Engadget
75
Engadget Review
I typed my entire BlackBerry Passport review on the phone's tiny keyboard
Summary
The Passport is the best BlackBerry 10 device you can buy, and comes with a number of flagship-caliber specs. But its odd shape and size, as well as its weird keyboard, may be a turnoff for many.
Pros
- Keyboard doubles as touchpad
- Long battery life
- Fantastic outdoor visibility
- Good camera
- Robust build
Cons
- Don't even try using it one-handed
- Keyboard is difficult to get used to
- Awkward size and shape
- App selection is better now, but still needs some work
- Occasional hiccups in performance
Apparently I'm a masochist.
That's an odd way to begin a review. But to give BlackBerry's latest handset, the Passport, as thorough a review as possible, I decided to type the entire thing from the phone itself. My twisted idea came from a realization that this (mostly) square oddity is the first phone with a physical keyboard that I've used since the Motorola Droid 4 in 2012 or the BlackBerry Q10 in 2013. It's not even a normal keyboard by modern smartphone standards -- it's a flattened, hybrid setup with both physical and virtual elements and a curiously placed space bar. Needless to say, it's an odd device, one that truly deserves the ultimate test: Can I use it to crank out several thousand words of text?
Of course, there's more to the Passport than just its odd shape and the company's desire to resurrect a now-antiquated smartphone feature. I'm going to dive into what sets this phone apart from the hundreds of others already on the market -- that is, if my thumbs hold up through the experience.
