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| Black Berry Priv First Android SmartPhone |
About four years ago, in order to fix its loosing popularity and dwindling market share, BlackBerry had launched the BB10 OS. However, it did not help the company to defend its market share from the likes of Samsung, Apple and others. Besides, in the past couple of years there have been plenty of new brands that have come to the front such as OnePlus, Xiaomi and the recent entrant- Le Eco.
In order to maintain its market standing BlackBerry has now decided to adopt a whole new strategy and Priv is the first smartphone under this. It is an Android running phone from BlackBerry that sports Google's stock Android platform and BlackBerry's security features along with the signature physical keyboard. But all of this comes at a whopping price tag of Rs 63,000, which can dissuade many from buying the smartphone.
This brings us to the question, whether BlackBerry Priv is worth the asking price tag or is just good for news headlines or to be remembered as an effort to save the company's dream to be a competitor in the smartphone arena. Let's find out.
Specifications:
Display: 5.4-inch QHD 1440 x 2560p display, 540ppi
OS: Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
CPU: 1.44GHz hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor , 3GB
Storage: 32GB inbuilt storage, expandable upto 200GB via microSD
Cameras: 18MP (rear with LED flash), 2 MP (front)
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, 3G/4G/2G, GPS, Bluetooth, microUSB charging port, USB OTG
Battery: 3410mAh
Dimensions: 147.00 x 77.20 x 9.40mm
Weight: 192 grams
Price: Rs 62,990
(Price may vary on some of the online shopping sites)
Design
Since the day we saw the first leaked images of the smartphone, we were excited about the handset's design. We wanted to see how the company, which is known for its elegant designs that come with the signature keyboard and a trackpad will pack Android in its ecosystem. And then how will this integration of physical keyboard is going to work with the Google's app ecosystem. It is not that the other companies have not tried offering a physical keyboard on an Android smartphone. However, all the past experiments have not been very encouraging.
That said, we were quite content to see and test the handset in personal as far as the design goes. It is indeed a BlackBerry and is built to turn heads. The smartphone feels super-premium and does not fail to impress anyone whoever takes a look at it. It may not look as fancy as the metal and glass built iPhones, GalaxyS6, S7 and the Edge handsets, but the overall look and feel is definitely pleasing to eyes.
The front has the 5.4-inch dual-curved sided AMOLED display, just like the Galaxy S6 Edge and S6 Edge+. While, the edges are not as pronounced as they are on Samsung Edge smartphones, they still manage to draw the attention and confuse others, who just couldn't stop themselves from asking - Is it a curved smartphone from BlackBerry?
Coming to on to the most interesting part of the design, which makes the Priv the new age slider smartphone is the BlackBerry physical keyboard. It sits behind the large display and is a full-sized QWERTY board that gives the smartphone an edge over other flagship handsets. A slight metal ridge towards the bottom of the Priv (between the screen glass and the front facing speaker) allows you to slide the display up to reveal the keyboard. We found ourselves sliding it up and down a number of times throughout the day because the handset looks amazing in its full glory and it's a great experience to type on a physical keyboard in today's times.
The microSD and the nano-SIM trays sit on the top of the phone, while the Micro-USB port and 3.5mm socket are positioned at the bottom. The power button is on the left and the volume rockers are located on the right.
Overall, we liked the design but the only complain we have with the handset is the fact that Blackberry Priv is not the best smartphone for one-hand operation. It isn't exactly small nor lightweight so if you have small hands then it is a complete no no. In addition to this, using the physical keyboard with one hand is also not something you will enjoy but then Blackberry always liked the idea of giving your thumbs (both of them) a good bit of exercise and that is what you will have to do with the Priv as well.
Hardware
On the specifications front, the BlackBerry Priv has all the ingredients of a flagship smartphone. The front is supported by a beautiful 5.4-inch QHD display, which offers a resolution of 1440x2560 pixels and comes protected with a coating of Corning Gorillas Glass 4. Powering the handset is a 1.8GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor coupled with 3GB of RAM. You get a 32GB inbuilt storage, which can be expanded by up to 200GB via a microSD card, which is more than enough to store your media files and Android applications.
BlackBerry Priv features an 18MP rear camera with dual-tone LED flash and a 2MP front camera. As far as connectivity goes, the smartphone include 4G, LTE, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and NFC. All of this is supported by a 3,410 mAh battery.
Display
As we mentioned earlier, the 5.4-inch QHD dual-curved display is quite impressive in design and also in real-life performance. The 540ppi pixel density results in pin-sharp content making everything from text, icons, and videos to images look stunning. As it is an AMOLED panel, the colours look vivid with deeper blacks. The viewing angles are good but we found that the display is not as bright as the AMOLED panels on the Samsung and Motorola smartphones.
Performance
The Priv is powered by a Snapdragon 808 processor and 3GB of RAM. It is the same configuration we have seen earlier in LG G4 and Moto X Style. The hardware is capable enough to run any app you throw at it, but it does get a little warm from time to time. We noticed these heating issues especially when the phone is on charging, or while playing even casual games (which were not graphic intensive) and even while clicking pictures. In addition, we encountered occasional lags while using the camera application. The smartphone has a habit of giving long pauses when shifting from the camera app to the gallery mode and vice versa, so you will have to be prepared for that.
