[Joao Oliveira]

Yesterday I just got my passport, I'm going to tell you here what my experience is so far along with some pictures

First impressions
I open the box, and it's big, a tad bigger than I expected, but not much of a surprise either... The packaging is good, and the device comes very well protected. I was very surprised how pocketable the device was, it's strange, but I put Passport in one pocket and Q10 on the other, I almost couldn't tell the difference. I was using normal jeans, not too tight, not too loose, just normal. I can tell, you, more pocketable than a GS5 that my friend has. When your up, no phone will bother you, but when you sit, is where large phones can annoy you.
Since the Passport is shorter than 5" phones, when you sit, the Passport doesn't stick agains your pelvis like 5" phones do with not so deep pockets.

The front
I'm going to call Blackberry poor photography, the pictures that Passport has on the websites look absolute garbage, the phone looks ugly and cheap. Blackberry really needs to get something done about it, because the phone isn't as ugly as it looks here. We have here Z3, Classic, and Passport, they look all bland and lacking apeal. Look at apple, their products in the advertising look GREAT, can't say the same about Blackberry ones.


When you have on in your hand it feels so different feels very very premium, the most premium feeling blackberry I ever had, and I had a few as you can see in my signature. You can try to bend or twist it, it's very rigid, you don't head any squeaks. It looks SO MUCH BETTER than in blackberry pictures, it's a combination of glossy, and mate, looks superb, looks and feels very expensive, will make a Samsung GS5 or a LG G3 look like toys with their plastic bodys and fake metal.

The front of the device is all screen+keyboard. The screen is is shiny, it has a deep black bezel, and it feels a tad different to the touch than the Q10. Compared to the Q10, the texture of the glass seems a bit more slide friendly, the Q10 seemed to promote more friction when dragging your finger over it.
The keyboard and bottom of the device is finished in a more "matte" finish wich I think suits well. It's very soft to the touch, softer than the Q10 glossy keyboard.







The sides
I was very impressed by the stainless steel edge, Like almost every part of the phone, it looks and feels much better than the picture i've seen in the web. It feels VERY sturdy and stiff, no way you can bend this. It has a slight texture to it, and the tone seems a bit warmer than pictures I've saw before.
on the left side there's nothing other than the frame, but on the rioght you have the usual 3 buttons like you had in past blackberrys. Compared to the Q10, they are just a little bit stiffe, but the middle key is a lot easyer to press than the "hidden" one in the Q10. They feel like quality stuff, but wobble a little bit, especialy compared to the Q10's ones that doen't wobble at all. But nothing that spoils the very good finish the sides have



Top, Bottom and Speakers

If I would have to tell wich was the "not so good" part of the passport, for sure it would have been the top and bottom. Just seems that they didn't care much about the design of these parts, and don't have anything to stand out. The power button on the top is sturdy, doesn't wobble, but the "click" doesn't feel premium like the 9900 did, but it's a less stiff that the Q10, wich I prefer for being softer.



Nothing special to see here wither. I've seen a lot of praise for the speakers, and because I enjyo high quality music, I might be unfair to the speakers. Yes they are loud, but I don't feel like the quality is "that good". A bit better than the Q10, but not by much... Louder? Yes, very loud.
The problem is, once you get them very loud, the quality degrades a lot. Being a phone speaker, the bass is very low, you have some until the last 3 volume levels, but after you go over to the last 3 levels of volume, the sound gets louder, but the bass starts to get muted and you have no bass at all in the Max volume. I guess they are good enought for what they are, but not blown away.
The port seems well built, maybe my Q10 was a bit too "used", but for sure when I plug the USB, it feels smoother, and tighter in the Passport.


The back

Again, I have to call blackberry here for not making justice the back of the device with their photography. Again, it looks very premium, and feels soft and smooth. So much better than what pictures sugest. You see no gaps (cof cof... Note 4... cof cof), you can press it as har as you can, it feels rigid, you hear no funny noises, and it's very very tight, I was impressed. The ring around the camera does is a nice touch, and has some depth on it, not totaly flush. The device is as grippy as the Q10 and Z30 finish, but feels tighter due to non removable back door. Fingerprints are a lot more noticeable than in Q10 and Z30, don't know if it's because it's all black, or if the glassweave don't highlight them.
The camera is good, I do photography as my job, so I don't want to go too hard on the camera, I'm sure there are plenty of examples and comparisons with the LG G3 that has the same camera. The Q10 was enought of camera for my little "phone camera needs" the passport is way better. The LED flash is about as bright as the Q10, but warmer wich is good, and the light is more even, the Q10 had a bit of a texture on the light sent by the flash.





