The Blackberry Passport launched in South Africa last week. Let’s just say the phone is a little bit, um, unorthodox compared to other smartphones on the market. The picture above was my face on first seeing the Passport. It is a square type shape. It also has a physical keyboard. The opinions on the design are somewhat mixed, this is your first look at the Blackberry Passport:
We posted the same picture and question on Facebook and got similar responses:
While the jury might be out on the look of the phone we can confirm that the Blackberry Passport does brag some impressive features:
- The 13MP camera can shoot in a variety of ratios and has some great editing software already built in (no apps!)
- The Passport is Android compatible so you can download your favourite Android apps on to the Blackberry OS.
- 32GB of internal storage with the option to add additional memory card
- 2 day battery life… yup 2 days, you read that right.
You’re still shaking your head because of the size and shape right? There is no denying that it isn’t ideal for someone who is constantly on the go. One handed typing is out of the question and you’re not going to be able to pay for your new pair of shoes while gossiping to your friend who is stuck in the office on a Friday afternoon (did we perpetuate a female stereotype there?). However, from an actual usage point of view the Blackberry Passport is a possible phone option for the serious “Power Professional”. Power what? We spoke to Blackberry’s Martin Fick at the South African launch of the Blackberry Passport. He explains what a Power Professional is, tells us why Blackberry shot outside the box on phone design and answers my favourite question (because it always sparks a debate), “is Blackberry dead?”
