When you learn the tidings “ smartphone , ” what image pops into your mind ? Maybe it ’s the phone you own or the one you desperately require . Maybe it ’s even a favorite pouch comrade from years by . Whatever it may be , one affair is likely sure : it looks nothing like the BlackBerry Passport .
That ’s because almost no smartphone does . Instead of staying within comfortable dimensions , the Passport is a square toes . OK , to be geometrically precise , let ’s call it straight - ish . But being different just cuz is just ( if ever ) a safe idea . Is the Passport ’s uncanny size more than just a marketing gimmick ? Yes . In fact it ’s credibly the estimable earpiece BlackBerry has ever made . But that does n’t entail you ’ll be bribe one .
What is it?
The BlackBerry Passport is a $ 600 off - contract bridge smartphone ( it will also be useable for $ 250 at AT&T ) running the Canadian manufacturing business ’s latest mobile computer software , BB10.3 . It also come with a flak from the past : a physical QWERTY keyboard design to recall the company ’s storied chronicle of selling the good portable email machines , while simultaneously rub out computer storage of the lackluster touch sensation - centric BlackBerry Z10 and Z30 from last twelvemonth .
As its hybrid smartphone / tablet purpose suggests , the Passport is a phablet with a thin elevation lack . The understanding is the name : the Passport ’s squareish dimensions check up nicely with an actual government - issued recommendation and could be a pernicious character to its intended customer — the on - the - go external prosumer who call for the productiveness which BlackBerry had long been associated with .
Why does it matter?
It ’s square and that ’s uncanny ! But there ’s more to it than that .
Once you move past the soma , the Passport is a series of firsts for BlackBerry . It ’s the first quad - core smartphone to ever wear out the BB logotype . The BlackBerry Assistant , a digital assistant similar to Siri , Google Now , and Cortana , make up its introduction on this gadget . The Android - free-base Amazon App Store now comes pre - installed , fruits of a licensing deal made earlier this year , meaning you’re able to access 250,000 Android apps . Finally , the new BlackBerry Blend software lets you see incoming calls , answer texts , and do other things with a PC or tablet as long as your phone is nearby .
So in some way , it ’s a whole new BlackBerry from both a computer hardware and software perspective . After failing to impress with its signature - only smartphones , the Passport is another chance for BlackBerry to create something people will love and want to bribe . But since the ecosystem now sit down in a firm fourth post behind Windows Phone , it ’s a steep Alfred Hawthorne to wax .
Design
When I first unearthed the Passport from its foam - filled box , I directly hat its bulky sizing . Spending a workweek with the earpiece has n’t tempered those first flames of bad blood . Its 1440×1440 ( 453 PPI ) IPS LCD screen is highly bright , elaborated , and vibrant , but it ’s encased in a alloy - rimmed , flaccid plastic body that stretches more than 3.5 inches across . That makes the Passport a half - inch broad than the even the expansive unexampled Galaxy Note 4 and the iPhone 6 Plus . The radical - wide keyboard and its burly 7 ounce frame cry out for two hands whenever I pluck it out of my pocket . Was that BlackBerry ’s plan from the first , I enquire ?
Either way , it ’s a problem . In general , I would n’t say I favour one hand over two - hand use or frailty versa , but there are scenarios where using one hand is pretty all-fired necessary . When I ’m on the tube and grasping a bannister for dear life , the Passport force me to hazard my base hit ( and that of anyone within a 5 - metrical foot radius ) just to send an important text . Not to mention all the multiplication I had to wedge a bag or box seat under my arm so I could use GPS or find a nearby restaurant via Yelp .
Another common business concern with these phablet - sized behemoths is that they ca n’t fit in pocket . With the skinniest of underweight jeans you have reason to interest , but for me , slip the phone into my pants was n’t the job . stupefy the thing out of my pocket , on the other hand , sense like a disaster waiting to happen . Almost every time I tried to use the Passport , I had a fleeting panic attack — an instant visual sense of the phone shattered against the unforgiving sidewalk . For my modestly sized hands ( and pocket ) the Passport is just too big .
Even if it ’s curse with some embarrassing dimensions , I would n’t say the earphone is ugly . blackberry bush stick by with its intimate blackened - and - silver color scheme as well as metal trim and easy - touch charge plate that curves at the sharpness . The Passport also has a twain horizontal stainless steel beams , which BlackBerry calls frets , to split up rows on the keyboard . They attend quite pleasant . A similar fret design is on the back , marking where you could remove part of the phone ’s back natural covering to get at the nano - SIM and microSD bill of fare ( up to 128 GB ) . observe that the 3,450 mAh battery is tuck away , unreachable .
