[Daniel Grappone]

Scooped up 1 of 2 Priv's from the AT&T store on Friday and have been glued to this thing since. I'd like to share some of my thoughts, overall my initial impression is very good.

First thing I have to say is that I'm disappointed with all of the instant negative feedback about this phone. One of the first things realized when using this phone is that, not only will there be a learning curve, there are certain things that will have to "break in".

- Coming from BB10 and not having owned a phone with a non-blackberry OS, there is an initial learning curve with Android, but the basics and navigation are simple enough once learned, and the ability to customize is really intriguing. One thing to realize is that we did not lose the ability to peek at messages, but instead now have two. Dragging down from the top to view the android notifications, or using the productivity edge both give you the ability to do what a "peek" at the hub would do in BB10.

- The battery was very hot at first and draining quickly - as expected. A huge battery like this will have a suitable break-in period, after a few full charges it will start to level off. For me, as of today I'm noticing that it's not heating up at all when using intensely, and I'm not seeing it drain nearly as quick. One thing I did do on Day 1 was lower the brightness, it's just below half right now and I think it's a perfect balance so far.

- The physical keyboard is still breaking in, will take some time, as it did with all 5 of my BlackBerry phones. I have to say, as I'm using it now, I'm loving everything about it but still getting used to the touch capabilities - it's insanely useful, Passport users already know, but there's no reason to touch the screen anymore while typing ever.

- My hub took some time to sort itself out as well, I was having trouble with Gmail syncing initially but it looks like the issue sorted itself out - as I'm now receiving email almost instantly to the hub as well as all other notifications.

Honestly the biggest thing I'm getting used to is the phone itself, it's pretty big. However when looking at my Q10 screen now, I don't know how I used it for so long, other than its a beast of a phone. Memories of pinching to zoom every screen flood my mind... It will take some getting used to that I won't be able to do everything while holding the phone with one hand, but I'm already getting used to the size and additional real estate, and the screen on this thing is awesome.

Another thing, having apps is great, the android versions outdo the BlackBerry versions easily. I hope that BlackBerry continues to support and add functionality to it's apps though. The calendar app should display the actual day of the month on it's icon - not 31! Hopefully they smooth out the hub, and also add dark themes for all the apps, I miss my black backgrounds.

So yeah, calm down, let your awesome new phone prove itself to you. Once I fully get used to the Priv, I do believe it will be my favorite phone ever. Close down those apps too! There is a "clear all" button, in this case you can do something faster and more efficiently on Android OS, if you can believe that.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[zocster]

So yeah, calm down, let your awesome new phone prove itself to you. Once I fully get used to the Priv, I do believe it will be my favorite phone ever. Close down those apps too! There is a "clear all" button, in this case you can do something faster and more efficiently on Android OS, if you can believe that.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

Let the Android memory management manage your apps, don't do this all too often, it will have to repopulate etc causing it to drain the batt...

[dcwbearsaint]

Thanks for your post. While waiting from my DR phone to be delivered on Tuesday I have been in the forums and the negativity has been high. Most of it comes from people that had to vent because of a drive by at an AT&T store display unit. Much appreciate waiting a little time before bashing the phone.

Posted via CB10

[rjkolo]

Awesome review and I could not agree with everything you said more.

It is an awesome phone with a steep learning curve if you have zero experience with anything other than BB10 OS, and there is no way around that.

Give a real go for a week...if you still are not sold take it back. All carriers give you 14 days, if you ordered it from Shop BlackBerry you have 30!! Really try it, I am sure you will love it just as much as I and others do.

Posted via my BlackBerry Priv

[habs_fan]

I love my Priv, i agree it takes time to get used to it, I've used android like 4 years ago but i don't find it that bad, i like the features BlackBerry added. Hopefully they add their file manager App!

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[Andy_bb_king]

Thanks for honest review ! I am sure BlackBerry will keep putting more goodies to Android. Who knows, one day, maybe BlackBerry will license QNX to Android and start a real game changer?

Presented to you by real phone - Passport

[dlrogers81]

Good review from a BlackBerry user. Can't wait to own one.

[Lefty724]

Great review! I agree with pretty much everything you said.

Having all the apps you need as well as it being a BB is great.

[jope28]

Thanks, OP.

Glad to see it be a good option for you.

Would you say that the change in jumping between apps and multi-tasking is acceptable and not "too much to bare" coming from bb10?
In terms of speed and functionality.

 Frosty White Q10/10.3.2.2789 CB10 

[o4liberty]

It's not a Blackberry at all its mostly android which some are starting to realize and hate. Blackberry needs to improve mail and the hub for this to be a true come back kid!

[Daniel Grappone]

Thanks, OP.

Glad to see it be a good option for you.

Would you say that the change in jumping between apps and multi-tasking is acceptable and not "too much to bare" coming from bb10?
In terms of speed and functionality.

 Frosty White Q10/10.3.2.2789 CB10 

I'd say yes it's definitely acceptable, although we may have been a bit spoiled with how fluid BB10 is.

Swiping up from the bottom of the screen has been replaced by hitting the "square" rightmost virtual button. This will take you to the running apps screen - which I have changed to tiles to look more like BB10. I do find myself swiping left to get to the home screen though - maybe this could be implemented?

Instead, to get to the home screen you just hit the middle "circle" virtual home button. This is the same button you can hold down and swipe in a direction to launch hub - from any screen. There's 3 shortcut slots, the one in the center is dedicated to Google, but the left and right can be customized to do anything. They are defaulted to BlackBerry device search and the hub.

The one thing I did realize though about multitasking, and I'm not sure if there is a way to enable this - but if you have a YouTube video running and minimize, it won't play in the background. Was using the Google music app before though and you can listen in the background, and a controller pops up in the notification tray - pretty cool.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android

[Daniel Grappone]

Did not know that, thank you zocster.

Posted via the CrackBerry App for Android