[dpeters11]

The Editor of Ars UK did say this:

A full review will follow - probably sometime next week. We'll be reviewing a retail version of the phone, too, to see if the issues have been ironed out.

As Mark notes, it's entirely possible that the shoddiness was entirely down to this being an early production sample. Some software updates might fix the camera, too.

That's why there aren't any good/bad/ugly - we don't want to declare a phone incompetent (or awesome) until we've given it a fair shot

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Wallstreet Journal and AndroidCentral both love it...I'd take both of those sources opinions over Ars or Endgadget.

 Posted in CB10 from my amazing SQUARE OG Passport 

I would consider them all....

The one troubling problem with the AndroidCentral review and the NINE other stories on the PRIV they have posted on their home page (even one "BlackBerry's President of Devices on the Priv, Android, security and keyboards").... No one over there cares. Most of the comments in the AC review are from CrackBerry members. The PRIV section in the forum is almost dead, Russell has been answering questions about the PRIV... but there have only been about 13 people asking questions.

The real problem... is so far BlackBerry hasn't started whatever marketing they plan on doing (unless this is their marketing plan). Thus only a few "techy" people even know about it.

[GoJaysGo]

So I guess the only reviews that fanboys will accept are the ones that say this is the best mobile device ever made, and it should sell millions this weekend? I'm not sure why people are personally offended by a poor review of a electronic gadget... most of the reviews i've read are positive, but almost all say the same thing. It's heavy (top heavy with the keyboard slid out), laggy, runs hot, and the keyboard is too small to be useful. If that's the case, and the only difference between BlackBerry and Samsung is the physical keyboard, game over Blackberry. Why add the extra weight just for a keyboard you won't use?

[A_Aviator_A]

I didn�t bother reading the review.....the colorful statement �not even for my worst enemy� is quite a stupid statement to be included in a review title and destroys any credibility as a reputable article....this sounds like a bid to accumulate clicks from angry Blackberry fanboys instead of talking about a new device. I�m sure there are worse things one can wish upon enemies than to make them use a premium Blackberry product.
" I curse you, to spend the next 12 months using a Blackberry PRIV"....hahahahah

[Superfly_FR]

Gizmodo review wasn't a review. Nothing of the sort, just a half-backed biased rant.
Their localized UK site did a much better work.
BlackBerry Priv Review: A Weird, Wonderful Swiss Army Knife of a Smartphone | Gizmodo UK

Should You Buy It?

For �559.99, certainly, though only if you're into big phones. The Priv's a genuinely impressive all-rounder, but it'll be too much mobile for some to handle. However, I fear the biggest barrier between most consumers and the Priv will be that fact that it's made by BlackBerry, which has become a byword for failure. The company's latest handset doesn't make up for years of disappointment, but it's a big step in the right direction. More importantly, it's dramatically different to anything on the market right now, in a good way.

So I had to let them know.

Attached Thumbnails  

info600 and j21jam6 like this.

[atlasmike]

Seem like the louder your opposition is the better of a job you are doing.

Posted via CB10

[crucial bbq]

Where is the surprise here? You know these sites are only pandering to their own audiences. CNET gives the Priv a "B" and the Wall St. Journal gives it a solid review; readers of the WSJ are the Priv's target audience, not some 20-something snot.

Posted via CB10

[Superfly_FR]

So I guess the only reviews that fanboys will accept are the ones that say this is the best mobile device ever made, and it should sell millions this weekend? I'm not sure why people are personally offended by a poor review of a electronic gadget... most of the reviews i've read are positive, but almost all say the same thing. It's heavy (top heavy with the keyboard slid out), laggy, runs hot, and the keyboard is too small to be useful. If that's the case, and the only difference between BlackBerry and Samsung is the physical keyboard, game over Blackberry. Why add the extra weight just for a keyboard you won't use?

