Short review of BlackBerry Classic and using one in mid-2017

Some of you may remember my mini-review (May 2017) of a used BlackBerry Classic I acquired then.

What follows is an account of how the Classic is holding up, in mid-2017.

Context & Location

This review was written (typed, actually) on a 2014 BlackBerry Classic, in June 2017. I'm based in the city state of Singapore.

The state of the mobile landscape in Singapore

Singapore <https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore> is a modern city state in the heart of South East Asia. Flanked by the Muslim countries‎ of Malaysia and Indonesia, Singapore is regarded as one of the top countries (economically, socially, racially-speaking) in this part of the world.

In a small city with an excellent public transport system, and with one of the highest mobile penetration rates in the world, the mobile landscape (by observation, no hard numbers) is dominated in this order: Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy S-series, Sony, Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and LG. BlackBerry is a brand that has been long forgotten here (I suspect it's the same in most other parts of the world). The occasional sighting of a Priv and a Classic is about as rare as sighting a unicorn.

‎Using a BB10 Classic in today's world
I suppose it depends what one needs a phone to do. The BlackBerry Classic does a few things very well:

1. Email - the BlackBerry Hub manages all email superbly. The ability to use the keyboard to reply to emails accurately is a function that cannot be understated.

2. Calendar - calendaring is unsurpassed on the Classic. With the keyboard shortcuts to navigate between Day, Week, Month views, the Classic works really well with managing calendars.

3. Audio playback - the native music app in the Classic works very well. With support for almost every codec (except Apple Lossless - who wants to use a locked down format anyway?), the Music app works really well, complete with a built-in equaliser that is also easy to use. I listen mainly to FLAC and MP3 audio. The Classic supports these well. The added shortcuts for track changes via the Volume keys is a welcome feature too. It's convenience cannot be emphasised enough.

4. USB OTG support - I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the Classic hardware supported USB OTG memory drives. This is really excellent and makes file transfers a real breeze. It's amazing the BlackBerry added this feature‎.

5. Text input & tool belt
As someone who has used the 8520, 9780, 9000, 9900, 9810, Q10 & Passport, I found the use of the the tool-belt to be indispensable. BlackBerry did a good job customising BB10 to accommodate the tool-belt on the Classic. Ever since I moved to the Q10 (my first BB10 device), I've missed the ability to send an email without touching the screen. On the Classic, after writing an email, I simply need to press the BlackBerry key, and then hit the Enter key on the keyboard to send it. I guess this only applies to those who have previously used BBOS devices, particularly those w/o a touch screen.
The presence of the physical 'Call' and 'End' keys are also not to be underestimated. Compared to the Passport, making & ending calls is a lot easier on the Classic.

Applications & the state of BB10
It's well-known that BB10 is a failure, in terms of market share and financial viability. However, that doesn't make it a bad or lousy mobile operating systems. For one to continue using a mobile operating system that no longer has support from major app developers, one has to realise that using the Classic means one cannot expect to be able to use modern applications.

At the time of writing, WhatsApp has gone ahead to extend BB10‎ support.
Other than that, only a handful of apps are supported natively / can still work.

Apps I use (3rd party only)
1. Whatsapp (BB10 from BlackBerry World)
2. WeChat (depreciated Android APK)
3. FBReader (BB10 Android from BlackBerry World)
4. NativeNote (BB10)
5. E-mmanuel Bible (BB10)
6. Soundhound (BB10)
7. Convertly (BB10)
8. Bpod (BB10)
9. IGrann (BB10)
10. VLC Player (Cobalt Play Store)
11. Navfree (BB10)
12. OpenComicReader (Cobalt Play Store)
13. Microsoft OneNote (Cobalt Play Store)
14. Microsoft Office Remote (Cobalt Play Store)
15. Pleco (Cobalt Play Store)
16. Dictionary.com (Cobalt Play Store)
17. Eng Hanzi dictionary (BB10)
18. My Device (BB10)
19. Nightly Clock (BB10)
20. SBS Transit Iris (BB10)

Woah. I didn't realise I had so many 3rd part apps installed.

Hope you enjoyed this post. Cheerio!

Posted via CB10

I truly enjoyed BB10 and people didn't know what they were missing if they never used it. (No marketing and all). We're now almost a 2 mobile OS world. Whether you love or hate BB10, choice is something good for the consumer.
Very nice write-up @ramiusm !

Just like a 2 computer OS world.

+1 on an excellent and true well written review!

Originally Posted by ramiusm

Some of you may remember my mini-review (May 2017) of a used BlackBerry Classic I acquired then.

What follows is an account of how the Classic is holding up, in mid-2017.

Context & Location

This review was written (typed, actually) on a 2014 BlackBerry Classic, in June 2017. I'm based in the city state of Singapore.

