Design
The phone looks like your run-of-the-mill full touch screen device at first glance. A glass slab at the front that is curved on both sides like the S6 Edge, and on the back is BlackBerry’s signature glass weave finish, found on the Q10 and the Z30. While I do enjoy the grippy-ness of the material, the fit and finish leaves much to be desired. Like many have reported, the unit I have has a little bit of give at the back, and the side even creaks a little when I hold it tighter.
The phone is a little chunky by modern standards, but that is easily forgiven when you consider it hides a physical keyboard under that display. The sliding mechanism feels solid, and requires just the right amount of force to push the display up too. Overall this is a nice feeling phone in hand, and the design is pretty much what you would expect from BlackBerry, understated and utilitarian. The build quality could have been a bit better though considering the price tag of the device.
Screen and Speaker
The front of the device houses a 5.4” QHD AMOLED screen which curves at both side. It's a familiar looking panel to that of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge which is a good thing. The display looks vibrant, and viewing angles are great.
Below the screen there is a single firing speaker which sounds decent, but probably won't blow anyone away.
Performance
The Priv is powered by a Snapdragon 808 chipset with 3GB RAM. While not the best processor you'll find in the market, we've seen good performance from this chipset on other devices like the LG G4, Moto X Pure, and the Nexus 5X. Sadly I can't say the same for the Priv. Performance is okay, but not great. Games like Need For Speed: No Limits runs smoother on the Moto X Pure despite the same processing package, and noticeably slower than its higher end counterpart, the Snapdragon 810 or Samsung’s Exynos 7420. Day to day user experience is still decent, but stutter and dropped frames in the animation shows up every now and again. For a device that costs as much as the Priv, I was expecting something more.
The device also has the tendency to warm up pretty easily as well. Perhaps even easier than other devices using Snapdragon 810 processor. Which is a bit puzzling because the Nexus 5X and Moto X Pure didn't have this issue at all.
A side note regarding the LTE network speeds, the Priv support Cat.6 LTE as well, and it's one of the faster performing I've seen in a while.
Software
The Priv is BlackBerry’s first smartphone released with Android, and that’s a big deal. While BlackBerry 10 supported installation of some Android apps, it is more of a patchwork than anything else. With the Priv, we are talking about full-fledged Android with Google Play Services on-board.
The look and feel of the OS might look remarkably similar to stock Android, but there are a number of enhancements that BlackBerry has added. You have a revamped recents apps layout (something which can be tweaked), an app drawer that houses not just apps but widgets and shortcuts too, swipe up shortcuts, swipe up on app icons to quickly jump into a widget, productivity tab, and a handful of other changes. Essentially, it’s an approach to Android similar to Motorola's, albeit a little heavier-handed.
Not all of them works great though. The swipe up widget feature was nice at first, until the widgets stopped loading. The swipe up shortcuts isn’t something I would use too since I’m so used to it being a way to launch Google Now.
There are BlackBerry-built apps as well of course out of the box, like BBM, Content Transfer, Device Search, Calendar, Tasks, Password Protect, and a few others. Some are genuinely useful, especially if you’re coming over from BlackBerry 10 and don’t already have a suite of apps that you depend on. But if you’re like me and already depend on other apps/services, then you’re not going to be bothered with most of them.
Some notable BlackBerry apps also includes the BlackBerry Hub, and Dtek. BlackBerry Hub is something I really enjoyed using on BlackBerry 10, because of the deep integration, and the easy way to access it. On Android, it feels forced. Not all notifications are supported, so you end up with some notifications at the top, some in BlackBerry Hub. It does support Whatsapp, which is nice, but the way it works isn’t fantastic too. All it does is work like Android’s notification tray, it brings you into that chat, and that’s about it. When you click the back button, you’re brought back to Whatsapp’s main page, not back in the Hub. Overall it doesn’t bring anything additional to the user experience to me, and to some extent even causes friction with Android’s default notification system.
Dtek, is BlackBerry’s way of monitoring how safe your phone is, and providing you some ways of making your phone more secure. It also tells you what applications are accessing permission on your device, and how often they are doing so. But that's all the app does. While it is a useful way to keep track of what which app is trying to access, it would be better if we were able to turn off those permissions. Sadly because the Priv is still on Android Lollipop and not Marshmallow, we can't do that just yet.
Physical Keyboard
Probably one of the reason why the device caught the attention of so many would be its physical keyboard. Hidden underneath the screen in a slider form factor, the keyboard is decent, but definitely not BlackBerry’s best showing. The keyboard doesn't have as much travel as I would have liked, and are a bit stiff (though it would probably become smoother over more use). It is an understandable compromise though considering its thickness. It's actually impressive how BlackBerry managed to pack a QHD 5.4” display, and a 3,410mAh battery as well. I would have expected the device to feel much thicker with all the hardware it is packing.
The tactility of physically depressing a button to type a word out is still as enjoyable despite the slightly flat keys. But the undeniable fact is that it is still easier and faster to type on a virtual keyboard. Virtual keyboard these days have gotten so good that it’s harder and harder to justify having a physical keyboard.
