[uncle_numpty]

Just goes to show how far BBRY are on the specs/cost curve.

Whilst they utilised their own OS they could use justify older/cheaper components because they could squeeze more out of the OS, but now that they've gone full android - well lets be honest they are overpriced and underspecced by about 18 months.

Of course i'm just a consumer and business user so what do I know about it

[MC_A_DOT]

Physical keyboard.
Security obsession.
Loyal customers.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

A tried and failed method.

L.

[slagman5]

They may have good motherboards, but they really aren't that great at devices. I have a tablet and it got RMA'ed 5 times to fix the same problem.

Well I know Asus mainly as an OEM parts provider. They only recently became a consumer electric company, the only consumer electric device from them I own is an Asus monitor, which has been great for me though.

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

[koool1]

Just goes to show how far BBRY are on the specs/cost curve.

Whilst they utilised their own OS they could use justify older/cheaper components because they could squeeze more out of the OS, but now that they've gone full android - well lets be honest they are overpriced and underspecced by about 18 months.

Of course i'm just a consumer and business user so what do I know about it

Sadly you are right. With Android you can't fake it. Competition is brutal. The Priv had near top specs at launch but it should have been $100 less at least.

As for ASUS. I have a Zenbook ultra book and zero issues. Also had a ASUS monitor for 3 years. Amazing. No hesitation to buy a phone from them if the reviews come back positive.

Posted via BlackBerry PRIV

[baruman]

The PRIV should have retailed at no more than $499 and a new slab should have been released 6 months later or at the same time for $299. Everyone else releases 2 or 3 versions of their phone at the same time at different price points.

[Deckard79]

Well I know Asus mainly as an OEM parts provider. They only recently became a consumer electric company, the only consumer electric device from them I own is an Asus monitor, which has been great for me though.

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

Back when I started building machines (90s) they had a reputation as one of the reliable motherboard manufacturers.

Then there was a phase around 5-10 years ago when their components all seemed to have defective capacitors.

Around the same time, they also had major QC issues with their tablets (Asus Prime and Nexus 7 had MASSIVE return rates).

They have a poor reputation for after-sales warranty support, so if you do get a problem... it can be troublesome if dealing with them directly.

The last thing of theirs I owned was one of their monitors, and yes... that was fine for the price. So they may have turned that around.

Posted via CB10

[ToniCipriani]

Well I know Asus mainly as an OEM parts provider. They only recently became a consumer electric company, the only consumer electric device from them I own is an Asus monitor, which has been great for me though.

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

Oh yeah, I have my fair share of stuff from Asus as well. Two Asus monitors from 2007 that works fine to date and I sold one, and numerous but one board that works well. Their Zenbooks work very well too, must've learned a lot when they were building Macbooks back then.

Except my own VivoTab Note 8 and my friend's Zenfone 2 is really nothing to write home about. They are terribly built.

[slagman5]

Back when I started building machines (90s) they had a reputation as one of the reliable motherboard manufacturers.

Then there was a phase around 5-10 years ago when their components all seemed to have defective capacitors.

Around the same time, they also had major QC issues with their tablets (Asus Prime and Nexus 7 had MASSIVE return rates).

They have a poor reputation for after-sales warranty support, so if you do get a problem... it can be troublesome if dealing with them directly.

The last thing of theirs I owned was one of their monitors, and yes... that was fine for the price. So they may have turned that around.

Posted via CB10

Actually 5-10 years ago, A LOT of companies had issues with their capacitors because of a supplier issue that a lot of companies used, including Asus. I forgot which one it was, but Asus didn't make their own capacitors and neither did a lot of other hardware companies. And I haven't had an issue with their customer service. I thought I had an issue with a monitor but kind of figured it out while on the phone with one of their reps, and he told me that if it has any other issues to just call them back and they will replace it. Unless he was lying it seemed pretty good to me.

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

[slagman5]

Oh yeah, I have my fair share of stuff from Asus as well. Two Asus monitors from 2007 that works fine to date and I sold one, and numerous but one board that works well. Their Zenbooks work very well too, must've learned a lot when they were building Macbooks back then.

Except my own VivoTab Note 8 and my friend's Zenfone 2 is really nothing to write home about. They are terribly built.

I have no experience with their phones or most of their consumer electronics, sad to hear their phone wasn't built well. Oh well.

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

[crucial bbq]

Just goes to show how far BBRY are on the specs/cost curve.

Whilst they utilised their own OS they could use justify older/cheaper components because they could squeeze more out of the OS, but now that they've gone full android - well lets be honest they are overpriced and underspecced by about 18 months.

Of course i'm just a consumer and business user so what do I know about it

A few thoghts...

ASUS is a Taiwan company. As such, like all the other low-priced high-spec'd phones, they'll take advantage of local cheap labor and locally sourced, cheaper, components. Granted, Taiwan is not China, but the distance is a heck of a lot closer than, say, Korea to China. Or Canada to China.

Some of the materials used may be high-end, some not. The camera components are typically Sony because they are decent and cheap, but not high-end. Japanese glass is also not as good as say AMOLED or IPS. That RAM is not DDR4, which is what is found in current flagship devices. It's the cheaper Chinese DDR3, but may still be high-end.

This phone, like the majority of the rest, rely on Internet sales. They don't have the major distribution that Samsung, LG, Apple, and even BlackBerry have, which also keeps the prices low.