The state of the mobile landscape in Singapore

Singapore <https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore> is a modern city state in the heart of South East Asia. Flanked by the Muslim countries‎ of Malaysia and Indonesia, Singapore is regarded as one of the top countries (economically, socially, racially-speaking) in this part of the world.

In a small city with an excellent public transport system, and with one of the highest mobile penetration rates in the world, the mobile landscape (by observation, no hard numbers) is dominated in this order: Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy S-series, Sony, Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and LG. BlackBerry is a brand that has been long forgotten here (I suspect it's the same in most other parts of the world). The occasional sighting of a Priv and a Classic is about as rare as sighting a unicorn.

‎Using a BB10 Classic in today's world
I suppose it depends what one needs a phone to do. The BlackBerry Classic does a few things very well:

1. Email - the BlackBerry Hub manages all email superbly. The ability to use the keyboard to reply to emails accurately is a function that cannot be understated.

2. Calendar - calendaring is unsurpassed on the Classic. With the keyboard shortcuts to navigate between Day, Week, Month views, the Classic works really well with managing calendars.

3. Audio playback - the native music app in the Classic works very well. With support for almost every codec (except Apple Lossless - who wants to use a locked down format anyway?), the Music app works really well, complete with a built-in equaliser that is also easy to use. I listen mainly to FLAC and MP3 audio. The Classic supports these well. The added shortcuts for track changes via the Volume keys is a welcome feature too. It's convenience cannot be emphasised enough.

4. USB OTG support - I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the Classic hardware supported USB OTG memory drives. This is really excellent and makes file transfers a real breeze. It's amazing the BlackBerry added this feature‎.

5. Text input & tool belt
As someone who has used the 8520, 9780, 9000, 9900, 9810, Q10 & Passport, I found the use of the the tool-belt to be indispensable. BlackBerry did a good job customising BB10 to accommodate the tool-belt on the Classic. Ever since I moved to the Q10 (my first BB10 device), I've missed the ability to send an email without touching the screen. On the Classic, after writing an email, I simply need to press the BlackBerry key, and then hit the Enter key on the keyboard to send it. I guess this only applies to those who have previously used BBOS devices, particularly those w/o a touch screen.
The presence of the physical 'Call' and 'End' keys are also not to be underestimated. Compared to the Passport, making & ending calls is a lot easier on the Classic.

Applications & the state of BB10
It's well-known that BB10 is a failure, in terms of market share and financial viability. However, that doesn't make it a bad or lousy mobile operating systems. For one to continue using a mobile operating system that no longer has support from major app developers, one has to realise that using the Classic means one cannot expect to be able to use modern applications.

At the time of writing, WhatsApp has gone ahead to extend BB10‎ support.
Other than that, only a handful of apps are supported natively / can still work.

Apps I use (3rd party only)
1. Whatsapp (BB10 from BlackBerry World)
2. WeChat (depreciated Android APK)
3. FBReader (BB10 Android from BlackBerry World)
4. NativeNote (BB10)
5. E-mmanuel Bible (BB10)
6. Soundhound (BB10)
7. Convertly (BB10)
8. Bpod (BB10)
9. IGrann (BB10)
10. VLC Player (Cobalt Play Store)
11. Navfree (BB10)
12. OpenComicReader (Cobalt Play Store)
13. Microsoft OneNote (Cobalt Play Store)
14. Microsoft Office Remote (Cobalt Play Store)
15. Pleco (Cobalt Play Store)
16. Dictionary.com (Cobalt Play Store)
17. Eng Hanzi dictionary (BB10)
18. My Device (BB10)
19. Nightly Clock (BB10)
20. SBS Transit Iris (BB10)

Woah. I didn't realise I had so many 3rd part apps installed.

Hope you enjoyed this post. Cheerio!

Posted via CB10

OP, you can also tap the BlackBerry button twice to send an email.

Sorry, I tried double tap Blackberry button, but It has sent this post on Crackebbery forum instead e-mail. I don't see delete option now.

Posted via CB10...

Originally Posted by thruby75

Sorry, I tried double tap Blackberry button, but It has sent this post on Crackebbery forum instead e-mail. I don't see delete option now.

Posted via CB10...

you have to be IN the email ready to send it... when you're good to go the BB button opens the menu and then pressing it again selects SEND... you don't have to reach the screen to touch the button

Originally Posted by joewoo

you have to be IN the email ready to send it... when you're good to go the BB button opens the menu and then pressing it again selects SEND... you don't have to reach the screen to touch the button

Indeed it works! Another amazing shortcut!
Hope BlackBerry will make a phone like the Classic/Passport with Android AND a tool belt!

Posted via CB10