Brilliant, unbiased, informative and straightforward review.
BlackBerry Priv: Enterprise Android in a snazzy but functional package
If somebody told you six months ago that the best Android phone of 2015 would have been made by BlackBerry, you’d have thought they were a bit mad. BlackBerry didn’t really make phones any more, and what phones it made were marketed as a secure alternative to the Mad Max badlands of Android. And if anyone had dared suggest …
COMMENTS
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Sunday 8th November 2015 12:12 GMT Bela Lubkin
Re: There once was a way for a single page
Actually http://theregister.co.uk/2015/11/06/blackberry_priv_review becomes http://theregister.co.uk/2015/11/06/blackberry_priv_review/print.html which redirects to http://theregister.co.uk/Print/2015/11/06/blackberry_priv_review and works; but including both /Print/ and /print.html redirects a second time, to (404) http://theregister.co.uk/Print/Print/2015/11/06/blackberry_priv_review
(Sloppy Crapmonster lives up to the moniker :)
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Friday 6th November 2015 18:01 GMT Anonymous Coward
Unbiased????
"The Priv runs Alphabet Inc’s Android software, notorious for its abundant and sprawling attack vectors"
Conveniently not mentioning iOS has had 8x the number of vulnerabilities than Android in 2015 (,CVE lists securina), 7x more rated as severe, and its taken 4x longer to fix them.
http://secunia.com/community/advisories/search/
Anyone falling for Android secuirty scareware hearsay is frankly a joke in my book.
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Friday 6th November 2015 21:41 GMT definingsound
commentard proves elite status with Fawkes mask
Android users can tick a single box in the device settings, and sideload apps from any website. Android devices are often laggard in receiving updates, or completely unsupported. Consequently there are "abundant and sprawling" vulnerabilities for an Android device.
Contrastingly, iOS users are forced to visit Apple's app store for downloads, and devices are supported with every iteration of the iOS software.
There have been some incursions into Apple's "walled garden" (i.e. XcodeGhost), but the attack vectors are fewer, and more difficult to implement, relative to Android.
It's not hearsay, it's day to day usage. Android piracy usage has been described at 95%, and iOS piracy at a much lower 60%. Android users cause the insecurity they suffer, through their own actions.
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Saturday 7th November 2015 13:52 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: commentard proves elite status with Fawkes mask
Android piracy usage has been described at 95%,
That is utter bollocks. 95% of what?? All android users??? With 2bn of them, are you seriously believing that crap? Some people should just disconnect from the internet, they are so easilly fooled into believing any old crap, you are one of them.
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Saturday 7th November 2015 16:17 GMT TheVogon
"Anyone falling for Android secuirty scareware hearsay is frankly a joke in my book."
You think you know more than someone who hacks them for a living then?
See http://wmpoweruser.com/hacker-claims-windows-phone-the-most-secure-smartphone-os/
"If I have physical access to the device, I find Android’s usually the easiest target. Then comes iPhone, then older versions of BlackBerry. If it’s over a network or I have to attack via email or message, Android’s usually the softest target."
This isn't exactly new news either:
http://wmpoweruser.com/f-secure-windows-phone-platform-is-the-safest-mobile-os-available-to-businesses/
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Monday 9th November 2015 10:14 GMT Groaning Ninny
But this runs Android, not iOS...
The reason the Android issues are noted is because the device runs Android. What's the issue with that? If it ran iOS, then I'd expect to see a similar note, likewise Windows. Save for the fact that strangely Windows seems to be more secure. Never thought I'd find myself saying that!
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Friday 6th November 2015 21:03 GMT Intractable Potsherd
Re: Hmmmmmm!
Yes, it is very tempting, but I'm hanging on to my Galaxy Note 1 until someone else comes up with a phone with a pen (I have no interest in getting a later Note). None of the digital pens on the market seem to have the same precision, and seem to need Bluetooth turned on - something I try to avoid.
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Friday 6th November 2015 08:50 GMT Anonymous Coward
SIM free price?
I am missing a not-tied-into-a-contract price here, but that is a minor niggle in an excellent review.
If BB can now start to move on creating a less {leaky|Google dependent} version of Android this may be a winner - this seems good enough for me to already use as a spare phone.
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Monday 9th November 2015 14:32 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: How much??!!
Oh come on! The trendy set happily stump up £600+ for the latest Samsung Galaxy bling.
Personally I have got more critical things to spend that sort of money on, so I'll probably be considering this phone or one of its successors as an eventual provider-supplied upgrade to my current Z10.
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Friday 6th November 2015 09:24 GMT Anonymous Coward
I seriously doubt this. Hardware wise possibly. But it hasn't been released into the wild, and if the privacy issues on Win 10 PC are anything to go by, I would steer way clear of it if I had a requirement for professional grade communications. Of course, this will have to be determined when people that are far more proficient than I am get their mitts on it.
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Sunday 8th November 2015 08:43 GMT dogged
> if the privacy issues on Win 10 PC are anything to go by, I would steer way clear of it if I had a requirement for professional grade communications.
