BlackBerry Passport Red Edition Factory Unlocked International Version with Qwerty Arabic Keypad

I am extremely impressed with the capabilities of this device and the thoughtfulness and coherence of the BlackBerry 10 operating system. I've had the Passport now for a couple of months, and recently received the 10.3.1 OS update, which added a ton of cool new elements, including emergency battery saving mode. I've stumbled across a number of other features, though I'm not sure if they are new or not, like "advanced interaction" which does stuff like silence or shut off screen when the device is flipped over (also I'll note the universal search is amazing ... for example I couldn't remember the term "advanced interaction" but I just typed in "flip" on the home screen and, among the results, was "advanced interactions" in settings). I also recently discovered the keyboard shortcuts, you can assign an app or a bunch of other actions to the long press of any key. It would take too long, and frankly I don't remember off hand, all the pleasant little surprises the OS and the device offer, but it's pretty cool.I will say I saw one review complaining about the combo virtual and hard keyboard. I'll say I think the arrangement is genius (how does one complain about a partially virtual keyboard but embrace a fully virtual one? Makes no sense). Anyway, you need to realize that the keyboard is touch sensitive. So, a back swipe = "backspace". And a down swipe = shift. Further, though the virtual keyboard appears when you swipe down (shift), you don't actually need to use it: When you "shift" you can then press the hard key corresponding with the soft key, so for example, swipe down then press the "m" key and you'll get a dollar sign. Though the secondary character isn't printed on the hard key, it works exactly as you'd expect a keyboard with the shift key pressed to operate. Finally, a swipe up selects the predictive text word being suggested for you (there are three presented just above the keyboard, left, right and middle). Once you become accustomed to using the shift key to get your symbols (like speed typing you remember that shift-"b" is "@" and shift "h" is "&" etc, though you can also see it when the virtual keyboard pops up), and begin to rely on the predictive text swipe up, and the really high quality hard keyboard, you can beaver out messages dramatically faster than any other input device.Virtual Assistant: Unlike predecessor BlackBerrys, the voice command system works really well. I haven't done side-by-side tests, but I ask it to do stuff like set alarms and find things on teh web or the device and it performs very well.Blend: This is one that seems to have been overlooked by a lot of people. You install the app on your computer or tablet, and then basically it gives you access to all the messaging, calendar and contact functions of your phone right on your desktop. So, get to the office, pop the Passport on to a cradle (fyi battery life is very good, I often forget to charge at night and I'm still OK for the better part of the next day, which is a relief from battery anxiety I've had with all previous phones), and respond to SMS, email, BBM from my computer; it also shows your contacts and calendar. It doesn't show Notes which is a shame that I assume will be addressed in a future update. It also doesn't let you edit your contacts. But it is Gen 1, and quite a remarkable tool. Also they say nothing is saved on the second device; just the display and input of the second device are used, so Blend could be used on any random computer without worrying your data is going to be left behind for someone else to come across.Anyway, I've seen a lot of reviews where the user seemed to have no idea how to make use of the capabilities of the device (I'm not surprised, I just happened to stumble on this function, there are a lot of hidden gems really, maybe I should read the manual). Oh, the photos are really great quality, even my friends with iPhones have to admit. I just noticed a couple of weeks ago that in the Photo Album app, if you click on the occasional banner that separates sets of photos and videos, it automatically creates a slide show of videos and photos taken in some coherent period of time, with a variety of transitions, etc, it adds some music and a little intro cover and closing. I'm really impressed with this, as what a cool way to show your vacation pics without the dull flipping from one pic to the next. And no effort on my part at all (this is called "Automatic Story Maker"; there is a "Story Maker" app too which allows you to select the media, the intro, the music, etc but I haven't spend time fussing with all that, so I like the automatic mode).I've had good luck with Android apps on the Passport. There are a bunch of Android app stores you can install directly from the browser on the device (the browser is REALLY fast) like 1 Mobile Market and Aptoide and APK DL and Vshare and Mobogenie, so you are not limited to Amazon App Store. I strongly encourage people to install this app called "Snap" which is a native app like Google Play Store. Snap must be side-loaded (a 1-time thing), which is about a 5-10 minute process, there are lots of guides how to do it (basically put the device into Dev mode and install an extension on Chrome browser of your computer). I put on Google Maps (there's an apk on the web you can install to address the sign on issue), yelp, snapchap, instagram, paypal, Shazam, Airbnb, several off-line maps apps, and a bunch of other ones I actually never use. Uber has a mobile site m.uber.com which works just like the app. Is the Android emulation absolutely foolproof? No, you'll occasionally see some message about Google Play Services or something, but I'm really happy with it. I think of it like this: It's a small compromise to pay for access to a mobile powerhouse of features no other device offers and that I really need and use and rely on. And anyway I have an android tablet where I've downloaded hundreds of apps I never use, but maybe that gives me psychic comfort I don't know.Finally, I'll note the dramatic improvement just in the OS update from 10.3 to 10.3.1; the OS isn't perfect but is constantly being polished and improved.

