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back to article Hate the BlackBerry Z10 and Passport? How about this dusty old flashback instead?

The barren husk of BlackBerry is looking to recapture a stake in the smartphone market by going back to its roots as a maker of business communication devices. The company said that its upcoming BlackBerry Classic (née Q20) handset, which is expected to launch in November, will hearken back to the days when BlackBerry's name …

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  1. Mussie (Ed)

    Our organisation continues to use old blackberrys, as part of my position I support and I administer these devices, they can be brilliant and secure their down fall is build quality, I am on my 5th device in two years, one of those was broken by a fall (that frankly would have annihilated an IPhone but only managed to shatter the screen on my BB) the rest have failed, currently my onscreen keyboard will not work and my phone will randomly select speaker in the middle of a call and so on.

    I could swap it for another one but I just can’t be bothered anymore.

    If they fixed these issues they would have been the perfect business phone.

    1 0 Reply
    1. RAMChYLD
      Reply Icon

      Well, maybe the quality has improved. My Q5 celebrates it's first anniversary in December. It has given me exactly zero problems through the year, and July saw it get an excellent upgrade that added support for Android 4.2, including software that needed system code. it has been rock steady throughout (except the time I tried installing Viber for Android from a questionable source on it and managed to fudge up the system by making it overheat repetitively). Amazon Appstore also installs fine on it and most apps from said Appstore also works fine. It has been accidentally dropped twice in the bathroom (thankfully onto a dry floor) and survived both ordeals.

      That said, I'd gladly buy the Classic if it ships with an improved SoC (i.e. a better CPU and GPU set- not that the existing S4+ in the Q5 isn't already powerful enough to run everything I threw at it).

      3 0 Reply
    2. CM
      Reply Icon

      I'm in an org where our territory hangs on to old BBs but the competence to administrate the BES is long lost. Regular mail failures, "desktop can't send" errors. The eye foners are smug since their mail doesn't have the extra BES failure layer.

      What kills is boarding passes on ye olde BBs. Gate staff keep fondling the mini non-touch screen but it aien't gonna scroll. Luddites have non-touch stamp-sized screen.

      0 0 Reply
  2. James 51

    I've got a Q10. The track pad on the Q20 would take care of the only real issue it has (accurately selecting text). The build quality on the Q10 is quite good too.

    How's it doing outside of the US? I remember when Nokia was labelled a failure because it was only one of the biggest phone companies in the world but wasn't the biggest in the US.

    5 0 Reply
    1. RAMChYLD
      Reply Icon

      Well, here in Malaysia, the Passport sold out nationwide the day it was launched.

      2 0 Reply
    2. Captain Scarlet
      Reply Icon

      In the UK one of the only people in this city to probably have a Q10, still prefer it though compared to my previous phones.

      0 0 Reply
  3. xBURK

    I've owned the new BlackBerry Passport for two weeks now. After two days of getting used to the new keyboard layout and technology, it is by far the best device I've had the privilege to own. Along with the BB10.3 operating system / BlackBerry Blend (software to perform all your device functions on a computer, Mac or tablet) / unmatched screen resolution, battery, touch sensitive physical keyboard that performs as a track pad etc.....etc...everything else seems outdated to me now.

    7 1 Reply
  4. Sangriel

    Hi , remember us playbook customers ? How about you get off your laurels and do something for all the blackberry fans you royally screwed over or do you have Alzheimer's or simply don't care....

    2 0 Reply
  5. RR1

    At last

    I've got a BB Passport and it's honestly the best phone I've ever owned (previously used various BB phones then HTC, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Android now back to BB). It is very big though and it looks like the Classic will address that problem for anyone with smaller hands (though personally I'd miss the huge screen and touch keyboard of the Passport). I'm quietly hopeful that these will be successful enough for Google to finally release some apps for BB10 (Drive and Hangouts would be nice).

    2 0 Reply
  6. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

    Hmm. This is the first phone that's seriously interested me in a while...

    4 1 Reply
  7. julianh72

    "If it ain't broke don't fix it"

    But the corollary would be:

    "If it is broken, fix it!"

    Blackberry is very broken, and it desperately needs to be fixed.

    (Either that, or put out of its misery.)

    Somehow, I don't think the Classic will fix Blackberry!

    1 7 Reply
  8. chebucto

    Sounds good to me

    This is literally the phone I've been waiting for. The Q10 was too big and lacked the home row; the Q20 will probably just be too big. Still it will be miles ahead of the stonehengianly massive slab phones which all other companies seem to sell.

    In the long term I suspect smaller phones and physical keyboards will regain some of their former popularity; if that happens, bb will be well placed.

    3 0 Reply
  9. Barry Rueger

    Lenovo? Think Not.

    Word has long been that the Canadian government (or their American masters) will continue to overrule any takeover of BlackBerry by Lenovo or any other Chinese company.

    The theory is that with both governments still using tons of BlackBerry phones it would seem a bad idea to have them manufactured by a country that would happily add spyware.

    On the other hand Emperor Harper just signed a big fat "free trade" agreement with China, which will more or less let the Chinese ignore any Canadian law that gets in the way of their business interests.

    1 0 Reply
  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Kim Kardashian will be pleased!

    http://www.cnet.com/news/kim-kardashians-on-a-mission-to-save-blackberry/

    0 0 Reply
  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Only if the email is freed up

    Would love to switch back to blackberry only if they free up the email, just like it is with Android or Apple. People with no corp BB infrastructure have to use a version of email that delibrately introduces 15 mins of delay. 15 min is an eternity for most people.

    example:

    On other phones: Email gets recieved in near real time. Email gets checked in next 10 mins. Action gets done within next 5 mins. Total turnaround time is around 15 mins.

