BlackBerry PlayBook Review Roundup: Critics Call It 'Half-Baked,' 'Unfinished'

Unveiled last September, the BlackBerry PlayBook has tablet fans waiting to see whether it was worth the wait.

With a 7-inch screen and a 0.9-pound body weight, this little device looks wildly different from its biggest rival, the iPad 2. The PlayBook is built on BlackBerry's Tablet OS, an all-new tablet platform. The device supports Flash and multitasking and sports front- and rear-facing webcams.

RIM took a risk by releasing this device to reviewers without including all its final features. For instance, the PlayBook is WiFi-only for now, though RIM promises that several 4G offerings will be available later this year. Also missing are built-in apps for email, address book, notepad, calendar and BlackBerry Messenger. RIM hopes to make up for this with the "Bridge" feature, which allows the user to pair the tablet with a recent BlackBerry smartphone in order to access productivity data via the tablet's Bluetooth connection. RIM has also promised that the PlayBook will run Android apps, although that feature is not yet available.

The PlayBook goes on sale April 19 at an iPad-level price of $500 for a 16GB model, while 32GB and 64GB units will sell for $600 and $700, respectively. Before you reserve a unit, check out our roundup of reviews from the likes of Engadget, TechCrunch, All Things D, the Times, Gizmodo, Bloomberg and more.

Want reviews of the PlayBook's competitors? Mosey on over to our iPad 2 review roundup and Motorola Xoom review roundup.

 

Have you tried out the new BlackBerry PlayBook? What do you think of it? Send us your review by clicking "Add a Slide" below.

Your Take On The New Tablet

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Tim Stevens, Engadget

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Stevens praises the tablet for its "understated charm" and its convenient form factor. The unique operating system, he says, is "very intuitive to use and, even better, it feels really good." One of his biggest beefs: the device's lack of apps. "[W]hat we see at the moment is a framework with solid fundamentals but a framework that is, right now, unfinished," he concludes. "Right now, the BlackBerry PlayBook is a tablet that will come close to satisfying those users who gravitate toward the first word in its name: BlackBerry. Those who were more excited about the 'play' part would be well advised to look elsewhere, at least until Android compatibility joins the party."

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Stevens praises the tablet for its "understated charm" and its convenient form factor. The unique operating system, he says, is "very intuitive to use and, even better, it feels really good." One of his biggest beefs: the device's lack of apps. "[W]hat we see at the moment is a framework with solid fundamentals but a framework that is, right now, unfinished," he concludes. "Right now, the BlackBerry PlayBook is a tablet that will come close to satisfying those users who gravitate toward the first word in its name: BlackBerry. Those who were more excited about the 'play' part would be well advised to look elsewhere, at least until Android compatibility joins the party."

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Comments

[Louis Bernardi]

01:55 AM on 04/17/2011

I might take the app numbers more seriously if 90% of the apps in apple's app store are redundant and about 80% of those are awful flashlight apps.

[qwr]

04:35 PM on 04/17/2011

#thisisnotafactualstatement

[Waltfl]

09:47 PM on 04/16/2011

Who needs this at a time when people can purchase a refurbished 1st gen iPad with full warranty for $ 330? Not that I'd buy one, because of Apple's ridiculous apps-naz| policy.

What we need is not another $ 500 + iPad knock off. People will always buy the original (iPad) in that price range.

What we need is a functioning 10" capacitive screen Android Honeycomb-pad, with decent battery charge and all the goodies the iPad doesn't have ( USB port, telephone, Market, sd card slot etc.), and that in the $ 250 - $ 280 price range.

[mpasmith]

10:55 PM on 04/16/2011

Oh, then you'll be wanting a half price Xoom, then. Good luck.

[Waltfl]

08:48 AM on 04/17/2011

Yep, like the Zoom, just half price and a little lighter. It will be half price in 10 months, or so, but it is still going to be heavy. The Zoom is probably in the same league with the iPad, but in order to successfully challenge it, it had to be less expensive.

[bryanzth]

03:51 PM on 04/17/2011

You want all that, huh, and at $250....

Wait 10 years. Or less. At a time when most desktops are landfill and laptops are more like tablets.

BZ.

[ccrevecoeur78]

12:33 PM on 04/16/2011

blackberry need to lower the price of their tablets. Sorry for that price I might as well buy an Ipad or a Xoom.

[rabit818]

03:01 PM on 04/15/2011

Price point is almost the same. Nothing innovative on the Blackberry corner in fact it's a FAIL. On the Apple corner, it works* and it has coolness cache. Do the math.

[jsgaetano]

02:43 AM on 04/15/2011

I'm not seeing why anyone cares about apps.

