BlackBerry Classic Review. Old and new combined,one handed use is perfection. #Review #BlackBerry

We have had our BlackBerry Classic for some time now and its time to talk about it and we felt the device faired out,going back to its classic design language its certainly more solid and has better looks and performs well all round its solid in hand and ideal for one handed use,pros and cons like any other device are present so lets look some more.

If you missed the unboxing take a look here first and have a look at the device.

Build Quality.

Overall i liked the build quality,with metal trimming around the entire device it gives it a good look and it looks tough just like the Passport,the trim looks well and gives the classic a premium look,the backing of the classic is also quite nice with a grippy cover it makes the phone much less easier to drop,although it fits perfectly fine in one hand it may be slightly to big for some,that was not the case for me as one handed use was how i used the phone.Check out the images below for a tour of the device and as you can see the quality is quite good all round.The keys are solid with good travel,non catchy and the sim and sd trays too are solid.

The Camera 

Not bad but with the small screen you are hampered to some extent,there is a panoramic option though which you would probably be more inclined to use if you are any way a photo enthusiast,( I aint one really but do take pictures)the camera itself is 8MP with auto focus and sports a flash too and there some settings to play around with and HDR,this worked well also on the Leap and the passport…whilst it does take great photos as mentioned the smaller screen may be an issue for some folk..With a 2MP on front its also adequate so for any selfie fanatics you can relax.

The keyboard and navi keys

I was never a fan of qwerty keyboards until i tried the Nokia E71 to be honest and after the E72 i think was the last time to use such on a daily basis until the Passport came along and that keyboard was a joy to use,you knew you where hitting the right keys all the time even though it was cumbersome at times it worked a treat,the same applies to the keyboard on the classic although probably a bit too small my my shovel hands,the problem here is it takes up space and leaves you with a small screen but the keyboard is simple to use,the navi keys and trackpad are quite tactile and the trackpad helps out on the screen when viewing pages as you will need to navigate some more due to the screen size,they may look tight and clustered but to use they are quite good.

Display.

Ok the screen is small its 3.5 inches so you are limited as to viewing options here without having to navigate the screen but thankfully the navikey helps out here and as mentioned its tactile so zooming through pages etc is quite fine but you will notice this compared to larger screened devices on the market,.Outdoor visibility was quite good but viewing angles poor..

Sound

Dual speakers… No that even fooled me to begin with although aesthetically they look great one is actually a mic ,a trick we have seen many a time on other devices across the board,similar to the huge outer speaker grille and a tiny speaker underneath.the device packs great sound once its on a flat surface,if its in your pocket it will get muffled due to the placement of the speaker down the bottom,music sounds crisp and clear and the music player is also good,on watching you tube etc again sound reproductions proves the same and this department..The stock earbuds as in most cases with any mobile these days are kinda poor but if you have your own personal ones to use yes the sound is good when plugged in you should also note.

The OS

Same as the Passport 10.3.1 its reliable and works fine although there is a newer version rolling out as we speak,its been rather good overall with some frequent freezing issues which can be expected on any OS the lack of native apps is the main problem here which applies to window phone but thankfully we can sideload the playstore and get plenty of missing apps there some may render oddly on the device due to its size,a similar issue which applied to the passport so if you are an apps kind you should be fine once you use the playstore,my daily apps that I use worked fine although trying some others did not but what do you expect,there is enough apps to keep the average user who is not app centric happy. BlackBerry hub and blend are great features,Everything else is pretty much the same as discussed before on the Passport and works fine…

Browsing

Fine,the odd page freeze or render issue,this might bother some and screen estate is not huge so remember 3.5 inch is small compared to todays standards which is now 5 inches and up for most users but the classic i targeted at a certain market but  3.5 is small folks…

Connectivity

It comes with NFC which was amiss in the Leap,although NFC is still slow to start here those of us who have it use it well most of us and we also have peripherals to use alongside which is handy.Bluetooth 4.0 LTE ,Wi-Fi/Direct micro USB and we can also use it as a mobile hotspot. If you have Miracast for example this will also work with the Classic.

Battery

2,515mAh – Again its good like any Blackberry easily a day of medium – heavy use,if you are not so tough or reliant on media etc two days is no problem if its just for calls emails some social media and quick browsing.

Overall thoughts

I think they played safe here with an below today’s standard internals,its like a mini mini of the passport curved that will suit the business user,i cant see it attracting new customers but rather the current BlackBerry Classic junkie,the camera is quite it does everything it says on the tin for its intended market and thats it,for me its too small but I like it due to the the navi keys and trackpad,using a device this small one handed is a joy I must say even though i am custom to a bigger phone I could use this with ease ,it did take a few days to get used to it but once I got over the size it was nice to use,its been years since I used this form factor and it brought back memories of a love/hate relationship of QWERTY handsets because you will love it and hate it..Same applied to the Passport with its odd shape but that’s in a league of its own and will remain there for some time its a powerhouse with a funky design,the classic is for classic fans,one which i was not but it has a place with me now and its a good effort from BlackBerry that could of been a little better in terms of specs.