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Old 04-30-2016, 06:41 PM   #47
Jack T. Chance
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: East Coast, USA
Model: Priv
OS: 5.1.1
Carrier: T-Mobile
Posts: 502
Exclamation Re: No Discussion Of BlackBerry Priv Slider? What's Happened To BBF?!?

I'm pleasantly surprised to see how my topic took off after the last time I visited!

So, on January 26th, T-Mobile launched the Priv (I had to buy the T-Mo branded version to ensure mine was fully compatible with all of the new, weird LTE Bands T-Mo is using) and I was there that day to buy one.

Speaking only for myself, and I am unanimous in this, it's exactly what I wanted in a new phone running Android! The phone prior to this, a Samsung Galaxy S4, was my first smartphone that didn't have a built-in hardware keyboard. So, I had to use cheap, Chinese-made Bluetooth keyboard cases with it. During the time I used it, I had probably 4-5 that I went through, because they just aren't durable.

Blackberry's quarterly sales numbers they just released revealed that sales were lower than expected for the Priv, owing in large part to the unwillingness of the all-important business customers to spend $700 a pop on them for their workforce. They told Blackberry they want devices more in the $400 range, which is the price point Blackberry is targeting with their next 2 Android phones.

The reluctance of people to spend $700 for a Top-Tier Android phone that's Blackberry's first truly competitive phone in years really shows how much they've eroded their good will with the customers, because people readily pay that much, or more, for the "Latest & Greatest" phones from Crapple and Samsung.

Naturally, there's been a recent permanent price drop on the Priv as a result. Now the carriers need to do their part, and advertise the phone. There are lots of people out there that still prefer a phone with a physical keyboard, rather than touchscreen only. And the only other options out there right now for a Top-Tier smartphone with an OEM physical QWERTY keyboard are as follows:
  • Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+
  • Samsung Galaxy S7
  • Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
Those 3 phones have an available Samsung OEM QWERTY Keyboard Case, which is a pathetic case for glass-backed phones, covering only the back, and the 4 corners. And as a keyboard, it pales in comparison to Blackberry's offerings. Here's what it looks like on the normal S7:



Faced with the choice of either buying a Glass-Backed Samsung Galaxy S7 ($680-700) with a Samsung QWERTY Keyboard Case ($60) OR the Blackberry Priv ($720 on T-Mobile when I bought it,) the Priv was actually CHEAPER and is far more durable than a phone with a glass back. And the Seidio case I put on it provides better protection than Samsung's QWERTY Keyboard Case provides to their phones. So, it's a total win-win as far as I'm concerned.

As always, Your Mileage May Vary.

P.S. Please, don't waste my time, and yours, trying to convince me that a Passport or a Classic would have been options for me, because they weren't even in the running. The App Gap is simply too large between BB10 and the rest of the smartphone world. And as for the capabilities of the hardware, those were great phones... IN 2012. Too bad it's now 2016. Like it or not, the Priv is the ONLY truly modern, competitive smartphone that Blackberry offers right now. With 2 more Android phones on the way, I hope they can regain at least some market share, because NO ONE ELSE wants to offer smartphones with hardware QWERTY keyboards built-in, so as I mentioned before, the only other real options come from Samsung with its QWERTY Keyboard Cases.

Okay, sure, the cheap, Chinese-made Bluetooth keyboards are also available for id10tPhones up to at least the 6, but they really are shoddy and unreliable. Plus, id10tPhone. Eww!
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