BlackBerry Passport review: 10 things to know before buying
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14/04/2015: The Blackberry Passport has won the Red Dot 'best of the best' award for product design. While some have criticised the Passport for its square design, it's clearly catching some serious industry attention. Only 81 products from 31 categories were granted the award in 2015, and it's treated as something of a seal of quality within the design industry.
The award has previously been held by the Porche design team for the P'9981 smartphone, and BlackBerry's Z10, Z30, Q10 and Q5 models have all been recipients of Red Dot awards in the past. After a four-week exhibition period, the Passport will take up a permanent place in the Red Dot Design Museum.
In a world dominated by Android and iOS, BlackBerrys have been relegated to secondary “work phone” status, if they are even used at all.
The BlackBerry Passport has provided a mini revival for the Canadian
smartphone maker since its launch. Below we take a look at what you can
expect if you're thinking about buying a Passport.
1. Display and Design
It's big and demands attention, thanks to the unique 4.5in square screen with its 1440 x 1440 resolution. Pull this out of your pocket anywhere and people will pass comment. We've had everyone from waiters to colleagues expressing interest in the device -simply because of the way it looks. Some techies will snigger and ask why you're not using iOS or Android - and it's a shame that BlackBerry is no longer seen as a valuable alternative.
The display is super bright, clocking a maximum reading of 700 cd/m2. Together, with the device's width, this makes it ideal for reading documents, books and browsing the web. It also means there no need to switch between landscape and portrait modes - because the view will be the same.
The 1:1 ratio of the Passport isn't capable of displaying the video
using the whole screen - so you'll get thick black bars when watching
content. It's fine for the watching the odd YouTube video on the move,
but not not ideal if you're using it as your primary source of media consumption.
The front and back panels are bonded together with a thick metallic bandto provide solidity. It's heavier than most smartphones at 196g, but
it does fit snugly into pockets. The soft-touch back feels lovely to
hold too.
The sheer width of the device makes it difficult to use with
one-hand. You can read a book and swipe through pages with a single hand
but any interaction requiring typing will need you to grip the device
with both paws, so you can tap away with your thumbs.
2. BB10
BlackBerry 10's interface is designed to give you quick access to your most commonly used apps. The home screen is made up of ever-changing preview windows. Tapping on these panels allows you to pick up where you left off.
BB10 differs from Android and iOS, especially when it comes to navigation. There's no home or software buttons - so everything relies on swiping from the edges of the screen.
Don't worry if you're new to the OS, because you're provided with a
tutorial when you boot up the device and this can be revisited at any
time from the app screen. It's pretty intuitive and you shouldn't find
any from the app screen. It's pretty intuitive and you shouldn't find any problems getting up to speed with the gesture control.
To help businesses deploy BlackBerrys to employees, the device also supports features like BlackBerry Balance. This allows 'personal' and 'work' profiles to be created - so confidential information can be sandboxed in a safe environment and altered without affecting personal content.
3. BlackBerry Hub
This remains the best messaging aggregation hub on any mobile OS. The BB Hub syncs your emails, IM and social media accounts into one easy to access place. You can get to the Hub at any time by swiping in an inverted 'L' motion from the bottom of the screen regardless of which app you're using.
1. Display and Design
It's big and demands attention, thanks to the unique 4.5in square screen with its 1440 x 1440 resolution. Pull this out of your pocket anywhere and people will pass comment. We've had everyone from waiters to colleagues expressing interest in the device -simply because of the way it looks. Some techies will snigger and ask why you're not using iOS or Android - and it's a shame that BlackBerry is no longer seen as a valuable alternative.
The display is super bright, clocking a maximum reading of 700 cd/m2. Together, with the device's width, this makes it ideal for reading documents, books and browsing the web. It also means there no need to switch between landscape and portrait modes - because the view will be the same.
2. BB10
BlackBerry 10's interface is designed to give you quick access to your most commonly used apps. The home screen is made up of ever-changing preview windows. Tapping on these panels allows you to pick up where you left off.
BB10 differs from Android and iOS, especially when it comes to navigation. There's no home or software buttons - so everything relies on swiping from the edges of the screen.
To help businesses deploy BlackBerrys to employees, the device also supports features like BlackBerry Balance. This allows 'personal' and 'work' profiles to be created - so confidential information can be sandboxed in a safe environment and altered without affecting personal content.
3. BlackBerry Hub
This remains the best messaging aggregation hub on any mobile OS. The BB Hub syncs your emails, IM and social media accounts into one easy to access place. You can get to the Hub at any time by swiping in an inverted 'L' motion from the bottom of the screen regardless of which app you're using.
