Blackberry in 2017: A Look Back at the Company's Struggles and Triumphs
Hey guys, this is Austin. It's 2017, and Blackberry still exists, but why? At one point, Blackberry was pretty much synonymous with the word smartphone, however over the last few years, they made some questionable decisions.
First up, we have the Blackberry Passport. Now this is very much sort of the last hoorah of the Blackberry 10 devices. As it was still completely manufactured by Blackberry, it ran their software, and had a very much Blackberry keyboard. So this guy was released back in 2014, however, it's just a little bit different than the old Blackberries back in the day.
(laughs) As a size comparison, this is what the Passport looks like compared to a Galaxy S7. While it's not that much taller, it is so wide, like this is, that's a crazy crazy phone in the hand. I've gotta say though, it is unique. There's definitely no other phone out there with such a big display and an actual physical keyboard. So it's rocking a 4.5 inch, 1440 by 1440 display.
Now it might be a little bit weird to have a modern smartphone with a square screen, but in this case, it actually does kinda make sense. Having the keyboard on the bottom is a nice touch. As I mentioned earlier, it's not perfect, but it's definitely better than some of the older Blackberries out there.
Moving on, we have the Priv, which was the first Blackberry Android phone. Now, this is where things get a bit interesting. The Priv has a 1440p OLED display, which really shows. The colors are nice, the blacks are dark. Honestly, I really do like the hardware of this phone.
The Priv was launched less than a year ago, but what you're really getting here is a little more than a re-badged Alcatel Idol 4. Not only does it not have a way to get out of the box (rustling) But most of the traditional sort of Blackberry things like Blackberry OS are gone.
Instead, this guy runs Android, as well as a physical keyboard. It's exactly what it looks like - a fairly generic $300 smartphone. Now, we're getting close to stock Android, so there are some Blackberry apps included, such as BBM, which is already available on Android and iOS anyway.
So, what makes this phone special? In theory, this is going to allow you to amplify the security of a traditional Android device. And it kind of works. You can see that'll give me some sort of warnings as far as I need to set like a screen lock or turn on data encryption.
It also reminds me that I am using a Blackberry device and therefore, device hardware is a-ok, I guess. But generally speaking, this is not really anything special compared to other devices specifically Samsung, which has a very similar style of software.
While these phones aren't running Android 7 just yet, they are at least fully up to date. If you check the Android security patch, it's from March 5th, which was just a couple weeks ago from when I'm recording this video, and that's nice to see, especially since the Priv is coming up on two years old.
Of course, it'll be nice to have a newer version of Android to go along with it, but at the very least, they are keeping these up to date, and hopefully those updates will continue for a little while.
WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Hey guys, this is Austin.It is 2017 and Blackberrystill exists, but why?At one point Blackberrywas pretty much synonymouswith the word smartphone,however over the last few years,they made some questionable decisions.First up, we have the Blackberry Passport.Now this is very muchsort of the last hoorahof the Blackberry 10 devices.As it was still completelymanufactured by Blackberry,it ran their software,and had a very much Blackberry keyboard.So this guy was released back in 2014,however, it's just a little bit differentthan the old Blackberries back in the day.(laughs)As a size comparison,this is what the Passportlooks like comparedto a Galaxy S7.While it's not that much taller,it is so wide, like this is,that's a crazy crazy phone in the hand.I've gotta say though, it is unique.There's definitely noother phone out therewith such a big displayand an actual physical keyboard.So it's rocking a 4.5 inch,1440 by 1440 display.Now it might be a little bit weirdto have a modern smartphonewith a square screen,but in this case it actuallydoes kinda make senseas having the keyboardon the bottom is sortof a Blackberry trademark.In fact actually it mightbe a Blackberry trademark,like an actual Blackberry trademark.(laughs)Something kind of coolabout the Passport isthat the keyboard is actually a touch pad.So for example, I can use itto scroll up and down thisor maybe swipe left or right,depending on what it is.I mean of course it has a touch screen,so that kind of negatesa lot of the usefulnessof a touch pad,but it is a sort ofuseful feature to have.