BlackBerry

PRIV by BlackBerry Unlocked Smartphone – Black (U.S. Warranty)

Name: PRIV by BlackBerry Unlocked Smartphone – Black (U.S. Warranty)
Brand: BlackBerry
Price: 14.05 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.0 (941 reviews)

Based on 941 reviews

Condition: Used - Very Good

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Top Amazon Reviews

A fabulous Android.

This is an utterly outstanding device -- if you want an Android phone for the "ecosystem" and apps, this may be your next phone. I'll mention the worst aspect of the phone right up front -- the front camera ("selfie cam") is not impressive at all. It's a 2MP, and I suspect the issue there is simply space; there wasn't room for anything bigger, so it is what it is. However, the bad news ends there. The rear camera is 18MP, and the image quality is outstanding. People claiming that it "shoots slow" probably have auto-HDR on and it's using it -- and by the way, it doesn't cheat -- it takes the full three shots before merging (most smartphones only take two.) The quality is out of this world. It's not a dSLR (I own a Canon 5d3) but even under pixel-peeping inspection at 400% magnification the images hold up well. The camera tends to overexpose highlights a bit BUT it has manual exposure bias control in the viewfinder; knock it down a stop and that goes away. Compression artifacts are well-controlled. Compared against the Passport's main camera (which I also own) the shooter in here puts the Passport to shame. It's not a $5,000 dSLR and lens, but it didn't cost $5,000 either. Qualitatively it's on-par with anything else in the market and the focus is phase-detect fast (nearly-instant.) OIS means stable video as well. The lens is wide-angle, probably around 28mm equivalent. I intend to get some ~28-35mm equivalent shots with both the Passport and my 5d3 in the next few days and will be posted a full review over on my blog including them. The keyboard is amazing and you don't realize how nice it is until you have the on-screen one up, it's taking up a third of your screen, you slide the screen up to expose the keyboard and suddenly you have the entire display page back. No other high-end device on the market makes this possible. The battery is a very large 3,400maH model. Like all Android handsets you can shoot yourself in the head in terms of battery life (e.g. using an "active" wallpaper, for example) and apps can as well. But here we have a new weapon in the form of DTEK and it's a BlackBerry exclusive -- it has already caught a couple of apps that when you simply hit "HOME" keep asking for position every few minutes, which of course turns on the GPS and does horrid things to your battery. Hit the square and close 'em completely, the problem goes away and your power drain while idle, screen off, falls to a very respectable ~25-30ma. In other words, close to 100 hours of endurance on standby. Will it go through the day? Yes, for most people if you're intelligent about not running apps that blow your battery up. The phone also has both QC 2.0 and wireless charging (wireless charge is slow, as with all such devices -- use the cable if you want fast.) The Hub is also present; it's a bit different than BB10 but the convenience of having all your emails and main social media account notifications in one place is not to be missed. And, the "spark" tells you which apps have notifications pending for them. Nice. I set mine up against my Exchange server and had my contacts, calendar and emails on the device in minutes; syncing has been flawless. The screen on this phone is gorgeous; you'd expect it from the specs, and it does not disappoint. It's also nicely usable in full sunlight, which many phones are not. And while it's OLED BlackBerry has managed to keep the over-saturation under control, the nemesis of color fidelity in a lot of these panels. Hats off to the folks who put the display together; they have a winner. The slider mechanism is precise and feels awesome. For that matter so does the back cover; it's a grippy carbon-fiber like material that has been used before; I believe it's the same as the Z10 and Z30 (I own a Z10.) The phone feels great in the hand and doesn't threaten to slip out and wind up on the floor with a smashed screen. Bravo. WiFi signal retention is excellent (better than my Passport by a wide margin) and cell service works well too. The phone is Band 12 capable if you're on T-Mobile; they're deploying a lot of it and this is one of the devices that can take full advantage of that. It has all the bands used by all the GSM carriers in the US and Canada; unfortunately it does not have CDMA so it won't work with Verizon or Sprint. Make sure to manually update all the BlackBerry apps when you first get the phone. There are updates for all of them on Google Play but the first time they won't come down automatically because they were not loaded from there originally, being on the device native. Once you update them manually the first time they will track on their own from then on. There are serious improvements in the updated versions on the Play Store, particularly in the Hub and Camera. For those who want an unlocked Android device BlackBerry has a winner here. This is a flagship phone and not inexpensive but the hack-hardening, keyboard and productivity apps that are proprietary to this device make it well worth consideration if you're looking for a flagship-level device. Recommended. Update 6/12: The black box, factory unlocked model will get Marshmallow when turned on. The orange box, AT&T model will *not*, so do check which you're buying -- Amazon itself sells the black factory unlocked model, but some vendors selling on Amazon have the AT&T unit which is functionally identical but cannot accept the factory unlocked firmware and are tied to AT&T for updates at the present time. ... show more