No.
Actually any review is acceptable. What Gizmodo (US) did is nothing of the sort. Just compare with their sister site and nail the difference. UK review is not praising the device and raise some negative points, but you can assume he's been testing it in a reasonable fashion.
So, U.S coul name that Editorial or Mood, but certainly not "Review". It's a poor, lazy and obviously partial (journalist ha-ha) job.

[TGR1]

Wallstreet Journal, CNN, and AndroidCentral both love it...I'd take those sources opinions over Ars or Endgadget.

 Posted in CB10 from my amazing SQUARE OG Passport 

I would take an Ars or Anandtech review over all the others, particularly the deep dives into software and hardware.

What I would really like to see is what car reviews do for some models - a "long term" test drive, of maybe a month so that reviewers get used to the units and usage stabililizes. That would be nice but I also don't blame reviewers for not doing it (huge commitment).

[ToniCipriani]

I would take an Ars or Anandtech review over all the others, particularly the deep dives into software and hardware.

What I would really like to see is what car reviews do for some models - a "long term" test drive, of maybe a month so that reviewers get used to the units and usage stabililizes. That would be nice but I also don't blame reviewers for not doing it (huge commitment).

Fair enough, what you think of this: BlackBerry Priv: Enterprise Android in a snazzy but functional package ? The Register

Pretty extensive IMO.

[Toodeurep]

So I guess the only reviews that fanboys will accept are the ones that say this is the best mobile device ever made, and it should sell millions this weekend? I'm not sure why people are personally offended by a poor review of a electronic gadget... most of the reviews i've read are positive, but almost all say the same thing. It's heavy (top heavy with the keyboard slid out), laggy, runs hot, and the keyboard is too small to be useful. If that's the case, and the only difference between BlackBerry and Samsung is the physical keyboard, game over Blackberry. Why add the extra weight just for a keyboard you won't use?

But then, they wouldn't be "fanboys". I have no issues with fanboys seeking only the positive.

The issue is some of what I read comes off exactly like your post. An editorial confusing what you want with what another manufacturer wanted to offer and calling something that has thousands of uses "useless" and saying people won't use it. I have only read four reviews and none of them mention what you said most of them said. Weird isn't it? (rhetorical) What's the opposite of a fanboy? (also rhetorical)

[ljfong]

The one consensus from all the reviews so far, be that negative, neutral or positive is the high discouraging price, which is IMHO, Priv's achilles heel.

[cgk]

Where is the surprise here? You know these sites are only pandering to their own audiences. CNET gives the Priv a "B" and the Wall St. Journal gives it a solid review; readers of the WSJ are the Priv's target audience, not some 20-something snot.

Posted via CB10

Except... none of that adds up - if its WSJ readers - why is the plan to target holiday ads, why are the current online offerings things like shirtless tattooed men?

The idea that the target audience is this mythical high end professional bears no relationship to any of the marketing material (cheap looking, online only) or what they actually say they are doing.

[RyanGermann]

Simply put: reviewers without empathy are wastes of space. Their employer isn't getting good value for their money if they "can't imagine" something about the appeal of a device, and properly advise readers whether or not a piece of technology will suit their needs.

I wonder if these "never kissed a girl" nerds could IMAGINE the use for a baby carriage.

[deadcowboy]

Yeah, crappy reviews, but to be fair...BlackBerry really should have used USB type-C. I'm on the fence about D-Tek's usefulness. But most of all, according to the N4BB review, the power button is loose and not easy to press.

What is wrong with BlackBerry? All of my Passports have had the same ****ty volume rocker buttons. They are all loose and jangly. Not satisfying. But the Q10, Z10, and the Z30 had the best volume rocker in the industry. The redesigned volume rocker is garbage, and I'm sad to see the same design is again present in the Priv (and with the exact same issues as before).

Posted via CB10

[mister2d]

Simply put: reviewers without empathy are wastes of space. Their employer isn't getting good value for their money if they "can't imagine" something about the appeal of a device, and properly advise readers whether or not a piece of technology will suit their needs.

