So, is it too late for BlackBerry?
In a word: NO – not by a long shot. The company has a new CEO, John Chen, who is slowly but surely bringing life back into BlackBerry’s balance sheets, a solid, workable mobile OS and plenty of operating cash to see it through the year (around $3 billion, last time we checked). There was quite a bit of trepidation over whether BlackBerry would remain in the handset-building game, after word got out about the company considering a switch to a “platform and services-only” approach. This didn’t happen, of course, and now we have the BlackBerry Passport, which doesn’t really need any introductions whatsoever –– it’s THAT square phone you’ve been hearing so much about these past few weeks.
Is it any good? That depends where you go for your reviews, really. KYM has long been a fan of BB10 and what it stands for, but for the longest time we’ve also felt a little let down by the hardware it shipped inside. Can the BlackBerry Passport change this? Lets bloody well find out!
BlackBerry Passport Review: Design
If you want to get people talking, give them something interesting to talk about. And in a world of rectangular slabs dominated by two platforms, it’s good to see something a little more eccentric with regards to design. Yes, the iPhone 6 is gorgeous. And, yes, the LG G3 and HTC One M8 are beautifully designed smartphones with excellent operating systems, but variety (at least, outside the mobile space) is considered the spice of life, and for the longest time nothing of note has really happened in the arena of phone design.They just seem to be getting bigger –– A LOT bigger. Hell, even Apple’s getting in on the act with the iPhone 6 Plus, which is now one of the largest handsets money can buy, save for the newly released Google Nexus 6. Beyond this trend, however, not much else has happened with respect to design; tech brands still worship the thinner, faster, lighter mantra. And that’s fine –– I like svelte, lightweight gizmos. And yet, at the same time, I still often find myself hoping for something truly leftfield from OEMs… it just never happens.
UNTIL NOW.
The BlackBerry Passport is big –– very BIG –– it’s square AND it has a physical keyboard, which also doubles as a trackpad for scrolling around menus, apps and webpages. And all of that has caused a lot of people to write the handset off as nothing more than a mobile version of a bearded lady, labelling it a freak that’s kind of interesting but hardly convenient in normal, everyday life. But here’s the thing: this sentiment couldn’t be further from the truth.
Measuring in at 128 x 90.3 x 9.3 mm, the BlackBerry Passport, like all good things, is more than a handful. You can’t really use it comfortably with one hand, but so what? I can’t use my Nexus 5 with one hand all that well. Ditto the iPhone 6 Plus. The Passport weighs in at 196g and is heavier than anything the company has ever produced. It is also more premium than anything BlackBerry has turned out in living memory, with a gorgeous metal frame, high-grade polycarbonate backing, pitch-perfect keyboard, and an ultra-high-resolution 4.5in display.
As I see it there are two talking points regarding the Passport’s design: it’s keyboard and the display. The former is a full QWERTY setup arranged over three rows with the space bar housed centrally on the bottom line of keys. BlackBerry says this is the best keyboard it has ever produced, and it really is –– it surpasses the Q10’s setup in everyway. And the main reason for this is because it is A LOT smarter. On top of that it is more fully integrated with BB10 and the overall experience of using the phone.
I’ll admit, ahead of using the BlackBerry Passport I had plenty of reservations about this device. The shape didn’t really appeal to me, and the idea of using a QWERTY keyboard, while always an interesting prospect, struck me as a bit antiquated. I really liked the BlackBerry Q10 and used it as my daily driver for a good six months, but in the end I still ended up going back to Android. The Passport is better than the Q10 because it takes the principles that made it great (an excellent QWERTY combined with a decent OS) and evolves it into a handset that feels like a proper, full-on 2014 flagship – something that can and will (in some instances) replace an iPhone or Android handset.
The design is definitely controversial and it certainly won’t suit all tastes. But that’s OK. If you want an iPhone, chances are you already own one. Ditto for Android. The Passport handles pretty much as you’d expect. It does feel incredibly wide compared to standard-issue handsets from LG, Google, HTC and Apple, and it does take some getting used to… but, AGAIN, so what? You could say the exact same thing about the original Samsung Galaxy Note or the iPhone 6 Plus for that matter.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, which is to say different folks find different things attractive (just look at Benedict Cumberbatch), so rather than taking my word for it –– even though I do like the way it looks, and find Mr Cumberbatch very handsome –– the best possible route for you, dear reader, is to ask yourself whether you could see yourself using a handset that looks like this? If your the gut answer is no, fine, move along. But if you’re intrigued by its odd proportions and find yourself musing about what it would feel like in your hand, or how its keys work in practice, then I’d advise you to go and check one out in a phone shop because there is a certain je nais sais quois about the Passport that I think A LOT of people will really enjoy.
Initial sales seemed to indicate this too –– BlackBerry confirmed it sold 200,000 units in the handset’s first two days on sale. The company has remained quiet on exact figures since then, but John Chen recently confirmed the company is experiencing shortages of the handset due to higher-than-expected demand.
Speaking to The Globe and Mail, Chen said: “I’m glad to have inventory issues. It shows that people want the phone. We took a very conservative approach and didn’t order too many.”
Incidentally, the Passport also sold on Amazon within hours of going on sale. Guess there is quite a bit of love out their for BlackBerry after all…
Red Passport Spotted
Despite having a business emphasis, BlackBerry isn't averse to some flashy design variants of its devices, and in the past we've seen handsets with some bright colour options released after the regular models. That seems to be happening again with the Passport as an image has cropped up on N4BB. Additonally the site reports that an official Blackberry page on Amazon listed the variant with a retail price of $699 - the same as the white model.While it's nice to see some colour diversity, we must say the shade of red used is a bit full-on. In fact thinking about it, it would have been interesting to see a more subdued maroon red similar to actual passports.
White BlackBerry Passport Heading To Canada
BlackBerry has put a white-colour version of the Passport up for pre-order on its official website. It is only available in Canada and there has been no word from BlackBerry on whether it will be released anywhere else. The new colour option will be shipping to customers on December 7 but will set you back an extra CAD $100 over the black version.
BlackBerry uploaded the new colour option to the Canadian store overnight and didn’t bother announcing it formally - that may mean it’ll appear in other countries soon but we wouldn’t hold our breath. The white version may just turn out to be a little treat for the company’s home market.
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