conquering the corporate flagship market. Is it enough to turn around the company’s fortunes?
BlackBerry almost caved littlemore than a year ago, with CEOJohn Chen proclaiming he wouldkill the handset business if it failedto show profit…And yet here we are,with an Android handset that the worldhas been eagerly waiting for. The Privrepresents the company’s attempts atlistening to critics and adopting a widerreaching OS, with true flagship specsthrown in. On paper, there’s a lot tolike about this device and the physicalkeyboard will surely attract businessusers. Still, will this be the start of anew future for BlackBerry, or is toolittle, too late?
Design
Big, bold but decidedly premium is a waywe would use to fondly describe the Priv.While the thickness is unmistakably large,at almost 1cm, the lateral dimensions ofthe handset are pretty snug thanks tothe curved screen that manages to takeup quite a bit of the front panel. Therubberised rear case makes it excellent togrip in the hand, with no chance of it fallingout by mistake. It certainly feels uniqueand would stand out in any social situation,especially with the huge BlackBerry logoencompassing the rear.Underneath the screen lies a hugespeaker that pumps out some seriouslygood sound and that obligatory BlackBerrykeyboard, which feels as good as it everdid. The flip out keypad is one of the sellingpoints in the Priv and definitely helps whensending large text documents, while thetouchpad integrated directly into the keysmakes swiping and editing text a breeze.It’s a great feature, though we did noticesome rather obvious design flaws apparentwhen using it.Flipping the keyboard out is easy thanksto the recessed portion around the speaker,though getting it back in is another taskaltogether. You only option is to placeyour finer over the screen for leverage,meaning you could end up opening appsby mistake as you force the keyboard backunderneath. We’re not exactly sure howBlackBerry can remedy this but it definitelyneeds consideration when the new versioninevitably hits the market.On the top of the device lies a SIMslot and microSD slot, the latter being awelcome addition that should be availableon all handsets. The headphone jack hasbeen moved to a slightly awkward positionon the bottom of the handset, though thishas likely been done to make room for thememory expansion mentioned earlier. In ouropinion, it is a worthwhile trade-off despitethe added clunkiness. It is accompaniedby a Micro-USB slot that supports QuickCharge.On the sides, the Priv has its powerbutton orientated on the left, while theright-hand side has three buttons ratherthan the usual two. You get volume up,volume down and a new button thatBlackBerry calls ‘mute’. Aside from instantlysilencing the device when it is playingsound, the button doesn’t appear to doanything else… Which is a bit anti-climactic.In fact, it only acts as a mute button whennoise is actively playing, so pressing itotherwise will do absolutely nothing exceptshow the volume panel. Very odd.
Camera
BlackBerry devices have never been particularly well known for their camera
quality, so it is somewhat surprisingto see the company pushing so hard inthis area with the Priv. Shipping withan 18 megapixel camera that featuresSchneider-Kreuznach optics, OIS andphase detection autofocus, it certainly hasa lot going for it on raw specs alone. The1/2.4’ sensor size also puts it larger thancomparative devices such as the SamsungGalaxy S6 and LG G4, meaning slightlycleaner images in principal. Of course, thisis only half the battle, as image processingalso makes up a large majority of what toexpect.For all its bells and whistles, thecamera is decent but won’t necessarilywin any awards. You can tell that there’sa very capable sensor under the hoodbut unfortunately image processing isnot up to scratch here. Things feel tooover-processed at times, with a tendencytowards excessive sharpening that isevident on closer inspection. Low-lightperformance would be very good if itwasn’t for the crispy edges, a tell-tale signthat the software is trying to compensatetoo hard. That said, we were still veryimpressed with just how much lightthe sensor manages to absorb in darkersituations.The camera app itself is another areawhere BlackBerry is still inexperienced,with a complete lack of manual features.Aside from HDR and exposure adjustments,there’s really little to see here. Processingis also a little on the slow side, with imagestaking roughly a half second. This isdisappointing since it kind of negates thespeediness you feel from that fast phasedetection autofocus.The 2 megapixel front camera isn’t thatgreat, with a lot of noise and images thatveer on soft. We’d probably be fine withthis on a mid-range or budget handset butfor flagship level handsets you’d expect amuch better quality sensor here. The fact itcan’t even shoot 1080p video is completelyunacceptable, especially at this price-point.
Screen
The Priv comes with a beautifully curved5.4-inch 1440 x 2560 AMOLED displaythat’s similar in design to that featured inthe excellent Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. Onthis device, the curve is much more subtleand arguably a little better, as it feels farless intrusive when you’re trying to use thehandset as say, as normal device. The Edgewas a great device to look at and evenbetter to hold, but the sheer amount ofcurve that Samsung shoved into that paneldid make some tasks a little more difficult.BlackBerry seems to have got the balanceright here, with just enough to enhance theexperience and make it look cool withoutoverdoing it.In terms of actual performance, thescreen really makes colours pop and has anoticeably rich contrast ratio which borderson over-vibrant. Calibration proved thisto be true, with an excessively dynamicimage that crushed vital highlights andshadows. There was also a distinct greenhue that got ironed out during the process.Brightness for the device is excellent, evensuperseding the likes of the Galaxy S6 intesting. For both indoor and harsh outdooruse, there’s not much to dislike here.