Here in the US, this phone and the rest of the high-spec'd cheapo 's are even more obscure than BlackBerry. At least the Rome and Hamburg have he potential to be in carrier stores or online with Walmart. I'll also add that even though buying the device first, SIM second, is common throughout the world here in the US it's still a novelty. Not sure how BlackBerry will compete in the rest of the world, but here there will be little competition.

Posted via CB PRIV.

[Deckard79]

Actually 5-10 years ago, A LOT of companies had issues with their capacitors because of a supplier issue that a lot of companies used, including Asus. I forgot which one it was, but Asus didn't make their own capacitors and neither did a lot of other hardware companies. And I haven't had an issue with their customer service. I thought I had an issue with a monitor but kind of figured it out while on the phone with one of their reps, and he told me that if it has any other issues to just call them back and they will replace it. Unless he was lying it seemed pretty good to me.

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

There were others (were you thinking of Antec?). But my point is that Asus is one manufacturer that makes a business out of keeping costs very low, and selling products that are very price-competitive as a result. The downside of that can be quality and/or consistency.

Posted via CB10

[rthonpm]

"Starting at $499, you get 6GB of RAM plus 64GB of UFS 2.0 internal storage, and there'll be a 256GB variant arriving later" game set and match...

ASUS is a component manufacturer: they can throw all the specs they want at a handset because they build the parts themselves. BlackBerry has to source their components. When your hardware costs are low, it's easy to throw something out.

[nimra]

Not many BlackBerry, keyboard or security obsessed type folks out there anymore.

Just enterprise / government.

Posted via BlackBerry PRIV

And me
Hate how all these phones started looking like the same apple.... even apples are different
Perhaps I am alone, but kind of even miss the antenna to pull out I had on my startak Motorola

Posted via CB10

[PantherBlitz]

This is just it. Top specs for $500 and BlackBerry wants to sell mid-range phones for $400-500.

BlackBerry does not have the R&D budget to get into the 6-month specs chase. They do not have the volume to enter the low-end. Thus, they have to sell mid-range hardware that offers "good enough" performance at a price that fleet buyers will find reasonable.

[koool1]

BlackBerry does not have the R&D budget to get into the 6-month specs chase. They do not have the volume to enter the low-end. Thus, they have to sell mid-range hardware that offers "good enough" performance at a price that fleet buyers will find reasonable.

So they think anyway.

I suspect BlackBerry's time in handsets is limited if they can't convince companies to buy into a BlackBerry end to end solution with these mid-rangers.

Posted via BlackBerry PRIV

[IndianTiwari]

When I looked at the new Zenfone 3 I shake my head and wonder how BlackBerry can compete..

ASUS's ZenFone 3 looks and feels twice its price

Crazy value with great specs. Honestly, if my Priv died tomorrow I think I would get a Zenfone.

Posted via BlackBerry PRIV

Blackberry is competing only against its past performance .

[deadcowboy]

Blackberry is competing only against its past performance .

Again, that's what got BlackBerry into this mess.

Posted via CB10

[PantherBlitz]

So they think anyway.

I suspect BlackBerry's time in handsets is limited if they can't convince companies to buy into a BlackBerry end to end solution with these mid-rangers.

You got that right. Companies who bought into their MDM solutions are buying their handsets from other makers. If that does not change the handset division will never be profitable.

[rthonpm]

Companies who bought into their MDM solutions are buying their handsets from other makers.

At least this still brings in money for BlackBerry as opposed to having everything reliant on their own handsets like it used to be. Also, BES brings in a regular stream of income as opposed to the one time bump of a device sale.

That being said, I don't think BlackBerry would mind all the money they could make, but the market has spoken and their time as a handset manufacturer is likely quite limited.

Posted via CB10

[BBd00d]

If they can't generate sales with Rome and Hamburg, BlackBerry as a hardware manufacturer is done, there's no forgiveness after that

Posted via CB10

[kevwill6115]

If they can't generate sales with Rome and Hamburg, BlackBerry as a hardware manufacturer is done, there's no forgiveness after that

Posted via CB10

Why do you say that? The last 4 devices have been flops and somehow their still making handsets.

Passport to Rome

[slagman5]

Why do you say that? The last 4 devices have been flops and somehow their still making handsets.

Passport to Rome

Their still making phones? Are you sure it's not his still making phones or her still making phones? Or maybe it's my still making phones, I'm confused now... :-P

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

[kevwill6115]

Their still making phones? Are you sure it's not his still making phones or her still making phones? Or maybe it's my still making phones, I'm confused now... :-P

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

Shocking lol.

Passport to Rome

[koool1]

If they can't generate sales with Rome and Hamburg, BlackBerry as a hardware manufacturer is done, there's no forgiveness after that

Posted via CB10

If these 2 flop BlackBerry will exit hardware. Sadly, Priv seems like a sales flop even though it's a great phone. I still meet lots of people who like it but thought it was a BlackBerry OS phone. Not Android. Means people are not even looking at it.

Posted via BlackBerry PRIV

[kevwill6115]

If these 2 flop BlackBerry will exit hardware. Sadly, Priv seems like a sales flop even though it's a great phone. I still meet lots of people who like it but thought it was a BlackBerry OS phone. Not Android. Means people are not even looking at it.

Posted via BlackBerry PRIV

We will probably see two low-end phones from BlackBerry, if these two devices flop.

Passport to Rome