4
Price
Free from £26.50 per month
Pros
Unique screen great for text interactions; Strong battery life; Plenty of storage + connectivity; Solid build
Cons
Not ideal for multimedia content; Keyboard will take time to get used to; Needs two handed use most of the time
11/02/2016: The next update of the Blackberry
Passport may see the firm offer an Android version, following the
positive reception of its Blackberry Priv. According to a report by the Economic Times of India, Blackberry could be making the switch to Android completely, ditching its own OS for good.
14/04/2015: The Blackberry Passport has won the Red Dot 'best of the best' award for product design. While some have criticised the Passport for its square design, it's clearly catching some serious industry attention. Only 81 products from 31 categories were granted the award in 2015, and it's treated as something of a seal of quality within the design industry.
The award has previously been held by the Porche design team for the P'9981 smartphone, and BlackBerry's Z10, Z30, Q10 and Q5 models have all been recipients of Red Dot awards in the past. After a four-week exhibition period, the Passport will take up a permanent place in the Red Dot Design Museum.
In a world dominated by Android and iOS, BlackBerrys have been relegated to secondary “work phone” status, if they are even used at all.
The BlackBerry Passport has provided a mini revival for the
Canadian smartphone maker since its launch. Below we take a look at what
you can expect if you're thinking about buying a Passport.
1. Display and Design
It's big and demands attention, thanks to the unique 4.5in square screen with its 1440 x 1440 resolution. Pull this out of your pocket anywhere and people will pass comment. We've had everyone from waiters to colleagues expressing interest in the device -simply because of the way it looks. Some techies will snigger and ask why you're not using iOS or Android - and it's a shame that BlackBerry is no longer seen as a valuable alternative.
The display is super bright, clocking a maximum reading of 700 cd/m2. Together, with the device's width, this makes it ideal for reading documents, books and browsing the web. It also means there no need to switch between landscape and portrait modes - because the view will be the same.
The 1:1 ratio of the Passport isn't capable of displaying the video
using the whole screen - so you'll get thick black bars when watching
content. It's fine for the watching the odd YouTube video on the move,
but not not ideal if you're using it as your primary source of media
consumption.
The front and back panels are bonded together with a thick metallic
band to provide solidity. It's heavier than most smartphones at 196g,
but it does fit snugly into pockets. The soft-touch back feels lovely to
hold too.
The sheer width of the device makes it difficult to use with
one-hand. You can read a book and swipe through pages with a single hand
but any interaction requiring typing will need you to grip the device
with both paws, so you can tap away with your thumbs.
2. BB10
BlackBerry 10's interface is designed to give you quick access to your most commonly used apps. The home screen is made up of ever-changing preview windows. Tapping on these panels allows you to pick up where you left off.
BB10 differs from Android and iOS, especially when it comes to navigation. There's no home or software buttons - so everything relies on swiping from the edges of the screen.
Don't worry if you're new to the OS, because you're provided with a
tutorial when you boot up the device and this can be revisited at any
time from the app screen. It's pretty intuitive and you shouldn't find
any problems getting up to speed with the gesture control.
To help businesses deploy BlackBerrys to employees, the device also supports features like BlackBerry Balance. This allows 'personal' and 'work' profiles to be created - so confidential information can be sandboxed in a safe environment and altered without affecting personal content.
3. BlackBerry Hub
This remains the best messaging aggregation hub on any mobile OS. The BB Hub syncs your emails, IM and social media accounts into one easy to access place. You can get to the Hub at any time by swiping in an inverted 'L' motion from the bottom of the screen regardless of which app you're using.
Download Facebook or Whatsapp, for example, and it will automatically
pull your conversations into the Hub - and you can jump straight into
the app from there.
There's a Priority area too - so you can assign important contacts to make sure their messages aren't buried in a busy inbox.
4. Physical Keyboard
Design changes mean even the most ardent BlackBerry fans will take time to adjust to this layout.
The keyboard has been cut down to three rows, in order to accommodate the 4.5in display. The physical keys are used exclusively for letters, with punctuation and numbers popping up on the touch screen when you start typing.
We found the new positioning of the spacebar to be problematic. It's now on the same row as the letters, whereas on previous models it was always placed underneath. On the Passport, the spacebar is now where BlackBerry users expect to press the letters "b" and "n".
