When it comes to the world of smartphones, BlackBerry is one of the names that most of us have forgotten. Even if once we called ourselves devotes BlackBerry fans when the phones made by the company filled a niche segment of the market none other did, most individuals have since moved on from the QWERTY phone to other things. Now, after countless of attempts to return in the business with something at least comparable to what people normally aim for, but without giving up its trademark features, BlackBerry Priv might have finally just nailed it.
It really feels like BlackBerry really managed to make something that is more than just a bunch of forced features into a desperate attempt to breach into the market. The Priv is a pretty impressive mixture of things that may appeal to more than just a few people. To list a few, the BlackBerry Priv is a 3 in 1 kind of smartphone: it includes a slide up model that hides a QWERTY keyboard below it, without sacrificing the existence of a touchscreen. On top of that, it is the first of its kind to feature an Android operating system, a satisfying and refreshing thing in a long line of BlackBerry OS featuring phones.
There’s a lot of things worth praising about the BlackBerry Priv. The class of users it targets however is not your regular state of the art smart phone user; in that extent, the Priv is not able to hold its own ground that well. However, for a former BlackBerry user that was disappointed by the falling behind of that type of phone and finding themselves forced into giving up the keyboard in favor or other phones, Priv is back – new and highly improved.
Ultimately, the BlackBerry Priv is a phone targeted at a more limited sector of the market. On one hand you get the BlackBerry fans who finally have a smartphone that caught up with today’s standards and delivers a full keyboard experience as well as a highly responsive touchscreen. On the other hand, the BlackBerry Priv remains a phone that maintains privacy and security as their main focus, aiming at the business, corporate and work phone market.
BlackBerry Priv Design
Where to start? It’s an overstatement to go ahead and say that the BlackBerry Priv revolutionizes the design of smartphones worldwide. It doesn’t, as a matter of fact all it does is implement older trends of building phones into a refreshing and sleek style. Taking a first glance at it may actually only elicit some disappointment from the Android and Apple-savvy, as it looks rather bulky and rugged if you compare it to the iPhone 6 or the smooth and curvy edges of the Samsung Galaxy S6. The build is quickly explained however, as you slide up the seemingly immobile touchscreen part to reveal the good old BlackBerry keyboard – also modified since its last few iterations.
The BlackBerry Priv features a beautifully designed display with curved edges – very reminiscent of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Edge construction – one of the first devices that featured the curved edge screen technology. However, in Priv’s case, the curved edge does not serve any other purpose than aesthetic: there is no functionality attached to that side of the screen like we found in the Galaxy Note 4 Edge, except the small mention that there is a battery indicator that pops up when charging the phone and a productivity app. However, the entire build of the phone feels really well thought out. All the pieces that make up the Priv are neatly tugged together and give the phone a very solid feel.
For its overall size – more specifically 147 mm in height and 77.2 mm in width, the BlackBerry Priv is not your thinnest smartphone in the shed. At 9.4 mm thickness, most of that extra bulk is caused by the unmistakable presence of the capacitive 4-row touch keyboard. The weight suffers a fair amount too – at 192 grams, it’s averaging 10 to 15% more than you can normally find in the latest phablets that also use aluminum in their construction. When you slide up the screen in order to type, the weight switches a fair amount onto the top half while you attempt to use the keyboard on the lower half – this may make the phone feel a little strange to hold, especially as you move your thumb around for various keys. Additionally, the height of the phone goes up to 184 mm – a little strange the first time you see it, but easy to get accustomed to.
It’s vital that we dissect the fate of the new BlackBerry keyboard a little. While it may look like it, it’s very much different from the ones we have seen in older BlackBerry phones. The capacitive keyboard that first made an attempt at breaking through with the rather odd release that was the BlackBerry Passport specializes in more than just serving as your typical QWERTY. You can, as a matter of fact, use it as a touchpad as well, easing the navigation and giving you another way of using the cursor – a downright blessing considering clunky features such as having to tap right inside the word you’re trying to edit on a regular smartphone; I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say that just deleting the entire word and rewriting is the less frustrating way of doing it on a touchscreen.