[Ourstorian]

01:48 PM on 04/15/2011

You need to download the app for that.

[Blimpy]

11:53 PM on 04/14/2011

I'm a Canadian and Apple anti-fan boy...but can someone give me a reason not to short RIM because they'll be out of business in 10 years?

[rostov007]

12:07 AM on 04/15/2011

You may be right on the consumer side but businesses still stand by them because of yet unbroken security and won't allow IPhones for enterprise use. Until that changes, they will at least have a niche.

Also, just like the Android phones with Google integration, if you are on an Enterprise server they function very well in a business environment. Take them out into the consumer world and they are disconnected and irrelevant.

Or was your question rhetorical? =p

[Blimpy]

12:32 AM on 04/15/2011

Semi-rhetorical, but I appreciate your answer for sure, their business leverage isn't going to disappear overnight.

[BruntLIVE]

10:08 PM on 04/14/2011

ITS ALL ABOUT APPS. NO ONE CARES ABOUT SPEED OR RAM. THEY NEED SOMETHING TO DO.

[ResearchtheFacts]

11:08 AM on 04/15/2011

You don't need an app to read a book, try it.  So you need someone else to develop something for you to do?  That's frightening, also did you buy your computer for the software too?.

[CaptainObvvious]

01:50 PM on 04/15/2011

This is one of the most pathetic arguments you have ever made and you have made a lot of ridiculous arguments.

Of course we buy a computer for the software. If the computer had no software for it it is a useless pile of circuits.

if this tablet were the fastest, sleekest, BEST tablet every conceived of and had no software to run it why would you buy it. I have a Ferrari but no roads to ride it on... YIPPEE!!!

When the iPhone came out and didn't have an app store people like you were complaining it didn't have any apps... but now it doesn't matter right?

[MaxPowerXP]

10:21 PM on 04/15/2011

I don't care how many apps are available, I care about which apps I will actually *use*. Sorry, but all the Virtual Whoopie Cushion apps in the world aren't enough to change that.

[jabreal00]

06:25 PM on 04/14/2011

The competition continues to push out half-baked products in response to the iPad. It is utterly ridiculous that a tablet does not have a built in email, calender or notebook. Why not just wait to release a more finished product?

I received the iPad-2 for a gift. It's a neat toy. It will never replace my MacBook Pro. I would love for the competition to come out with good products to push Apple to continue to innovate.

[blyan]

07:02 PM on 04/14/2011

That's why I don't get the enmity between Android and iOS supporters. I'm an Apple guy. I manage IT for a company that uses primarily Apple products so it just makes sense for me personally. However, I love both the competition and features that Android has brought to the "arms race" as well as how they and Apple have continued to push each other to create better products.

RIM doesn't even deserve to be in the same conversation at this point. This tablet is a joke.

[mpasmith]

11:02 PM on 04/16/2011

I told a friend of mine this the other day. His response? "Oh, but you have all that as soon as I plug it into my Blackberry".

What an idiot.

[Chuck Dick]

06:17 PM on 04/14/2011

What if Toyota released a car that came without a steering wheel, with a promise by Toyota that it would ship a few months later.

Would you buy this car?

Then why would anyone buy a half-baked consumer electronic device? If the only reason you can come up with is, "I hate anything Apple," then you're not very bright.

[quedog]

05:39 PM on 04/14/2011

not that i would buy a tablet but if you are going to buy one get an ipad

[quedog]

05:34 PM on 04/14/2011

i wouldnt buy another blackberry product with your money
after buying a storm 2 phone last year, i have lost all respect for RIM
i hope they roll over and go away

[rivercard]

09:38 PM on 04/14/2011

Agree. Still waiting for my storm 2 to download a web page. Horrible device

[mpasmith]

11:03 PM on 04/16/2011

I gota torch and have been very happy with it. However, using cell phones less and less. Will probably go back to a regular landline when my contract ends.

[k-watanabe]

03:33 PM on 04/14/2011

Yet another knock-off with mediocre spec and sky high prices, good luck with that; I can already hear the resounding thud of "fail". Why would I buy a Larry Vu's purse at that price when I can get the real Louis Vuitton variety?

[cyberpunknews]

04:00 PM on 04/14/2011

more like a knockoff of android, since they plan to give it the ability to sideload android apps in the future.

[JG1281]

04:21 PM on 04/14/2011

Other than screen size it has the same specs as an ipad... in fact it might be a bit better with RAM and 1080p recording.

[Blair Erickson]

05:25 PM on 04/14/2011

Yeah... it's probably better. Why don't you go out and purchase one with your money and tell us how great it is.