Despite using the Passport for a few weeks, I feel like I'm not
typing as fast as I could be. Touchscreen keyboards have come a long way
and with apps such as Swype dominating the market, you may find
physical keys aren't needed.
On a positive note, the keyboard is touch sensitive, which means it can be used to scroll within documents and web pages. This is a nice touch as it means you don't end up blocking content on screen with your fingers.
14/04/2015: The Blackberry Passport has won the Red Dot 'best of the best' award for product design. While some have criticised the Passport for its square design, it's clearly catching some serious industry attention. Only 81 products from 31 categories were granted the award in 2015, and it's treated as something of a seal of quality within the design industry.
The award has previously been held by the Porche design team for the P'9981 smartphone, and BlackBerry's Z10, Z30, Q10 and Q5 models have all been recipients of Red Dot awards in the past. After a four-week exhibition period, the Passport will take up a permanent place in the Red Dot Design Museum.
In a world dominated by Android and iOS, BlackBerrys have been relegated to secondary “work phone” status, if they are even used at all.
1. Display and Design
It's big and demands attention, thanks to the unique 4.5in square screen with its 1440 x 1440 resolution. Pull this out of your pocket anywhere and people will pass comment. We've had everyone from waiters to colleagues expressing interest in the device -simply because of the way it looks. Some techies will snigger and ask why you're not using iOS or Android - and it's a shame that BlackBerry is no longer seen as a valuable alternative.
The display is super bright, clocking a maximum reading of 700 cd/m2. Together, with the device's width, this makes it ideal for reading documents, books and browsing the web. It also means there no need to switch between landscape and portrait modes - because the view will be the same.
2. BB10
BlackBerry 10's interface is designed to give you quick access to your most commonly used apps. The home screen is made up of ever-changing preview windows. Tapping on these panels allows you to pick up where you left off.
BB10 differs from Android and iOS, especially when it comes to navigation. There's no home or software buttons - so everything relies on swiping from the edges of the screen.
To help businesses deploy BlackBerrys to employees, the device also supports features like BlackBerry Balance. This allows 'personal' and 'work' profiles to be created - so confidential information can be sandboxed in a safe environment and altered without affecting personal content.
3. BlackBerry Hub
This remains the best messaging aggregation hub on any mobile OS. The BB Hub syncs your emails, IM and social media accounts into one easy to access place. You can get to the Hub at any time by swiping in an inverted 'L' motion from the bottom of the screen regardless of which app you're using.
There's a Priority area too - so you can assign important contacts to make sure their messages aren't buried in a busy inbox.
4. Physical Keyboard
Design changes mean even the most ardent BlackBerry fans will take time to adjust to this layout.
The keyboard has been cut down to three rows, in order to accommodate the 4.5in display. The physical keys are used exclusively for letters, with punctuation and numbers popping up on the touch screen when you start typing.
We found the new positioning of the spacebar to be problematic. It's now on the same row as the letters, whereas on previous models it was always placed underneath. On the Passport, the spacebar is now where BlackBerry users expect to press the letters "b" and "n".
On a positive note, the keyboard is touch sensitive, which means it can be used to scroll within documents and web pages. This is a nice touch as it means you don't end up blocking content on screen with your fingers.
5. Hardware + Storage
The OS is powered by a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor and 3GB of RAM. This should give the device longevity via future software updates.
Every device ships with 32GB of internal storage and also supports micro SD cards (up to 128GB in size), so storage space won't be a problem. To access the micro SD and SIM card slots, you need to unclip the top of the device - this is secured in place so don't be afraid to use a bit of force to prise it off.
On the rear, there's a 13-megapixel snapper with autofocus and optical image stabilisation.
Wireless connectivity is comprehensive too with 4G, Wi-Fi Direct, NFC, Bluetooth 4 and Miracast all included as standard. When it comes to transferring content, there are plenty of options with the Passport, many of which work cross-platform.
6. BlackBerry Blend
This feature allows you to install software on your Mac or Windows machine. You can then sync up the Passport via a USB cable or through a connection to the same Wi-Fi network.
When your phone and computer are connected, a BlackBerry Blend Dashboard pops up on screen. This shows emails, BBM and text messages as well as Calendar appointments. You can respond to messages from the dashboard should you choose to.
We could drag files onto the Passport using the File Manager in Blend. However, to take files off, we had to use the device as a mass storage device.
7. Battery life
One of the standout features is the battery life, thanks to the gigantic 3450mAh battery pack powering the Passport. That's larger than the batteries found in phablets such as the Note 4 (3,220mAh) and the Nexus
6 (3,220mAh), which have screens that are over an inch bigger.
