BlackBerry released its first Android smartphone, but if you want a true BlackBerry experience then buy a device that runs the BlackBerry 10 OS.
ZDNet's Zack Whittaker posted his full BlackBerry Priv review a couple weeks ago and after seeing the low 5.7/10 rating I knew I had to test it myself since I just couldn't believe it was really that bad. It turns out I really do not like the AT&T BlackBerry Priv either.
While Zack was mainly disappointed with the privacy and security features, I find the hardware quality lacking and the implementation of 'BlackBerry Hub' a bit blasphemous.
While Zack was mainly disappointed with the privacy and security features, I find the hardware quality lacking and the implementation of 'BlackBerry Hub' a bit blasphemous.
Regular readers know I've been a fan of the BlackBerry Passport, but sold mine a few months ago to try out some other new smartphones. As a result of testing out the BlackBerry Priv, I actually went to Swappa and picked up another Passport.
I am convinced that the BlackBerry Passport is the best smartphone ever made by BlackBerry and that BlackBerry 10 OS is the best OS for BlackBerry fans.
BLACKBERRY PRIV HARDWARE THOUGHTS
The first thing I noticed about the hardware of the Priv is that the power button barely protrudes from the right side and has no texture to it. It's actually a shiny slick material so there is no tactile feel to it. The center mute button between the volume buttons is basically useless as you can only use it to mute yourself during a call. It serves no other function.
The first thing I noticed about the hardware of the Priv is that the power button barely protrudes from the right side and has no texture to it. It's actually a shiny slick material so there is no tactile feel to it. The center mute button between the volume buttons is basically useless as you can only use it to mute yourself during a call. It serves no other function.
After picking up the Priv, I was surprised how cheap it felt in the hand. This was primarily due to the 'hollow' feel of the back, play in the left side rail, and movement of the lower part of the display when the display was slid up. I'm used to rock solid metal, glass, and plastic used on the latest smartphones, especially those priced at $700.
The back has a carbon fiber weave material that does serve to make the phone easier to hold and less likely to slide out of your hand. However, it feels like there is an air gap between the back casing material and the internal components. Some people may be fine with it, but I personally hate it.
In a couple places on the side, I can feel the side material move when I press in on it. With the display slid up, I can feel, see, and hear the lower right corner move up and down when I tap this area of the display. There is also some movement of the display in the slider track and I honestly don't have a lot of confidence in its long term durability and performance.
One of the only reasons to consider the BlackBerry Priv over much better, lower priced Android devices is the physical QWERTY keyboard. Unfortunately, it's not as good as the one on the BlackBerry Passport or Classic. The Passport has the luxury of being wider thanks to a much wider form factor, but looking beyond the width we find that the Priv suffers from shorter key travel (shallower) and less height making the keys fairly small.
It's hilarious to read so many articles discussing the touch sensitivity of the physical keyboard as if it is new to BlackBerry. The Passport has this functionality and it is indeed one of the many useful features of these keyboards. That is one aspect of the Priv keyboard that pleases me.
It is great to see such extensive keyboard shortcut support on the Priv, something that surprised me given it must have taken serious work to implement this in Android. I'm sure hardware QWERTY fans will adapt over time and learn to like the Priv keyboard.
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