Despite the move to giant touchscreen , some people still lie with strong-arm keys . I am not one of those hoi polloi . But if you believe in the multiverse possibility of the cosmos , then at least one of my many selves is wholly into it . Wherever he may be , I retrieve he ’d really like this keyboard . Not only do the physical keys feel durable , pleasantly clicky and comfortable to sail , but there are loads of keyboard shortcuts that can make your lifetime easy — such as tapping the “ t ” Florida key to spring back to the top of a web page . While holding down the forcible transformation headstone , you may promptly select text with your finger on the trackpad . I could n’t copy the speed I can get with swipe keyboards on other chopine , but BB ’s keyboard is no plodder . Plus , you could practice the whole keyboard as an annex of the touch screen : there ’s an imbed capacitive sensor under the buttons that lets you scroll through web varlet , apps , and emails by swiping along those black keys and silver stew . Just attend at that trick .
Weirdly , there ’s also a quaternary digital words of keys alongside the three physical ones to typecast particular characters and numbers racket . The first few hours out of the box , I hated switching between the parallel and digital comment with every sentence I typed , but like anything else , I got used to it .
Using it
Powering up the Passport , the operating system is n’t immediately intuitive . It feels like a cut together version of Android and iOS with a little BlackBerry flavor dispose in . BB10.3 does have a utilitarian lock cover , give you prompt - glance access to your late tweet , warning signal , and emails . you may also long push the television camera ikon in the lower good corner if you need to click a warm pic .
Once past the lock screen , you ’re greeted with the Active Frames Sir Frederick Handley Page , which hive away your last 8 apps in window grid data format . A left swipe brings you to an iOS - like app drawer and a correct swipe goes to the BlackBerry Hub , an app that funnels all your e-mail accounting , social media , earpiece calls , text content , and other information into one post . From the Hub , you could respond to and delete messages … and not much else . It ’s pretty special . But if you need need to do something more advanced , such as favoriting a tweet , you’re able to open up the native apps from the Hub .
At first , the Hub feel like endless flow of my digital awareness assaulting my smartphone without end . But after week , I gag that rabidity and now it ’s one of my favourite features . What I hear to sleep with about it is that with enough solitaire , you could make it on the nose what you want . From the Hub ’s principal page you’re able to swipe aright and throw to any business relationship synced with the app , so if you just require to see your various @mentions or school text messages , you’re able to trickle out all the peripheral clutter that ’s in your path .
The fellowship ’s app store , BlackBerry World , is horrendously malnourished , but Amazon helps right smart more than I would have recall . Let ’s put it this way : before adding the Amazon App Store , you could n’t get Netflix , Twitch , or even Spotify , which for me would mean I ’d have no access to the massive music library that I pay $ 10 a month for . There ’s just no universe ( distressing other property Darren ) in which I ’d buy a sound where that app was n’t present . But Amazon brings those must - have applications and they all seem to work well on the Passport ’s weird silver screen — although streaming movies does n’t look capital when your screen is square .
It ’s not a unadulterated solution . Amazon only has 250,000 apps , which is 50,000 less than Windows Phone and is in act one million less than iOS . It can becomes a nesting doll metaphor of smartphone despair . But even with a pitiful app game , BB users at least have some surprising indie cred with heavy games like Monument Valley and Five Nights at Freddy ’s . But you ’ll still feel the sting of app envy equate to your iOS and Android friend , when you crane your cervix over their shoulder to see some novel app or secret plan that you ca n’t download .
BlackBerry ’s other software additions are BlackBerry Assistant and Blend . The Assistant , which is regretfully not voice activated but does pluck up your voice when launched , joins the ranks of other extremely capable nomadic AIs such as Siri and Cortana . With a physical button on the side to summon the puppet ( which also doubles as a turn / pause button ) , it mostly work like the others … except it ’s much slower . In comparison with Google Now , Assistant took 5 second longer to hark back results from my somewhat simple “ What is the weather like today ? ” query .
Blend launched the same solar day as the Passport , so I have n’t had much time to spend with the service , but it lets you send and receive texts , see incoming calls , organize your calendar , transfer file and lots of other thing directly on Android / iOS tablets and PCs , via Wi - Fi or cellular connection . At first coup d’oeil , it does n’t seem as deeply integrated as Apple ’s upcoming Yosemite version , call Continuity , where you may also suffice calls on your laptop as well , but it sound like a neat little feature with support for multiple ecosystem .
Camera and Battery
The BlackBerry Passport comes with a 13 megapixel lense with picture and mental image stabilization , meaning less camera shake for well video , and 2 megapixel cam on the front . Once inside the app , the smartphone ’s outer space barroom and volume buttons shape as physical seizure key , so you could keep your hands by from the filmdom and in reality see what you ’re fritter away .
