[CharlieV]

I've divested my other phones in preparation for the Mercury release and still only have rumored specs to go by. The ones I see repeated most often are Snapdragon 625, 3gb/32gb, 4.5 inch IPS Screen, keyboard stuff, 3200 mah battery, headphone jack, usb-C, etc.

I had a lazy afternoon and did my best to understand the features of the 625 SOC versus the 820/821. I've forgotten most of it except: 8 cores, HD calling, all of the bands, and very energy efficient.

To me, it sounds like a nice way of telling BB10 people to give up and move on, and promises a sturdy build and long battery life. I am hopeful that TCL sells them cheap (not selfishly, I will buy one no matter what, but so the brand has a chance).

I'm getting one for sure, even though I am not sure that it is a huge step up from my Priv.

Any deal killers for other BlackBerry and Android people?

Personally if it is any slower than my Priv, I don't want it. I don't think that's an issue. Battery life is a big one for me and I'm actually hopeful that it has an LCD screen for outdoor viewing but that might be a deal killer for others.

Anyone else?

[Carjackd]

I'm keeping my dtek 60 around anyway . Just to add it still wishful thinking that some hardcore bb10 people will jump ship..heck there is still legacy users out there

[pooyam]

I need an Android pkb so it'll be hard to find a complete deal breaker. That said the build quality of the pkb itself would be a big deal.

[Lefty724]

The only deal breaker (not really a deal breaker) for me that I can see from the leaks is the top mounted headphone jack. I've always preferred a bottom headphone jack.

That's just me being picky though, I can get BT headphones and STFU lol.

Other than this, I think I can make anything work. If it's slower than the Priv or doesn't work out in the end, I'll either Come back to the Priv or go elsewhere.

[CharlieV]

The only deal breaker (not really a deal breaker) for me that I can see from the leaks is the top mounted headphone jack. I've always preferred a bottom headphone jack.

That's just me being picky though, I can get BT headphones and STFU lol.

Other than this, I think I can make anything work. If it's slower than the Priv or doesn't work out in the end, I'll either Come back to the Priv or go elsewhere.

I'm wondering if it is slower than the Priv. I sometimes get some really big lag (I don't play games or watch movies).

I was expecting water proofness to be an issue. I've never lost a phone to water, though. A non waterproof phone should have a replaceable battery, IMHO, and be tougher than a boot (like the LG v0, for example, which is my backup plan).

I used to check Zerolemon before I bought phone. If Zerolemon didn't make an extra battery, or if it didn't have a replaceable battery, I moved on. Maybe Mercury will have good enough battery life. I've never gotten a full day from any smartphone. Ever. The last phone I had that got true all day battery life was in a BAG.

[JeromeM]

I'm sure your questions will be answered on Sat, maybe even Fri night during the CrackBerry party where they will have Merc's to play with. Perhaps ppl there will be allowed to talk about it. I would have to imagine it will be faster than Priv no matter what the numbers on paper say.

[Lefty724]

I'm wondering if it is slower than the Priv. I sometimes get some really big lag (I don't play games or watch movies).

I was expecting water proofness to be an issue. I've never lost a phone to water, though. A non waterproof phone should have a replaceable battery, IMHO, and be tougher than a boot (like the LG v0, for example, which is my backup plan).

I used to check Zerolemon before I bought phone. If Zerolemon didn't make an extra battery, or if it didn't have a replaceable battery, I moved on. Maybe Mercury will have good enough battery life. I've never gotten a full day from any smartphone. Ever. The last phone I had that got true all day battery life was in a BAG.

Battery life is a big deal to me as I'm very anal about battery life. With my PP SE I could easily get 2 days of life out of it and the Classic a day and a half.

On the Priv, I can get a full day of charge out of it. I unplug it at 6am and will plug it in again around 11:30pm. I am getting around 5-6 hours of SOT and am pretty happy with it.

I think the Mercury will be faster and have better battery life, so we'll see?

[macterp]

I really think this is going to be a very positive experience for all previous BlackBerry owners. Hope new bbers enjoy it, but believe biggest impact will be from bbers looking to upgrade

Posted via CB10

[stanfordprof]

No deal breaker except related to the pkb. If it's not at least excellent, then it's a deal breaker. The Dtek60 is perfect for me re all qualities like speed, battery, and everything else ... except for lacking a pkb.

[ikeloyalBB]

One handed operation? The old pkb's were so easy to hold in 1 hand and easy to use

[anon(4243545)]

Not really a deal breaker, but for the price everybody expect it to come out at (500$), the Mercury should have featured an Amoled display, at least.

[bendiep1991]

Yes agree with OP! Deal breaker if it's slower than the priv

[CharlieV]

It looks to me from the size comparisons (done by CB) that it will be almost as wide as a Priv. The Priv is just BARELY a one handed phone for me, but not for actually typing on the PKB. I dont think it could have been any narrower and had a comfortable keyboard.

It is bigger than I expected when I first read that it had a 4.5 inch screen.

But it looks to be a good size and good thickness, to my eyes.