(laughs)I like how before it evenlets you get into the phoneyou have to read about Blackberryand how they're a global leaderin mobile communications.Sure guys.All right, so we are up and runningwith the Blackberry Passport.Even though this phone is acouple years older at this pointit actually has pretty reasonable specs.So inside it has aSnapdragon 801 processorpaired with three gigabytes of RAM,and it also has a pretty monstrously sized3450 milliampere hour battery,putting a lot of phoneseven from 2017 to shame.So when it comes to BB10,it's actually not that bad.So some things that I like about itis just how easy it is to multitask.Everything's very nice and smooth.It's pretty responsiveespecially consideringthat this is a three year old phone.When it comes to apps, there are some.So, for example if youopen up the YouTube app,it's just a web app which is the samefor a fair few of these,but to be fair stuff like the Twitter appactually works reasonably welland you also do have somesupport for Android apps.This is done through the Amazon App Store.So the way it works isthere's a virtual versionof Android running on top of BB10.So if I jump into something like Spotify,(upbeat music)It works pretty much as you'd expect.Some apps don't really taketoo kindly to the square screenand generally speakingperformance isn't great,but it does work.Now, beyond that, youcan have some issues.So for example, a game like Crossy Road,just completely failsto do anything for me,but considering thatthis is an older phoneand it's running sort of acludgy put together gross versionof Android, the appsupport is not terrible.Honestly, there's a lot I really do likeabout this Passport.If it was running an up todate version of Android,I would actually definitelygive this a shot.Next up we have the Blackberry Priv.Now this was an interestingphone for one big reason.It was the first Blackberryto ship with Androidinstead of BB OS.Take a look at the boxand you'll see they promiseprivilege and privacy.That is quite the statementto put on your phone.Crack this one open andyou'll see a Blackberrythat looks a little bit different.So at first glance it lookslike a traditional smartphone,however if you roll it up, roll it up?It actually does have a full keyboard.While the Passport is a really wide phone,the Priv is incredibly tall.And of course once youslide the keyboard downit's not that much biggerthan an average phone,and to be fair the hardwarehere is pretty nice.It does feel a little bit plastic-y,even with the fakecarbon fiber on the back,but it feels prettyreasonable in the hand,especially considering that you do havethat physical keyboard.I think Blackberry did a pretty good jobof engineering it into the Priv.So the mechanism feels pretty solid.If you open it up you canfeel just a little bitof flex in the chassis,but it's not too bad.But of course, you're gettinga very thin smartphone,not even considering that thereis a full keyboard inside.A physical keyboard is decent.I don't think it really quite matches upto some of the earlierBlackberries like the Bold.I think it's just a littlebit mushier than I'd like,but again, I've been on somesoftware keyboards for years.So if this is something that'sa really big deal to you,I think the Priv might make some sense,but honestly, I would probably use itwith the keyboard down all the time.Something that really jumpsout to me is the display.Not only is 1440p, but it's also OLED,and it really shows.The colors are nice, the blacks are dark.Honestly, I really do likethe hardware of this phone.The Priv was the firstBlackberry Android phone,but it is most certainly not the last.That's where the DTek 50 comes in.So this, while it has theBlackberry name on it,is very much not a true Blackberry.While this was a launchedless than a year ago,what you're really gettinghere is a little morethan a re-badged Alcatel Idol 4.So not only does it not have a wayof getting out of the box.(rustling)So gone are most of the traditional sortof Blackberry things like Blackberry OSas this guy runs Android,as well as the physical keyboard.It very much is exactlywhat it looks like,a fairly generic $300 smartphone.So here we're getting fairlyclose to stock Android,so there are of coursesome Blackberry appsincluding BBM, which ofcourse is already availableon Android and iOS anywayright now, as well as DTek.So this is all about security.So in theory, this is going to allow youto amplify the security ofa traditional Android deviceand it kind of works.So you can see herethat'll give me some sortof warnings as far as I needto set like a screen lockor turn on data encryption.It also reminds me that Iam using a Blackberry deviceand therefore devicehardware is a-ok I guess.But generally speaking,this is not really anythingthat special compared to otherdevices specifically Samsungwhich has a very similarstyle of software.So while these phones aren'trunning Android 7 just yet,they are at least fully up to date.So if you check the Android security patchit's from March 5th whichwas just a couple weeks agofrom when I'm recording this videoand that's nice to see,especially since the Priv iscoming up on two years old.Of course it'll be niceto have a newer versionof Android to go along with it,but at the very least, theyare keeping these up to date,and since it's fairly stock version of Android,hopefully those updates will continuefor a little while.So while I don't reallyrecommend these phones,there's nothing necessarilywrong with Blackberry.Sure, they're nowhere nearas big as they used to be,but these days, they'remaking decent Android phoneswith solid hardware and somelegitimately cool featuressuch as a physical keyboard.It might not be foreveryone, but I do believethat there's a placefor Blackberry in 2017.So, would you guys buy a Blackberry?Let me know in the comments belowand I will catch you in the next one.