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Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2015 by Tickerguy

Outstanding Phone

I am biased: I love BlackBerry phones. I owned the Bold and the Curve back in the early days of smartphones, then I got all caught up in the iPhone craze. I came back to BlackBerry when, to my surprise, I discovered they were still in business and making great phones. I ditched the iPhone, got a Q10 and then a Passport. I love, love, love BB10, the current OS. But, like a lot of people, I really missed some of the apps I used on the iPhone. Of course, BB10 can run some Android apps, just not all of them and some of them run poorly. Then I found the Priv. It's an odd but swanky phone that people notice and you'll enjoy using in public. First, let me say that it's a near-top-of-the-line Android phone, so if you like Android, you'll love the Priv. BlackBerry has tweaked the OS slightly and that tweaking seems to have improved the over all security of the phone. It comes with the Google Play store preloaded and that is the ONLY place to get your apps, unless you want to download APKPure, another great source for Android apps. Your BlackBerry apps are not available for the Priv. This is a BlackBerry phone in name only. Second, this thing is fast! I mean blazing fast. I used the Galaxy Note (not sure which version) to compare, and the Priv compares favorably, though the screen was slightly smaller. Speaking of the screen, it's a huge selling point. Streaming videos (Netflix or ones locally stored) look awesome. Third, the rear facing camera is slightly better than average. The front facing camera is not the greatest. So if you are a compulsive, narcissistic selfie addict, you'll be underwhelmed. The onboard photography suit is pretty decent, though. Fourth, the keyboards. Yes, plural. The slide-out physical keyboard is good, although the keys seem small to me. Mind you, I was used to the awesome Passport with it's large keys, so my judgment might be a bit subjective. Typing using the physical keyboard was a bit of a chore, and eventually I found myself slapping it shut so I could use the virtual keyboard, which is outstanding, I have to say. BlackBerry has scored with its virtual keyboard; it's far, far superior to the iPhone keyboard. Lastly, I give this phone 5 stars because it is a good piece of technology. People get all caught up in buying a "name," like Samsung or iPhone, but the BlackBerry Priv holds its own in a world awash with good quality phones. One final point, the build quality is unsurpassed. This thing is tough; a lot tougher than it feels, which is to me, its only downside - how it feels in the hand. Maybe it's the slider mechanism, but this phone doesn't feel as "solid" as the Passport or the Q10. But it is, I assure you. I've dropped it a couple of times and you'd never know it. In the end, I still prefer the BB10 OS to the Android OS; it's smoother, prettier, and more intuitive. My Passport remains by favorite, go-to phone. But there's no denying that the Priv is a top notch smartphone that is hard to beat and fun to use. It was way overpriced when it first came out, but the price has really come down in recent months, making the Priv a wise choice. ... show more

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Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2016 by Michael Porter