The article said almost nothing at all about the Priv's security features or propensity for data-leakage. All we know is that it's running BB apps on the horrendously leaky Android.
I would have appreciated more information.
DISCLAIMER - Blackphone 2 owner, which is a genuinely hardened Android. That the Reg hasn't reviewed. I wonder why not?
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Friday 6th November 2015 09:24 GMT John Smith 19
"snooze" an email for later action. you wonder why nobody's done it before.
But then we are in the Noddy Era of consumer software.
They did think of it before.
Go Corp Pen Point OS expected to move between networks so had a universal "outbox" to accumulate outgoing stuff to drop off when you got reconnected to a network
In about 1991.
Sounded like a good feature then.
Still does.
Now if only they can do something about Androids data incontinence....
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Sunday 8th November 2015 08:42 GMT Dan 55
Re: "snooze" an email for later action. you wonder why nobody's done it before.
I'm not sure if the local calendar server as a way of allowing more 3rd party calendar software to work is innotive or an admission of Android's inherent cludginess. Hopefully everything's faithfully replicated upstream to the Exchange server, because if does something like screw up repeated entries then that could be annoying/embarrassing.
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Friday 6th November 2015 16:07 GMT Aqua Marina
Re: Dual SIM
All the sales guys and buyers that work here have dual SIM phones. SIM 1 is the UK one, and SIM 2 is usually the one for China, or which ever other country they spend the most time in. Works out much cheaper than using roaming tarrifs, somewhere in the region of £40K per year for 15 people.
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Saturday 7th November 2015 13:52 GMT Bloakey1
Re: Dual SIM
"All the sales guys and buyers that work here have dual SIM phones. SIM 1 is the UK one, and SIM 2 is usually the one for China, or which ever other country they spend the most time in. Works out much cheaper than using roaming tarrifs, somewhere in the region of £40K per year for 15 people."
I have a UK sim and either Russian, Abu Dhabi or Southern Europeean sims on the go at any given time. I have a nice cheap Alcatel phone that does the business and I can choose which Lines I use and for what.
Sorted innit!
I love your moniker! I remember the babe in question who was often involved in chasing long objects full of seamen.
No I have that damn song going on in my head. Saunters off singing Marina, Aqua Marina, What are these strange enchantments that start whenever you’re near? ....
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Friday 6th November 2015 12:25 GMT James 51
It still has a fixed battery.
It's interesting that at the end you pointed out how it's a lesser experiece than BB10 but this has a far better chance of being a big sucess than any of the BB10 handsets.
I'll be sticking with my Q10 for a while longer. Still if I end up having to get an android hanset it will probably be this or a Z5 compact.
I wonder how difficult it will be to get Sailfish on it.
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Saturday 7th November 2015 00:25 GMT Dinsdale247
As someone who has worked through the Sailfish Hardware Adaption Tool Kit I would say don't hold your breath, the porting effort to phones is going VERY slowly. Someone created a build to run Sailfish on a Oneplus (which I tried), but it's basically just alpha software at this point and there has been no updates for some time.
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Friday 6th November 2015 18:01 GMT Quortney Fortensplibe
Re: Reviews
Given he describes it in his intro as "... a secure, Fort Knox phone for the tin-foil hat brigade..", I suspect the lack of a dedicated button to 'one-click' post Instagram snaps of your current breakfast to your 3573 intimate Facepuke and Twatter friends' feeds, might have come as a disappointment.
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Sunday 8th November 2015 08:41 GMT Dan 55
Re: Reviews, disingenuous much?
I very rarely have trouble with Ars' reviews, they tend to stick to the facts and argue why they believe a feature is or isn't any good. One of the first things he says is he's only had two days with it (like, it seems, everyone else) and a full review will come soon, which seems entirely reasonable.
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Friday 6th November 2015 21:05 GMT E_Nigma
Re: Reviews
Their guy reports build quality issues that kind of sound serious and also that, for him, the battery only lasted 14h. I find both weird, but, if such was his experience with the device, those are definite negatives.
Also, the author obviously falls into the demographics that's no longer used to physical keyboards and in only two days, he's hardly had time to re-acquire that skill. But in that case, it's strange that he makes little mention of the virtual keyboard, which Andrew, on the other hand, found quite mention-worthy.
Other than that, I found ArsTechnica's verdict on the camera pretty harsh. Noise reduction can get a little aggressive, but still, even their own night shots I would actually call decent. The colours may be a little off in those, but, in all, the photos are no worse than what I'd expect from a hand held compact camera. Definitely not "the bottom of the Android pile".
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Friday 6th November 2015 16:49 GMT Clive Galway
Fail review
"The Priv looks conventional, but unfolds to reveal a QWERTY keyboard"
This is THE main differentiating feature, and you felt the need to include a whole page of pictures taken using the device, which is probably not a huge concern for the target audience.
Is there one pic of the keyboard though? No. Fail.
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Friday 6th November 2015 18:01 GMT Quortney Fortensplibe
Can It Be True?