However, it’s to be noted that if you haven’t ever used a phone keyboard before or haven’t used one for a long time, you might have a hard time getting accustomed to it. The keys are very small and very close together, making it relatively difficult to use without ever misclicking. However, it’s a well-known fact that a full keyboard makes typing much easier overall and incomparable next to touchscreen typing: nothing can replace physical feedback to your button presses. Use it in full-touchscreen mode only, and you’ve got a comfortable 5.4” display phone, pleasant to hold even if the edges are thicker than you’d want for it to be perfect to hold.
The woven carbon fiber back reminds us of BlackBerry classic models right away: as usual, the BlackBerry logo adorns the beautiful design of the back cover, along with the camera sensor peeking out with its dual led flashes right to the side. While the material used on the back helps with the grip of the phone in an elegant and sleep manner, the fact that the sensor is physically sticking out may be perceived aesthetically displeasing for some. Its edge is metallic and engraved with the brand name and may be subjected to scratches and some damage over time.
The button placement all around the phone feels very tidy. On the left hand side you can find a single power button; the right hand side features 3 different buttons: the topmost and bottom buttons control the volume, while the one placed in the middle is a mute button. The bottom edge of the phone is home to the Type C USB charging port as well as your regular 3.5 mm headphone jack and the top of the phone – peculiar placing truth be told – is where you’ll find the microSD slot and the nano-SIM tray. The speakers of the phone are neatly placed on the bottom of the front face – right below the display when it’s covering the keyboard.
There’s a distinct complaint that many users have made to the physical functionalities of the BlackBerry Priv; one of the most commonly heard ones is the lack of a fingerprint reader – something that most newest smartphones employ as a method to secure both your data and your privacy. BlackBerry developers however do not consider fingerprint detection as the best way to keep your smartphone protected and instead choose to focus on other aspects of security – data encryption and a different unlocking algorhythm that implies a picture password – you have to drag the number of your choice on a randomized grid. The grid changes with every unlocking of the phone so movement recognition or fingerprints and smudges on the screen won’t do if someone tries to access your data.
BlackBerry Priv Display
By all means, the screen that the BlackBerry Priv employs is simply amazing; at least judging by previous standards set by the company. At a size of 5.4 inches, the AMOLED capacitive touchscreen is covered by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 4 – protecting it from smudges and scratches. As previously noted, the curved edge screen technology is employed in the Priv as well but here it mostly serves a design purpose, giving the phone a splendid look if not for anything else.
The display makes an effort at allowing you a great amount of interactivity with the software by making use of a multi touch feature: up to 10 fingers can be used to make up for a variety of commands that make your navigation smooth and work possible straight off your smartphone.
Given the 2560 x 1440 resolution that the display presents, it makes up for 540 ppi pixel density: that is not only amazingly high, but actually comes in close or even exceeds the numbers we’ve seen in high-end devices out there. To only list a few, think of the flagship phablets such as Apple iPhone 6S Plus (401 ppi), Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge (577 ppi), OnePlus 2 (401 ppi), Samsung Galaxy Note 5 (518 ppi). Such a high score in resolution and pixels per inch mean that your phone will not be limited to work alone, even if it’s meant as an aid in that direction. Working on it will feel precise and clear, especially when dealing with blocks of text, and you’ll easily be able to make use of it for more casual use in your past times just as well.
The designers have remained loyal to the AMOLED build – not as proficient as the newer LCD screens employed in some devices but still a contender when it comes to high-quality imagery. The colors are vibrant and vivid, standing out thanks to the true blacks native to AMOLED displays and do not tax the battery life as much. However, there is some degree of realism lost when looking at the hues of colors – while they do not lack in richness, they will take a few steps away from real colors; you can mostly notice this when viewing photos you’ve taken of outdoor sceneries for example. Brightness levels are decently high, but lose some ground in face of some, if not most flagship devices.
