[Eduard Pertinez]

Hi,

I bought a Priv this week. I needed a new phone and KEYOne got delayed. I had been looking around for a while, Nexus 6P was my first option. Yet I come from a Passport and keyboard was a good thing to have.

Priv was out of the picture. Reasons... the ones that you know.

a) Way too expensive.
b) It gets hot.
c) Battery lasts very little.
d) Camera is not that good.
e) It sounds clunky or not very well done.
f) Keyboard seems cheap.
g) It is not nice to hold when keyboard is opened and you finish not using keyboard so it is a waste.
h) The phone is way too heavy and thick because of being an slider.
i) The phone is not that fast.

I think I said them all.

Yet I went to Crackberry party in Barcelona's MWC and I found some Priv users. I asked them about their Priv's and, to my surprise... they were happy about them!

What? I was specting them to rationalize some of the big mistakes and problems of the phone and they told me they had no issue!

That day was a Mercury/KEYOne day so I did not go very deep into it.

Anyway, looking around for phones I have to admit that KEYOne was the first option, but having had a Passport I was a little worried to buy a phone that did not have a huge display for videos. Passport aspect has been great for everything but for serious video watching.

So, here I am looking for an option and I DISCOVER something... Blackberry PRIV is not expensive anymore!! It can cost something from 300 USD to 400 Euros, taxes included.

So 90% of all criticism does not apply. Because most of the videos and reviews out in the Internet were talking about a 700 USD-760 Euro smart phone, not a 300 USD one.

So, because of the price, Blackberry Priv is now a powered Middle Range. How does it do, then?

Lets go through my misconception list.

a) Way too expensive Not expensive anymore. It is VERY CHEAP. The device's specs and materials were chosen for an expensive phone and now it is not expensive at all. WQHD curver screen, carbon fiber, one of the biggest batteries arround, good speakers... Well, if you compare Priv with most middle range SONY or other well known branches, price by price, it is a good phone.
And if you can see them in person, again, quality of design is much better for priv that for the non branched same specs ones.

b) and c) It gets hot. Battery lasts very little. Again, that is untrue. It happened to get hot at the begining, because of a failure in the software. And that made the battery dry soon. But that has been solved and it has one of the biggest batteries of any phone. People is saying it lasts 2 days for them. I imagine it will run uncomfortably hot it I play some consuming games with it, because of the carbon fiber. But for the rest of us, it is one of the longer lasting battery phones of its price range.

d) Camera is not that good. Well, may be. It is better that Passport's and Passport's was quite good for me. I bet the camera is as good or bad as any middle range's camera arround or probably a little bit better.

e) It sounds clunky Not mine. May it be a problem with the first iteration that was solved with some change in production? Mine feels gorgeous in every aspect. No clunkiness at all.

f) Keyboard feels cheap, too small for big fingers. Again, I am playing with it and I don't feel so. I have used lots of keyboards (i com from Nokia sliders, not old BB) and this one is great. It is clear this keyboard is not like passport's. It is more about micro movements and feeling what keys are under your fingers, but I don't think that is bad at all. It is simply different. You wouldn't say passport keyboard is wrong because you cannot put your 10 fingers on it, right? Same feeling with this one.

g) It is not nice to hold when keyboard is opened and you finish not using keyboard so it is a waste. False in my case. I do feel the phone in its place with the keyboard opened. In fact, I've discovered me opening the keyboard even when I don't use it, simply because it is nicer to hold and you see the screen better. No other phone can do it. In my experience It is nice to hold when typing and even if it had no keyboard but a trackpad, it would make sense for it to be an slider. And no other phone can say so.

h) The phone is way too heavy and thick because of being an slider. I can say very little here because you must touch it by yourself, but the phone is in no way heavy or thick. It feels excellent, and that is not said by me only but by MrMobile. It is a phone that demands not to be encapsulated by any case, that is true. Yet it feels very slim.

i) The phone is not that fast. Again, most of the problems with the phone not being fast were related to the early versions of Blackberry tuned android. There was a ton of new software being created and translated to javascript so profiling needed a little bit of work. But most of those problems have been solved already (if not all of them) and right now the phone is very fast. If you don't believe me, simply, take a look at MrMobile Review Redo. When he talks about performance, he compares the phone with Pixel (3 times its price) and even with it, video showing the diferences shows very little diference if any. It is a fast phone!