The Screen

Well, the screen. The screen is HUGE, and it shows so much more content than your tradition smartphone. When you get it side to side with a already big 5" screen, the wide screen of the passport, just feels like "the better window" to watch your content, I don't feel like our eyes like to watch vertical stuff, our eyes work more in an horizontal line (that's why TV's are horizontal, not vertical), so despite the passport being a "ALIEN" device, right away, the screen feels more "natural" to consume regular web content than other phones.

I'm not caught on the pixel count race of today's smartphones, so I don't really care about the super high resolution. Yeah if you focus, it looks sharper than the Q10, but at normal viewing distances the difference isn't anything amazing. I'm more concerned about the other aspects of the screen, like color reproduction, viewing angles, blacks, contrast, clarity, refresh rate, etc....



As we know, Passport has a LCD screen, where the Q10 had a AMOLED. As expected, the Passport is much better using outside in bright light, you can see much better, while the Q10, delivered a more pleasing image in the dark. In the Q10, with a dark background you almost couldn't tell where the bezel started... Not so with the Passport... Passport has a much brighter screen, and as expected, the LCD panel can't stop the light bleeding completely, you always see some light leak with the blacks, where you can easly tell where's the edge between bezel and screen, but that's not only the passport, any smartphone that isn't AMLOED has this problem. Only very expensive LCD's can mask it better, but those aren't consumer grade products.

I'm used to work with professional grade screens so take what I say with a grain of salt... The blacks aren't amazing, but they aren't bad either. The color reproduction seems very good, good clarity, and I don't see much ghosting when you have movement on screen. Of course the Q10 had no ghosting at all since AMOLEDS don't have ghosting wich is good.



Viewing Angles are good with almost no collor shifting like you had on the AMOLED in the Q10, you just notice a bit loss in contrast, but nothing major.
In the end, the Screen is very good in my opinion, it's very comparable with what's out there in the market, and despite the Blacks not being as dark as in AMOLED, this LCD produces a much more realistic colors than the over saturated AMOLEDS in Q10, Z30 and samsungs, that make my photography looks with overblown with saturation, giving me some trouble when showing my portfolio to clients, Passport is going to be much better at it.

Keyboard
This is one of the most important aspects for me, and for a lot of Blackberry addicts. I know some can type even faster in a piece of glass, but the physical keyboard just gives you extra reliability where I can type without even looking at the phone, going down the stairs at full tilt, or even typing while waiting for the traffic light to go green...



The Keyboard has a different texture than the Q10, but doesn't bother much. The stiffness is very similar to the Q10, some say it's stiffer, mine seems about the same, but maybe that's because the keys are larger, but we also know that each bach of phones had slight difference in stiffness on the keys. The keys feel a bit less "clicky" than the Q10, more quiet, more like the 9900
I have the phone for 2 days, and i'm 90% used to the new 3rd row. I didn't expect to get used this quick after spending so many years with the old layout, at first you have to type looking at it, but i'll got used much quicker than expected. I'm starting to memorize the symbol position. Now instead of pressing shift, I swipe down, and select my symbol with the keyboard, theres no need to go to the touch screen. Some symbols changed place, but I'm starting to memorize them. Take note that the "0" now it's on the "Q" key

Crackberry Kevin said the device wasn't as confortable to type when for example laying in bed... We all have different habits, but in my case, I don't have any difference, no problem holding the phone whatever the position I am. That's because I hold the device, basicly pressing it on both side with my hands, so it is tight between my hands, and I could even type on it upside down with no effort at all. Everybody is different so your milleage may could be different, but no problem for me and my way of holding phones.



Once I get my Tactile and Muscle memory with the new keyboard, I expect to be pretty much as fast as the Q10 and previous blackberrys. Time will tell.