The physical Keyboard
Talking about the typing experience on the physical keyboard, we found it to be more of a gimmicky feature to flaunt and less of an actual usage. First of all, the keyboard itself does not actually feel like the legendary Blackberry keyboards that came on the previous devices. The keys are small, placed rather closely and we continuously found overselves hitting the wrong letters most of the times.
Secondly, using the smartphone with the keyboard makes it really uncomfortable. The keyboard sits so low down that most of the times Priv fell like it wants to flip out of the hands. And you really don't want that to happen if you are paying a sum of Rs 63,000.
The good thing about the keyboards is the number of features it offers in day-to-day usage. You can use the trackpad functionality to scroll up and down the pages while you are in your mail box or browsing a web page. The Priv's keyboard can also suggest applications and contacts based on the letter you press.
Besides, you can use the keyboard to quick launch applications, or assign a quick action to a particular key by holding it for a longer duration. It opens up a pop up menu on the screen that allows you to customise the
key action.
Software
Here comes the important part, how does Android feel on a Blackberry. The answer is pretty much stock Android as BlackBerry has not tweaked the UI and the smartphone ships with the Google's stock Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. The smartphone will get the Marshmallow update sometime in the second quarter of the 2016.
Talking about the software performance, Blackberry has by and large done a good job. While there are a number of modifications to integrate the BlackBerry's apps into the user interface, the overall Android experience is quite pleasing in day-to-day usage. BlackBerry is known for its security features and has implemented the same in the Priv's Android ecosystem. The DTEK by BlackBerry is an application to give you important insights about your smartphone's security status. It gives you information about the installed application's actions, how the apps are using your information and also encrypt your data. Besides, BlackBerry has also committed to monthly security updates to ensure the handset from Android vulnerabilities.
Talking about the customisations and tweaks, we liked the idea of placing some new shortcuts on the home-screens such as compose BBM, add task, check battery level, add event, schedule BBM meeting, etc. Another nifty tweak is the movable tab, which allows you to check your unread notifications, calendar events, tasks and also let you access your favourite contacts with a simple s wipe inwards action. A long press on the on-screen Android home button gives you the shortcuts to the device's search function, Google Now, and the BlackBerry Hub. Besides you can swipe up or down the app icons (limited in numbers) to have a glance of the content inside. It's like the 3D touch of the iPhone 6S but without the hard press functionality.
We encountered some occasional lags and delays in firing up applications when more than 15 apps were active in the background, but overall we found the Priv to deliver a good Android experience in day-to-day usage.
Camera
One of the best things about the BlackBerry Priv is its 18MP rear camera sensor, which is the best we have used in terms of HDR imaging and decent for daylight and even in low-light conditions. It utilises the Schneider-Kreuznach sensor, which results in a sizable presence on the rear of the smartphone and is paired up with a dual-LED flash light.
The camera app is clean and gives the required set of features and effects to experiment with the images you capture. We really liked the exposure slider at the base of the viewfinder, which comes real handy while shooting in low-light conditions. The video mode gives you the options to capture in 720p, 1080p and in 4K format.
Talking about the real-life performance, we have a great time with the Priv's camera. We shot a number of hands-on videos, took countless shots for the devices we review and gained a number of likes on our Instagram feeds. The camera is able to give detailed shots in day-light and can even result in good images when the light condition is not favourable. But the best thing about the camera is the HDR performance.
But there are some problems with the camera performance that we would like to pin point. First the camera app feels sluggish while you shift to gallery mode (as we mentioned in the performance aspect). Second is the Priv's awful 2MP front camera, which is even worse than what we find on some of the sub Rs 10,000 smartphones. We understand Blackberry's targeted audience is the business users, but as far as we know, even they like to take occasional selfies and are we forgetting the video calls that the business users are expected to engage in on quite a regular basis.
The last thing we noticed is the colour balancing in the images captured by the rear camera. The images have an overall warmer tone, especially while taking shots indoors. But this can be adjusted in the display settings where you can tweak the display colour levels according to your preference.
Here are some sample shots
Battery
Battery life was pretty much acceptable. It's not the best we have seen on a flagship device but is decent enough to last for a day even with a heavy usage. We managed to squeeze a day's backup with the 3,410mAh battery unit and our usage consisted of 15 to 20 calls, at least half an hour of graphic intensive gaming, music playback, clicking photographs and editing the same, using social networking sits such as Twitter and Instagram from time to time. It is worth pointing out that we had the Wi-Fi and 3G on all through the day and the phone had multiple email accounts synced.
Likes
We liked the premium design, sharp display, intuitive UI and amazing camera performance of the Blackberry's first Android smartphone.
Dislikes
Some occasional lags, frequent heat ups, bulky build and the hefty price tag creates obstacles for us to entitle Priv as the true flagship smartphone out there in the market.
Verdict
Priv is an important smartphone for BlackBerry but not for the consumers who are now completely wooed by the affordable Chinese Android offerings and some fancy Samsung, LG and the obvious Apple iPhones. If the Canadian giant would have introduced the smartphone somewhere around in 2014, it would have shaped the Blackberry's course to the right direction. But in today's time and the steep price of this smartphone does not feel like a good deal.
You can get Samsung's Edge smartphone or the Apple's 3D touch enabled iPhone 6S and the 6S Plus at a much lesser cost than this and there is no oomph factor attached to BlackBerry in today's time.
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