[CaptainObvvious]

01:55 PM on 04/15/2011

Specs on a sheet of paper when looked at without using the device means nothing at all... NOTHING.

If I have a Ferrari but the shifter is in the back seat, the side view mirrors are on the roof and it has no doors is that better an incredibly well put together Porsche with the same or slightly lower specs?

Its just about specs on a sheet of paper right?

[blyan]

02:42 PM on 04/14/2011

Look at the second slide... that "Music" logo is the old iTunes logo. Come on, RIM... at least TRY and pretend you're not blatantly plagiarizing everything Apple does. At least the Tab and Xoom (and even Iconia and Eee) offer something new and interesting. This is just a really big Blackberry, which ironically, won't run properly unless you already have a Blackberry.

It's smaller, has less functionality, requires that you own a Blackberry already, and costs the same as comparable iPad 2s and other tablets? EEEEEOOOOOWWWWWW. That's the sound of this product crashing and burning. What a joke.

HDMI-out is great for power-point presentations? Neat, I can stream Keynote presentations wirelessly. Seriously, no native apps for email, etc?

The interface is hideous, the icon designs are plagiarized from other companies, it's barely functional, has almost no apps, requires another phone to even function, and doesn't even come with BBM? What an absolutely absurd waste of money. I'll end with this:

"PlayBook is the most thoughtful product that RIM's put out in a long time." -- Buchanan

Wow. If that's true, RIM is screwed.

[JG1281]

03:05 PM on 04/14/2011

"It's smaller, has less functional­ity, requires that you own a Blackberry already..."

I stopped reading after that line... a completely uninformed and bias statement. If you dont like it, PLEASE dont buy it. Let the rest of us buy the grown up products.

[Patricia Harlow]

03:35 PM on 04/14/2011

Blackberry's Device = 7 inch screen
iPad 2 = 9.7 inch screen
Appears that the Blackberry device is, IN FACT, smaller than the iPad 2

From the article above: "Also missing are built-in apps for email, address book, notepad, calendar and BlackBerry Messenger. RIM hopes to make up for this with the "Bridge" feature, which allows the user to pair the tablet with a recent BlackBerry smartphone in order to access productivity data via the tablet's Bluetooth connection. RIM has also promised that the PlayBook will run Android apps, although that feature is not yet available."

You can also go to other reviews as linked at the bottom of the article, but the gist is that this Blackberry device is extremely lack-luster.

It would appear your statement is actually the one that is uninformed and biased.

Apple wins again! Just sayin'..... :)

[blyan]

04:12 PM on 04/14/2011

Well, I was going to reply to tell you how absolutely incorrect everything you just said was, but Patricia already did that for me. YOUR statement was completely biased and uninformed. Everything I said was true.

Won't run properly without a Blackberry phone? True.
Smaller? True
Less functionality? True
Ridiculous price point? Absolutely true

Don't worry, I won't buy it, and neither should anyone else who isn't required to use BB products. Calling it "grown up" is a joke, when it can't even perform basic business functions.

Fact of the matter is this: Even after the Playbook was delayed because of the iPad2, they still rushed to put it out, released a completely unfinished product, and have given non-BBE consumers absolutely ZERO reason to buy this over any competition.

[NHBill]

02:39 PM on 04/14/2011

Why are these companies putting out products that are not ready for prime time.
You only get one chance to make a first impression.
Especially when the other girl in the room is hotter than Meagan Fox.

[ethancorso]

02:44 PM on 04/14/2011

Agreed.

[JG1281]

03:07 PM on 04/14/2011

Completely agree... you only get one chance to make a first impression and it would appear the playbook hasn't impressed a lot of the general public. Thankfully it will still appeal to the majority of the corporate world where it will enjoy some success.

[NHBill]

03:18 PM on 04/14/2011

I wouldn't bet on that.
Not with my portfolio anyway.
Enterprise is so far either playing around with iPads or sitting on the sidelines.
The Big un-dropped shoe is HP.

[theveggiedude]

12:14 PM on 04/14/2011

Interesting to see a reviewer say that Flash on this machine is a 'breathe of fresh air' compared to other tablets? Say what? So the Xoom and Samsung Galaxy are crap when it comes to Flash? I wonder why that is?

[Onutz]

01:12 PM on 04/14/2011

((Flash on this machine is a 'breathe of fresh air' compared to other tablets? ))

So BB is the iClone Killer?

[KeysE2S]

01:23 PM on 04/14/2011

Considering the amount of pollutants released in creating and disposing of batteries, this makes no sense.

[J0E1]

02:15 PM on 04/14/2011

The device will die before the battery does. 

[NHBill]

02:40 PM on 04/14/2011

Well the hamster driven tablets were outlawed by PETA.