The touch enabled funtion is just faultless, very consistent, detects your fingers very easly. Impressive how the movements on screen are so smooth when the keybaord is very bumpy. I've heard people saying it's inconsistent, but I mine doesn't miss a beat. I was already used to scroll on screen, but scrolling "touch pad like" it's a lot more confortable. Especialy if you're in bed, I rotate the passport horizontal and scroll using the keyboard, it feels very natural, very handy, it doesn't feel like you're using the feature just because "it's there and it's cool", I use it because it's better than scrooling on screen. Other than that, I still make little use of it simply because I forget the feature. I'm still too used to the non-touch Q10, but little by little, I'm starting to use the touch interface of the keyboard more each hour, because some of the features not only are cool, but they really improve your productivity and ease of use.

Using the phone
You can tell this phone is quicker, the Snapdragon 801 performs way better than the ones before. You don't tell much difference in smoothness, because BB10 always has been very smooth, but the phone boots faster, runs androids apps much faster, even the Wifi is a lot quicker. But nothing groundbreaking, you'll feel at home if you had any BB10 before, I had 10.3 on my Q10 and it was very smooth already.

A lot of people talk about the "one handed use", and for sure Passport is more confortable with 2 hands, but is a lot more usable one handed than I thought. I can do 80% of the tasks one handed and I have very small hands. If I hold the device in a "less convetional" way, I can even type and reach every part of the screen one handed, and I repeat, I have very small hands

Overall the device is a joy to use, it stands out, it feels premium (for the 1st time in BB10)... I had high hopes for this device, and I can tell they exceeded, I can tell this phone is going to be sucess, is a huge leap forward compared to previous BB10 devices. I had many doubts about this device, and if you have them aswell, I would go for it, the experience totaly dismissed the fears I had about it: The keyboard is easier to handle and adapt than I expected and It's extremely pocket friendly (wich is still hard to believe)

I bought the passport, before I got it I wasn't sure If I would keep it, but after I got 2 days with it, I'm 100% sure I'm going to keep it, it doesn't give me the any of the troubles that I tought I might have... Totally recomended

Hope you enjoyed my first impressions review. I'll keep this thread updated. Feel free to post any questions, I'll do my best to answer them

[diogoteixeira87]

Joao, are you from Brazil? I'm from RJ. How did you get the passport? Thks

iWho? Z30 baby...

[valleyag]

Nice post.

Rockin Z30 running 10.3.0.1154

[Joao Oliveira]

Jo�o, are you from Brazil? I'm from RJ. How did you get the passport? Thks

iWho? Z30 baby...

Portugal. Doesn't sell here, but I got one imported from UK.

[diogoteixeira87]

Portugal. Doesn't sell here, but I got one imported from UK.

Awesome. A few friends and I have a bbm group only for portuguese speakers. We have a friend from Portugal too. Let me know if you have any interest in join out group and share more about your BlackBerry experience.

Great device btw! The passport really seems gorgeous

iWho? Z30 baby...

[Rameez Moiz]

Appreciate your feedback. You have explained every aspect in detail. I want to get a Passport as well and here in Pakistan it cost for 1Lac, 11 Thousand. Almost $900!

Sent from my Q10SQN100-5/10.2.1.3247

[bigbadben10]

Awesome post OP. Thank you!

Posted by my fabulous Passport

[diogoteixeira87]

Awesome post OP. Thank you!

Posted by my fabulous Passport

One more passport owner. The beast is spreading fast... lol

iWho? Z30 baby...

[tsmd]

Beautiful.

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[tusilal]

Nice pics. I like the look of the matte keyboard in your pics. You're right, the images on BlackBerry's website doesn't do justice to the looks of it.

[Nokia Pureview]

in what country is your Blackberry Passport manufactured?and how is your Android Apps experience on your device,Do Android apps run smoothly on it? Thanks man

[BBZ10wannabe]

Thanks for the great review! I've been wondering about swiping up.. I've used both the Z10 and the Z30 but never a Q. Do you swipe from above the keys or because of the touch enabled keys, straight from the bottom bezel?