Premium feel at a good price; Lame limitations

I love the premium quality feel of the hardware. I HATE that this can't be updated to the newest Android OS - supposedly for security reasons (more likely because Blackberry doesn't want to support their devices anymore) this particular model is locked down to "Marshmallow" (Android OS 6). It's not a bad version but we all want the newest and most efficient OS, don't we? It's not the most powerful phone in the world, but in 2017 it's still a good mid-tier device. If we had to pay its original full price I would say absolutely do not buy this. However, at the current price of around two-fiddy-ish, this is almost a steal. Over the years I've had over a dozen Android devices, and this one sits squarely in the upper realm (but not the top), and for the price it's probably the best deal I've gotten. Personally I like the curved glass front and a few other things, but these are mostly personal preferences, and are discussed else where and so I won't get into this here. I am very disappointed with the camera, however. The lens is a Schneider-Kreuznach certified glass, which generally means quality glass. But of course there's more to a camera than just the lens. Overall I find photos come out very noisy, and it takes too long between pressing the exposure button and the camera to actually take a photo, and the overall picture quality is more comparable to a $99 prepaid ZTE phone than the premium phone this is supposed to be (or have been). Good enough to snapshots around the house, sure. Not good enough to make this your daily driver, if taking pics is something you do regularly. I tried to like the Blackberry Hub but it's just...not my thing. In fact, all of the Blackberry apps just aren't for me, but some folks who are used to the old day BB Messenger days might appreciate them. The security "scanner" (DTEK) is also pretty pointless because anyone with a little bit of knowledge about security and permissions can check these things. The physical slide-out keyboard is crap. Sorry, it just is. At first I loved how it lights up, but then realized the keys are so tiny and flimsy that typing on the software keyboard is just faster. The position of the keyboard is also awkward. It's very hard to hold up the phone and type at the same time because the keyboard is so far on the bottom. look at the pics and imagine your paws around that thing and you see what I mean. I do like that both the software and the hardware keyboard allow for swiping (yes, seriously.), and you can customize the dictionary, shortcuts, and other stuff. So in theory the hardware keyboard is cool, but the execution is greatly lacking IMO. If I could change 1 thing though about this phone it would not be the camera or even the fact that you can't upgrade from Marshmallow. Heck, even the processor is fine for everything I've thrown at it so far (I don't play heavy games on this though). No, I would love to get an extra 2 GB of RAM in this thing. The more apps you run (background or foreground) , the more RAM you want. Also, apps tend to get more RAM hungry with new features and whizbangery updates. I strongly feel an extra 2 GB of RAM would make the Priv a phone that's "futureproof" for another 3 years or so. At the current rate however, I'm guessing it will simply not be able to keep up with heavy daily demands in about 12-18 months. (total guess, of course). I have a whole wish list of other stuff (wireless fastcharging, slightly brighter screen, etc) but these are small complaints considering the current price. I should probably rate this 3 stars ("It's Okay") but the premium feel, responsive screen, and acceptably decent performance (for this price range) bump this up a notch. If you don't mind being locked down to Android OS 6, don't do heavy gaming, don't care about the camera that much, but do want a solid mobile device that gets the job done at a good price, this phone might be for you. ... show more

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Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2017 by R.B.

I think ill keep it. (One year update) I think ill keep it. (One year update)

