BlackBerry continues to develop new handsets for its loyal customers. The newest handset is a surprise with a refreshing look and they called it the BlackBerry Passport.
The Passport is pretty unique in several fronts. First is the squarish form factor that we’ve only seen for the first time. It feels like a phablet because of the more-than-usual width and forces you to handle it with both hands. For a lot of old BlackBerry users, that’s not really an issue.
Second is the physical keyboard and the touch-screen display. BlackBerry had introduced this to their older models and even continued to do so with the previous BlackBerry Q10.
The combination of of a touch display and a full physical keyboard still makes sense for the BB OS 10. Screen navigation can be done thru the touch display while text input is done using the physical keyboard.
The keyboard only uses around 20% of the body space to give more real estate to the screen. It’s done with minimalist arrangement and layed out in just 3 rows with no alternate keys. If you need additional keys or characters, the screen will show up an extended virtual keyboard which is a nice and efficient implementation.
BlackBerry still knows how to make really good handset keyboards and the Passport is a testament to that.
The Passport has a nice, elegant design in a unique form factor that you will either love or not. For the most part, I think you’ll end up liking it.
The 4.5-inch IPS LCD screen might sound small on paper compared to many other flagship handsets this year but since the display is square, the total screen area is actually really huge. Screen resolution (1440×1440 pixels) is also one of the highest in the market at 453ppi pixel density.
Since the aspect ratio is not the usual 16:9 or 4:3 standard, a lot of the apps and games are either stretched or cropped at the top and bottom.
The power button is found at the top right corner along with the 3.5mm audio port. The volume controls are on the right side together with a BlackBerry Assistant button. The microUSB port for charging is found at the bottom edge along with the microphone.
The device is powered by a Snapdragon 801 chip which is a quad-core processor running 2.26GHz per core paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage that can be extended to 128GB via a microSD card.
At the back is the 13-megapixel camera with an LED flash just above it. The compartment for the microSD card and the microSIM cards are hidden in a small back cover at the upper section where a silver line cuts across the area of the camera module.
Everything else in connectivity are included – from 4G LTE connectivity, WiFI, Bluetooth and NFC.
The huge battery capacity, rated at 3,450mAh, also provides more than enough battery life to last the whole day plus a little bit more for the next day.
Perhaps the only main issue with a lot of people who might consider a BlackBerry is the operating system and the app ecosystem.
BlackBerry OS 10 is a robust mobile operating system with a very light footprint. As such, the top-notch hardware and optimized software makes the device perform really well. It’s snappy, responsive and blazing fast even on a multi-tasking environment.
Hundreds of thousands of apps and games can be downloaded the BlackBerry World) app store and the compatible Amazon App Store. Apps can also be sideloaded so you can install and use almost all of your favorite Android apps and games.
All-in-all, the BlackBerry Passport is a solid release. It’s powerful, nicely designed and carries a physical keyboard that we rarely see these days.
If you are willing to shell out Php35,790 for a unit, then that should say how much you really like this device.
BlackBerry Passport specs:
4.5-inch IPS LCD @ 1440×1440 pixels, 453ppi
Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 2.2GHz quad-core CPU
Adreno 330 GPU
3GB RAM
32GB internal storage
up to 128GB via microSD
13 megapixel AF rear camera w/ OIS, f2.0 lens, LED flash
2 megapixel fixed-focus front camera
4G LTE, HSPA+, 3G
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
WiFi Direct, Miracast
Bluetooth v4.0, A2DP, LE
NFC
FM Radio
USB 2.0
GPS with a-GPS support, GLONASS
3,450mAh Li-ion battery
BlackBerry 10.3 OS
128 x 90.3 x 9.3 mm
196g
What we liked about it:
* Unique form factor
* Full physical keyboard
* Really good build quality
* Great hardware performance
* Great display quality
What we did not like:
* Not affordable
* Not as extensive app and game selections in the App Store
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