In the package of gadgets sent to me by Verizon, I’d have to say the product I knew least about was the Blackberry Z10. Going into this, all I had heard about the phone was that it was a very different experience from what we’re used to. It’s not as far out there as Windows Phone in terms of interface, but it definitely tries to be different. See why this would prove to be its downfall in this review of the Blackberry Z10.

This is Blackberry’s last shot at making a name for itself in the next generation of phones, and they know it. Blackberry isn’t what it used to be. No longer are they the king of the cell phone market that they were before iPhones were a thing. Now, Blackberry has found itself in a stressful position: do they cut their losses and move on, or put everything in one last phone, hoping to gain their lost ground back?

Unfortunately, I think they made the wrong decision, and here’s why:

The interface of this phone is completely Blackberry. There’s no Android here, folks. BB has designed a whole new sort of gesture-oriented operating system around the phone, and it’s particularly unimpressive.

I understand that BB is trying to stand out from the crowd with this system. But standing out is only good when you do it in a way that is at least decent.

There are no capacitive buttons here; all actions like closing apps and switching tasks are done with finger swipes. While it sets the phone apart in terms of usability, it does it in a way that is just too complicated for its own good. It sounds minor, but when I have to do two swipe gestures just to get back to the home screen, something was missed by Blackberry. Trust me, it gets old very fast, and it’s an unfortunate theme among the entire phone.

The screen can get bright, but it’s not very impressive at only 1280 x 768 resolution. The good news is that the phone is very fast, thanks to 4G, a Qualcomm processor, and what seems to be a very light-tasking OS.

Speaking of the OS, its bare-bones. Think of Windows Phone, but with an iOS-style home screen app grid, and you’ve got the Blackberry Z10. Features are limited, as are apps. There are more apps than I was expecting, but nowhere near the variety or quality of the large competitors.

Thankfully, the 8MP camera is pretty good, as is the device’s build quality. The back has a removable, bendable plate that has a rubber feel to it, which is a step above Samsung’s Galaxy phones any day. When removed, the back allows for changing of the battery, SIM and expandable storage.

Overall, I was not impressed with the Blackberry Z10. It’s a shame, because I know the company tried. But when they put all of their eggs into a basket of gestures, they shouldn’t be surprised when nearly all of them break.

The Blackberry Z10 gets a 2/5.