I'm used to swiping from the bezel and was concerned it might not feel smooth and natural above the keys.

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[austriker]

I've read over 20 reviews I bet. Is THE single best most comprehensive review I've read yet.

And great photos. Nice dof and bokeh.

Z30STA100-5/10.3.0.1154 = heaven.

[Joao Oliveira]

in what country is your Blackberry Passport manufactured?and how is your Android Apps experience on your device,Do Android apps run smoothly on it? Thanks man

Mexico

[Joao Oliveira]

Thanks for the great review! I've been wondering about swiping up.. I've used both the Z10 and the Z30 but never a Q. Do you swipe from above the keys or because of the touch enabled keys, straight from the bottom bezel?

I'm used to swiping from the bezel and was concerned it might not feel smooth and natural above the keys.

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I typed so fast in the Q10 that I never used the swipe, so I'm not using it in tha passport. The time I take to look up, watch the word I want to write there, move my finger out of the keyboard,etc, I just keep typing the whole word, it's faster for me.

[KporalBoyQ10]

Awesome thanks for your first Passport experience OP

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[randall2580]

Thank you for what appears to be a very considered review of the phone. Really enjoyed reading along and seeing your likes and dislikes which you articulated very well to me. Thank you very much for sharing it with us.

Kevin talks about going back to the old BlackBerry - this review is the old CrackBerry.

[Mirk]

I've been wondering about swiping up.. I've used both the Z10 and the Z30 but never a Q. Do you swipe from above the keys or because of the touch enabled keys, straight from the bottom bezel?

To unlock the phone and exit apps? You swipe up from the bottom of the screen. The touch enabled keys basically only do keyboard things and scroll. Select text, swipe-to-type, delete words, change the onscreen keyboard...

I agree with a lot of what the OP said. Especially that a lot of pictures I've seen don't really do it justice. You really do need to hold it.

[Joao Oliveira]

Thank you for what appears to be a very considered review of the phone. Really enjoyed reading along and seeing your likes and dislikes which you articulated very well to me. Thank you very much for sharing it with us.

Kevin talks about going back to the old BlackBerry - this review is the old CrackBerry.

Thank you very much. Before I got it, I wasn't sure I wouldn't keep it, but after using it for these 2 days, I'm totally sold, I don't have any of the problems I thought I might have, it surpassed my expectations

[edyts]

Great review, im loving my passport and didnt know about swiping down to get the keyboard to map to the touch symbols, now its so handy! Thanks!

[Skyforever]

Great review. I have a Passport as well. The Passport is by far the best BB10 phone I've had between the Z10, Z30, and the Passport. The quality feels very Amazing. I love typing on this thing. Blend has also been great. What an incredible addition to our BB experience. I agree with you The Passport is going to be successful. Love how people can't help but notice it's a BlackBerry phone in your hands. It's all good for BlackBerry with the Passport. Keep it moving BlackBerry. Blackberry Rocks. I like to say: "The Passport is Awesomeness".

[Sarek1701]

Great review. I have a Passport as well. The Passport is by far the best BB10 phone I've had between the Z10, Z30, and the Passport. The quality feels very Amazing. I love typing on this thing. Blend has also been great. What an incredible addition to our BB experience. I agree with you The Passport is going to be successful. Love how people can't help but notice it's a BlackBerry phone in your hands. It's all good for BlackBerry with the Passport. Keep it moving BlackBerry. Blackberry Rocks. I like to say: "The Passport is Awesomeness".

Great review, OP.

And also agree, Blend is phenomenal. I have it installed both at home and at the office, and can't imagine not having it after only a couple of days. What a boon to productivity!

[George Jenkinson]

Thanks for a balanced review and for your opinions OP, I've seen you on other threads trying to research it before making the jump. Out of interest, where did you get it from in the UK? .

I am interested in your comments on the camera as I don't think I've seen any reviews on this area at all - it almost seems as though it's being ignored. Have you used an iPhone 5s before and if so, can you say how you think the PP compares please? I use my camera a lot and to me it is an important consideration.

Thanks

[yessuz]

I HATE YOU!!!!!


now i want a passport even more

[rawat_sandip]

Wow amazing detailed review

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