Shahriyar Ali
Android App Support
BlackBerry Passport supports more than 85% Android apps. Every app available in Amazon Appstore works and others downloaded separately from web browser do as well. With BlackBerry 10.3 OS, BlackBerry adds app support upto Android 4.3 and thanks to Passport’s super fast processor, these apps work as good as native. You will hardly notice any lags whatsoever. With the Passport, you can switch Android apps view from mobile to tablet interface which actually makes Android app experience on BlackBerry Passport better than Android phones in a manner. To me, there is no app that makes me feel my Passport doesn’t have or run, but there are few Google Play service dependent apps which Passport fails to run.
Instagram on BlackBerry Passport gives the best Instagram experience on any mobile phone out there! The large square HD display takes the advantage of the app’s UI and squared pictures. The above picture is an example how beautiful the experience you get is. To keep the phone secure, BlackBerry Passport uses a newly built BlackBerry Guardian to check the integrity of Android app APK files that the user downloads to the device. Before the user installs the app on the device, BlackBerry Guardian searches for metadata for the app in the malware knowledge base. This scanning of apps is switched on by default.
Advanced Interactions
BlackBerry adds in some tiny neat features into BlackBerry 10.3 OS.To improve the battery life of a BlackBerry device and to help users do tasks faster, the following features have been introduced:
Lift to Wake: To wake the device from standby mode, lift the device from a flat surface.
Flip to Save Power: To turn off the screen and put the device in standby mode, place the device face down on a flat surface. By default, Flip to Save Power is turned on.
Flip to Mute: To silence the device, place the device face down on a flat surface. By default, Flip to Mute is turned off.
To turn on or turn off an advanced interaction, swipe down from the top of the home screen.
Enhancements in BlackBerry Hub
One of the highly reputed features of Blackberry 10 is the BlackBerry Hub where all your communication modes pile up. In 10.3 OS, BlackBerry adds Instant Actions feature which helps you quickly, with a single tap, sort and manage messages in the list view of the BlackBerry Hub. Just tap the icon on top-right hand & you can delete contents faster than before. You can also quick reply to messages without even going into it by clicking the left arrow icon. And lastly, you can tap on Email, Twitter, Facebook, etc. icons one the left to mark it as read/unread.
BlackBerry Hub Instant Action also enables these actions to a message you just moved out from giving you an ease to quickly delete, reply or mark that particular message as unread. If you accidentally delete a message, an Undo button pops up for some time.
Multimedia
BlackBerry Passport offers many rich features when it comes to multimedia. There are 4 tremendous out of the box apps – Pictures, Videos, Music & Story Maker featuring list of features eliminating the need of any third party app for anything media. The music and video players takes the advantage of those superb speakers by offering equalizer presets. Story Maker app is the one solid app in my view. It creates story compiling user selected videos and pictures automatically within 5 seconds with desired background music. With BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.3, the BlackBerry Story Maker takes the work out of making picture and video collections by grouping the pictures and videos on a user’s BlackBerry device by date, time, or location. BlackBerry Story Maker presents a list of stories to the user in the Pictures app. BlackBerry Story Maker can also suggest stories based on pictures and videos that are favorites, most viewed, recently viewed, or recently added. You can checkout our BBin Quickies series which are all created using this app.
Device Monitor
BlackBerry 10.3 OS also brings an all new device monitor settings displaying the total amount of data used by the device, which includes data usage while roaming, and the total amount of data used by apps on the device. This feature helps users track which apps use high volumes of data. To help control the amount of data used by your BlackBerry, you can set limits and configure notifications that appear on the device. This works pretty accurately & helps me keeping track on my data usage. Device monitor also shows network usage & battery consumption for each apps installed and running.
BlackBerry Blend
BlackBerry launches a new software along BlackBerry Passport that blends your BlackBerry phone to desktop PC, Mac, Apple iPad & Android tablets. With BlackBerry Blend, users can access email messages, files, and certain apps on a computer or tablet the same way they’d use them on a BlackBerry device. I really enjoy using Blend whenever I am doing some work on PC. The performance initial run wasn’t so good but became seamless later. BlackBerry Blend also brings your Work side of the phone over to other device under secured connectivity. Say ‘Good Bye’ to Outlook!
A few examples of what users can do using BlackBerry Blend on a computer or tablet include:
- View and respond to messages from a work email account and personal email accounts using the BlackBerry Hub
- Access BBM chats, groups, and BBM Channels in a separate view
- Access SMS text messages in a separate view
- View calendar events from the user’s work calendar
- View contacts from the work contact list
- Copy and transfer files between the device and a computer or a tablet
- Open a secure browser to view private information on the user’s work intranet
- The BlackBerry Blend dashboard displays the user’s messages and agenda.
Conclusion
BlackBerry Passport is by far the best professional smartphone you can buy. The typical wide screen square display may look weird at first but it grows on you just like any other new movement. The performance from work to fun is absolutely seamless & browsing web feels much like desktop experience. To say the closest, it’s a compact PC in your pocket.
BlackBerry Passport is clearly for them who wants to get things done and BlackBerry Blend is the perfect companion to keep the productivity going. Even if you are an iPhone or Android user, this phone is capable to please you the moment you start using it. The innovative capacitive keyboard, Active Leak Compensation sound technology, beautiful 13MP camera are just few of many things you will adore. It is a very high end device & the price tag is as high as other slabs out there. Overall, I feel BlackBerry Passport is one value for money smartphone. Its unique design, solid hardware and the innovation it has to offer is something you can’t have on any other smartphone. Comparing this phone with any else is just impossible. If you are looking for something new or even want to try another platform, we highly recommend you give the BlackBerry Passport a chance.
Read more about What’s new on BlackBerry OS 10.3
Excellent review. Now I want to get one badly.
Now this is how a review should be presented. Thanks you. Getting the Passport next week by the way.
Great Article!
In-depth review.
The best part of this article is that it is NOT at all biased.
Made me more desperate to get a Passport to enhanced productivity.
Very curious indeed to buy. The only dampener is the price tag. Everyone in India were expecting the price below 40k, which didn’t happened. Let’s hope after initial euphoria, the price will settle down at around 40k, which I feel the right price.
This is a premium device. Why would anyone in India expect it to be cheaper?? If they can’t afford it then they should look at a cheaper phone. Quality products need to be priced as such. I think the price is perfect.
Beautiful review, I truly enjoyed reading it. I will be picking up a Passport soon!
Hi can you tell me about how can we type hindi on blackberry passport?
Is other emails account such as Gmail, Yahoo etc official email would work without having Blackberry Account or Service in Passport? Please reply as in other black berry it doesnt work…!!
Yes. It will work without BlackBerry Service
Mr. Shahzoor Ali, thanks for your reply. May I know are you using this Phone? If yes, May I have your number as I hv some few queries regarding same….plz help!!
My Z10 to Passport journey
Hi all, I have purchased BB Passport in Feb-15, unfortunately in May-15 it fallen on earth from some height and its front glass broken. Can anybody tell that from where I can get it repair ? I am in Ranchi, JH and local BB Ser Center not able to fix it, they need 30 days for it. My second query is can I avail any Guaranty Warranty facility for the same ??
Thanks & Regards / Vinay / vinayforbihar@gmail.com
Warranty can’t be claimed on hardware damage done by user. You can check some local stores for new screen or online
Fantastic review.
Do we have the 10.3.2 version update in India with Vodafone or any other local carriers?
-Ramdas Devadiga.