48 Hours with the Priv

To start with, I pre-ordered my Priv on the Blackberry website and about a week ago received a notification that my order had been cancelled. I did not cancel the order and I could not get a reasonable explanation from Digital River as to why - it just was. Anyway, off to my local Telus store, they had a fully functional display model and a few in stock so I took the plunge. To anyone who thinks the Priv is like a BB10, stop that train of thought right now. In fact, the Android OS on the Priv is not worse or better than BB10, it's just different. I felt the same way when I went from BB OS7 to BB10. I have read a few of the comments from various people and their experiences with their Priv and all I can tell you is mine. First impression is that this is a big device. Coming from the Z30, this still feels big, but not clunky or unwieldy. It feels good in your hand and the pull-out keyboard has such a nice feel when it slides and I really like the subtle "click" it makes when it is fully extended or retracted. It just feels satisfying. Furthermore, I didn't realize how much I missed the physical keyboard until now - welcome back my friend!

I have only had it 48 hours but I have had zero issues. It works. Perhaps the best thing I did before setting anything up was update all of the apps from the Google Play store. There were about 38 apps that had updates and I did them all before setting up the phone with emails etc. The hub is not a mess. It is "similar" to BB10 but certainly not a mess and is easy to get in and out of. Email set-up was easy and all of my data from my Z30 transferred nicely to the Priv. I did use the SD card though for the data transfer so I don't know if that makes a difference. I have noticed in some threads that the wireless (not wifi) signal strength does not seem to be that good. It may just be a "display" problem because with no bars showing, I made and received calls with no problems. Call quality was excellent. The other thing to keep in mind is that if the phone doesn't do what you want it to do, check the App Store because yes, there is probably an app for that. For example, I lived by Blackberry Travel. It doesn't exist for Android but the app from Worldmate is just as good. And speaking of apps, it is sure nice to have all of those apps available to download and they work. No lag, no disappointment, and notifications like we used to get with the old OS7.

Bottom line so far is that this phone is growing on me every hour. Battery life is amazing - 7 hours of moderate use and it is at 76%. Emails arrive almost instantly whereas on my Z30, some emails had a delay of 5 to 10 minutes. Is this a BB10 phone? - NO! so don't think it will be. This is just like when I went from my 9900 to BB10. It is different but yet very "Blackberry". This phone will get even better as updates come out just like BB10 did but this phone is light years ahead of what BB10 was when it first came out. Everything works very well, maybe not perfect, but very well. And really, this is the way to go for Blackberry because in reality, it is about the apps and Blackberry has done an amazing job bringing both worlds together. If you are not ready for a new experience, don't get the Priv but for me, this will be a nice long term friendship - especially with my friend the keyboard back. I missed you.

SBA

Thanks for the review, glad to hear you like it

Ive had mine for 24hrs and I feel the same

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

Another great review keep em coming we need more

Posted via the CrackBerry App on my Blackberry Priv

Nice personal view on the phone. More eager now to pick mine up tomorrow.

Posted via CB10

Your review is basically on point with my own experience so far. This is why people need to avoid seeing negative reviews and try the phones out themselves. Bla1ze has never steered me wrong!

вιaсĸвεггч� ᕵαssρσяτ SE via CB10 (AT&T OS 10.3.2.2474) вιaсĸвεггч� ᕵяiv via CB for Android 2.0.3 (TMo OS Lollipop 5.1.1)