Subscribe
  • Home
  • /
  • Hardware
  • /
  • Review: BlackBerry Passport - innovative and unusual

Review: BlackBerry Passport - innovative and unusual

By Andre Schild, ITWeb contributor.
Johannesburg, 30 Jan 2015

BlackBerry, the Canada-based company that hit rock bottom in 2013, is the only major smartphone manufacturer that still hasn't fully switched to touchscreen keyboards. Instead, it continues to release devices equipped with physical, tactile keys.

BlackBerry's reluctance to completely abandon the physical keyboard doesn't mean it hasn't implemented drastic strategic change though. After its near-acquisition in 2013, the company decided to turn the tide with the appointment of a new CEO and exclusive focus on business users.

As a result, it recently launched the BlackBerry Passport. It features a square display and a touch-sensitive, physical keyboard. Is the Passport the ideal business device, and how good is it compared to smartphones of competitive brands?

To find that out, we got to work with the BlackBerry Passport for a couple of days and deployed it for typical business tasks and activities. We used it for browsing Web sites, communicating and handling all sorts of office-related documents. To measure its performance, we exposed the Passport to a set of benchmark tools. The battery life was quantified by using two separate scenarios that try to drain it as fast as possible. Finally, to determine the actual quality of the screen, we used specialised hardware to measure brightness, contrast and colour reproduction.

Keyboard: combining old with new

The BlackBerry Passport's design deviates significantly from all other modern smartphones. It is the result of two design choices, the 1:1 aspect ratio screen and the physical keyboard. The Passport's unique design really sets it apart from other modern devices with 16:9 displays. The square design also has considerable effects on the way its business and professional users experience and operate the device. BlackBerry primarily aims the Passport at business and professional users, but it's not unsuitable for typical consumers.

In order to appeal to business and professional users, BlackBerry explicitly promotes the Passport's physical keyboard. Although the keyboard on the Passport may look identical to that of traditional BlackBerry devices like the Q10, it definitely is not. There are some fundamental differences. First of all, the keyboard also functions as an optical trackpad, like the BlackBerry Classic, which is the Passport's predecessor. Secondly, the Passport is the first BlackBerry with three rows instead of four. It's an obvious design concession to save some valuable space.

Unfortunately, the compromises don't stop there. The spacebar on the BlackBerry Passport is relatively small and positioned between the regular keys. This is quite unusual and requires some getting used to and a bit of practice, even for seasoned BlackBerry users. Another unfortunate compromise is the position of function keys and punctuation marks. They are nowhere to be found on the physical keyboard, although they can be selected using the physical keys and trackpad function. Instead, they are displayed as touchscreen-keys right above the physical keyboard. These touchscreen-keys change their options based on the apps that you are using. This touchscreen also shows typing suggestions. Once you see the correct suggestion, you only need to swipe the word up and the suggestion is inserted into the current text.

Because the physical keyboard also acts as a trackpad, it can be used to scroll through Web sites and slide along the keys to move the cursor. The advantage by doing so is that you're not constantly blocking your view to the contents of the screen with your hand. Another neat feature is the use of keyboard shortcuts, like the P-key that takes you to the previous Web page. Also, by holding the shift key you can select specific text or words with great accuracy.

Despite the fact that every key has a distinct and tactile edge, the keypad on the Passport falls short on ergonomics. The Passport's keyboard is positioned relatively low on the device, making it considerably less comfortable and stable when typing compared to previous BlackBerry devices. Fortunately, the new trackpad functionality makes up for the reduced ergonomics. Being able to scroll through Web pages and documents, or highlighting specific text, is a breeze with the touch sensitive keyboard.

Design: two-hands phone

As a result of the square screen and physical keyboard, the BlackBerry Passport is a very wide device. When compared to competitive smartphones like the Apple iPhone 6 Plus (78mm) and Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (79mm), the BlackBerry Passport is considerably wider at 90mm. It's not the widest of smartphones though, that questionable honour goes to Sony's Xperia Z Ultra.

Because the Passport is so wide, it's unqualified for one-hand use. With just one hand, it is possible to reach certain points on the screen, but the swipe gestures that are so characteristic for the pre-installed BlackBerry 10 operating system, are near impossible to achieve with one hand.

