BlackBerry Priv, the Coolest Failure - Retrospective Review

This is perhaps one of the coolest Androids of all time- say hello to the 2015 Blackberry Priv. How does it hold up 5 years later... and what went wrong?

Follow me @91_Tech! Or don't. But please do

0:00 - Introduction
1:28 - Welcome to Android
3:57 - Design
8:20 - Camera
10:27 - Features
14:03 - Tech Specs
15:58 - Software
20:12 - Potential
22:26 - Conclusion

Hugh Jeffreys Keyone Restoration:

Music:

[Tech]

If this video does decently well, I think I'll go ahead and pickup a Blackberry Keyone to review as well. This is without a doubt one of my favorite Android phones I've reviewed... it's so cool and I spent a ton of time on this video, so I hope you enjoy!
Follow me @91_Tech to keep up when I get that Keyone! Or don't. But please do

[jo]

The last time I had a BLACKBERRY PHONE, was in 2013, brings back memories, for real, my Brothers and Sisters.

[justinh]

Priv has a weird cult following in China, there are people offering services for around $40 to increase ram from 3gb to 4gb

[pinnedcomment]

Plot Twist: The voice actor of SpongeBob and the voice actor of Karen, Plankton’s computer wife, have been married since 1995.

[governor]

Man this phone with updated specs would be amazing!

[metamorphicorder]

Blackberry didnt die because of the keyboard. The priv was the perfect combination of both worlds. It had both inputs, physical and on screen keyboard, and it was a great partial answer to the market demand.
The thing that killed blackberry is that they werent as assiduous in responding to other market demands.
They started as a corporate tool and they ran a train on that market all by themselves.
And apple was the toy phone for the kids that wanted to play.
What they didnt understand is that building toy is harder than building tools. Not that building tools is easy. But toys arent a concrete need, they have a need aspect, but they are deffinitely ruled by consumer WANTS.
Corpoate tools are needs if you can meet and even slightly exceed the user demands and deliver at a less painful price than others you will win.
And blackberry did. For a while.
But what they didnt expect was that apple and android would bother trying to compete in that space, and then be able to do it so well, mainly because it really wasnt that hard to do and they over estimated the draw of the physical keyboard.
They didnt really have any focus on developing their relevance in the game and recreation space, and once the competition met them in utility, the consumers asked why would they have a work device and a play device when they can have both in one.

[ChrisTechmp]

When I saw your post on twitter spoiling this video I immediatly knew that this video was going to be amazing! And I totally wasn't wrong! Great video from what I've seen so far Josh! :)

[albaformiga]

This phone is so dope, what a shame all of its potential was wasted

[evankrosney]

I still carry a BlackBerry Key2. The dedicated mute key is one of the most underrated and useful features on a phone. Super convenient when on a call, and it's something I miss whenever I use a different device.

[Staubsauger]

HTC One m8 in 2020 :) It's promotion and promises were very big back in 2014

[HughJeffreys]

I love mine, used it for over 3 months this year before switching to the KEYone. It gets a lot of looks in public, had someone say to me it looked cool and they hadn't seen a blackberry in years.

The Priv is so much better than the KEYone but the slow software struggles with everything including basic things like emails. I only do basic things on my phone like calls, text and email.
My Note7 on android 6.0.1 feels just as slow, comparing it to the note FE on android 8 it's significantly faster so some of its issues might be a result of android 6.

From what i have seen this phone was prototyped running BlackBerry 10. Would love to put BB10 or a light custom rom onto it. The boot-loader is locked and i don't know it that makes it impossible but i hope not. Would love to use it again.

Not sure why you didn't like the keyboard. However that might be a good thing or every other phone without one feels bad.
You did forget to mention all the custom keyboard shortcuts you can assign as well as the copy, cut, paste shortcuts. Best software feature of the phone.




Enjoyed the video Josh, was well produced and put together.

[princez.]

Hers what i think as a late 90s baby that never had a BB but got a KeyOne,

I brushed a physical keyboard off as a stupid gimmick when i had first seen pictures of it, but when i saw a review for it out of curiosity, the moment i found out you could program 60 shortcuts (2 for every key) I fell in love, the fact i could program ANYTHING to any key made me buy it right then and i purchased one for 480, it took a while to adjust to it, but once i got used to it, it really changed how i used my phone. All my frequent contacts? Assigned to keyboard shortcuts.
Frequently used apps? assigned to keyboard shortcuts.
it made daily activates much easier as i could just open the phone, push F for facebook and go straight to it.
Missed a call from my dad? i could just press and hold D and I'd be calling him right then and there.
It really made communicating and staying in touch with people A LOT easier to do, and once i got good at the keyboard i didnt even have to look at it anymore, something I've never been able to do with any of the normal phones I've had.
I switched to am xperia 10 ii and since then, I've come to really miss the keyboard on the KeyOne, I hate that i cant have all my shortcuts, returning calls is now a lot harder, and in general, i feel like I'm so much more sluggish without the keyboard.

Might switch back to it, but, i just wanted to share my perspective since i also brushed it off as a gimmick with no place on smartphones, but after i used it, I now understand why older people love physical keyboards now.

[WparuSlowach]

For me PRIV was one of the best phone I used on Android.

[stojicgaming]

to be honest, if blackberry was still relevant i would probably buy one of their smartphones.
Especially if they remade a phone like this one, but with updated cameras, internals and cameras.

[arparetyma]

My friend uses one till today, it works fine just heats up from time to time.

[jamesbrooks]

Man I REALLY wanted this when it came out. I think in an alternate universe if there was a 2020 version of this, it could be successful.

[bedabrat_deka]

I had a Blackberry Curve, the keyboard was so amazing.

[travr]

Blackberry only doing 1 late OS upgrade for it was a slap in the face. I loved my Priv, but the lack of support from BB was insulting. The Priv was my last phone from them.

[Teddini]

I still have a priv and I refuse to throw it away. Sadly the battery dies so fast, it's not working as a daily..

I love it. I love the look people give you when you slide it open. I wish there would be a newer version today

[nathangibson]

"I really do love sliding it in and out.... it's pretty cool!"
-91Tech