Will BlackBerry be able to woo back customers with this?
BlackBerry’s new smartphone, the square Passport is no stranger to this site, though it’s only now that the company officially launched the device overseas. The Passport is unique because unlike other mobile devices out there, it features a square, 4.5-inch LCD panel with a resolution of 1440 x 1440 pixels that gives it a pixel density of 453 ppi.
BlackBerry Passport Specs
- 2.26GHz quad-core Qualcomm MSM8974AA Snapdragon 800 processor
- Adreno 330 GPU
- 3GB of RAM
- 4.5-inch IPS display, Corning Gorilla Glass 3, 1440 x 1440 resolution
- 32GB of storage, expandable via microSD up to 64GB
- 13-megapixel rear camera with AF, OIS and LED flash
- 2-megapixel front camera
- WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
- 3G, LTE
- BlackBerry 10.3 OS
- 3450 mAh battery
- 128 x 90.3 x 9.3 mm
The Passport’s QWERTY keys are arranged in three rows, which is missing the numbers and punctuation keys. The keyboard also doubles as a trackpad, and can be used to scroll through websites when the phone is oriented sideways. As for that missing row of numbers and punctuations? Well, the Passport displays a virtual row at the bottom of the display that dynamically changes based on what you’re typing.
The Passport is also BlackBerry’s first device to come with OS 10.3. The new OS features a Siri-like digital assistant, along with support for the Amazon Appstore. BlackBerry is also launching a new service dubbed BlackBerry Blend, allowing you to manage your phone through a PC or tablet.
Let’s talk pricing. The BlackBerry Passport is pegged at $599 for the unlocked, version, which comes out to Php 26,640 before taxes and duties (direct conversion). BlackBerry has said that the Philippines should expect the Passport before the year ends, but did not go into actual specifics when the device will come out in our country.