If you're like me, then 90 percent of the reason you're considering this phone is for the keyboard. In fact I went so far as to switch carriers, and take a more expensive plan just to get this phone. I have been searching for about 2 years for an updated smart phone with a physical keyboard. When the passport came out I was excited. I liked the look of it, but upon learning it ran blackberry os, I decided that it ultimately was not for me. So when the priv came out, imagine my surprise. My first 10 minutes with the priv were disappointing. I found the device clunky, buggy, and could visibly watch the battery life drain. On top of that the physical keyboard, which was the main reason I bought the phone, was difficult for me to use even though I do not have large fingers. Dismayed I thought about returning it, but the thought of having to re-port my number was even more unappealing. Do I gave it a chance and I will admit its growing on me. Here are my pros and cons Pros: The physical keyboard: pure and simple the physical keys are a godsend for me. I can't stand touch typing I honestly don't feel like that technology is really there for it yet. The privs keyboard, while not without several shortcomings is usable. I am finding that I get better with it each day and I by no means feel like I've topped out my learning curve. One feature that I'm really beginning to appreciate is that touch sensitive physical keys- meaning that I can type a please then simply swipe my finger upward if I like the one predicted word. If not I just keep typing with my accurate physical keys. Accuracy when you want it precision when you need it. Autocorrect when you want it and precision when you dont. One of my main gripes with predictive technology is that I have to frequently fight it to type words that I want, God forbid I have to type a proper noun or anything of that sort. The touch sensitive physical keyboard is also handy for navigation as you can use it to move around the screen and navigate websites without having to move your fingers to the upper part of the phone. The keyboard, for all its shortcomings is growing on me. Blackberry suite: if you're into that. The only thing that's been nice has been using the hub to sync all my email accounts, but I'm not a member of the blackberry cult so I don't use BBM etc. Overall I could take or leave the blackberry hub, this is android so there us a short third part app for everything that usually does what you want it to do. And for me... that where the pros really end. It has lots of ram but it doesn't feel well utilized... Cons: Overall design: I am really scratching my head on this one. I really don't understand what blackberry was thinking when they designed this thing. It's huge, unwieldy and the curved screen just seems to be something I accidentally rub my finger on and accidentally swap the screen. To be honest I don't get the curved edge screen thing, so maybe it's just not my style. The phone is massive as it is but on top of that there's a pull down keyboard. When the keyboard is slid out the balance is awkward. You cannot operate this device one handed. I am baffled about this. It's just uncomfortable to hold any way you try it. The main focus of the phone which I would think to be the keyboard is small and not very ergonomic. As I type my hands are starting to get cramped up. Heat: it gets hot, doesn't bother me but some other users were griping about it. Battery life: OK this part actually scares me. The battery life is atrocious. It's actually the main reason I considered returning the thing. I it's gone frome 84 to 73 percent from the beginning of this review till now. Yes I get it I am online, but seriously... I don't know how blackberry got away with releasing it this way. I will note that many claimed this is due to poor optimization and this may be the case. Other reviewers noted that there is a wearing in time , and that I should expect to wait 2 weeks for the battery to improve. If I will give it this: the battery life is improving but boy does it make me nervous. Buggy: I'm not sure why people say that android is inherently buggy because ithis hasn't been my experience. The bugs aren't bad... it's just not polished. Especially for the price Other things: Camera seems fine The phone is very slim Looks goofy with keyboard slid out The back seems thin... I don't feel like this phone would survive a fall very well. It doesn't necessarily feel cheap or anything just fragile. I guess the bottom line is that when I pay 650 dollars (or more) for a phone I expect a pretty darn polished experience. I didn't feel like blackberry delivered. I can't say that I recommend this phone at that price. If it were in the 300 dollar range I'd find all these quirks a bit more acceptable. I will note this: the priv does grow on me as I use it more. I started this as a 3 star review and dropped it to a 2 because I really couldn't think of any pros other than the typing experience (which continues to grow alongside the battery life (hopefully)). I think if the UI gets some more updates and the battery stabilizes I will update to a solid 3 stars, but I can't in good confidence do that now. I think the main reasons I'm keeping it are more out of laziness and not wanting to go through the hassle of returning it. If that changes I will update my review. My recommendation to those like me who miss a physical keyboard would be to wait, unless you're feeling like burning some money. Wait for a significant drop in price, update in UI, or a different device. I wanted very much to like this phone... I really really did. Battery at 70 percent as I finish. Scratch that 69. ____________________________ Well it's been a year now, and Ill say that I've dropped my review another star. And then there was one: On the overheating: I mentioned earlier, this phone gets hot. I didn't really have a problem with that, but as of late I've started to get "overheating messages" which bogs down cpu performance, and makes the phone barely usable until it cools off. This can happen when I play graphically intense games, or watch movies. The keyboard: still about the same. I seemed to have maxed out at a sreasonable typing speed, I think mostly due to the cramped nature and awkward position that your hands are forced into to both support the weight of this collassal beast, and simultaneously type. Battery life: Abysmal. Great when you're not using it, but when you do anything, and I mean anything you can watch the battery drain. A few times I've been streaming a movie with the battery plugged in at 20 percent, and the phone has actually died on the charger. Build quality: so far the screen has held up pretty darn wel. Not reality any major scratches, I take good care of it, but based on previous phones I would have expected more scratches. It has survived a few fairly nasty falls. The USB port however seems frail. The charger that came with it died on me last night, and the way the plug fits into the phone to charge makes me nervous. Still feels clumsy UI still feels clunky and underpowered, even though the specs are technically impressive. I'm finding that the UI seems to be getting buggier as time goes on for some reason, even though Updates continue to come. But still after all this...i just can't bring myself to give up my physical keyboard. It's so convenient to be able to walk, and text without looking (remember that! Texting without looking?)If any tech guru venture capitalist is reading this somewhere, please, don't let qwerty phones die. Still bitter about paying 600 for it, and watching the price plumett. At its current price of around 350, I don't know that I could firmly recommend. 200 range, I think would be a good buy imo, if you're OK with the afformentioned quirks. ... show more

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Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2016 Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2016 by N

BlackBerry PRIV: One Year Review! Excellent BlackBerry/Android Experience!

