The BlackBerry Priv boasts some great features, but just how durable it is remains a question. The answer is out now, however, as YouTuber JerryRigEverything put the gadget through a number of tests – scratching the device, burning it, and last but not the least, a bend test – to check its durability.
Put through rigorous tests
The first test was aimed at measuring how strong the display of BlackBerry Priv is. The test revealed that the screen could hold up well to the keys and coins in the pocket, but there could be permanent marks left on the screen if it came in contact with some “abrasive like sand.”
The BlackBerry Priv camera lens was also scratched when rubbed against car keys. The keys on the QWERTY keypad are made of plastic, and were scratched, but BlackBerry has provided a layer of rubber underneath that keeps the dirt and grime out.
The tester also applied flame to the AMOLED screen of the device after which its pixels closed down and turned white, and surprisingly on the removal of the flame, the pixels turned back on and all was well. The Nexus 6P was put to a similar flame test, but all its pixels were damaged permanently.
Since BlackBerry Priv is a slider, it wasn’t put through the hard bend test, as it is always easier to bend a slider because it has two movable parts. Just two fingers pressure was sufficient to bend the device with QWERTY keyboard pulled out. However, this is not something about which customers should be terribly concerned about as they will have the slider shut most of the time.
Mixed performance from BlackBerry Priv
Anyone planning to buy a BlackBerry Priv, but has not got his hands on one as yet, might be disappointed with the results. However, the results are interesting as they are kind of mixed. The device fared relatively poorly on the scratch and bend tests, while it performed well on other tests.
The plastic device can be easily scratched and can be easily bent as well, which is obviously not ideal. But other areas such as Gorilla Glass 4 display and sliding QWERTY keyboard of the device held up pretty well through the tests.
Although the BlackBerry Priv’s performance was mediocre overall, considering the fact that this sort of torture to a device is not very typical, it would be fair to say that the Priv held up reasonably well.