I really am not a fan of AMOLED screens over the latest iteration of LCD ones (like on iPhone), principally because I can't see them very well in daylight. Also, I get obsessed about Dark themes to keep battery consumption low and 1) you just can't get them in every app (browser is a big example) and 2) Dark screens aren't as readable. My Passport is still brighter and more readable than my Priv or any other AMOLED phone. I also still have phones going back to the 7000 series that still have very readable, bright screens. But they wouldn't be any good for viewing video or whatnot, so to each his own.

I guess battery life is a deal killer for me. BlackBerry phones don't get enough attention to have battery cases. Replaceable batteries are rare. While charging speed mitigated the error of sealed batteries, it really doesn't fix everything. I'm going to get a Mercury as soon as I can, but I'm also considering it to be a "last of" phone; if battery life isn't up to par then, after the new wears off, I'll be moving on to another brand. Heck, anyone reading this knows that we are a bunch of oddball, hold out, last of the Mohican types, but we all also have our limits.

Anything less than stellar signal reception is a no go regardless of nostalgia. That's typically not a problem with a BlackBerry but I have no idea whether BlackBerry had a hand in that facet of the phone. I had a very hard time figuring out what sort of antenna setup the Priv has, even months after I bought it. And the whole firmware debacle last fall heavily eroded my confidence (not the least because I couldn't get a signal). To me, a cell phone is, first and foremost, a telephone. If It doesn't get that right I have no use for it.

[CharlieV]

I sure hope it has double tap to wake.

Not a deal killer for the Mercury if it doesn't, but I am unlikely to buy any other brand phone that requires me to press a button to turn it on. Double tap to wake or swipe to wake is one of those seemingly simple, sly conveniences that you don't miss until it is gone. My S7 Edge didn't have either, while my lowly Priv and Passport had one or the other.

[CharlieV]

I guess I'm really just looking for a better keyboard and better battery life.

[lasoiveille]

If it's not 1080p for the screen, that should ease any concerns about lag like the Priv. And with how thick it looks in the photos, I'm hoping for awesome battery life. Count down the hours. . .my Q10 awaits its successor!

[pizzawheel]

As many have said there's no dealbreakers because it will be the only PKB phone on the market, so I'm prepared to take what I get. I'm happy with whats been shown so far to the extent that wishing for an RGB notification light is pretty much my biggest worry.

My appreciation of removable batteries went away with the Q5. My love for that phone explains the state it's in now whilst my Z30 really does look like new.

[slagman5]

For me, if the visible part of the screen is curved like the Samsung Edge phones. I don't mind if they just put a curved glass over a flat screen like they have been doing. But if they ever put that stupid curved LED screen so everything on the edges get distorted, no thanks... I cannot stand distortion of any kind. I am hoping for the whole curved tv's thing to just die already too so more useful advancements can be made on non-distorted screens...

Posted without the aid of AutoCorrect with my physical keyboard via CB10

[lasoiveille]

Also agree with CharlieV about the size. It seemed a bit "big" at first to me (maybe still will), but smaller compacts are pretty rare to begin with. If my other choice for a "small" phone with decent specs is in the other fruit company, I'd rather spend the money on a pkb. With the curved edges, I'm hoping it's easy to adjust for one-handed typing.

Posted via CB10

[Lefty724]

I think my all time favorite BlackBerry was my Classic, then the Priv a close 2nd. I always wished they would build a Classic running on Android and here is the Mercury!

It won't have BB10 or even a tool belt, but hopefully BB/TCL will implement some traditional BB10 features like the hub, sleep/night mode, key shortcuts etc...

Like posted above, I can deal with whatever they put out, I just hope there are a few hidden surprises!?

[tp2386]

Not quite deal breakers, but I'm hoping the notification light is RGB, and that and PKB feedback travel is good.

[consv93]

I'm wondering if it is slower than the Priv. I sometimes get some really big lag (I don't play games or watch movies).

The 625 processor is faster than the 808 in the Priv.

[twopack]

I can almost promise that it will be faster than the Priv. I've never owned a priv, but the ones I've used haven't necessarily been slow. But I know that there are many people reporting some lag like you mention. However this is a new chip, small die, and as long as you're not trying to run intensive games or 4k video editing on it, you should be fine and have a smooth operation of daily tasks.

 ßlackßerry PASSPORT 

[jbarrack]

At this point, there really are no deal breakers for me --- I am getting one no matter what the specs are. But what I am really hoping for is the Mercury to be the closest thing to the Blackberry of old but running Android. Physical keyboard, great battery life, excellent call reception and quality, RGB LED.

The Priv tried to be that device, but fell short for me personally. I can't wait for the Mercury. Glad we're less than 5 days away from some more news.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

The 625 processor is faster than the 808 in the Priv.

Depends on what you are doing.... for a single processor application the 808 is faster. Where the 625 shines is in benchmarks that test multiple cores.... Real world, I think it will be the newer GPU paired with the smaller and lower resolution screen that will make the difference.

But it's only going to be on CrackBerry where anyone will be comparing the Mercury to phones with a processor from two years ago. Most will compare the Mercury with other 625 powered devices from the last year, or most likely with other devices released at MWC (this year).