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A decade ago, when BlackBerry was a major player in the smartphone market, three key features stood out: its excellent email integration, its highly-customisable security, and the fact that it had a built-in actual keyboard that worked surprisingly well with two thumbs. Every smartphone platform can deal with email these days, so BlackBerry's hopes of remaining relevant with the PRIV, its first-ever device to run entirely on Android, draw heavily on those other two strengths: the keyboard and the security.
The BlackBerry PRIV debuted in 2015, but has only seen an official Australian release in 2016. Only Optus is offering the PRIV on contract down under, a far cry from the era when every telco would range it. How does it fare in a market where Android dominates but buyers have plenty of other choices? Is this the phone that former BlackBerry lovers should migrate to?
Here are the essential specifications for the BlackBerry Priv:
Blackberry PRIV | |
---|---|
Screen size | 5.4in |
Storage | 32GB |
Weight | 192g |
Processor | Snapdragon 808 |
Rear camera | 18MP |
Front camera | 2MP |
Battery | 3410mAh |
Resolution | 1440x2560 |
Display density | 540ppi |
Handset | Geekbench 3 Single Core (higher is better) | Geekbench 3 Multi Core (higher is better) |
---|---|---|
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge | 2169 | 6446 |
Samsung Galaxy S7 | 2156 | 6240 |
Google Nexus 6P | 1251 | 4597 |
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 | 1111 | 3686 |
BlackBerry PRIV | 1196 | 3396 |
Apple iPhone 6S | 2540 | 4410 |
Apple iPhone 6S Plus | 2491 | 4391 |
Google Nexus 5X | 1188 | 3198 |
Handset | Geekbench 3 Battery Test Duration | Geekbench 3 Battery Score |
---|---|---|
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge | 11:55:00 | 7150 |
Samsung Galaxy S7 | 10:01:20 | 6013 |
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ | 8:24:10 | 5041 |
Apple iPhone 6S Plus | 7:48:10 | 4681 |
Samsung Galaxy S6 | 6:51:30 | 4115 |
Google Nexus 5X | 7:14:20 | 4062 |
Google Nexus 6P | 6:39:20 | 3754 |
Sony Xperia Z5 | 5:41:30 | 3414 |
LG G4 | 5:27:50 | 3224 |
BlackBerry PRIV | 5:25:40 | 3256 |
Huawei P8 Lite | 4:39:40 | 2768 |
Apple iPhone 6s | 3:52:10 | 2321 |
Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 | 5:42:00 | 2276 |
If the keyboard is important to you, then the PRIV is a decent but unremarkable Android phone. However, for the kind of money it asks, almost any other Android phone will offer better performance overall.
Local retailers are no longer stocking the PRIV, and you won't find it on any current plans from Aussie telcos. You can still purchase import models from overseas and grey-market retailers, however.
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