And do n’t vex , you ’re not forced to shoot only weird straight - determine pic all the time . The app let you switch among a square 1:1 proportion as well as 4:3 and 16:9 options , but once again , the frustration of the Passport ’s square screenland becomes a job . Whether charge 1080p TV or taking picture in landscape , your finder is forced into tiny confines with monolithic smuggled bars on top and bottom .
As for the images themselves , the Passport feels like a capable television camera . Compared to the Galaxy S5 ’s 13 megapixel shooter , the Passport captures warm images ( See : The Red Door ) , but is n’t disappointing by any means . It ’s also evenly telling in lowly - sparkle situations , kidnap even pocket-sized details with little to no noise in the background .
BlackBerry Passport
Samsung Galaxy S5
All of this is powered by a whoppingly huge 3450 mAh battery . Despite its impressive size , all I can say is for sure is “ results may motley . ” Some Day the BB workhorse would chug along , easily power my integral day . But there were a few outliers ; one day the telephone was off the charger by 8 a.m. , put through reasonably light-headed use ( a few pictures , texting , Spotify ) and was deadened by 10 p.m. I ’m still testing a few dissimilar matter to discern what was obnoxiously nomming on my electric battery , and I ’ll provide an update after a few more day of enjoyment .
When tax the twist , the Passport heats up — not scorching but sure enough detectable . Unfortunately , the Snapdragon 801 mainframe is located near those upper right corner buttons , so when your equipment climb upwards a few degrees , you ’ll physically feel it . You wo n’t be receive third - degree burning or anything , but your palm tree will get sweaty , which only feeds my fears of inevitable clumsiness .
Like
I may not like the Passport ’s rum shape , but it does fetch episodic benefit . Cruising around the interwebs is great because you do n’t really need mobile - friendly internet site . Sure , you could use them , but they look blown out and awkward . It ’s really best to shift to “ screen background modality ” with BlackBerry ’s World Wide Web internet browser and let page load in their native course . Comparing Gizmodo ’s website side - by - side with a Nexus 5 , I did n’t have to go through nearly as many linebreaks . Reading feels more comfortable .
If you absolutely have to have a forcible keyboard , make it this one . For me , it ’s in no fashion equal to the adept ol’ SwiftKey or Swype keyboards you’re able to observe on Android and iOS , but BlackBerry ’s build - in capacitive trackpad for easy scrolling and text extract makes forcible keyboards more sympathetic . I certainly liked it .
And , I will not lie , I screw the BlackBerry Hub . I spend much of my twenty-four hours trip the light fantastic toe among Google accounts , checking Twitter , read texts , adding calendar event etc . It ’s incredibly helpful to have an upstanding way of life to keep track of my hectic life . My favored minute of programming is the swipe gesture to open up a side tray displaying all of my various online accounts . An easily navigable UI and deep integration into almost all my social account ready me wish well I could port it over to Android .
No Like
The BlackBerry Passport ’s most distinguishing feature is also its spoiled . hold this headphone in your hand , stretching your ovolo to reach far - flung keys , the constant feeling of a sobriety - relate disaster every time you force it out of your pouch , it all added up to unnecessary anxiousness and frustration for me . Also , you wo n’t be winning any nervelessness points for throw up this awkward monster up to your grimace .
For all the new ( and much require ) additions BlackBerry did make to its operating scheme , they all seem second - rate . Whether it ’s the non - voice activate and slow digital help , the app pick , or smaller things like its Maps app ( no walking or public transit directions ? ) , you ca n’t aid but finger you ’re making one too many sacrifices by choke with BlackBerry .
Should I Buy It
Not for $ 600 . Not a fortune . For $ 50 more you may get an iPhone 6 and for $ 100 more the upcoming Note 4 , both off - contract bridge . The filmdom ’s strange size does n’t deliver enough gadget to vindicate its awkward massiveness , the app selection wo n’t fulfil a moderate power user , and in some place , BB feel like a shadow of more open operating systems . If you want to stand out , the Passport carries some “ WTF is that ? ” appeal , but its utility is outweighed by its reversal .
If you absolutely involve a physical keyboard , and all you do is e-mail and vane , well … perhaps .
BlackBerry Passport Spec Sheet
internet : AT&T ( LTE ) and unlock through Amazon and BlackBerry
OS : BB10.3
CPU : 2.2 GHz quadriceps - core Snapdragon 801
Screen : 4.5 - column inch 1440×1440 IPS - LCD display ( 453 PPI )
RAM : 3 gigabyte
Storage : 32 GB + 128 GB MicrosSD expansion
television camera : 13MP fanny / 2MP front
Battery : 3450 mAh non - removable
Dimensions : 5.04 x 3.56 x 0.37 in
Weight : 6.91 apothecaries' ounce
cost : $ 250 AT&T , $ 600 off declaration
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