Like most modern smartphones, the Passport features a metal frame around its edges. It helps give the Passport a somewhat premium look and feel. The backside is made of semi-smooth plastic, which feels pretty good in the hand, but is prone to easily show greasy finger smudges.

Weighing in at 196g, the BlackBerry Passport is no lightweight. On the contrary, it can even be called heavy when compared to many other smartphones like the Galaxy Note 4 (176g) and iPhone 6 Plus (172g). This relatively high weight may prove a disadvantage for business users who take the Passport everywhere they go.

During the time we worked with the device, we also asked what others thought of it. Most people were surprised by its awkward dimensions and found it to be unwieldy at first. After playing with it for a while they quickly got used to the unique dimensions. We also realised it absolutely is a two-hands phone. Those used to that will get along just fine with it. Those who often have only one hand to spare will have great difficulty operating the BlackBerry Passport.

Hardware: multiple microphones

The beating heart of the BlackBerry Passport is Qualcomm's Snapdragon 801 chip, a quad-core processor with each core running at a maximum of 2.2GHz. Other smartphones that use this chip are the Samsung Galaxy S5, Sony Xperia Z3 and HTC One M8. The BlackBerry Passport also features a Qualcomm Adreno 330 GPU to efficiently handle all graphics.

To offer even better call quality, BlackBerry equipped the Passport with a new technology called Natural Sound. Four separate on-board microphones should, in theory, provide high-fidelity acoustic performance during cellular voice calls.

For the Natural Sound technology to function properly, your operator and both smartphones need to support HD Voice. For a complete list of all smartphones that currently support HD Voice technology, see here.

We first tested the call quality between a BlackBerry Passport and a Samsung Galaxy S5 so we could examine if the Natural Sound technology was actually audible. Because we had access to two Passport review-samples, we could also test call quality between each other.

The results: call quality between the Passport and Galaxy S5 was excellent and a big improvement over non-HD Voice calls. We could also hear obvious quality difference in favour of the Passport as a result of the four onboard microphones. However, the Natural Sound technology is at its best between two BlackBerry Passports.

Performance: good enough for business use

To find out how fast the BlackBerry is compared to the Apple iPhone 6 Plus and Samsung Galaxy Note 4, we ran four separate benchmark tests. It should be noted that not all benchmark tools ran natively on the BlackBerry Passport. Because the BlackBerry 10 operating system is capable of running most Android apps, we used the Android version of 3DMark to measure graphical performance. Since emulating the Android operating system confiscates some of the Passport's resources, the actual graphics performance under the native BlackBerry operating system should prove (slightly) better.

The first one, Geekbench, simulates real-world business and consumer scenarios to determine and quantify the actual (multi-core) processing power. It showed the Passport can't quite catch up to the iPhone 6 Plus and Note 4, but still performs more than adequately for most business users.

Our second benchmark test is called SunSpider and also factors in the quality of the operating system and browser. It measures the time in which a certain set of tasks is completed; therefore a lower value indicates better performance. The BlackBerry Passport performs almost identically to the generally fast Galaxy Note 4. The iPhone 6 Plus, however, proved exceptionally fast at this specific test, leaving both the Galaxy Note 4 and BlackBerry Passport far behind.

The third tool we used to measure the performance of the BlackBerry Passport is called Kraken and also measures the performance of the hardware, operating system and browser. The less time it takes a device to complete a set of tasks, the faster its hardware. Unfortunately, the BlackBerry Passport makes a poor show while the iPhone 6 and Galaxy Note 4 perform equally.

Finally, to get an indication of the graphical performance and capabilities of the BlackBerry Passport, we used 3DMark. Again, the BlackBerry Passport proved to be the slowest of the three, while the excellent graphics performance of both the iPhone 6 Plus and Galaxy Note 4 isn't that far apart. Despite the relative lack of graphics power, the BlackBerry Passport is fast enough for most business users.