Had owned this phone for almost a year exactly! So this review is based off my experience during the 2016 year! About Me: I was never big into "apps" and games on my phone. When i look at phone, I look for Messaging, Phone Call Quality, Build Quality, and ease of use. Overall I look for a solid "Communication" tool, when it comes to phone devices. I have been big into phones since the LG Env3. That was probably my favorite non-smart phone ever. After that i was one of many first Apple iPhone Owners. It was definitely hyped up alot, and it was a great device, however it got boring quickly. So i sold that, and tried out the Motorola Droid with slideout keyboard. Awesome device....when it worked! Phone would freeze/lag multiple times, then eventually the physical keyboard stopped working. Fail. After having tried, Apple's device, and Android device and being disappointed in both, i was in the market for a new device. First BlackBerry Experience: Thats when i purchased my very first BlackBerry Bold 9700. And thats when i was hooked! A solid and beautifully crafted device, that just offered a premium experience i couldnt get with Apple or Android! So from there, have come to use several BB devices such as the Bold 9930, Curve, then once OS10 was born, owned the Z10, Q10, Passport, Passport Silver Edition (BEST BB10 experience currently available) And Now! BlackBerry PRIV! First Impressions: When, the device came in, i was observing the build quality, and it feels like such a premium device. It has that hardware build quality, I have always felt with BlackBerry devices. This was a bit of a challenge too. Not only do you have a sliding mechanism, that is constantly sliding up down, you have this physical keyboard hidden underneath, that is ALSO functions as a touch sensitive trackpad, so you can scroll, left/right/up down by swiping across the keyboard! Just wonderfully crafted and it still holds up after a year! Software, Camera and Battery Life: It took some getting use to Android, coming from BlackBerry 10. BlackBerry 10 is incredible, but i just came out too late to get traction, and not having access to the app world the way Apple and Android does. really held BB10 back. My Android arrived with Lollipop installed, and it was pretty blazing fast! I also liked BlackBerry's Launcher on the device. It just allows you to still have the Hub where everything you need is all in one section. And its so nice to know you can go into the Google Play App Store, and install any app and know it will work. No sideloading or hoping the app works, because its for a BB10 device. Now the battery life at first wasnt good. It maybe lasted a good 6 HRS with occasional use, but once updated to Marshmallow, the battery life got significantly better! I could go 12 hours, and still have 50% when id get home. This device also rarely, RARELY freezes up or lags, like previous Android device experiences. Camera is also very quick and clear! No issues here. Phone Call Quality and Messaging Experience: GREAT Phone call quality! Clear and crisp. The slideout Physical keyboard is beautiful! I bit small for me however, but keyboard's keys are solid and are constant everytime! I do sometimes type on the virtual BB keyboard which is also brilliant and responsive! But its really nice having those options depending on my mood/preference at the time. Overall: Been very happy with the device. BlackBerry continues to listen to their user base and continues to make refinements and updates to continuously give us the best BlackBerry/Android experience we can get! ... show more

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Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2016 by Bo

Best Android Interface by miles

I want to take this opportunity to address the misconceptions spread by a lot of online blogs (including big names) about the BlackBerry Priv. I tested the phone for a week before ordering mine. The build, which many blogs complain about, is actually robust. The phone is extremely sturdy and does not crack or scratch easily upon falling. A lot of people have been falsely claiming that battery life is poor. However, most people fail to state the fact that it is on its first OS cycle. BlackBerry has already heard feedback and has announced several updates to fix the issues. It has a 3410 mAh battery - It possibly cannot have poor battery life. The OS just needs to improve in order for the apps and system to run better. That also brings me to the lagging issues a lot of bloggers talk about. Yes, if you hurry into the phone, and try downloading a million apps at once upon starting the phone. The phone might slow down a bit. Like i mentioned, it is on its first OS cycle. Give it a day or two to settle down, sync all the updates and apps and I can assure you that the phone won't lag at all. PRODUCTIVITY EDGE and POP-UP WIDGETS - these two features make the BlackBerry Priv extremely convenient to use. HUB is in fact very smooth functioning and is revolutionary according to me. People complaining about the HUB haven't given it a fair chance. Also, the screen is simply perfect. BlackBerry has managed to avoid over exposure which is common with the AMOLED displays. On the other end, I would like to point out that the camera app might not be the best. It is quite decent to some extent - but I did download the Google Camera app and I tend to switch between both. Also, use Mozilla Firefox instead of Google Chrome. Gives you the ability to keep videos/music on the browser running in the background. Feel free to comment and engage in a conversation with me. I am not saying it is the best phone ever or it is better than certain other phones. But I am definitely going to say it is the best Android interface in my view. I have never found android to be a fluid experience until now. ... show more