Performance
The Priv comes with a powerful Snapdragon 808 processor but as weknow, performance from this chip is alittle hit and miss at higher resolutions.For anything above, you are looking at the810 as the only viable option for a smoothexperience. We’ve seen it happen in thepast with devices such as the LG G4 and itis replicated here, with generally smoothperformance hampered by app hangs andsubtle delays. While it never got to thepoint where it was an outright distraction,it is noticeable enough that some users willfeel frustrated, especially considering thestonking price tag for the device.Our Geekbench tests reflected this, witha strong but still underpowered 3373 formulti-core and 1239 for single-core. Thisputs it at the top end of the chart butbehind front runners such as the OnePlus2, Nexus 6P and Samsung Galaxy S6.Gaming performance was once againa mixed kettle of fish, with smoothperformance occasionally interrupted byframe-drops. Less intensive titles suchas Clash of Clans seemed to run fine andwe can only assume that the 1440p panelis putting exceptionally large amounts ofstress on the chipset. There’s a reasonwhy most handsets with that sort ofresolution opt for the Snapdragon 810, andit definitely shows here.
SOfTWARE
Software is one area where the newBlackberry Priv really excels, as themodified Android OS is the perfect blend ofstock and additional features. Moving awayfrom the Blackberry 10 OS was alwaysgoing to be a big decision for the company,but the lucrative chance to dip into thathuge user base has obviously influenced itto make the jump.Shipping with Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, youwon’t be getting the latest and greatestversion of the OS, but for most people it ishighly likely they won’t notice the subtledifferences between this and Marshmallowanyway. Lollipop was the last big jumpfor the Android OS, bringing with it thematerial design and updates to notificationmanagement and the quick settings menu.This, on top of many other additions, madeit a big improvement over the previousKitKat version that preceded it.Blackberry’s attempt at the Android OSfeels very close to stock and is reflected inperformance, with definite fluidity whenusing the device day-to-day. The featuresit has added are subtle enough thatthey don’t overshadow the basic designprinciples and it is nice to use a device thathas arguably the best of both worlds.Access to the full Google Play Store isperhaps the biggest saving grace for thishandset, as the stripped-back versionavailable on BB10 only allowed a handfulof apps to actually be downloaded. Notonly that, but Blackberry has managed topay heritage to its own OS in the Androiddesign language. Splat notifications andthat familiar keyboard are present, as isthe blinking LED above the screen thatchanges colour according to the notificationreceived.It has also included a new ‘ProductivityTab’ feature, which feels like an attempt tobring some of BB10’s business-orientatedfeatures across. Fairly simple in nature,it lingers on the side of the screen andcan be swiped out to show calendar info,messages, appointments and favouritecontacts. It is quite a neat feature that feelsan awful lot like what Samsung tried withthe Edge, though the implantation is far,far better.
BATTERY
The battery in the Priv is a huge 3,410mAh,one of the biggest on test so far. The devicecan easily go through a day of moderateuse and sometimes an extra half day on topproviding you don’t do too much gaming,which appears to a major killer. Our30-minute intense Asphalt 8: Airborne testdrained the battery by 18%, quite a highresult for such a large capacity cell. Wehave no doubt that this is down to the heatissues experienced while using the deviceduring the gaming.The device carries Qualcomm’s QuickCharge 2.0, though from what we couldtell the included charger doesn’t supportit. Thankfully, it still seemed to charge thedevice pretty damn fast, going from around20% to 100% in just over two hours.
CONCLUSiON
Incredibly expensive for what it is, thePriv is a good handset that will satisfymost users’ needs for a BlackBerry devicerunning Android. While it does have its fairshare of issues, the underlying experienceis very fluid and the additional featureshelp to enhance the experience. As a firstattempt, this is a decent effort and we lookforward to seeing what it brings in thefuture
SPec Sheet
OS Android 5.1.1
Processor: 1.5GHz Snapdragon 808
Screen 5.4 inches
Resolution 1440 x 2560 (518ppi)
Memory 3GB
Storage 32GB
Micro SD compatible? Yes, up to 200GB
Rear camera 18MP
Front camera 2MP
Video 4K
connectivity Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC
Dimensions 152 x 78 x 8.1 mm
Weight 192g
Battery 3,410mAh
At a glance
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3/5
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3/5
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4/5
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VERDICT
There’s a lot to like about the Priv… But there’s also a lot todislike. It costs a bomb, the camera is only decent and theSnapdragon 808 struggles to handle the high resolution attimes. That said, the stock Android experience and addedfeatures provided by BlackBerry, plus obligatory keyboard,make this a joy to use. This is a good handset and it will beinteresting to see how BlackBerry progresses.