failed the drop test. BlackBerry clearly made a tradeoff for price and thinness. Was it too much of a tradeoff? Not necessarily. Most people carry their phones in a protective case. I'd bet that the Z10's screen could survive a drop if it was wearing the Otterbox designed for the Z10.

What do you think? Is the Z10's screen too fragile for your tastes? Let us know in the comments below.

Bonus: The Unharmed BlackBerry Z10

FormPerformanceBasicsExtrasWrap-UpComments51

Apr 7, 2013, 4:20 PM by Eric M. Zeman@zeman_e
originally published Feb 8, 2013
updated Apr 7, 2013, 4:19 PM

The Z10 is the first smartphone to run the new BlackBerry 10 operating system. It's a dramatic re-write for BlackBerry, and is now available from Verizon Wireless with LTE 4G.

AD article continues below...

Is It Your Type?

Verizon's variant of the BlackBerry Z10 differs little from those of AT&T and T-Mobile USA. If you strayed from your beloved BlackBerry over the years because you coveted the large screens of popular Android devices, the Z10 may be the BlackBerry that gets you to return to your smartphone roots of old.

Body

The BlackBerry Z10 is a conservative slab that still manages to exude the essential qualities of the BlackBerry brand. The most popular BlackBerries of the past decade had QWERTY keyboards for typing. The Z10 doesn't, but that doesn't make it any less a BlackBerry.

Blackberry Z10 Headphone Jack Not Working Windows 10

If there's one device in BlackBerry's historical lineup that the Z10 resembles, it would be the PlayBook tablet. Trust me when I say this makes sense in its own way. The PlayBook was actually BlackBerry's first stab at a brand new operating system. In fact, PlayBook OS and BlackBerry 10 are based on the same QNX core. This is why it doesn't surprise me to see PlayBook design cues and features on the Z10.

It's a simple rectangular block. There aren't any artistic flairs or other flashy materials or lines in the Z10's design. It looks a bit like the PlayBook would were it shrunk by two-thirds. The front is mostly glass, but has plastic bands above and below the glass that frame it a bit. The glass runs all the way to the side edges and forms a sharp right angle. The sides are flat enough that the Z10 can stand on them unassisted. The battery cover encompasses the entire back surface. The angle between the back and side surfaces is not as sharp as the front, but it certainly isn't gentle or curved.

Verizon Z10

The overall impression left by the Z10 as you hold it is good. The quality of the materials is good, but short of excellent. The build quality is also good, and also short of excellent. It is made mostly of plastics, and you can tell. The back surface has a dimpled pattern to it and a soft-touch finish. It is not a slippery phone. The size and weight are decent. It's not light, nor is it heavy; it's not too large, either. It fits in jean pockets without trouble, but the shoebox shape makes it easy to feel when you're out for a walk.

There are no buttons or controls on the front of the Z10. The user-facing camera and sensor array are barely visible in the bezel surrounding the screen. The Z10 includes both microUSB and microHDMI ports, which are positioned on the left side. There are no ports on the bottom.

BlackBerry was sure to include its triple-action button on the right side of the Z10. It's basically a volume toggle with a user-defined action button in the middle. I found this button to work well. Both the up and down buttons have good travel and feedback, and the center button does, too. If you're worried you won't be able to tell which is which, fret not. The design is such that it is easy to figure out what you're pressing.

The screen lock button is on top, positioned smack in the middle. Thanks to the flat shape of the top surface, the lock screen button is easy to find and use. The feedback is quite good. The standard stereo headphone jack is next to it.

The battery cover peels off without issue. Underneath, you'll find the removable battery (something not all modern phones can claim to have), a slot for microSD cards, and SIM card slot. The battery, which is long and narrow, needs to be pulled in order to get at the SIM card slot, but the microSD card can be swapped at will. The Z10 will (eventually) have a replacement battery cover that allows it to charge wirelessly (the pins are evident on the chassis). If you look at the inside of the battery cover, you can clearly see where the NFC antenna is, buried under the stylized BlackBerry logo.

In all, I'd rate the Z10 hardware as very good. It could be a little better, but not by much.

Body

Eric has been covering the mobile telecommunications industry for 17 years at various print and online publications. He studied at Rutgers Newark and University of Kentucky, and has a degree in writing. He likes playing guitar, attending concerts, listening to music, and driving sports cars.

Blackberry Z10 Headphone Jack Not Working Together

more news about:

Comments

This forum is closed.

Rich

Buddy just got one

I Just Can't Get Excited About This One.

Blackberry Q10 Headphone Jack Not Working

So its a 3G phone? Not LTE?

I always wanted a good reason to go to Blackberry.

Review

Z10 and Mac

There are a half-a-dozen torque screws to remove before you can get to the phone's motherboard, and that's held in place with additional, smaller, torque screws and a bit of glue. Under that is an aluminum plate that was essentially sealed in place. We only managed to pry it back enough to see the flexible TFT panel. The broken glass cover and its attached touch panel were virtually impossible to access.