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Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2015 by Saurabh Poddar

A good, near stock Android phone...with several significant deal-breaking flaws

1/5/2016 UPDATE: Unfortunately, I have decided to return the Priv for good. I will leave my original review as it was, so others can see my process with this phone. I used my replacement (2nd) Priv unit for about a month, and ended up being worse than the first one. Blackberry was able to fix the Google Voice/Call Settings issue, which is encouraging. But, the battery life was still not very good (around 3-4 hours SOT) for such a large battery (3400mAh). Ultimately, after getting my ticket escalated to a higher tier of support, the BB representative said my battery life is in line with their expectations. Considering the 4-5 hours SOT I was getting with my Nexus 5's 2300 mAh battery (and other comparable Android phone ranges I've had), I couldn't stick with the Priv. Maybe in a year or two, Blackberry will be able to optimize battery usage with their Android skin. Additionally, my second Priv had some display issues and continued to overheat. I put both the first unit and the replacement side-by-side (same image, max brightness, autoadjust off); the second was much dimmer and had a very yellow tint. After submitting comparison images to Blackberry Support, they said the second unit was defective and would need to be replaced. Given my other issues, I am not willing to try a third one. As I've stated, the phone has a lot going for it. But, it does have several major flaws. If you are considering buying one, I would strongly recommend reading through other reviews here, and checking out the Crackberry website forums to read about other users' experiences. My experiences are not isolated, especially in terms of battery and overheating issues. ---------------------------------------------------------- 12/4/2015 UPDATE: I've now been using the Priv for about three weeks. I will say that the phone is really awesome overall. I've grown to love Blackberry's version of Android. The Hub, settings tweaks, notification sparks, etc...all these little changes really feel great, and it really feels like the version of Android I want to use. The camera has been phenomenal, especially after the firmware update this week. And I still marvel at how beautiful this screen is. That being said, unfortunately the negatives I've listed in my original review are still present. I've been working with Blackberry Support extensively, over the phone and via email. After a factory reset, I experienced one charge cycle of incredible battery life (6.5 hours SOT), but then after the firmware update, I was actually in worse shape than ever. My average became 3.5-4ish hours SOT, with the usual power consumption distribution (mostly screen, followed by BB services, Android OS/System, Android Services, and sometimes the browser). I finally decided to exchange this one with Amazon, so my new Priv should arrive shortly. So, overall the Priv is an awesome smartphone. Pretty much all the important aspects are top notch. But, my battery life has been poor for the battery size the Priv packs. I'm hopefully about the replacement, and will update this review again after I've used the new one for a couple weeks. ---------------------------------------------------------- ORIGINAL REVIEW: Overall, I really like it. It's an excellent, near stock Android phone, but with some little quality-of-life improvements within the Blackberry Launcher. The camera is good, interface is smooth and lag-free. I have been less than satisfied with the battery life though, which I will detail below. And some technical glitches with voicemail (through Google Voice) are a bit frustrating. Call this review a strong 4/5 (really 4.5 stars), which I will upgrade to 5/5 if Blackberry can iron out the battery life and VM problems via software updates. I'm definitely going to keep some sort of Blackberry Priv - probably this unit. If not, I'll return it and see if another unit has better battery life. It's good, but not what it should be with such a large battery. Here's a breakdown of my impressions, coming from an Android user over the last four years (previously Apple): GOOD: - No bad