BlackBerry Passport review: Ticket to ride

Even from a distance, it's apparent that the Passport is a device that's different for a reason. First, the company failed to market a "traditional" smartphone with the otherwise solid BlackBerry Z30. The BlackBerry Q5 QWERTY messenger wasn't any more successful as a return to the bread-and-butter. Now, the Passport hopes to strike gold with a formula that's the best of both worlds while being bound to neither.



BlackBerry Passport official pictures
The Passport certainly carries a spec sheet to put performance buffs at ease. With a Quad-core 2.26GHz Snapdragon 801 chip and 3GB of RAM, it's easily the most robust BlackBerry smartphone to date. The 4.5-inch square display is also of an impressive 1440 x 1440px, which results in an excellent 453ppi. Here's what else it brings to the table:
Key features
- 4.5" 16M-color IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen of 1440 x 1440px
- Quad-core 2.26 GHz Krait 400, 3GB RAM, Adreno 330
- 13 megapixel auto-focus camera with face detection and Time Shift, HDR, LED flash, 2MP front facing camera
- FullHD (1080p) video recording at 60fps; 720p recording with front-facing camera
- 32GB storage, microSD card slot up to 128GB; built-in Dropbox and Box integration
- Unique touch-enabled 3-row QWERTY keyboard with hardware keys
- Stereo speakers
- Ability to run Android apps (via the Amazon AppStore or sideloading)
- BlackBerry 10.3 OS with Virtual Assistant
- 3,450mAh battery
Main disadvantages
- Awkward design, in which an otherwise compact touchscreen takes some really large hands to use single-handedly and typing is certainly a two-hand job
- No 2160p video recording (for such an expensive device)
- Non user-replaceable battery
- Three-row QWERTY has no numpad, multi-language support potentially problematic
Its capable office suite along with the rich and secure email and messaging capabilities make it a very compelling offer in a corporate scenario. By playing to its strengths, BlackBerry is giving you a reason to consider it above Android.



BlackBerry Passport studio shots
But the Passport certainly doesn't come without its share of drawbacks. The odd form factor takes a lot of getting used to, particularly if you're coming from a conventional smartphone. Up next we'll take a closer look at the design, controls, and handling of the BlackBerry Passport.
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