[scada]

Hello all, I am a longtime iPhone user (starting with the 3G). I went from a Motorola Razor to the iPhone and never went thru the Blackberry stage. I am also the type of person that gets caught up in hype and reading the ads about how you can be more productive with a Blackberry. I would think, I want to be more productive. I also recently read Losing the Signal and was intrigued by Blackberry. In any case I am currently in South Africa for work and see a lot of people with Blackberry phones here. I thought why not give this a try.
I had a 2 week stint back in the US and picked up an unlocked GSM Passport. Unfortunately I missed the Silver Edition by a week or 2. I must say that while not as refined as the iPhone I am very impressed with the BB10 interface. I have tested Android phones and think the BB10 interface is better than the Android. In any case I have been using the Blackberry in parallel with the iPhone for about 3 weeks now.

Here are my observations: There are those that want Blackberry to be a closed system. I have a Gmail and an iCloud account and any phone I have MUST work with these platforms. Luckily Blackberry does, and it also works easily with my work Outlook. My company does not natively support the iPhone and you have to jump thru a bunch of hoops that I did not want to deal with to get it to work on the iPhone. The passport easily let me set up my work, Gmail and iCloud accounts. Kudos to the BB10 team. The calendar is one of the apps that I use extensively. I use Calendar 5 by Readle on the iPhone and BusyCal on my Mac. I have not explored 3rd party calendars and think the BB10 Calendar is ok, I am open to suggestions to try something different.

The Blackberry hub is pretty cool to see all of your messages in one place. I need to learn more how to customize it as I don�t necessarily want to put much importance on Facebook comments.

As for other apps Blackberry needs to really put effort into this. The phone would be so much better if the apps would actually work. Some apps that are issues is iPass, this is an enterprise app that allows you to connect to airport or hotel WiFi and your company picks up the bill. With iPass there is not a native BB10 app and this is odd as Blackberry is geared toward the enterprise. I was able to use the Android version but it works inconsistently. Another app that I use is Tripit, again this is an enterprise platform with no BB10 app I have the Android version but it also works inconsistently. I know people will say to use Blackberry Travel, I don�t want to move to a new platform as I have a workflow that works, plus Tripit is by the company that does business travel so your business travel and personal travel works seamlessly with it.

Google Voice is another thing, I have not had time to set it up thru one of the apps. I give my GV number exclusively and have calls forwarding to both my iPhone and the Passport. It is pretty cool to have both phones ring especially if you are in the same room as only one of them.

One issue is the design of the Passport, the ear speaker is up on the top edge of phone and there is a little lip that is uncomfortable on the ear when using the phone. Perhaps the designers felt that because of the size and shape of the phone very few people would hold it to their ear and would opt for a Bluetooth. Though why put all the noise cancelling microphones and all that.
Blackberry needs to get back into stores, I went to Best Buy in the US and there was nary an item for Blackberry there.

When people ask me about the Blackberry I say it is a pretty good phone and would be a lot better if things actually worked on it.

[scada]

One other thing is the QWERTY keyboard. I can type much faster with the virtual keyboard. I use the predictive typing to try to increase speed. I can type faster on the iPhone.

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[Alberto8]

You can also use predictive keyboard on the passport. Just swipe up the word you want from the keyboard. It's ver easy. Remember the keyboard is a track pad.

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[Shashikantiyengar]

Hi Scada: Also you can use a Pendrive using an OTG cable a feature which is not available in iOS. File upload and download is possible. Since you have not mentioned I presume that these functions are not used regularly by you.
Also the File manager system in BlackBerry is very dynamic and useful. This again is not available in iOS and the files are stored in the individual apps. But in BlackBerry different files like Jpeg, excel, ppt, word, PDF and even a zip file can be stored in a single folder as we do in a computer.

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[guygardner73]

You can also turn off FB notification in the hub. I recommend turning BlackBerry travel on, it is non obtrusive and can work alongside any other travel apps you may have. As for typing, you'll get faster. I use the shortcuts extensively and have set the up numerous customised ones.

PassportSQW100-1/10.3.1.2576 O2 UK

[JBoen]

Glad you made a move, my Z10 still waiting for a go for PP. BB10 HUB is definitely awesome. You dont need to open an app to compose email, text message or even reply any BBM/WhatsApp msgs or any other.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[scada]

Hi Scada: Also you can use a Pendrive using an OTG cable a feature which is not available in iOS. File upload and download is possible. Since you have not mentioned I presume that these functions are not used regularly by you.
Also the File manager system in BlackBerry is very dynamic and useful. This again is not available in iOS and the files are stored in the individual apps. But in BlackBerry different files like Jpeg, excel, ppt, word, PDF and even a zip file can be stored in a single folder as we do in a computer.

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Shashikantiyengar; The file manager is very cool. I have been using it to save work files from my work email. Then I use Blackberry Blend to access them on my computer. I also like the way it integrates Dropbox and use that to sync files. I get sent excel and PDF files often. I am going to see how well it handles ppt's. I would also like to get the device that allows you to present, this is a great phone overall.

[joshua_sx1]

One thing that I really like with BlackBerry Passport is its reading capability. I used to have iP4S so I can really say that, when it comes to reading tasks, Passport is a mile away with this iPhone version.

Not sure about iP6+ since it has a bigger screen too.

Since you are a long time iPhone user, perhaps you can give us an insight, in your own perspective views, of how the reading comparison between the Passport and iP6+ differs.

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[samtronswt]

As soon as my passport comes in ill give insight between the 6 plus and passport! Been with ios the past 5 years, felt a time to switch and never been more excited

[BirdBruce]

I can say from experience the Passport handles ppt files very well. Remember, your USB port is also a SlimPort HDMI connection. With an inexpensive adapter, you can connect straight to a large display and use the Passport as your direct control module for presentations.

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[BirdBruce]

Also, I'm surprised that since you're coming from iphone, you didn't have anything to say about the difference in battery life. That was a HUGE selling point for me.

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[anon(870071)]

One other thing is the QWERTY keyboard. I can type much faster with the virtual keyboard. I use the predictive typing to try to increase speed. I can type faster on the iPhone.

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Just curious have you had any issues deregistering your Iphone so that regular text, and mms works?

Passport SQW100-1 / leak 10.3.2.2252 Rogers Wireless Posted via CB

[Ruzickajr]

I switched from the IPhone 6+ to a Q10 and then to the PP. I can tell you that the 6+ is an amazing phone! It works great for reading, but due to the screen size, you'll find that you're still going to have to swype side to side to read something on the Internet or when trying to read a PDF. That's where the PP shines! With reader mode for Internet articles and the perfect screen size for documents! Not to mention the capacitive keyboard features for scrolling, predictive text, cursor mode and swiping to delete!

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[Lobwedgephil]

Also, I'm surprised that since you're coming from iphone, you didn't have anything to say about the difference in battery life. That was a HUGE selling point for me.

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I don't see any difference between a 6+ and Passport battery wise in my case.

[tw1g_007]

I don't see any difference between a 6+ and Passport battery wise in my case.

Of course there is a difference. The Passport has a much bigger capacity compared to the 6 plus.

 вιaсĸвεггч� PP Silver Edition via CB10 (AT&T OS 10.3.2.2339)

[Lobwedgephil]

Of course there is a difference. The Passport has a much bigger capacity compared to the 6 plus.

 вιaсĸвεггч� PP Silver Edition via CB10 (AT&T OS 10.3.2.2339)

Thats great, more capacity, but in real world usage they last about the same for me.