BlackBerry Priv Specs & Performance
Given that the BlackBerry Priv is pretty much meant for work use, it’s got a lot of powerful hardware to speak of, making it suitable for various types of activities – both work related and leisure. The specs it features are not the latest or newest on the market, but can still pack the metaphorical punch. The Priv features a hexa-core Qualcomm MSM8992 Snapdragon 808 processor, 3 GB of RAM memory and a dedicated Adreno 418 GPU. To wrap the package up, BlackBerry has also put a default 32 GB of storage space in there too – extendable by up to 200 GB via the microSD slot.
The Snapdragon 808 processor chip is now nearly a year and a half old but only succeeded by the 810 version. The CPU is made up of two separate processors – a dual core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A57 and a quad-core 1.44 GHz Cortex-A53. If work is your only concern, then this power pack is nearly an overkill – being more than enough for any document and report editing or e-mail related necessities. Nevertheless, the processor responds relatively well to tasks of other nature as well: you can easily use it for any of your entertainment needs such as enjoying various types of media.
Along with the processor, the 3 GB of RAM memory compliments your activity by adding considerable amounts of multitasking capability and a high performing device even when put under stress with heavier applications. 3 GB makes up for an on par piece of hardware with most of the other top end smartphones on the market. Only a very small number of flagship devices feature 4 GB memory cards at this date.
While this is an aspect that not many individuals will be interested in if they plan on using the BlackBerry Priv for work alone, the presence of a dedicated graphics processing unit is a great addition when you want to use any graphic-heavy applications. If your work does not involve them, you will still get a great smartphone that you can enjoy when off duty too – anything like smartphone 3D games, watching movies in HD and whatnot will be possible with the Priv. Regardless, it will show signs of difficulty when attempting to run particularly new apps such as late 2015 or future productions.
The phone doesn’t come in more than one variant – you can only get it with a base 32 GB of storage space. While that should suffice for your needs in theory, any additional need of space can be satisfied by making use of a microSD card as large as 200 GB.
In terms of performance, the BlackBerry Priv seems to be doing worse on paper than it feels like in reality for some reason. Considering that the benchmarking scores placed it a long way away from devices that were comparable in price, the time we’ve spent playing around with it showed close to no hiccup whatsoever. The only time when it felt like the phone was not keeping up and downright slowing down wasn’t any different than the times most phones do: when it was heating up or put up to stress tests.
Heating up is already becoming a relatively normal thing on large display smartphones when it does not exceed normal limits. Considering the hardware packed inside is nearing the power our computers and laptops had several years ago but without the cooling system to go with it, even if the construction is different, your Priv will heat up when you use it for demanding apps or for a very long time. It’s mostly noticeable when playing games, watching videos on YouTube for a long time or using complex apps that make use of features such as GPS. Naturally, using mobile data over Wi-Fi does increase the effect a tiny bit too.
BlackBerry Priv Software & OS
While some former BlackBerry users may frown on it and others will welcome the switch, the Priv has given up on the BlackBerry OS 10 in favor of the Android OS v5.1.1 Lollipop, naturally adapted to include native apps and features of BlackBerry phones. The operating system present on the BlackBerry Priv is not your regular stock Android and instead skinned and built to serve the very purposes the phone was originally intended to aim at.
The most distinct change that any Android user will immediately notice is the existence of pop-up widgets; different from the purpose that regular widgets have on your more usual Android phones, the pop-up widgets remove the amount of clutter you would normally end up with on your screen. Instead of stacking up on all the “functionalities” that inherently slow up the performance of your phone overall, the pop-up widgets only come up when requested with a simple swipe over an app icon on the home screen. Instead of having an entire half of your screen covered by the information, you can immediately bring it up from just one small icon.