I wonder if these "never kissed a girl" nerds could IMAGINE the use for a baby carriage.

Why should any reviewer worth his/her salt waste empathy on a lifeless device. It's just a phone. Why does it need empathy?

[Kurdis Blough]

The one consensus from all the reviews so far, be that negative, neutral or positive is the high discouraging price, which is IMHO, Priv's achilles heel.

I agree

Can purchase a MotoX and 360 for the price of the priv.

Its like they dont want people to buy it.

!

[anon(2313227)]

Why should any reviewer worth his/her salt waste empathy on a lifeless device. It's just a phone. Why does it need empathy?

I think he meant empathy for the users not the device.

[deadcowboy]

Why should any reviewer worth his/her salt waste empathy on a lifeless device. It's just a phone. Why does it need empathy?

I think that objectivity is more to the point: a reviewer shouldn't be reviewing anything but the product in front of them and with an objective stance. Not the incensed and embarrassingly emotional review that Gizmodo published.

That said, the Gizmodo reviewer sounds a little sociopathic. He has empathy for himself and no one else, taking offense to the fact that BlackBerry would ever release another phone. Truly embarrassing closing argument.

Posted via CB10

[RyanGermann]

I think that objectivity is more to the point

Well, no, because a reviewer is supposed to understand, for example, that some people, try as they might, just can't get used to typing on glass and might want a physical keyboard, and the reviewer should be able to say "compared to other physical keyboards I've used, this one is (good / bad) and if you're keen on a device with a PKB, it compares (well / poorly) to the BlackBerry Classic". That's not objective, that's subjective, but such a statement also considers use cases that SHOULD be in the realm of the reviewer's experience, but possibly outside the reviewers limited (or very limited, as in the Gizmodo reviewer's case) own desires.

[TGR1]

Fair enough, what you think of this: BlackBerry Priv: Enterprise Android in a snazzy but functional package ? The Register

Pretty extensive IMO.

I found it a bit breezy for my taste -- I personally don't like bylines that say "A phone for grown-ups that doesn't suck" unless I am reading generally nonsensical articles -- and condescending (the author seems a bit stuck on "grownups" vs the assumed young "selfie" crowd, and you know what they say about assuming). It was quite extensive but for me not enough balance between subjective and objective -- there isn't actually a lot of controlled data and I like to see that as well as subjective impressions. Those apparent prejudices aside, is well written otherwise, by someone who knows and likes BBs. But I will be honest, unless you like sliders and pkb there isn't a selling point that really pointed to this being more desirable than other current phones.

I do think he tried very hard to convey the software, i.e. BBRY user experience as a special feature but it really wasn't clear to me as a non-user, particularly the explanation of the Hub implementation vs true Android. I am not sure it will be clear to average Android users who aren't already familiar with BB10 that it is better than what they currently use. I suspect it is a difficult thing to describe in text and actually think BBRY should load training videos to YouTube to visually demonstrate and explain or even have dog and pony shows. But I can see why BB10 users like reviews like this since they are already so very familiar with the UX.

[mainely_linux]

Ugh, more from Cancer Gawker Media...

If we could follow the money trail from these sites I think it would become glaringly obvious who is behind these reviews.

[rsrocha]

What a bunch of crap!

These apple and samboys all reviewed the phone and said like "it's not bad BUT..."

I bet that they didn't took a complete day with the phone or they had it for the day and when they wrote the review they had in their mind "oh man that keyboard is so good" or "I wished I could slide my iphone 6s and reveal a keyboard".

Posted via CB10

[Elephant_Canyon]

I'm on the fence about D-Tek's usefulness.

I'm not. DTEK's passive monitoring is almost completely useless, especially with Android 6's permissions controls (which the Priv does not have, since it's on Android 5.1.1).

[lylesilverman]

It must be a sad existence to write a review like that and claim you're objective.

Whatever. Hopefully the phone speaks for itself in the hands of others.