Battery life: full workday plus some overtime

Battery life is a key consideration for business users. Longer battery life means less dependency on a power source or charger. The BlackBerry Passport houses a non-replaceable 3450mAh capacity battery, the biggest one yet of any BlackBerry smartphone. To put things into perspective, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 was equipped with a 3 220mAh version and the iPhone 6 Plus uses a 2 915mAh battery.

To find out how the battery of the BlackBerry Passport performs, we exposed it to two separate battery tests that aim to drain the battery as fast as possible. The first test simulates typical office activities like communicating, browsing and editing documents. The second test continuously plays a 1 080p movie until there is no more energy to do so.

Our first test shows the BlackBerry Passport is able to continuously perform business-related tasks for seven hours straight, without the need of an external power source. This test result is comparable to that of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4's. The iPhone 6 Plus can last for eight hours and 30 minutes without the need for external power. Since a typical day at the office also includes at least one (lunch) break and some idle time, we expect the Passport to reach the end of a regular eight-hour workday. It will even have some energy left for overtime.

During our HD-video test, we timed the BlackBerry Passport at 10 hours and 30 minutes.

Screen: great on sunny days

Just like the 3.1-inch BlackBerry Q10 smartphone launched in 2013, the 4.5-inch Passport features a completely square screen. It offers a resolution of 1 440 x 1 440 and uses LCD-display technology instead of amoled-technology, like with the Q10 and Z30. Amoled-technology is known for significantly better contrast values.

We used our specialised hardware to measure the actual brightness, contrast and colour reproduction of the Passport's screen and were pleasantly surprised by the results. The Passport's screen is one of the brightest we have come across. As a result, business users that frequently work in a sunny environment can still read the screen's content without any problem. Long-term increased screen brightness does, however, result in shorter battery life.

The contrast values the screen is able to display are plain disappointing. Modern smartphones of competitive brands show much better contrast. As a result of the low contrast value, even for an LCD-display, screen content looks a lot less spectacular and colours aren't as vivid. Fortunately, typical business use doesn't rely very heavy on high contrast.

We also measured the accuracy of the colour reproduction by the Passport's screen. Without going into too much technical detail, the results were quite good, even better than those we observed on the iPhone 6 Plus. Nonetheless, business users who plan to deploy the Passport for viewing and editing of pictures should consider another phone as a result of the disappointing contrast properties.

The perfectly square, 1:1 aspect ratio, screen featured on the BlackBerry Passport deserves some special attention in this review. Since it lacks 16:9 proportions, less information fits on the screen vertically, but more horizontally. The unusual screen dimensions make reading documents, e-mails, spreadsheets and Web sites comfortable and enjoyable. Business users who do a lot or reading and browsing, should at least consider the Passport because of this unique property.

Camera: BlackBerry's best

The back-side camera of the BlackBerry Passport can shoot pictures at a maximum resolution or 13MP. Despite the 4:3 sensor, by default the Passport shoots pictures in 1:1 mode. As a result, the complete screen can function as an accurate viewfinder. The Passport is also able to take pictures in 4:3 and 16:9 widescreen modes with the inherent drawback of black bars on the top and bottom of the screen.

Getting access to the camera is a slow and clumsy process. From the lock screen, the camera function is accessible by holding the corresponding icon for two seconds. After that, the camera app needs to load and the physical camera module then begins its autofocus procedure. Users who want to instantly take a snapshot of an important moment will probably miss it because of the Passport's sluggish camera access. Autofocus can be marginally accelerated by manually configuring the camera to sport-mode, but this will have a negative effect on the quality of the pictures.

The test images we took with the BlackBerry Passport show good detail, as we might expect with a 13MP sensor. Colours are accurate and the integrated LED-flash does a good job. The built-in optical image stabilisation (OIS), a technology to reduce the effect of shaky hands, also helps to improve the picture quality. Compared to the much cheaper digital image stabilisation (DIS), OIS uses actual moving mechanics inside the camera to intercept and neutralise tiny vibrations. DIS delegates that task to software algorithms and generally leads to inferior image and video quality. The rear camera also allows for video capturing at 1 080p Full-HD at 30 frames per second or even 60fps for slow-motion moments.

In the end, the back-side camera of the Passport should prove sufficient for the occasional corporate meeting, business trip or office birthday party. It's not the greatest smartphone camera we've come across, but without any doubt the best one of all BlackBerry devices.