BlackBerry fires starting gun to launch new product. Huge hole in own foot not immediately apparent!
I'm not a business user and I don't have any particular preference vis-a-vis 'real' vs 'virtual' keyboards on phones. But, even I like the look of this one.
Of course, with reference to my 'hole in own foot' line above, I notice that the article carefully avoids mentioning a non-contract price for the Priv. But, given their past record, I fear that BlackBerry will price this at top-end flagship prices, overlooking once again the fact that having almost zero brand awareness or market share amongst 'public at large' means you just can't get away with this –no matter how good the hardware might be.
In other news:
I've said it before and I'll say it again. The worst thing about this device is the name. Yes, I know it's meant to be all hipster and happening and buzzwordy and is short for "Privacy". But you mention your "priv" to anyone this side of the Atlantic and they'll assume you're talking about your toilet.
What where they thinking of?
[Halo icon because, in a fit of insanity, I bought some shares in Blackberry a few years ago, which have done nothing but tank since the day I got them. With every announcement of a new BB product I pray this might be 'The One' that turns their [and by extension my] fortunes around again.]
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Friday 6th November 2015 18:01 GMT Crazy Operations Guy
Fingerprint Sensor / security
I have to disagree that a secure device should have a fingerprint sensor, quite the contrary actually. Using fingerprints as the sole authentication method presents many problems, specifically because you can't change it if its compromised (IE, someone makes a silicon mold of your fingers).
At my office we end up working long hours and coworkers tend tot take naps at their desk, so as a prank, we'll grab their phones, and put it up to their fingers so it unlocks. Then we'll wreck all sorts of harmless havoc upon the phone (changing ring tones to pop-songs, screwing with the color scheme, setting alarms for 2:30 in the morning, etc)
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Friday 6th November 2015 18:24 GMT Crazy Operations Guy
Use BES as a proxy?
Given the privacy and security concerns with Android, would it be possible to just have everything filtered through BES?
I imagine a situation where the server would handle all the normal duties of the App Store (distributing apps, managing updates, etc), and proxying / filtering traffic so that ad traffic is properly anonymized (replace ad IDs with one used for the whole company?). Usage information, crash reports and the like would be sent to the BES server rather than going to Google / app developer and can be forwarded on by an admin.
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Saturday 7th November 2015 13:52 GMT Fihart
Price.
Blackberry's current products already addressed many of the niggles I have about my 4 yr-old 9800 qwerty slider. The Priv seems like another good move to curb desertions. Except that price.
In a world where you can pick up a decent Android for £150, asking 4x that for the (real) advantage of a qwerty keyboard almost guarantees failure.
While I don't like on-screen keyboards, well-executed ones (Apple) and larger screens (HTC Sony etc) are a sensible compromise.
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Monday 9th November 2015 09:32 GMT The Quiet One
Re: Price.
"While I don't like on-screen keyboards, well-executed ones (Apple) and larger screens (HTC Sony etc) are a sensible compromise."
Good god man! What planet are you on?? An Apple keyboard "Well Executed", is the most ridiculous statement I have ever heard!
I mean, it took them until iOS9 (yes,NINE!) to make letters change case depending on your position of the shift key! Android has been doing this since year dot.
The best on screen keyboard is Windows Phone, regardless of what you think of the rest of the phone, it is a masterpiece in design and functionality.
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Saturday 7th November 2015 16:17 GMT 404
Just the other day on El Reg
I made the complaint(?) that with my contract renewal coming up, I didn't see new phones compelling enough to replace our Note 3's - now I do.
Ran across my old BB Storm2 the other day and had to fondle it... sigh. Would be nice to run BES again too, I've been uncomfortable with security since reluctantly relinquishing those duties to Verizon and Google (security/Verizon/Google... those words shouldn't be in a single sentence). -
Biggest issue? The new BB Priv isn't compatible with Verizon - I've already started bitching at them on their boards ;)
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Saturday 7th November 2015 16:17 GMT Jim84
Too small?
A lot of reviews on other websites are slaging off the keyboard saying that it is too small.
I still think Blackberry should produce versions of this phone exactly the same with and without the slider option. That way people who just want a better galaxy with Blackberry's software on top can have their option.
And it should try and do the same for the passport. I use a passport and the best thing about it is the width of the screen (yes you can turn an iPhone sideways but then the screen is ridiculously short).
Well done to Blackberry on creating a slider that is only 9.4mm thick, that is well and truly 'have your cake and eat it' territory.
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Monday 9th November 2015 21:22 GMT John Sanders
I have been saying it for years in thereg
One of the persons saying blackberry should have released an android based device from day one
they are at least 4 years late and still doing it wrong.
For this strategy to work Blackberry needs to publish their software suite for aby Android handset for £5 on the play store, not a gimmick but properly supported.
That way you can get people back on board and then have a proper market differentiation. Like the Blackberry suite on Android? it is even greater on the Priv and proper secure.
Come on it is not that difficult!