There is a reason why I chose to talk about the physical keyboard after talking about the software of the phone. The two really go hand in hand because the software enables additional functionality to the physical keyboard. Much like the BlackBerry Passport, the keyboard is actually touch sensitive. You can use it as a trackpad to scroll through webpages or any lists, or you can use it to swipe in word predictions and delete words. Another sort of useful feature would be using it as a cursor for text editing, but I say sort of because it doesn't work well with all apps. In Google Docs for example, it doesn't work at all.
My favourite feature though, is keyboard shortcuts. The ability to program the keys to do certain things, launch certain apps. I have a handful I’ve set up to launch applications, a handful to go into particular options inside settings too. These comes in handy when you’re trying to quickly launch an application not on your home screen.
It’s not all rainbows and butterflies though. While the software and hardware combination works well enough most of the time, there is friction when trying to use it. Unless you really love the physical keyboard, you are going to be spending more time using the virtual keyboard on the phone, something which is decent but not my number one choice. The BlackBerry virtual keyboard does not support swipe to input text which I use time to time when typing one handed and it doesn’t sync your preferences across different devices too unlike Google Keyboard or Swiftkey.
Being an Android device, of course you can use another keyboard, but not without some caveats. For one you lose the touch capabilities on the keyboard while typing. Then I also noticed that it doesn’t play too nice with the physical keyboard. Switching between typing on the virtual keyboard to the physical keyboard causes problem sometimes, like the virtual keyboard refusing to go away despite having slide out the keyboard. Unless you’re planning on not using that physical keyboard (which is a big reason for buying this phone) I’ll recommend sticking with the default BlackBerry keyboard.
Overall, what should have been a key selling point ended up being a mixed bag. The physical keyboard isn’t as nice to type on, and you’re sort of stuck with BlackBerry’s virtual keyboard too which isn’t my favourite. Instead of being the best of both worlds, it ended up being a compromise on both ends of the spectrum.
Battery Life
The Priv packs a 3,410mAh battery underneath, and while that sounds like plenty on paper, in actual usage it was a little underwhelming for its size. It gets me through a day of normal usage just fine, but if you're a heavier user, or have a slightly longer day, you'll find yourself needing a quick top up before the day is over. While it does support quick charging, it doesn’t come with a quick charger out of the box, something I find ridiculous considering the price of the phone.
Camera
On the back of the Priv, you’ll find a Schneider-Kreuznach endorsed 18MP camera with OIS, and an f/2.2 lens. I can start off by saying that this is the best camera on a BlackBerry yet, but frankly that wouldn't be saying much. What I would say, is that this is a camera that most people are going to be okay with using on a daily basis.
The camera app is simple and easy to use, and auto HDR mode actually works properly. Its only downfall is the slightly slower capture speed which to me seems like it's down to the processing and saving of the image rather than the shutter speed is slow.
In low light the camera performs admirably too. Auto mode tend to go for a slightly dimmer look and feel which can look a little dull, but nothing a quick adjustment won't fix. Details are well preserved too despite the overall slightly grainy look. It's not going to out gun the Galaxy S6 or the LG G4 in Low light conditions, but for the casual shooter the Priv is up to the task.
Overall while it might not be right at the top like the Galaxy S6, G4, or Nexus 5X/6P, but most people should fine it sufficient. The real downside would probably be the front camera which is a mere 2MP shooter that produces below average looking shots.
Full resolution images for viewing and comparison: BlackBerry Priv, Galaxy Note 5, LG G4, Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Moto X Pure, iPhone 6S
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In the end your verdict of this phone may vary depending on where you're coming from. Personally, I am a BlackBerry fan that has moved on to other platforms as my daily driver because of my needs. With the Priv running Android, it should be the perfect device for an ex-addict. But it isn't.
(BlackBerry devices I've used)
It's not just down to the flaws of the device, it's the positioning of the product in the market. The amount of money that BlackBerry wants for the device is simply too much. In the Android market, I could think of multiple devices that makes more sense than the Priv. The Nexus 6P is cheaper, but yet better in most aspects. The Note 5 is about the same price, and offers way more than the Priv. The LG G4 and Moto X Pure Edition offers similar specifications in a much cheaper package. All of which makes more sense than the Priv.
While there are plenty of praise worthy features, and traits on the Priv, they are outweighed by some pretty hefty downfalls. The idea behind the software enhancements are well-intentioned, but poorly executed. The design of the phone looks great, but doesn't feel as solid in hand. Even the physical keyboard which is the unique feature of the Priv merely offers a glimpse of what a BlackBerry keyboard could be, but doesn't quite live up to expectations.
For people who has been using BlackBerry 10, and wants to make the switch to the Priv, you're going to have to decide whether having access to millions of apps is more important than having your basic BlackBerry productivity features. Because those still works better on BlackBerry 10. You also get a better media experience as well of course with the Priv thanks to Android.
For Android users who are looking for a new Android device, the Priv is a tough sell at the price that BlackBerry is asking for it. It’s a great first attempt by BlackBerry, and it has potential. But the Priv needs more work, and more polishing. If this story sounds familiar, it's because it's the same story for a lot BlackBerry devices I've owned over the past years, and it is getting a little old.
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