There's also a less advanced camera at the front of the Passport, in the right corner above the screen. It can take pictures at a resolution of 1 200 x 1 200, which calculates back to roughly 1.6MP. The picture quality of the front-camera is notably inferior compared to the rear-camera. It lacks detail, especially during low-light situations and auto-focus is more often wrong than right. Given there is enough light in the room, the front camera can also be used to make proper HD Skype calls with colleagues or business contacts.

Software: aimed at productivity

The Passport comes pre-installed with BlackBerry OS 10.3.1, an operating system released more than two years ago. In this review, we won't exhaustively go into all details of this operating system, but will focus on some of the more useful features specifically aimed at business users.

BlackBerry OS is capable of running most Android apps through the installed Amazon App Store software or by running the Snap app. A smart decision by BlackBerry's engineers since the number of native BlackBerry apps pales in comparison to the sheer number of app in the Apple and Google app store, as we mentioned before.

BlackBerry OS 10.3.1 features an assistant, comparable to Apple's Siri and Microsoft's Cortana. This voice-controlled assistant can execute tasks like responding to e-mail, scheduling a meeting or setting the alarm. When you're connected to Bluetooth in the car, the assistant knows you can't look at the screen and will interact completely eyes- and hands-free. Compared to other voice-controlled assistants, the BlackBerry version is relatively simple and doesn't work quite as well.

The BlackBerry Hub is a central location to manage all conversations, like e-mail, phone calls, social media and text messages. It can curate and prioritise important messages, conversations or notifications and is easily available with a single swipe. In practice, the Hub works like a charm. The combination of a universal inbox and notification bar makes the Hub both useful and easily accessible, and allows for an efficient overview of all communication.

Also relatively new is BlackBerry's Blend software for Windows, OS X, iOS and Android to transfer content from a BlackBerry Passport to other devices. With Blend, business users can open and send files or gain secure access to the corporate network without the use of separate VPN technology. The BlackBerry Passport effectively acts as a mobile network hub. Blend works over WiFi, cellular connection or USB, and requires a BlackBerry ID to function. In our opinion, Blend works seamlessly and fast, but there is definitely room for improvement in the user interface.

Verdict

In summary

Pros: High brightness, comfortable screen dimensions, great integrated software, Android compatibility, good rear camera, smart keyboard functions
Cons: Low contrast, needs to hands, only three rows on keyboard, lack of native BlackBerry apps, relatively wide and heavy, slow camera operations
Dimensions: 128 x 90.3 x 9.3mm
Weight: 196g
Storage: 32GB (expandable up to 128GB)
Screen: 4.5-inch (1 440 x 1 440, 453ppi)
Connectivity: USB, 3G, 4G/LTE, Bluetooth, WiFi, NFC
Sensors: GPS, Ambient light, Gyroscope, Proximity, Accelerometer, Magnetometer, Time of Flight
Camera: 13MP rear (auto-focus + LED flash, optical image stabilisation), 2MP front
Processor: 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 (quad-core)
Rating: 6/10
Price: R8 700
Availability: Now
Product page: http://is.gd/rs1K9z

BlackBerry's Passport is both innovative and unusual. It features a screen that excels in bright situations and is very comfortable when reading documents or browsing Web sites. Although the concept of a physical keyboard is out of date, BlackBerry managed to successfully reincarnate it with smart and modern technology. The Blend software, Hub functionality and Android compatibility are also good examples of innovative and smart thinking.

Unfortunately, the Passport is not a good choice for business users that prefer holding and operating their smartphone with just one hand. The physical keyboard also takes a while to get used to, especially when you are switching from an on-screen version. We also would have liked to see a fourth row of keys to further enhance typing comfort. In the performance department, the Passport is no high flyer but delivers enough to allow for smooth navigation and operation when used for business tasks and activities.

Ultimately, the BlackBerry Passport is no one-size-fits-all device. Most business users will find it awkward and unwieldy. Only those specifically looking for something out of the ordinary, like a physical keyboard and square screen, will find the BlackBerry to be a possible candidate filled with novelties.

Share