We’ve stated in the past that it takes a lot of courage to forgo your proprietary operating system for another the way Blackberry has done. Although, Blackberry says that the BB OS is not being abandoned, the reality is that this may just be the end of its OS, especially if their new experiment with Android turns out favourably.
A few months ago, Blackberry Priv hit the markets with a payoff that depicts both Privacy and Privilege which is why the device is cool in terms of its premium look and feel plus coming with the tight security features Blackberry is already known for. Furthermore, if you are a big fan of the physical keyboard, then, this device is definitely what you should look forward to. Needless to say, it is not only the keyboard that you need to look forward to, but the whole package that it provides.
To put simply, the Priv is a well designed phone that is pretty balanced such that if you slide it open you will feel that the top part is heavy and at the same time when you slide down the keyboard, it is thin enough that you will not feel that there is a keyboard underneath. It is not only the physical keyboard feature that we need to look at. Right?
So let us look at some of the features that the device has;
Body: 147×77.2×9.4mm with a weight of 192g
Display: 5.4 inches AMOLED capacitive touch screen 1440 x 2560 pixels (~ 540 PPI Pixel densities) 16M colors with Corning Gorilla glass 4 with curved edge screen.
Chipset/CPU/GPU: Qualcomm MSM8992 Snapdragon 808, Dual-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A57 & quad-core 1.44 GHz Cortex-A53, Adreno 418 with 3 GB RAM
Camera: The primary camera boasts an 18 MP, f/2.2, 27mm, Schneider Kreuznach optics, OIS, Dual-LED flash. Video records at 2016p@30fps and 1080p@60fps. The rearview camera is a 2megapixel with a 720p recording.
Communications: GSM/HSPA/LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth v4.1, A2DP, EDR, LE, NFC, Micro USB v2.0 (Slim Port 4K)
Storage: Internal up to 32 GB and Micro SD, up to 200 GB
Battery: Non-removable Li-Ion 3410 MAH battery
With the specs described above, we can conclude that Blackberry Priv is a well-rounded smartphone with all the needed specs.
Design
Taking a closer look at the design, the dimension of 147×77.2×9.4 mm and a weight of 192g the Blackberry Priv is not exactly small, nor is it lightweight in any way and if you slide open the keyboard the height extends to 184mm.
Display
With a resolution of 1440x 2560 and a pixel density of 540ppi, the images, and the texts are crisp and vivid and simply look great.
Speakers
Blackberry decided to put the speakers in front and also included the mute button in between the volume buttons.
Camera Quality
With an 18-megapixel sensor with Optical Image Stabilization and a dual-LED flash, it is by far Blackberry’s best camera ever put in their device.
The camera takes some sharp pictures, even in low light, but the only drawback is that it is slow. It takes around 4 to 5 seconds to finish taking a photo with the HDR mode.
Battery
Packed with a non-removable 3410mAh battery, it could easily go for a day with a mixed use of the phone.
Software
The device runs on Android 5.1.1, but will have an update soon. It comes with preloaded apps and a cosmetic touch.
The downside
A vivid downside of the Blackberry Priv is that it lacks any metallic finishing which is something that a lot of competing phones have. The 2 MP front-facing camera may be off-putting to those taking selfies – we believe that anything less than 5MP front facing camera for a flagship device is unacceptable and finally, it does not support quick charging like other flagship phones.
Conclusion
It is hard to decide whether the Blackberry users will switch to an android OS especially those who security freaks, although the specs seem pretty good, but to be fair, there are other android devices in the market which offer better specifications. The price is a factor here as well. Compared to what the blackberry is offering, other flagship android devices are offering too, so it will come down to personal preference. If your preference is having a device with good specifications and a physical keyboard, then the Blackberry Priv definitely takes the advantage.
