BlackBerry Classic

BlackBerry Classic Review

Introduction

The BlackBerry Classic is a quintessential BlackBerry, any way you slice it. With a hardware QWERTY keyboard and navigation buttons, a strictly business appearance and the best enterprise chops in the industry, the newcomer is reminiscent of the Blackberries of old when the mobile world was not all about big touchscreens.

BlackBerry Classic official photos

At a quick glance, the Classic appears to be a direct successor of the BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900. Seriously overdue for an update, the Bold Touch made its debut in the distant 2011 and it still enjoys a solid following in the corporate world.

The BlackBerry Classic harks back to the glory days of the Canadian company not only in terms of appearance, but also hardware specs. The device's Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chipset dates back to the year its predecessor launched. The BlackBerry Classic is clearly not a smartphone you will buy for its cutting edge hardware specs.

See a detailed look of its key features below.

Key features

Square 3.5" 720p LCD display; 294dpi; Corning Gorilla Glass 3
1.5GHz dual-core CPU; Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 chipset; 2GB of RAM
8MP camera with auto-focus; digital image stabilization; LED flash; 2MP front-facing camera
1080p video capture @ 30fps; 720p video capture for the secondary camera
16GB of built-in storage; microSD card slot; Dropbox and Box integration
BlackBerry 10.3 OS with Virtual Assistant
Ability to run Android applications (via Amazon Appstore or sideloading)
The best hardware QWERTY keyboard in the business with customizable shortcuts
Cat. 4 LTE (150/50Mbps); Wi-Fi a/b/g/n; Bluetooth 4.0; NFC; GPS; microUSB (SlimPort)
Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
2,515mAh battery

Main disadvantages

Seriously dated hardware platform
Non-removable battery
Rather thick at 10.2mm and also heavy at 177g
Considerable off-contract price tag
Limited carrier support in the US (for the time being)

The hardware QWERTY keyboard and its shortcuts, coupled with the solid productivity and security chops of BlackBerry OS 10.3.1, are bound to appeal to users in the corporate world.

During the smartphone's media presentation, BlackBerry's CEO specifically pointed that the Classic is not aiming to be a mass-market device. The handset is made for prosumers and corporate professionals - a considerable crowd with BlackBerry 9900 Bold devices due for an upgrade.

BlackBerry Classic live photos

Can the BlackBerry Classic cut it as the only smartphone in your life? Is it the ultimate second handset? Read on to find out! We have our thumbs ready and will kick the review off with unboxing, followed by a close look at the hardware.

Unboxing

The retail box of the BlackBerry Classic looks as serious as the intentions of the smartphone. Its contents include a wall charger, a microUSB cable, a stereo headset (a rarity in the US), a tool for removing the SIM and the microSD card, and a couple of booklets.

The retail package of BlackBerry Classic.

It is nice to see bundled headphones in the box of the Classic. BlackBerry also offers a number of well-made, keenly-priced accessories for the handset. They include a leather pocket and holster, a soft shell, and a screen protector.

Design, build quality, handling

The design of the BlackBerry Classic falls right in line with its name. The smartphone looks like a slightly stretched version of BlackBerry Bold 9900 - the model it is bound to replace.

BlackBerry Classic in the flesh

As you can see in the images above, the Classic looks decidedly old school and unmistakably BlackBerry. This should hardly catch anyone by surprise - it is the effect the company was seeking when it designed the device.

For the time being, the BlackBerry Classic is available only in black color scheme. Recent leaks suggest that a white version is also on the way, though we are yet to hear about it officially.

Build quality of the BlackBerry Classic is outstanding. The handset features an outer frame machined out of a solid block of stainless steel. The rest of the materials used in the device include high-quality polycarbonate. Corning's Gorilla Glass is protecting the display.

The BlackBerry Classic aims at professionals and has the build quality to show for it. It is as tough as it is business minded.

The steel frame of the BlackBerry results in the rather considerable weight of 177 grams. Physical measures of the smartphone are 131 x 72.4 x 10.2 mm. The considerable by modern day standards thickness takes off some of the device sleekness.

BlackBerry Classic sized up next to iPhone 6

The plastic back of the BlackBerry Classic features nice texture, which allows comfortable handling. One handed-operation is also possible most tasks, so long as they don't rapid text typing.

BlackBerry Classic is easy to handle

The presence of hardware navigation buttons is key for easily operating the device with one hand. The trackpad allows you to reach the areas of the display that your thumbs don't.

Display

BlackBerry Classic packs a perfectly square 3.5" LCD display with a resolution of 720 x 720 pixels. The pixel density of the unit is 294ppi.

A 3.5" 1:1 display

The square shape of the display takes a little getting used to. However, we reckon that it works quite well on the BlackBerry Classic.

A closer look at the screen of BlackBerry Classic

The LCD unit of the smartphone combines truly impressive brightness and sunlight legibility with accurate colors. Our only gripe with the display has to do with its viewing angles - they are far from stellar due to its non-IPS nature.

To sum it up, the screen of BlackBerry Classic is very good, so long as you don't expect it to be your primary source for gobbling up multimedia. As far as doing work and occasionally peaking online and in social network goes however, it will surely keep you happy.

Good 8MP snapper

BlackBerry Classic packs an 8MP camera with single-LED flash. The interface is straightforward and doesn't have an overabundance options, but all the important stuff is there. There's a handful of scene modes and four shooting modes: normal, Time Shift, Burst, and Panorama.

