Blackberry Priv Review: The Best Blackberry in Years?, Our Verdict

Blackberry's first Android phone, the Blackberry Priv, was the company's answer to the diving sales of its devices for the past years. But how did it fair when it recently became available in the market?

According to TechRadar, the Priv is equipped with a 5.4-inch QHD display, 3GB of RAM, Snapdragon 808 processor, a 32GB of internal storage and 18MP rear camera. All these features are the top-of-the-line offerings of the company.

The handset costs $699, a price which is said to be higher compared to similar Android smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, HTC One M9, LG G4, Nexus 6P and the Sony Xperia Z3+.TechInsider detailed that this price tag is "too expensive for what you get" and would prompt buyers to choose cheaper devices with similar offerings.

The Priv's design, according to ArsTechnica, is a positive feature since it has a "colourful, pin sharp, and insanely bright" display. "Like the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, it curves at the edges, the Gorilla Glass 4 meeting an aluminium surround with a gentle slope," added the same report.

Many users also loved the slide-out physical keyboard of the phone since most Android phones now, only come with touch keys.

It was also noted that the speakers of the phone are very loud and perfect for those who love listening to music using their smartphones.

As for the software, ArsTechnica added that the new Blackberry release runs on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, which makes going through the entire phone similar as any Android device available. A similar Yahoo Sports report said that this phone can run hundreds of Android applications like Netflix and Uber.

"Android means that that this phone gains the Siri-like wisdom of Google Now. It gets Android's dictation feature for quick spoken-text entry, which is much better than BlackBerry's own," added the same report.

The Blackberry Priv also has the traditional BBM application of the company though TechRadar said it has been rendered not really useful since not a lot of people with Android phones have this application installed.

Overall, the same report said that the recently released phone has a great screen, stock Android and added security feature. But it expressed concern on the phone's "patchy performance, pricier than competition and lack of premium build quality."

"The BlackBerry Priv is the mullet of the smartphone world. It's still business in the front, but [all party at the back.] It will divide opinion, but this is the best BlackBerry in years," Tech Radar added.

On the other hand, Tech Insider noted that though the Priv is a good phone, Blackberry was already late in releasing it.