I'm 24 and tech savy. Have had phone for 3 months now. Was a 2 time Android user before (Galaxy S Captivate & Galaxy SIII). Can confidently say that this phone goes toe to toe with those phones in functionality in just about every way. Enjoyed the phone so much I got one for my father for Christmas and he loves it too. Never had a QWERTY keyboard on a phone before and I love having it now. Much better than touch screen texting. Only downside to wideness is that you cannot text with one hand easily. It is possible, but only for small limited responses. Besides that one downside, the width is a positive for every other aspect. When viewing websites I have it set to desktop mode and it is awesome. For those worried it fits easily and comfortably in pockets, it does no problem. BB10 (the operating system) takes a little getting used to (Google search tips to make sure you fully utilize some of its less obvious features - especially in the keyboard which is touch sensitive) but once you do it is definitely smoother and faster than Android which I was pleasantly surprised to find. I am an AT&T user in the US and service is great and internet is lightning quick. The BlackBerry Hub that organizes all messages from all formats is really cool and helpful for someone like me that regularly uses 5+ email accounts, along with texting, bbm, facebook messenger, gchat, etc. If specific APPs are not your top priority then I highly recommend this phone. Battery life is fantastic. Much better than any phone on the market. Average day's use I find myself with half my battery life left at the end of the day. I am yet to have a single day where I ran out of battery (This was a problem I experienced regularly with the Galaxy S3). A++ to BlackBerry for the battery!Tips for Apps I commonly used to use with my Android: (SEE UPDATE BELOW)MAPS: Buy BeMaps Pro. Costs like 5 bucks but is a fully function BlackBerry Native App based on Google Maps. Perfect for phone.UBER: Just make shortcut to mobile website on homescreen. Mobile based website is HTML5 enabled and works no problem. No need for actual app.Facebook/Twitter/Linkedin/Google Talk: Native BlackBerry versions of these apps work fine.Amazon App store: works great for most apps such as Pandora.Other common Android Apps: Android framework can be sideloaded into phone (search for Cobalt's work). I've done this and can say it works fine to get functionality to apps such as Snapchat, but it takes some work to get going and is not a perfect solution due to square dimensions of screen. I personally just said screw it and if I want to use these apps just revert back to playing with old Android S3 over wifi. If these apps are a necessity to you then stick with Android.Google Music: Made homescreen shortcut to google music through browser and the browser version works fine as long as you have Adobe Flash enabled in your browser settings.Long story short, if silly apps are not that important to you, then pull the trigger and buy this phone. You won't regret your decision.UPDATE: Updated phone to new 10.3.1 software. After doing so I re-installed all the Google framework (3 files) from "Cobalt". There's a youtube video out there that walks you through the same process so it is very painless. Now I have been able to get ALL Android apps that I regularly use working. I have fully functioning Google Maps, Uber, Play Music, WatchESPN, Banking apps, Snapchat, Tinder, etc. A cool new feature with this update for the Passport is that it allows you to run apps in a Narrow mode that defaults to the dimensions the app was designed for. The only downside is the Android apps still do not send push notifications through to the hub, however that is the only missing link to having a perfectly functioning Google Play Store.There now is NO reason that I would prefer any other phone to the BlackBerry Passport. QNX RULES! Cheers!