    On BB: Email gets delivered after 15 mins. Gets checked in next 10 mins. Action gets done in 5 mins. Total turn around time is 30 mins.

    1 4 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Only if the email is freed up

      What? I've never noticed that. Normally if I buy something online, the BB starts flashing with the receipt within a second.

      The sad problem for BB (and webOS) is that all the good stuff is now in Android 4.4.4 and L will be better still. This time round it is Android that is doing embrace, extend extinguish, and the innovation is now coming out of China not the US/Canada - look at the Oppo N3 with its motorised panorama camera and fingerprint recognition more intelligently thought out than Apple's (recognition of different fingerprints initiates different actions including a restricted mode for people you loan it to.)

      Remember the Japanese and motorcycles followed by cars? It's happening again. And I can't help thinking BB would be a better fit for Oppo than Lenovo.

      1 0 Reply
    2. RAMChYLD
      Reply Icon

      Re: Only if the email is freed up

      There's a delay? My Q5 seems to receive mail right on the dot. I do not have a BES subscription. It's hooked up to my company's Exchange server, plus my own private Gmail, Google and Yahoo account. Then again, 30 minutes is an acceptable delay for me, so it doesn't really bother me if there's a delay.

      1 0 Reply
    3. wolfetone Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Only if the email is freed up

      I think your phone is broken, there is no delay.

      I have a Z10, it's near instant with the whole send/receive function on the email. That's also the same with the old BlackBerry Bold I've mothballed.

      If you want to talk about shitty emails, have a look at Android. I had the displeasure of using one for two weeks and it met it's end under the Pirelli's of a bus - I put it there.

      1 0 Reply
    4. legless82
      Reply Icon

      Re: Only if the email is freed up

      Not sure that I understand you. BB10 uses the same ActiveSync push email protocol that's used by every other mobile platorm, and the mail delivery speed is identical.

      I've certainly not noticed any difference in the speed of mail delivery to my Z10 compared to other platforms I've used, and the notification generally starts flashing on my phone the very same moment the message lands in my GMail account.

      0 0 Reply
      1. iDavid
        Reply Icon

        Re: Only if the email is freed up

        Ah, that flashing light. I knew there was a reason I must dump my iPhone 6 and come home to BB.

        3 1 Reply
    5. Aidan242
      Reply Icon

      Re: Only if the email is freed up

      I haven't seen any delay on new email on IMAP accounts on my Z30. In my experience, email turns up pretty instantly - usually faster than any of my desktop email clients. There's no 15 minute delay as far as I can see.

      Now, if you were using a POP3 account, then, yes, there would be a delay as the protocol doesn't offer any notification of new email.

      0 0 Reply
    6. Jes.e
      Reply Icon

      Re: Only if the email is freed up

      "On BB: Email gets delivered after 15 mins. Gets checked in next 10 mins. Action gets done in 5 mins. Total turn around time is 30 mins."

      I can't speak for the BES side of Blackberry but as a Gmail user who switched into the Blackberry ecosystem the transaction time on email is about a second and a half.

      I use share to send myself email so I can follow up on my laptop when I, get a proper sit down.

      BlackBerry + Google is no slower than Android + Google.

      0 0 Reply
  12. Frankee Llonnygog

    Now if I can just get one with

    A built in daisy-wheel

    1 0 Reply
    1. Jes.e
      Reply Icon

      Re: Now if I can just get one with

      "Now if I can just get one with

      A built in daisy-wheel"

      ..and a secretary to print out my emails for me.

      0 0 Reply
  13. le.zap

    Nice idea, but why not a curved keyboard?

    It's good that Blackberry is putting out a new phone for the many fans of its existing devices, but why did they not equip it with the truly classic "blackberry curved keyboard" that was space efficient and so nice to use? It really gave you the impression that it was purposefully made for a small handheld device. Current "flat horizontal layout" is OK but definitely not as nice.

    Oh well, at least they're trying to address the wishes of many of their users albeit somewhat late.

    1 0 Reply
  14. Keith Langmead

    Quality over quantity

    "Some would argue, however, that Blackberry is in fact very much in need of fixing"

    If fixing means making it more like the iPhone then god no it doesn't need fixing. The great unwashed can have their iPhones, those of us in know will stick with our BB's that provide actual work related functionality!

    It's good to see they're bringing out new keyboard versions, since 1) there are plenty of people who still want a physical keyboard on a smartphone, and 2) it's something no one else seems to be doing, but I hope they don't go completely down that road. I love my z30, it's my first entirely touch phone (following on from a Nokia e7 and before that a Nokia e90), and now I'm used to it and the intelligent keyboard has learnt my typing style I actually find the touch keyboard faster to use than the qwerty keyboards on either of my Nokia phones.

    6 0 Reply
  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Z10

    Article is unfairly negative towards BlackBerry, I have had a Z10 for a year and it has behaved very well, so I certainly don't hate it. The BB10 software is very slick and easy to use, I can access all the android apps I need, it is great for messaging and browsing, and does all the usual smartphone things well. There are a few of us I know using BlackBerry 10 and we are all pleased with our choice. It is nice to still have some choice in the market, and security is definitely an important differentiator. The Passport is a very innovative design and hopefully will convince enough people along with this new Classic phone to keep BlackBerry in the enterprise and retail game.

    1 0 Reply
  16. Custard Fridge

    Z30 - the best model BB that nobody cares about

    I run a dozen or so Z30s now - it's the best Blackberry model I have had for over a decade. They get dropped - oh look, they still work. Battery life is good, response is good, now that I have Amazon app store on there the App choice is good as well.

    0 0 Reply

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