BlackBerry Passport - review

Introduction of BlackBerry Passport

The BlackBerry Passport has finally arrived and it has brought a new twist to the classic QWERTY BlackBerry design. The BlackBerry Passport has attracted many people because of its quirky look. Even I had my doubts about the Passport initially, wondering if BlackBerry's design team had lost their minds. But after a while I warmed up to the look of it and began to wonder if BlackBerry was really onto something here with the odd shape, the missing row of keys, and unique trackpad built into the keyboard.According to BlackBerry, the Passport was built for productivity, and one of the key selling points is that it's a powerful smartphone that is optimized for viewing and input. The large display offers an uncompromising experience for viewing content, reading documents, using maps, managing email and finally, browsing the web.

The BlackBerry Passport has better specs than any BlackBerry produced before it. Behind the Gorilla Glass 3 enforced 4.5”, 1440x1440 LCD display is a 2.2 GHz Quad-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 customized for BlackBerry, 32GB of flash memory that's expandable up to 128GB through the micro SD Slot and 3GB of RAM. Although BlackBerry 10 devices have never really suffered from lag, the Passport just feels faster at doing everything. Opening apps, taking pictures, browsing the web -- you name it, it all feels faster on the BlackBerry Passport versus previous devices.

Key features of BlackBerry Passport

· 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 of BlackBerry Passport

· 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

Specifications of BlackBerry Passport

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
		HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100
	4G Network	LTE 850 / 900 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600
		LTE 700/800/850/900/1700/1800/1900/2100/2600 (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 20)
	SIM	Nano-SIM
	Announced	2014, June
	Status	Available. Released 2014, September

BODY	Dimensions	128 x 90.3 x 9.3 mm (5.04 x 3.56 x 0.37 in)
	Weight	196 g (6.91 oz)
	Keyboard	QWERTY
		- Capacitive touch 3-row BlackBerry keyboard

DISPLAY	Type	IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	1440 x 1440 pixels, 4.5 inches (~453 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes, up to 10 fingers
	Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 3

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration, MP3 ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes, with stereo speakers
	3.5mm jack	Yes

MEMORY	Card slot	microSD, up to 128 GB
MEMORY	Internal	32 GB, 3 GB RAM

DATA	GPRS	Yes
	EDGE	Yes
	Speed	HSDPA, HSUPA, LTE
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	v4.0, A2DP, LE
	NFC	Yes
	USB	microUSB v2.0 (SlimPort)

CAMERA	Primary	13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, autofocus, optical image stabilization, LED flash.
	Features	Geo-tagging, face detection, HDR
	Video	1080p@60fps.
	Secondary	2 MP, 720p

FEATURES	OS	BlackBerry 10.3 OS
	Chipset	Qualcomm MSM8974AA Snapdragon 801
	CPU	Quad-core 2.26 GHz Krait 400
	GPU	Adreno 330
	Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
	Messaging	SMS, MMS, Email, Push Email, IM, BBM 6
	Browser	HTML5
	Radio	FM radio with RDS
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS
	Java	Yes, MIDP 2.1
	Colors	Black, White
		- BlackBerry Assistant - BlackBerry maps - Organizer - Document viewer - Photo viewer/editor - Video editor - MP3/WMA/WAV/eAAC+/FlAC player - DivX/XviD/MP4/WMV/H.263/H.264 player - Voice memo/dial - Predictive text input

BATTERY		Non-removable Li-Ion 3450 mAh battery
	Stand-by	Up to 432 h (2G) / Up to 444 h (3G)
	Talk time	Up to 18 h (2G) / Up to 23 h (3G)
	Music play	Up to 84 h