All of that said, the priv is one of the best "powered middle range"/"last year flagship" phones one can buy right now.

Last tip. Apart of the fact that Nexus 6P is at least 100 Euros more expensive, it lacks of micro SDCard slot. In the era of 4k video shooting and sharing, micro SD Card is a winning point for Priv and the last one for me to go pick one.

And I am happier with the phone that I thought I would be!

[xKingHopy]

Congratulation that you found the right phone for you.
I also love my Priv.
The problem is that most negative comments/reviews you have read are from those people who most likely have/had a bad device. Others who have no problems with their Privs normally don't share their opinions. Nonetheless I do agree that there are some heating problems when you play certain games or use certain browsers. Also I love the fact that it's a slider (which many people seem to dislike) as my first phone was a slider aswell

Posted via CB10

[Bertie Bear]

I was able to try out my Priv in store, so was happy with the way it felt & looked. My big fear was the overheating problem that so many mention, but happily that hasn't been an issue. And very pleased too with the camera, especially for low light video recording.
The only slight disappointment is that the trackpad is inferior to that on the Passport, not as smooth & the top/bottom function works on far fewer sites.
But overall, a great introduction for me to Android & a beautiful piece of hardware for £299.

[Fordboy50]

I too love my Priv. It is the best phone I have ever owned

[Eduard Pertinez]

The only slight disappointment is that the trackpad is inferior to that on the Passport, not as smooth & the top/bottom function works on far fewer sites.

Yet the trackpad is better that any other in Android/iOS world!! :-D

[Bertie Bear]

Yet the trackpad is better that any other in Android/iOS world!! :-D

Until 5 May at least!
But yes it is good to have the trackpad on the Priv & I do use it all the time for scrolling.

[evodevo69]

Another inflated post about the wonders of the Priv

#qwerty #glassweave #darkhorse

[FF22]

[QUOTE=evodevo69;12829180]Another inflated post about the wonders of the Priv

It is a user opinion and not an inflated post about the Priv. Obviously, he is entitled to his opinion and we probably know what your opinion is!

[anon(3641385)]

Yep, my priv is excellent, it works, looks and feels grand! 😀

The price I paid aud $529 was right for my market, the camera is absolutely right for my needs as evidenced by the photos I've posted in the Priv photos thread. And looking at the thousand (?) Or more photos in that thread, the priv camera is just right for the many others who have posted there as well. 😀

[anon(3641385)]

[QUOTE=FF22;12829237]

Another inflated post about the wonders of the Priv

It is a user opinion and not an inflated post about the Priv. Obviously, he is entitled to his opinion and we probably know what your opinion is!

I saw it as flaming....

[Sigewif]

I ordered my Priv on launch day and got it about 3 weeks later. (It was back-ordered). I have been through most of the updates it got except the very first one. It grew into an excellent phone. The camera is excellent, especially compared to most other cell phone cameras that were released in 2015. It started out needing software improvements but received updates to its software at several different times that improved it. I have friends with flagship phones: who have given compliments when I have taken pictures. At Christmas when photos were taken and shared around, mine were the ones people wanted to post to their social media accounts. Better in low light. I have also had accolades given to a Priv photo I submitted to a photo group where a professional photographer reviews photos. The general complaints about the Priv, I believe, came often from people who had early Privs and didn't have the upgrades before complaining. There were also probably a few defect ones too and people complain when that happens to them. A lot of noise also came from people frustrated that BlackBerry was turning away from making BB10 devices (I get that, because they wanted BB10 to live on) and the Priv represented the departure from BB10 to them.
But, for me, it has been a great device to have. I needed the apps in our business and it has served me well.

[AlKa]

Totally agree. My favourite BB so far!