bloatware. Near stock Android, but the tweaks BB did make are improvements and changes for the better. For example, the little BB "spark" notification is really cool, and the icon size is much improved from the default launcher. And the "close all", with varying sized apps on the multi-task screen. There are others too; small quality-of-life things missing from stock Android that BB has added. - The Hub. I've read some people dogging it, but I really like it. - DTEK. It's an interesting feature, and I'm excited to see how it improves with Marshmallow (which allows the user to manage permissions at the app level, and revoke access to certain things). - The screen is beautiful. Best screen I've had on a phone. The curve is subtle, and really looks great. - Camera. my experience so far has been very positive. It's not the camera that I've dreamed of that takes perfect photos in any light, but it is certainly the best I've ever owned on a smartphone (better than iPhone 4, Nexus 5, LG G2, and Blu Studio) - The virtual keyboard is amazing! It's the best I've used on any smartphone. Even if I owned a different phone, I would still download the Blackberry Android keyboard. - The phone is snappy. No lag, no stuttering. Smooth experience overall. - Call quality. I've read some negatives in reviews, but I've tested this with many calls. It's great for me! I can hear the other person clearly, and they can hear me loud and clear. - SD Card. It's a big plus, I'm glad they included a slot for one. BAD - The battery life just isn't where it should be, given such a large battery. I'm ranging between 3-5 hours screen on time, which is decent...but about where my original Nexus 5 was at. The problem is, that Nexus 5 had like a 2300 mAh battery, compared to the Priv's 3400ish. My hang-up is that I refuse to compromise on how I want to use the phone; I'll make some tweaks to improve, but I'm not going to bend over backwards turning all features to a minimum. I should be seeing 6-7 hours SOT with normal use based on comparison with the Nexus 5. In fact, some folks on forums (crackberry) do experience 6-8 hours SOT...but most appear to be around my level. That's poor for such a huge battery. Anywho - standby time is great, so that's nice. - Google Voice is difficult to set as your voicemail provider on the Priv. I have used Google Voice for voicemail on all previous Android phones. If you don't know what it is, it's basically visual voicemail that can be accessed via internet or phone app, and it even transcribes the text of the message! It's pretty cool. You can choose between "carrier" and "Google Voice" on the Priv, but Google Voice gives an error. I've got a ticket in now with Blackberry support. (Update: After working with BB support and doing a factory reset, Google Voice now works as voicemail!) - Power and volume button placement. This phone seems to have been designed for lefties. The power button is on the left side, and is a far stretch of the hand/fingers to press if holding the phone with your right hand. This is a negative for me, as I'm right-handed. But, if you're a southpaw, you might count this as a positive. - This phone gets pretty warm. During the setup, mine got fairly hot, but was only slightly warm after it settled in. But then after two weeks, it started getting extremely hot at random times (even idle). Reading through forum posts, this appears to be somewhat common (like the battery life issues). After working with Blackberry support and doing a factory reset, this may have been resolved. The phone is back to getting slightly warm. - Google Now placement. Blackberry's launcher places Google Now in an old school location (long press on home, slide up), with no option to bring up your cards using a left to right swipe. That is the standard on pure Android/Nexus devices, which I would like the option to use on the Priv. You can install the Google Now Launcher and use it instead, but you would lose all the cool improvements BB made (smaller icons, spark notification, quick view widgets, etc.). NEUTRAL - The physical keyboard. I thought I might enjoy having one; and messing around with it, it is kind of cool. But day-to-day, I never have an impulse to flip it out. I don't think I'll ever use it, honestly. ... show more