Throughout the process, we also took note of the modular 8MP camera, Samsung processor, microphone, speaker and host of carefully sealed and largely inaccessible components.

You can watch the tear down in the video above to learn more.

What have I learned? As of now, I'm fairly confident I know why the BlackBerry Z10 screen failed the drop test. BlackBerry clearly made a tradeoff for price and thinness. Was it too much of a tradeoff? Not necessarily. Most people carry their phones in a protective case. I'd bet that the Z10's screen could survive a drop if it was wearing the Otterbox designed for the Z10.

What do you think? Is the Z10's screen too fragile for your tastes? Let us know in the comments below.

Bonus: The Unharmed BlackBerry Z10

FormPerformanceBasicsExtrasWrap-UpComments51

Apr 7, 2013, 4:20 PM by Eric M. Zeman@zeman_e
originally published Feb 8, 2013
updated Apr 7, 2013, 4:19 PM

The Z10 is the first smartphone to run the new BlackBerry 10 operating system. It's a dramatic re-write for BlackBerry, and is now available from Verizon Wireless with LTE 4G.

AD article continues below...

Is It Your Type?

Verizon's variant of the BlackBerry Z10 differs little from those of AT&T and T-Mobile USA. If you strayed from your beloved BlackBerry over the years because you coveted the large screens of popular Android devices, the Z10 may be the BlackBerry that gets you to return to your smartphone roots of old.

Body

The BlackBerry Z10 is a conservative slab that still manages to exude the essential qualities of the BlackBerry brand. The most popular BlackBerries of the past decade had QWERTY keyboards for typing. The Z10 doesn't, but that doesn't make it any less a BlackBerry.

Blackberry Z10 Headphone Jack Not Working Windows 10

If there's one device in BlackBerry's historical lineup that the Z10 resembles, it would be the PlayBook tablet. Trust me when I say this makes sense in its own way. The PlayBook was actually BlackBerry's first stab at a brand new operating system. In fact, PlayBook OS and BlackBerry 10 are based on the same QNX core. This is why it doesn't surprise me to see PlayBook design cues and features on the Z10.

It's a simple rectangular block. There aren't any artistic flairs or other flashy materials or lines in the Z10's design. It looks a bit like the PlayBook would were it shrunk by two-thirds. The front is mostly glass, but has plastic bands above and below the glass that frame it a bit. The glass runs all the way to the side edges and forms a sharp right angle. The sides are flat enough that the Z10 can stand on them unassisted. The battery cover encompasses the entire back surface. The angle between the back and side surfaces is not as sharp as the front, but it certainly isn't gentle or curved.

Verizon Z10

The overall impression left by the Z10 as you hold it is good. The quality of the materials is good, but short of excellent. The build quality is also good, and also short of excellent. It is made mostly of plastics, and you can tell. The back surface has a dimpled pattern to it and a soft-touch finish. It is not a slippery phone. The size and weight are decent. It's not light, nor is it heavy; it's not too large, either. It fits in jean pockets without trouble, but the shoebox shape makes it easy to feel when you're out for a walk.

There are no buttons or controls on the front of the Z10. The user-facing camera and sensor array are barely visible in the bezel surrounding the screen. The Z10 includes both microUSB and microHDMI ports, which are positioned on the left side. There are no ports on the bottom.

BlackBerry was sure to include its triple-action button on the right side of the Z10. It's basically a volume toggle with a user-defined action button in the middle. I found this button to work well. Both the up and down buttons have good travel and feedback, and the center button does, too. If you're worried you won't be able to tell which is which, fret not. The design is such that it is easy to figure out what you're pressing.

The screen lock button is on top, positioned smack in the middle. Thanks to the flat shape of the top surface, the lock screen button is easy to find and use. The feedback is quite good. The standard stereo headphone jack is next to it.

The battery cover peels off without issue. Underneath, you'll find the removable battery (something not all modern phones can claim to have), a slot for microSD cards, and SIM card slot. The battery, which is long and narrow, needs to be pulled in order to get at the SIM card slot, but the microSD card can be swapped at will. The Z10 will (eventually) have a replacement battery cover that allows it to charge wirelessly (the pins are evident on the chassis). If you look at the inside of the battery cover, you can clearly see where the NFC antenna is, buried under the stylized BlackBerry logo.

In all, I'd rate the Z10 hardware as very good. It could be a little better, but not by much.

Body

Eric has been covering the mobile telecommunications industry for 17 years at various print and online publications. He studied at Rutgers Newark and University of Kentucky, and has a degree in writing. He likes playing guitar, attending concerts, listening to music, and driving sports cars.

Blackberry Z10 Headphone Jack Not Working Together

more news about:

Comments

This forum is closed.

Rich

Buddy just got one

I Just Can't Get Excited About This One.

Blackberry Q10 Headphone Jack Not Working

So its a 3G phone? Not LTE?

I always wanted a good reason to go to Blackberry.

Review

Z10 and Mac