BlackBerry Priv remains loyal to what it originally intended to deliver to its users: privacy, hence the name of the phone in the first place. The developers have included a series of DTEK privacy controls that makes this particular smartphone a favorite for work and businesses. The DTEK controls give you a way of securing and monitoring your phone by letting you know exactly whether the apps you are using are accessing your location, microphone, any of the data stored on your Priv and so on. You can directly limit the amount of access you wish to give various applications directly from a general dashboard, and whenever the program detects potentially unsafe activity from another software, it will provide you with recommendations on what you can do to limit it. Overall, the DTEK privacy controls will allow you to know exactly what is happening on your phone, when, and how to keep it in check.
Google Now makes its presence felt on the BlackBerry Priv too – one of the newest features on the Android systems that basically allow you to get information about anything you are doing at a given moment, as if you were Googling it. And the greatest part of it all is that you will have access to Google Play – so the source of your apps is limitless.
Lastly, for former BlackBerry users: thankfully, the BlackBerry Hub has been implemented on this iteration of the Android OS too. That means that all types of communication services are all gathered in one place, giving you an easy method of keeping track of everything you need to. Emails, texts and various social media service messages can be found in the Hub, and you can filter them according to a series of factors. And the best part of it is that depending on the type of messaging you are attempting to use – e-mails for example – you can get a load of formatting options you may, otherwise, not find unless you were using a program such as Word.
BlackBerry Priv Camera
The rear of the Priv features an 18 megapixel camera – while that may sound impressive on paper, it doesn’t even come close to a professional image capturing device. It’s unquestionably better than anything we’ve ever seen on a BlackBerry before, but barely manages to be up to par with most cameras you can find on high-end devices.
The photos that this camera allows you to take look decent on first look thanks to the dual tone LED flash and the phase detect auto-focus feature; on a closer inspection however, you’ll realize that they lose a great deal of their quality when zoomed up to full resolution. All of the software editing and shooting options are there however, counting touch focus, face detection, HDR and shotting panoramas as only a few of them. The camera fares a little better in terms of video shooting – surprisingly. It allows shooting in 2160p at 30 frames per second and 1080p at 60 frames per second respectively.
The front facing camera is faring marginally worse. The BlackBerry Priv is surely not your best candidate for selfies. It’s more than obvious this aspect was not a focus of the designers when they planned out the phone; and why would it since it is mostly targeted at professional use. The 2 megapixels won’t produce stunning images, but will be a modest “enough” for video conferencing for example. If selfies are really your concern however, one fun and useful feature that the Priv offers you is a selfie panorama mode – allowing you to take wide shots that your entire group will fit in.
BlackBerry Priv Battery & Verdict
One aspect that so many potential users will be extremely pleased to hear about is the 3410 mAh battery that’s packed inside the Priv. It’s an incredibly powerful pack that should make up for the fact that the battery is not removable. The tests we’ve run on the battery life are more than pleasing: with a moderate to high type of usage – that includes a lot of social media app usage, 3 to 4 hours on average of web browsing and even around 30 minutes of watching videos only took the phone down from a full charge to ~25% over a 12 hour span. With a less intensive type of activity on the BlackBerry Priv (that includes document editing for example since it consumes considerably less resources) and taking several calls during the day won’t even take you below 50% battery usage – lasting as long as about 36 hours until the charge is fully depleted.
And because charging is done using a Type-C USB charger that is now one of the latest and highly performant you can get for a handheld device, charging will normally take a lot less than you’re used to.
Overall, the BlackBerry Priv is certainly not to be trifled with – it offers an incredibly sleek-looking professional smartphone that has not forsaken its roots and principles. For work-related purposes, you can hardly get any better alternative – by the looks of it, the Priv may end up leading this niche of the market. For anything else, you get an above-average phone that comes with the perk of a physical keyboard – if you’re the kind of person who prefers written communication over calling. The BlackBerry Priv doesn’t come in particularly cheap however – $844.99 at full retail price with no provider contracts.
Image Source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
Update 11/13/2015: The BlackBerry Priv uses a MicroUSB and not a Type-C USB Charger.
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