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Blackberry pioneered the concept of the productivity-focused smartphone back in the early 2000s by spearheading the integration of email and web browsing in mobile devices.
Even as the iPhone popularised the touch-only interface, Blackberry continued to incorporate full QWERTY keyboards and trackballs into its smartphones.
In 2016, Blackberry stopped building its own phones and struck up a licensing agreement with TCL to keep the brand alive. All Blackberry phones released for the global market since February 2017 have been built and designed by TCL.
What to consider when choosing a Blackberry phone
At the height of their popularity, Blackberry smartphones primarily targeted business people and focused on providing tools for working on the go. Nowadays, Blackberry has broadened its scope to offer the kinds of features expected of the average smartphone, including ditching its proprietary operating system for Android and the millions of apps that support it.
That's not to say that Blackberry has completely abandoned its emphasis on productivity. Its phones are still pitched as professional devices that prioritise security and functionality above all else. As such, determining whether a Blackberry handset is right for you requires weighing up a variety of factors, the most critical of which we've listed below:
It might seem a little odd that Blackberry champions mobile productivity yet only includes 32GB of onboard storage in most of its smartphones, but internal storage is mostly irrelevant when a handset supports microSD cards. Depending on the specific model, Blackberry's handsets can be expanded with as much as 2TB of microSD storage, providing plenty of space for work files as well as music, photos and downloaded apps.
As handy as the iconic Blackberry keyboard can be, it comes at a significant cost to screen real estate. Where most modern smartphones are trending towards the higher end of the 5-to-6-inch range, handsets like the Blackberry KEYone feature screens a full inch smaller despite sharing similar physical dimensions overall. A single inch might not seem like a lot, but it can have a significant impact on activities like playing games or watching videos.
This is likely why Blackberry now offers smartphones without physical keyboards as well. Handsets like the Blackberry Motion and DTEK60 adopt the more common all-touch interface to allow for screens larger than 5 inches.
Blackberry's smartphones occupy an odd space in the pricing spectrum. Though their specs align with a mid-range handset, they retail for the same price as your average premium smartphone at launch – roughly $900, typically. As odd as this pricing model is, it's in keeping with the professional ethos behind the Blackberry brand: its phones have always been marketed as business devices that justify their cost through increased productivity.
This attitude is further reflected by the fact that you can't purchase Blackberry's latest smartphones on contract through Australian mobile providers – buying one outright is currently your only option. You can save yourself a couple of hundred dollars by purchasing on older model instead of the latest and greatest, but you'll still be looking at around $500 to join the Blackberry brigade.
The latest Blackberry smartphones may take cues from the premium market in their pricing, but they have yet to follow the trend established by Apple and other big-name brands of ditching the 3.5mm headphone jack. Current handsets like the Blackberry KEYone and Blackberry Motion still feature the jack for connecting traditional headphones as well as supporting Bluetooth and USB-C for hooking up more modern audio devices.
Part of Blackberry's pitch to business-focused phone users involves its emphasis on security. Along with the basic privacy features built into the Android operating system, Blackberry includes its own DTEK app with its handsets that keeps an eye on what data your apps and services are accessing and lets you prevent or adjust access as you see fit. This includes encrypting your files as well as blocking access to features like your camera and microphone on an app-by-app basis.
Blackberry also bundles in its own password manager that saves you from having to remember dozens of different passwords for different sites and services, instead encrypting them on your phone under a single master password.
"Good, but not great" is how we've described the cameras on Blackberry's smartphones in the past, and this continues to hold true. Only with its latest KEY2 handset has it finally introduced a dual-lens array, many years after the dual-lens approach became the norm among high-end smartphones. Photo quality and functionality are about average for a mid-range smartphone, but because Blackberry prices its handsets at the premium end of the spectrum, their camera capabilities can seem quite lacking compared to heavy hitters like the iPhone 8 and Samsung Galaxy S9.
Two key factors determine how fast your mobile Internet connection is: the quality of your mobile provider's network and your smartphone itself. The former is mostly out of your control, but the latter is something you can change for better or for worse, even if you don't realise it.
All smartphones rely on modems to handle communication over mobile networks, and these modems are rated according to their maximum speeds. Older and cheaper handsets might only support Category 3 speeds and as such be unable to take full advantage of the latest high-speed mobile networks. Fortunately for Blackberry owners, its latest handsets are equipped with high-speed modems rated at Category 9 and above which gives them the capacity to handle network speeds of up to 450Mbps.
We've covered the impact of modem hardware on mobile Internet speeds in our Network Category speeds guide, so check that out if you'd like to know more.
Much like their preference for physical keyboards over touch interfaces, Blackberry's smartphones continue to favour a wired charging solution over recent wireless power innovations. Even the latest KEY2 handset does not support any form of wireless charging out of the box. This is despite the increasing number of smartphones coming to market with wireless charging built-in.
On the upside, Blackberry has fully embraced quick-charging with support for Qualcomm's Quick Charge 3.0 standard in its latest handsets. Depending on the specific phone, this allows for charging from dead to 50% in as little as 36 minutes.
A smartphone aimed at on-the-go workers needs to be capable of going long stretches without a recharge, and Blackberry explicitly touts this as one of the core features of its latest handsets. Promises of 25 hours or more of battery life are quite lofty in this age of power-hungry smartphones, but Blackberry manages to deliver thanks to high-capacity batteries and smaller-than-average screens. Getting a full day of use is rarely an issue, and when coupled with support for quick charging, Blackberry represents a solid choice for those on their feet from sun up to sun down.
If your active lifestyle is what drew you to Blackberry, odds are you're going to be using your smartphone in all manner of wild environments. Should these environments include water, dust or any other potential contaminant, you might want to consider investing in a waterproof case, as most Blackberry smartphones do not come with any form of official waterproofing out of the box. The Blackberry Motion is the only recent handset to receive an IP rating certifying its resistance to dust particles and submersion in up to 1m of water. For other Blackberry handsets, a sudden shower could spell their doom.
Raw power is not Blackberry's strong suit. Where similarly-priced premium handsets pack top-of-the-line Snapdragon 800 processors, Blackerry's latest phones stick with the mid-range Snapdragon 600 line and suffer noticeably for it on the performance front. Many competing mid-range handsets deliver faster and snappier experiences at a fraction of the cost, while rival high-end handsets leave Blackberry's offerings in the dust both from a benchmark perspective and in real-world testing.
Admittedly, this may not matter all that much to you depending on what you use your phone for. That's why it's a good idea to read through reviews of Blackberry's smartphones to help determine whether they're powerful enough for your needs. Benchmark testing is especially useful here, as it contextualises a smartphone's performance in relation to other smartphones you may also be considering.
Looking for a Blackberry phone on a plan?
Check out the table below to compare postpaid SIM-only plans:
We update our data regularly, but information can change between updates. Confirm details with the provider you're interested in before making a decision.
Matt Sayer is a technology writer and editorial engineer for Finder, combining industry expertise with data-driven solutions to help people make better decisions. His extensive portfolio spans investigative reporting on the roll-out of 5G, statistical analysis on the legacy of E3 and guides for popular products like mobile phones and smart speakers. Matt has a Bachelor of Computer Science from RMIT University and is passionate about finding ways that technology can better our lives.
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