This translates to excellent battery life. With moderate usage expect
to stretch the battery life to over 48 hours. Even if you're hammering
the device during the day with multiple email accounts synced up, you'll
make it through the working day. I've been averaging 30 hours on a
single charge.
The OS is powered by a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor and 3GB of RAM. This should give the device longevity via future software updates.
Every device ships with 32GB of internal storage and also supports micro SD cards (up to 128GB in size), so storage space won't be a problem. To access the micro SD and SIM card slots, you need to unclip the top of the device - this is secured in place so don't be afraid to use a bit of force to prise it off.
Wireless connectivity is comprehensive too with 4G, Wi-Fi Direct, NFC, Bluetooth 4 and Miracast all included as standard. When it comes to transferring content, there are plenty of options with the Passport, many of which work cross-platform.
6. BlackBerry Blend
This feature allows you to install software on your Mac or Windows machine. You can then sync up the Passport via a USB cable or through a connection to the same Wi-Fi network.
We could drag files onto the Passport using the File Manager in Blend. However, to take files off, we had to use the device as a mass storage device.
7. Battery life
One of the standout features is the battery life, thanks to the gigantic 3450mAh battery pack powering the Passport. That's larger than the batteries found in phablets such as the Note 4 (3,220mAh) and the Nexus
6 (3,220mAh), which have screens that are over an inch bigger.
8. Apps
Apps are no longer a massive problem because you can dip into either the BlackBerry World Marketplace or the Amazon App Store. This means you've got more than 500,000 apps at your disposal, so you're more than likely to find the one you need.
Box, Docs to Go, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Adobe Reader are useful apps already pre-loaded onto the device.
9. Personalisation
Although the interface has limited customisation options, there is plenty you can change when it comes to notifications and how you interact with the device.
To set up custom notifications for contacts go to Settings > Notifications > Contacts. It's then possible to assign unique ringtones as well as alerts for emails, texts and other messages.
We like the Advanced interactions too. From this menu, it's possible to do the following:
10. Web browsing
Apps are no longer a massive problem because you can dip into either the BlackBerry World Marketplace or the Amazon App Store. This means you've got more than 500,000 apps at your disposal, so you're more than likely to find the one you need.
Box, Docs to Go, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Adobe Reader are useful apps already pre-loaded onto the device.
9. Personalisation
Although the interface has limited customisation options, there is plenty you can change when it comes to notifications and how you interact with the device.
To set up custom notifications for contacts go to Settings > Notifications > Contacts. It's then possible to assign unique ringtones as well as alerts for emails, texts and other messages.
We like the Advanced interactions too. From this menu, it's possible to do the following:
This has been a weakness of previous BlackBerry handsets with
keyboards, primarily because the screens have been so small. This is no
longer an issue with the Passport.
Running the latest version of WebKit - the default browser loads pages in a couple of seconds.
BlackBerry's default browser also remains one of the few to retain support for Adobe Flash on mobile devices. You need to activate it in the browser menu by going to Settings > Display & Actions. Whilst the web is transitioning to HTML5, having the option to view Flash content on the move is useful.
You can add pages to the Home screen for quick access, enable a
Reader Mode to get rid of clutter and even save pages. There are even
one-click keyboard shortcuts for actions like 'refresh' and 'find on
page'.
Running the latest version of WebKit - the default browser loads pages in a couple of seconds.
BlackBerry's default browser also remains one of the few to retain support for Adobe Flash on mobile devices. You need to activate it in the browser menu by going to Settings > Display & Actions. Whilst the web is transitioning to HTML5, having the option to view Flash content on the move is useful.
Overall
The last month has been a more enjoyable experience than I imagined. BB10 has improved tremendously since its launch in January 2013. It feels like a completely different operating system and the ability to install apps from the Amazon App Store gives users more options.
The Passport provided all the functionality you'd expect from a high-end device. I liked the square display but felt like the keyboard suffered to accommodate this design.
Personally, I prefer touchscreen keyboards, but if you prefer physical keys, the Passport is worth trying.
The last month has been a more enjoyable experience than I imagined. BB10 has improved tremendously since its launch in January 2013. It feels like a completely different operating system and the ability to install apps from the Amazon App Store gives users more options.
The Passport provided all the functionality you'd expect from a high-end device. I liked the square display but felt like the keyboard suffered to accommodate this design.
Personally, I prefer touchscreen keyboards, but if you prefer physical keys, the Passport is worth trying.
- Get link
- Other Apps
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