RIM BlackBerry Playbook Review

Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of standardized benchmarks available for the PlayBook at this time. We found and ran one app known as Mandelbrot, which can be used to benchmark the processor speed for various devices. According to the developer, "Mandelbrot display for the BlackBerry PlayBook allows the user to visualize the well known mathematical equation shown graphically.  The user can continuously zoom in to see endless detail to the scene.  Can also be used to benchmark processor speed for various devices."  The Mandelbrot benchmark returned a result of 15.363 s.

We were also able to run the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark. In this test, you can see that the PlayBook blew all other Android devices in our chart out of the water. In fact, the PlayBook was almost twice as fast as the next fastest Androidbased product, the Kyocera Echo.

A Note On Battery Life: According to RIM, "RIM expects customers to have a full working day of typical/mixed usage (8-10 hours) including web browsing, watching movies and listening to music. Battery life specs will vary based on the actual usage scenario."

As always, we put the PlayBook through our typical real-world usage tests. Generally speaking, we were able to make it through a full day and then some (14+ hours) before needing to charge the PlayBook. In some cases, we were able to go days without charging the PlayBook. Even on our heaviest day of use where we did quite a bit of web surfing and playing of YouTube videos, the PlayBook lasted for about eight hours before losing power.  

Because the PlayBook's screen automatically powers off after five minutes (this is the maximum duration), we weren't able to run our standard Hot Hardware tablet and smartphone battery test. All in all, we were pleased with the longevity of the PlayBook's battery. Of course, your mileage may vary depending on the features you use the most.