Bored of Android? Sick iPhones? Maybe it’s time you tried something a little different –– something like the BlackBerry Passport
BlackBerry Passport. It's a pretty weird name for a phone, but appropriately so when you consider how weird that phone is in the first place. BlackBerry's most recent flagship launched to many raised eyebrows and quizzical looks from the tech press, but the consumer reaction was highly mixed, it's become the definition of a "Marmite" device - people either love the thing like it's going out of fashion, or can't stand the sight of it. Here at KYM, we were actually quite intrigued by this squarish handset's peculiar charms while it was still a leaky rumour, and we couldn't wait to get to grips with it to see if it lived up to our expectations.
And as it turned out, it did. We're not in the majority though, most other sites seem to have given it a good kicking. We remain impressed though, giving it 4.5 out of 5 in our BlackBerry Passport Review, which if you're interested in this gadget at all, you should definitely check out if you have not already done so.
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Best Place To Buy Cheap BlackBerry Passport
If you want to pick yourself up a BlackBerry Passport, one of the best places to do so is via eBay where you can pick up a new Passport for as little as $199 – not bad when you consider the price of the handset when it first came out.
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BlackBerry’s 2015 was pretty quiet, by and large. The company released a mid-range handset in the form of the BlackBerry Leap and drilled down on its BB10 software, adding in new features and refining the overall experience. However, things began heating up BIG TIME in Q2/Q3 once word got out about the company’s plans to release an Android-powered handset called the BlackBerry PRIV. That handset is now official and available inside the UK and it is EASILY one of the most exciting releases of the year.
BlackBerry’s John Chen detailed why his company had chosen to move to Google’s Android platform: “At the same time, we are focused on making faster progress to achieve profitability in our handset business. Today, I am confirming our plans to launch Priv, an Android device named after BlackBerry’s heritage and core mission of protecting our customers’ privacy. Priv combines the best of BlackBerry security and productivity with the expansive mobile application ecosystem available on the Android platform.”
The BlackBerry PRIV was the first Android phone out of the fold, and while it was a thoroughly decent affair, there was plenty of room for improvement. In 2016, BlackBerry will release a couple more handsets powered by Google’s Android platform and we have high expectations for these devices. I’d also quite like to see an Android-powered Passport Mark 2; wouldn’t that be lovely!?
Beyond this BlackBerry’s financial state remains a constant subject amongst analysts and market watchers. There’s a lot of doom and gloom peddled around but this is just the nature of the consumer technology. If anyone can turn around their fortunes it is BlackBerry. Armed with Google’s Android platform and a raft of innovative security and software features, all the company needs is a slick phone that captures the hearts and minds of the buying public.
BlackBerry still has a long way to go before it is in the clear, however, and a recent note from investment firm Morgan Stanley doesn’t paint a particularly pretty picture for the firm’s current hardware lineup. Sales of the Passport and Classic were way below expected levels –– BlackBerry needs to sell between 2 and 3 million before the close of 2016. The company also plans to generate $500 million from software in the same period. Morgan Stanley is not confident it will achieve either.
BlackBerry 10.3 is a great platform, though, replete with excellent features and a much-needed new look that makes it instantly more appealing than previous builds seen on the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10. I really enjoyed getting reacquainted with BlackBerry 10 and a keyboard and, generally speaking, had pretty much all my expectations blown out of the water by the Passport. Prior reviews I’d read had simply lampooned the handset, which made me start to question my judgement –– was I even reviewing the same device? Turns out I was, but that as they say is another story entirely, so we’ll just put that down to different strokes for different folks.
Here are 16 things that make the BlackBerry Passport stand out for the crowd.
Design –– Different is GOOD
Everything looks the same these days. Just look around you: all handsets are a variation on a theme, using the same rectangular proportions and screen layout. The BlackBerry Passport is like no other, however, with its squared-off design, ultra-wide chassis, physical QWERTY keyboard and premium build materials. Like the Tesla Model S, it’s eye-catching and more and more people are slowly waking up to the fact that, actually, this style might just work.
Display
Unlike a lot of Android handsets these days, BlackBerry –– like Apple –– has opted to stick with 1080p resolution displays on its flagship handset rather than the now-flavour-of-the-month QHD standard. And the upshot of this is a still-awesome visual experience with excellent colour and contrast as well as brilliant battery life (QHD panels guzzle juice like a lush in a distillery).
DAT QWERTY
Yep, the keyboard is definitely one of the high-points of the Passport. Prior to my review of the handset, I was initially a bit dubious about switching back to a physical QWERTY but after just a few minutes it all started to come back to me and a day or two later I was hooked. Also, the keyboard on the Passport is perhaps the best BlackBerry keyboard I’ve ever used –– and that’s saying something when you consider the lineage of handsets the company has produced. It just seamlessly straddles the hardware and software, making everything quicker and emails a dream.
Battery Life’s Great
The BlackBerry Passport is in the top 1% of smartphones in this regard. With medium use you’re looking at a good couple of days. Heavy usage, which, lets face it most of us do, will see you through a full charge in just over 24 hours. No other handset –– including the excellent iPhone 6 Plus –– can hold a candle to the BlackBerry Passport in this context.