The camera UI

By default, the Classic shoots 1:1 square images at 2448 x 2448 pixels. This is essentially a cropped variant of its 4:3 shooting mode, which brings the image resolution up to 3264 x 2448 pixels. There's also a 16:9 mode that is cropped in the other direction, so it's recommended that you shoot in 4:3 if you want to use the full range of the sensor.

There's touch focus on board, and a digital zoom is available through pinch zooming. A nifty trick is swiping the gallery thumbnail in the lower left, which brings up a quick preview of your last shot taken.

The BlackBerry Classic camera has accurate contrast and exposure, resulting in well-exposed images. Resolved detail is on a very good level for 8MP camera.

Color rendering is balanced and not oversaturated as with the BlackBerry Passport. Noise is kept well within reasonable limits and there are no traces of excessive noise suppression.

Overall, we are very pleased with the image processing and find it quite mature.

BlackBerry Classic camera samples

BlackBerry Classic low light camera samples

HDR photos on the BlackBerry Classic work out great in various conditions. It's one of the best stock HDR implementations we've seen on a smartphone. The HDR photos have the information in both the highlights and shadows recovered in a nice and balanced way. Using the HDR mode often makes a lot of sense as it overcomes quite successfully the limited dynamic range that's inherent to smaller camera sensors.

HDR camera samples: Off • On

Good camcorder

The video camera has the same user interface as the still one. The video capture button is located on the right side of the one for still images.

BlackBerry Classic can record 1080p videos @30fps or 720p clips @60 fps. You can also capture 720p videos at 30fps as well. All video are captured with stereo sound.

The 1080p video clips from the device have 16Mbps bitrate, smooth and nice detail, and 192Kbps audio bitrate. The colors are not as oversaturated as on the Passport.

Final words

Passing final judgment on the BlackBerry Classic depends on one's perspective about what a smartphone should do. The handset is an excellent business device, but a long way behind the latest iOS and Android smartphones in terms of features that will appeal to regular users.

With the above in mind, we must concur that BlackBerry has done a good job with the Classic. The device is targeting the corporate crowd and will tick the right boxes for its members. It is superbly built, comfortable to use, seriously looking, and full of productivity features, wrapped into a responsive, highly secure OS environment.

Key review findings

The hardware QWERTY of the device is the best in the business
This phone is built for work, not for wasting time in games and media gobbling
Build quality and one-hand ergonomics are top notch
The display is bright and boasts impressive colors, but subpar viewing angles
The camera is a solid performer
The chipset of the device is already seriously dated
BlackBerry OS 10.3.1 is fast, fluid, and secure; the available Android apps add an extra layer of appeal
Audio quality is good
Battery life is stellar
The price is high for the hardware on offer

The hardware QWERTY keyboard and navigation keys of the Classic are superb to use. As good as virtual keyboards have become, we reckon that nothing beats the subtle clicks of a BlackBerry keyboard when it comes to precision, speed, and tactility. This particular feature alone should help the Canadian manufacturer move quite a few units.

Build quality and one-hand ergonomics of the smartphone are also top notch and in line with BlackBerry's best tradition. The Classic is an easy phone to work with quickly and efficiently.

With 294ppi, the 1:1 display of the smartphone won't wow you with millions of pixels. However, with good brightness and accurate colors, the screen is a quality unit despite its modest resolution. Its viewing angles could have been better, though, let's be honest, this is not a phone made to show photos and videos on.

Speaking of photos and videos, we were pleasantly surprised by the results produced by the device's 8MP camera. Both the stills and the videos captured by it came out better than we hoped for.

Our biggest gripe with its smartphone has to do with it chipset. Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 was cutting edge when the predecessor of the Classic, BlackBerry Bold 9900 hit the shelves. By the time the newcomer is up for an upgrade, its SoC will be all but forgotten.

A user-replaceable battery would have been a welcome sight as well. A traditional staple of the brand, the feature is oddly missing in its latest creation.

Finally, we wish that BlackBerry had priced the Classic a tad keener, especially considering its modest hardware. At $449 with no carrier commitment, the newcomer feels expensive for the internals it has on board.

For the time being, BlackBerry Classic is available to purchase directly from the company's online store in the United States and Canada. US carriers will offer the device down the line as well.

BlackBerry Classic is a peculiar handset, which doesn't have alternatives outside of the company's own stable. Here are a couple of other BlackBerry offerings worth considering.

BlackBerry Passport is the company's flagship at the moment. it is equipped with top-notch specs by today's standards, though its design takes some getting used to.

BlackBerry Passport

The Passport is available on Amazon in the US for $549.99 unlocked - only $100 more than the Classic. We highly recommend that you consider it, as, despite its quirks, the Passport is more capable device throughout.

Like the hardwareQWERTY, but don't care about the navigation keys of the Classic? Look no further than the BlackBerry Q10. Available for half the price of the Classic, the Q10 offers the same internals, sharper AMOLED display, and lighter body.

BlackBerry Q10

As characterful and productive as it is flawed, the BlackBerry Classic is tough to recommend as the only smartphone in your life. However, as a work device paid for by your employer and used alongside a "regular" smartphone, the handset begins to make a lot of sense.

BlackBerry hasn't tried to rediscover the wheel with the Classic. Instead, the Canadian company focused on bringing a product that carries its core strengths to its most important customers. Like the device or not, it is a success in this regard.

Video stabilization is also on board. Overall, the camcorder of the BlackBerry Classic turned out to be better performer than we expected.