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Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2015 by Armdog

BB PRIV, Wait this phone has a keyboard?

First of all I am engineer, I am good at math, code, and technical specifications.. So you may encounter run-ons, fragments, bad formatting etc etc. But overall I believe I got my point across. Okay so I am kind-of a phone junkie… In the past 2 months I have owned an s6 edge, LG G4(H815 international version) Nexus 6p, and now currently the PRIV. I used blackberry when the Curve 8330 was popular and loved the keyboard and from there I went to the Palm Pre and using Android phones at the same time. The Pre still has that special place in my heart(Some of you know what I mean) and I think the keyboard of the PRIV brings back some nostalgia of those times.. Now onto the phone.. REVIEW: I have been reading about leaks/rumors about this phone for a long time and honestly I wish they would have kept the name Venice over PRIV but the name is starting to grow on me. FEEL: The phone feels good in the hand, not as good as the G4 with the leather back but it is very comfortable to hold. It is much faster than the s6 and the G4 in everything but benchmarks but usability is what matters here. Not some skinned up version of android that forces me to have 60 extra apps I will never use and force me to root/rom the phone to remove them. SOFTWARE: The stock android experience of this phone is great, I miss the 6p except for its size unfortunately it was too big for me but even if it wasn’t I think I would still be using this phone for the keyboard. But the PRIV feels nearly as fast as the 6p which has Marshmallow which is great as it’s an Snapdragon 808(PRIV) processor vs the 810 in the 6p. All of the blackberry apps can be used or disabled if you do not like them. I gave hub a chance but can’t get used to it. I like having my emails in the Gmail app and corporate in their own section. Also since the HUB does not support hangouts to me at this moment it is not useful. If/when the do support hangouts I will give it another try. I never had any heating issues that some have mentioned or any other software issues the phone feels plenty fast. The only time it has felt slow is sometimes in hangouts the physical keyboard lagged(Fixed with DEC 1st update) When opening the keyboard on the launcher screens to type and activate google now the keyboard seems to choose which keypress it feels like starting at. This is remedied by tapping the google search bar before you start typing. I imagine this will be fixed on an upcoming update but it is currently the only time the phone feels slow to me. HARDWARE: Keyboard: The keyboard is small, I have bigger hands so this was tough to get used to and the buttons seemed very hard to press at first but after using it for 2 weeks I am just as fast if not faster than on the software keyboard and the button presses are nice and soft now as the keyboard is broken in. The keyboard is the reason I paid $700 for this phone and I think it is well worth it. SLIDER: Every person I have shown this phone to has NO CLUE there is a slider and thinks the phone is thin and feel great in the hand and then when they see it has a keyboard they are amazed at how well it is hidden and how smooth it is. Processor, RAM, Screen: 808 processor octacore is more than enough for daily needs for anyone. 3GB of ram and a nice QHD screen with vibrant colors, what’s not to love? Curved edges on the screen are a gimmick but I am a sucker for the charging icon. Keep in mind this icon is only active in a bright room. In a darker room the battery charging animation is disabled. No way to change this as of yet. Quickcharge and QI charging work great. Signal: The phone shows less signal bars than any other phone I have had but upon using actual dB readings the phone is receiving the same signal strength as the 6p and G4, do not remember what the S6 signal readings were. Design: The slider works well, sometimes when sliding I hear a very faint creak noise from the back it is minimal but a little saddening. But the phone is built great otherwise and there is no flex in my back-cover like some reviews units without the QI charging coils inside of the phone. I do wish the power button was on the right and the “convenience” button was on the left but that is being nitpicky. I use to think the convenience button was useless until I started using it to pause my music immediately when needed so it does have a positive but I feel it could be used as a dedicated camera button. Camera: Front facing is 2MP and is good enough for most people, yes it’s not wide angle or 13MP like the HTC eye, but it is more than good enough for use when needed. Rear: With the newest update processing of HDR photos is much faster and focusing seems a little quicker. Overall the quality is comparable to the 6p or the G4 in auto modes. In manual mode the G4 blows both out of the water but Blackberry is adding more features (like in the recent update) and will continue to do so. Overall I would rate it a great camera in terms of cell phones. This is not a DSLR and you should not expect that quality from any cell phone. But it takes vibrant and clear pictures that look very nice and the detail is all there as expected. I have not had a blurry picture yet. Battery Life: I get about the same battery life I did with the 6P. I can get a full day with 3—4 hours of screen on time easily. I am usually listening to music for 5-6 hours of my 10 hour work day also. About 30 minutes of phone calls and way too many hangouts messages. A lot of googling is also done throughout the day. SECURITY: Blackberry tells us a large amount of things they have done to secure the phone… We cannot verify any of this as it is closed source code. GPL requires the kernel to be released but does not require the proprietary underlying code where a large amount of hardening was done, or so they say. DTEK is on the phone and works nicely at telling me what apps are using my information (it’s pretty nice to have actually) But overall we have to take blackberry’s word that this phone is secured on hardware and software level. On Dec 1st Blackberry pushed out the December security patch update from google so it is good they are continually releasing the monthly patches meaning the Blackberry is at least as secure as a Nexus which are the most secure in terms of android security updates and patching. No fingerprint reader, I assume this was actually on purpose as most Corporate accounts do not even allow fingerprint unlocking, like mine, they still require pin or password unlock. The blackberry comes with picture unlock which is nice but I never use it as I use a trusted device (Sony smartwatch 3) to keep my phone unlocked when in range. Overall I love this phone and it may force me to not change phones for a while as it will be difficult to find something else that checks as many boxes as this one does for me. I most likely missed a lot in this review so please ask questions or critique as necessary. If you are looking at this phone for a great stock android experience but you do not think you will use the keyboard the 5X or 6P may be a better idea for the price but if you want the keyboard or the talked about security this phone is the one you will want. ... show more

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Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2015 by Tommy

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