BLACKBERRY PRIV : Review
It’s no secret that BlackBerry has faced a dramatic shift in fortunes over the past few years, but the Canadian company is now looking to make a comeback by their new offering , the Blackberry Priv. Blackberry Priv , is the latest take of Blackberry on Android as their main smartphone OS.Will this save the long last days of Blackberry ?
The name of this high-end offering finds its roots in the word PRIVacy, and perhaps more appropriately, PRIVilege, given that this is a phone that stands out in more ways than one.How will this device fare against the intense competition it faces in the saturated Android flagship market it is entering? Let's find out, in this BlackBerry Priv review!
Design
Blackberry has bought some old design concept which many manufactures have left up. The flip-up style design is one of the unique design adapted by Blackberry for it's Priv. The large 5.4-inch has no capacitive keys accompanying it, and the very bottom portion of the phone does not slide, but houses a front-facing speaker.The power button is on the left side, which takes some getting used to, and the volume rocker is to the right, with a single button between the volume up and down keys which is sound toggle used by Blackberry designer's for quite some time.
Also noteworthy is that all of these buttons do not move when the screen is slid up, leaving them well within reach. The back of the phone features a soft plastic weave that helps a lot with grip, and while the camera optics up top do protrude, the ring around the glass is quite substantial.The back of the Priv is quite plasticky as it has not metallic body , the plastic feels sometimes very soft.The overall design.Ultimately, BlackBerry has succeeded in creating an Android smartphone that is simultaneously a throwback to the days of old, while also a sleek device worthy of today’s expected aesthetics and features.
Display
Hardware
Under the hood, the Priv comes with an hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808
processor, clocked at 1.8 GHz, and backed by the Adreno 418 GPU and 3
GB of RAM. The Snapdragon 808 may not be the latest and greatest, but
this has been the go-to processing package for a few other flagships out
there as well, and the performance remains as good as expected
here. There haven’t been any problems doing just about anything on this
device, and any stutters and bugs we did run into felt more like the
fault of BlackBerry’s Android iteration.
General web browsing and media consumption go along without incident,
and the device handles gaming very well too. Most of the work BlackBerry
faithful will do on the Priv will involve the built-in Hub and other
productivity tools, which all proved to be snappy.The phone also comes with all of the necessary connectivity options,
including NFC, and up top are the SIM slot and the microSD card slot, to
bolster the 32 GB of in-built in storage by up to 200 GB.
Keyboard & Sound
The entire keyboard is also outfitted with touch and swipe sensitivity,
so that tasks like scrolling a webpage can be done by lightly passing
the finger over the hardware keys.Making use of these features allow user's to have the whole screen viewing experience.
Front-facing speaker, which is in and of itself a great choice and provides decent sound. It skews towards the higher end, though it could do with a little more volume. Still, Blackberry’s speakers are better than any rear mounted speakers out there.
Battery
Such a large phone allows for an equally large battery as well, and the
Priv packs a 3,410 mAh unit, but while that seems impressive, battery
life has unfortunately been a pretty average affair.Power users may find themselves needing to charge the device during
their day, but at least the Priv does come with fast charging and
wireless charging capabilities.Around 4 hours of screen-on time , that's the average user power consumption usage.
However, keep in mind that the charger available in the box does not
support Qualcomm QuickCharge 2.0, so you will need to pick up a third
party fast charger to take advantage of this feature.
Camera
BlackBerry has never really been too fussed with
smartphone imaging, with the Passport being the first of its devices to
even get a double-digit camera sensor. As if to overcompensate, the Priv
comes with an 18-megapixel Schneider-Kreuznach-certified imaging
sensor. In addition, the firm is throwing the usual bundle of features
that high-end smartphones get in order to claim that they can operate on
equal footing with a DSLR.
In this case, that means optical image
stabilization (OIS), phase-detect auto focus and the ability to record
4K video at 30fps as well as the software-based live image filters we've
already seen in older BlackBerry 10 devices. The front-facer,
meanwhile, is a garden-variety 2-megapixel affair with 720p video
capture and 2x digital zoom that can do panoramic selfies, should you
need it.
When it comes to picture quality, BlackBerry continues to show just how
new they are in what has become a great camera space in Android. The
optics are capable of some good detail capture, but processing looks to
be the worst of it. Pictures in bright light look quite good with
adequate color saturation and a bit of a boost in HDR, but lower light
situations really show the flaws
Software
BlackBerry's in-house operating system
couldn't woo developers away from iOS and Android, and with the Priv,
the company is officially adopting the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em"
approach. It runs Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, and will eventually make the
move to Android 6.0 Marshmallow .However it keeps most of the stock experience, which is good.
There are, however, some extra features somewhat hidden within, such as
the three dots under the icons on the homescreen, that mean that if you
swipe up from it, a pop up widget will appear, which is a great way of
saving space on the actual homescreens. Further, swiping up from the
on-screen home key can be catered to any applications that you might
need easy access to.The Recent Apps screen features a grid layout, which might be easier to
use for some than the card-based iteration that Android currently
employs.
For all tasks and messaging services, the BlackBerry Hub is the built-in
way of consolidating all of them. Opening it up and setting up GMail
and social media accounts, gives you access everything in one place.
The Hub works well enough, but picking specific accounts to dial down
the information helps.
Final Thoughts
The BlackBerry Priv is available now for the very premium price of $699, which is certainly steep, comparing it with other smartphones.BlackBerry brand used to be iconic, and in the wake of a declining public image.However, you may be paying a lot of money just to be a part of the
nostalgia that the BlackBerry name evokes. By prioritizing features like
the keyboard and security measures though, BlackBerry is also selling
exclusivity. By getting this phone, you just might be a part of the
privileged group that not only still believes in the brand.
Priv does get a lot right, plenty of features and extra ways of getting
tasks done keep the Priv viable as a productivity tool, but the company
has to improve the features that users often require from current
Android flagships, like the camera, and better ease of use in the
operating system.
Specifications
| Display | 5.4-inch AMOLED display Quad HD resolution, 540 ppi |
| Processor | 1.8 GHz hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 Adreno 418 GPU |
| RAM | 3 GB |
| Storage | 32 GB expandable via microSD up to 200 GB |
| Camera | 18 MP rear camera with OIS, dual LED flash Schneider-Kreuznach optics 2 MP front-facing camera |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac A-GPS Bluetooth 4.1 NFC microUSB 2.0 |
| Battery | 3,410 mAh |
| Software | Android 5.1.1 Lollipop |
| Dimensions | 147 x 77.2 x 9.4 mm 192 grams |
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