A name which to some is a blast from the mobile past is attempting to thrust itself back into the forefront of the contemporary smartphone market with a new release. The BlackBerry Passport is to shortly see a retail release, and the British retailer Carphone Warehouse has already posted a video hands-on of the device.
BlackBerry Passport versus iPhone 6
With the BlackBerry Passport slated for a September release, the pressure will certainly be on the company to deliver something outstanding. The Apple Inc. NASDAQ:AAPL iPhone 6 will also be unveiled during September, and even though BlackBerry Ltd NASDAQ:BBRY may particularly aim its device at the corporate market as opposed to the huge consumer popularity of the iPhone, it will nevertheless need to produce something outstanding in order to gain attention.
So how does the BlackBerry Passport Match up against its Apple iPhone 6 rival? Well, the most noticeable initial difference is that the BlackBerry Passport retains its trademark keyboard. The Apple iPhone 6 will naturally be focused on touchscreen technology, whereas the BlackBerry Passport is still choosing to trade on its QWERTY keyboard. The keyboard also turns into a trackpad when you swipe your fingers over the top of the keys, which is a nifty feature.
BlackBerry Passport / iPhone 6 spec comparison
In spec terms, BlackBerry has chosen to be far more open about its plans for the Passport device that Apple has with the iPhone 6. This is hardly surprisingly; Apple has absolutely no need whatsoever to generate hype around its hotly anticipated smartphone, whereas BlackBerry naturally need to attract support, given the fact that they are essentially a struggling company.
Thus, we already know that the BlackBerry Passport will feature a 4.5-inch screen. This will place it very much in the smartphone marketplace, as opposed to the increasingly popular phablet category. Apple’s iPhone 6 will reportedly feature a 4.7-inch display, so there is little to choose between the two devices here. BlackBerry has not released the precise dimensions of its handset, but taking the display size and keyboard into consideration it is likely to be slightly larger than the iPhone 6.
It seems that the iPhone 6 will feature a higher screen resolution than the BlackBerry Passport, with the latter featuring a resolution of 1,440 x 1,440 pixels (453ppi). The BlackBerry device will be built around the Snapdragon MSM8974 processor, which should be competitive with other smart phones of the markets, although Apple is reportedly arming the iPhone 6 with an ultra-powerful A8 processor.
This discrepancy will be ironed out by the fact that the BlackBerry Passport will feature 3GB of RAM. Even the most ambitious estimates for the Apple iPhone 6 consider that the device will feature 2GB. Storage capacity will be similar in both devices.
Finally, BlackBerry has also announced a major new feature with its Passport handset, with the BlackBerry Assistant being included for the first time. This is an attempt by BlackBerry to match the Siri functionality of the iPhone with a similar voice-control feature. This will undoubtedly curry favor with the smartphone’s corporate target market.
Time will tell whether the BlackBerry Passports can revitalise the fortunes of BlackBerry, but the company has certainly given it every opportunity to attract a following.