[stevomacke]

I love my priv best phone I have had have had no issues at tole

[Carjackd]

I love it when someone can do some research and make an educated decision! Congrats on the new Phone

[donnation]

I like everything about the Priv but the keyboard. To me its just to difficult to type on which is a combination of the keys being too small and the imbalance when sliding it open. Other than that I don't have a whole lot of issues with it. I take it for what it is, BB's first attempt at an Android phone. Is it a home run? No, I don't think so, but its a perfectly capable phone.

[anon(3641385)]

I like everything about the Priv but the keyboard. To me its just to difficult to type on which is a combination of the keys being too small and the imbalance when sliding it open. Other than that I don't have a whole lot of issues with it. I take it for what it is, BB's first attempt at an Android phone. Is it a home run? No, I don't think so, but its a perfectly capable phone.

I use the BlackBerry folder case and therefore the device, and pkb, are well balanced. (The key size isn't an issue for me. I appreciate for you it is.)

[neoberry99]

I use the BlackBerry folder case and therefore the device, and pkb, are well balanced. (The key size isn't an issue for me. I appreciate for you it is.)

I bought the folder case too but the problem I had with it that it would scratch my ear sometimes

[koool1]

My first Priv was awful. I had all the bad things you hear.

My replacement Priv is real good. Very happy.

[Joel Olmedo]

It was almost a year after the launch of the Priv when I finally got myself one late last year. What kept me away that long was really the steep price. I am almost always an early adopter, but for the first time in years, my Samsung Note 3 actually bridled any longing for a newer handset three years in a row. It just kept on ticking all the boxes for me.

But the launch of the Priv in late 2015 was something that kept me ogling it the whole of last year. When it finally dropped in price, I couldn't keep away anymore. Have always longed for a return to a pkb. Have always preferred pkb handsets when I shifted to smartphones way before the first iPhone came out. I had three HTC landscape sliders powered by Windows Mobile in the mid 2000s. Those were at the pinnacle at the time when touch screens were still resistive, requiring the use of a stylus.

I'm on my seventh month on the Priv, and while I use the vkb probably 90% of the time for short bursts of text input, nothing beats the ease of use of a pkb for longer posts like this one. I've had none of the niggles or problems often discussed before about the Priv. I suppose these were birth pains from the first few batches produced and the original firmware and OS.

I still look forward to using the Priv everyday and it has lost none of its appeal for me until now, after six months of daily use. The pkb is such a delight that I've gone back to journaling everyday. Another plus is that the curved edges of the Priv keeps it looking contemporary, and will probably be fresh looking years from now.

The price today at $300 is just crazy that I'm seriously considering buying one to keep as a backup. There may not be another slider forthcoming, so I may really end up buying another Priv pretty soon.

[nglfmark]

Nice positive post. My Priv is doing well also. Only heats up like crazy during the monthly security updates...then goes back to "normal" temp a few minutes after the updates. Love the "dark" hub and wish it could be consistent throughout the entire OS though. Wish for "dark" Contacts, dialler, calendar etc. Some apps allow a "dark" theme e.g. File Commander, Tick Tick, Crackberry (of course). Wish others such as WhatsApp, Facebook, MS Word, Evernote, Google Drive, Dropbox and Chrome had a "dark" setting.

[Denise in Los Angeles]

My niece has had her Priv for over a year, and she still loves it. Congrats Edward on buying yourself that Priv.

[fabio1]

My niece has had her Priv for over a year, and she still loves it. Congrats Edward on buying yourself that Priv.

My Priv gets better every week, lacks a few BB10 shortcuts and options.

Setup my Wife's new S7 Edge, worth the extra investment over Priv

[ALToronto]

It's always misleading to judge the quality of a device by the posts on a tech forum. Most people who are happy with their devices don't post. CB probably has more fans posting than any other tech forum, but still, it has a disproportionate number of users who have problems. So take everything you read here with a kilo of salt, it's not representative of the entire population of users.

[Sigewif]

Another point is when a person comes to CrackBerry looking for information and starts reading a thread in the forum, if it is a refreshed thread, the beginning of the thread can be old comments about issues from before updates came, that have since been resolved.

[AZN]

I've owned mine since it launched in Canada in November 2015 and I still enjoy using it today, some 17 months later. If the KEYone wasn't coming out, I can see myself using it for another 17 months.