Awesome Specs AND Hardware
BlackBerry handsets of old often lacked a lot of the hardware and spec capabilities found inside their Android and iOS-powered counterparts. The BlackBerry Passport bucks that trend completely and features a raft of high-end spec and hardware, including a Snapdragon 801 CPU, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage AND an updated 13MP camera with Optical Image Stabilisation.
It RUNS Android Apps
With BlackBerry 10.3 it is EVEN easier to install Android applications on your BlackBerry Passport because all the .BAR converting is done on device, saving you oodles of time. This is a brand new feature of BB10.3 and the long and short of this new ability is this: access to Google Play. I know, amazing! All you need to do is download SNAP and you’re away. That’s it. Simple –– and it also pretty much solves the whole app-gap problem, too.
BB10 Native Apps Are Actually Really, Really Nice
But let’s not forget just how nice native BB10 applications can actually be. Just look at this one for USA Today. It’s easy to use, looks great and takes advantage of all that wonderful screen real estate you have at your disposal. Now all we need is more!
BlackBerry Blend
This is an absolute KILLER feature, as it lets you to pick up emails, texts and BBMs on a PC, MAC or tablet when you’re away from your phone (or can’t be bothered to take it out of your pocket). BlackBerry Blend works across Wi-Fi, mobile data and via USB. The big deal though is the fact that Blend works on 3G and 4G, as this technically means you can access your BlackBerry from a PC or tablet anywhere in the world, providing you have Blend installed and your BlackBerry device, wherever it may be, is switched on.
BB10.3 is VERY Safe and VERY Secure
BlackBerry has always prided itself on be the most secure platform on market. This is largely why it has long been the favoured platform of multinational companies and banks the globe-over since the 1990s. It does email, text message and IM encryption and can be used as a BYOD device at work thanks to BlackBerry Balance, a feature inside BB10 that halves your phone in two (one part for personal; the other for work).
A more recent example of just how secure BlackBerry devices are surfaced during the recent Sony hack, whereby a bunch of old BlackBerry handsets were dug out of the basement and activated for use by the company’s top executives. Reports suggest because of the nature of the attack the Sony exec’s current handsets were deemed unsafe and could therefore not be used. John Chen has recently stated that rather than digging out old BlackBerry handsets when the poop has hit the fan, big companies like should just buy new BlackBerry hardware.
Here's a cool break down via BlackBerry's official blog on how BlackBerry goes about making sure everything is as secure as possible:
Every single time any BlackBerry device in the world boots up, it goes through a complex and unique series of checks to confirm the integrity of each component:
- The CPU Embedded Boot ROM verifies the digital signature of the Boot ROM.
- The Boot ROM verifies the signing key of the Operating System.
- The Operating System verifies the hash of the Base File System.
- The Base File System verifies the hashes of all loaded Applications.
Notifications, Notifications, NOTIFICATIONS
The BlackBerry Hub is the home of all your social, IM and email clients. Inside it you get instant access to notifications as soon as they arrive in a unified and, even today, unparalleled environment. It’s fast and easy to use and offers, IMHO, a far superior means of managing your email, IM and social feeds than anything inside Android Lollipop and iOS 8.
Do You Like Spreadsheets?
Well, if you do you’ll love the Passport. Its display was DESIGNED with spreadsheets in mind. I know, I know –– this isn’t very cool. But if you do work with spreadsheets regularly (as a lot of people do) this is actually quite a large USP for the handset. No wonder BlackBerry likes talking about it so much.
Yep, It’s Got MicroSD Too
It ships with 32GB inside, as noted earlier, but also supports SD-cards up to 128GB. And because BB10.3 isn’t quite a weird with SD-cards as Android and Windows Phone, you can pretty much do with them what you want.
Great Call Quality
I honestly always forget to make a note about call quality when I review phones, which sounds insane, I know, but it’s true –– you kind of just forget all about it and instead focus on things like the display, camera and battery life. Most handsets are pretty similar in this regard, however, and offer up perfectly adequate call quality. It’s only when you use a device with INSANE call quality like the Passport that you actually start to notice the difference again. The Passport’s is crystal clear, even on speakerphone, and its all thanks to BlackBerry Natural Sound Technology.
BlackBerry Natural Sound Technology is built in to adapt Wi-Fi and cellular call sound depending upon phone position and background noise. The result is unmatched sound quality that can make you feel like you are in the same room even if you are worlds apart.
The Browser Is GREAT (And Supports Flash, Too)
It’s fast. It supports flash. And you can run hundreds of tabs at once without it ever crashing; such is the level of its HTML5 ninja skills. No other browser can do all those things. Not Safari. Not Chrome. It also has plenty of useful features like bookmarks, sharing options and save-for-later-reading.
Amazon Apps Now As Standard Inside BB10.3
Amazon App Store is now available for BB10. Not that you’ll need it with something like SNAP installed. Still, always good to have a backup in place in case Google gets wise and does something about SNAP. Also, Amazon has some pretty decent content on it now and is always adding more.
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