Even if you're not into electronics, you've probably heard the name "Blackberry". This is one of the first smartphone manufacturers, which gained popularity long before the appearance of the first iPhones and Galaxy. And despite the fierce competition in the market, it still has its fans.
More about the brand
"Blackberry" is a blackberry in translation from English. What is this "berry" in the electronics market?
Many people compare the success of Blackberry with the popularity of another "delicious" brand - Apple. Devices from both manufacturers once blew up the market and gained an army of loyal fans who refuse to buy anything else.
The history of the famous Canadian company begins in 1984. Then it was called Research In Motion and changed it to the famous name of its offspring BlackBerry in 2013.
The unusual name of the device is due to the similarity of the small buttons onkeyboard with blackberries.
The first Blackberries were the most common pagers. In 2002, a model with the ability to make calls appeared, but the use of a headset was mandatory, because this phone did not have a microphone and speakers. Also, the key change was the ability to work with e-mail.
Since 2003, the company has been producing models with a color display, a browser and the ability to work with Microsoft Office programs. For a long time, the manufacturer focused on gadgets for businessmen and only in 2006 joined the race for customers who use the phone for personal purposes and for entertainment.
Key features of models
Blackberry is a hybrid of a personal digital assistant and a powerful portable media player. Unlike most other smartphones, the models of this manufacturer do not use someone else's, designed for other devices, but their own operating system.
The main reason why many people use Blackberry is the ability to stay connected almost anywhere and through a variety of communication methods. The device can be used directly as a phone, or to access e-mail, or for instant messaging using BBM's own free service.
Also "Blackberry" is one of the first smartphones that gave users the opportunity to use the mobile Internet and do it with convenience and ease. It won the hearts of many buyers and brought famemanufacturer.
A distinctive feature of the phones is the presence of a physical QWERTY keyboard. Complete with a large screen, it provides a comfortable use of the phone for any purpose.
Blackberry offers a lot of other features that make it very useful. There are maps and GPS navigation to ensure you don't get lost. Of course, there is a camera and a multimedia player, and other attributes necessary for a modern smartphone.
Issue price and localization
To keep up with the fierce competition from other electronics giants on the market, new modern Blackberry models are constantly being introduced. The price of the device can be both quite modest and quite impressive - from about 9 thousand rubles for the 9220 Curve White phone to 90 thousand for the powerful P'9981 Porsche Design with a stainless steel case and genuine leather elements. Brand phones can be both succinctly simple and show the status of the owner. Therefore, it can be argued that from a teenager to a businessman, everyone will find a suitable Blackberry for themselves.
Russia is a large market, therefore, for the convenience of domestic users, it is possible to apply Russian characters to the phone keyboard using laser engraving. Of course, the automatic transliteration function has recently become available, but it is only suitable for those who already know the location of the letters perfectly.
Popular models
Let's start with BlackBerry Classic. Against the backdrop of fragile modernsmartphones, the gadget gives the impression of hardness and reliability, which is facilitated by a stainless steel side frame. What does this Blackberry phone look like? The photo below shows it from all angles.
As the name of the smartphone says, it follows the best traditions of the brand. Namely, it boasts a comfortable and fairly large four-row keyboard. The buttons are separated from each other and make a clear sound when pressed, so you can type even touch and comfortably. However, this implies the main drawback of the model - a small screen with a diagonal of 3.5 inches.
The price for this Blackberry phone ranges from 25 to 26 thousand rubles, depending on the color (white is more expensive than its classic black counterpart).
Also, the model boasts a powerful processor and support for Android applications. Camera - 8 megapixels, front - 2.
The Passport smartphone is also one of the latest and very popular brainchild of Blackberry. Let's start the review by explaining the interesting name of the gadget - in shape and size it exactly corresponds to the passport of a US citizen.
This model has an unusual shape that allows you to fit a full keyboard (this time it is located on three, not four lines) and a large screen with a diagonal of 4.5 inches. But a device of this size and shape is not always convenient to hold with one hand, even for a man. This is perhaps the largest Blackberry phone. The photo below shows how it lies in the hand.
But still the screen ismodel pride. It is bright with excellent color reproduction. The text is clear, making it a pleasure to read books on it.
Not to mention a powerful quad-core processor with a frequency of 2.2 GHz and 3 GB of RAM. Definitely - this phone is designed for productivity and embodies the professional and business philosophy of the brand.
This "Blackberry" price is almost 10 thousand more than the Classic series smartphones. It starts from 33 thousand rubles for a black model and reaches 39 thousand for a phone in red. Well, the white case will cost 35 thousand rubles.
Customer feedback
Thousands of users around the world enjoy using their "Blackberry" (telephone). Feedback from fans of the brand is mostly positive. Most often, the main advantage is the physical keyboard, which is not often seen on a smartphone. Individualists are also flattered by the fact that they have a fairly rare phone. Also among the pluses are called good batteries and long battery life on a single charge, good sound, an intuitive operating system that rarely freezes, convenient work with gestures. The main disadvantage is the work with applications. This is a significant disadvantage of its operating system. Users who switched from other smartphones to Blackberry do not find their favorite applications, there is no Google Play support, and Android applications do not always work correctly.
Expert Opinion
Even the most avid fans of the brand can't help but notice that their pet is having a hard time. Apple,Samsung, LG and other new smartphone makers have de alt a heavy blow to Blackberry's popularity. Well-known authors and editors of electronics magazines and websites, as well as business experts, often say that the company's time is numbered. Already, its turnover depends largely on repeat sales to fans of the brand, while new customers prefer other manufacturers.
Of course, with so many existing owners, Blackberry will not disappear overnight. But if you are just planning to join this brand, you should weigh the pros and cons.
The future of the company
But not everyone is so pessimistic. Even the President of the United States uses a Blackberry and not an iPhone, because the security service won't let him. After all, the "blackberry" has a very powerful system of protection against hacking.
Therefore, the companies predict the future as a manufacturer of expensive smartphones for politicians and businessmen, for whom the safety of confidential information is important.
Other electronics
In addition to the mainstream - smartphones, you will also find a Blackberry tablet in the brand's product line. The first models came out almost simultaneously with the iPad 2 and were very popular for a while.
They are called BlackBerry PlayBook and boast a bright and clear seven-inch screen, loud speakers and a powerful dual-core processor. However, the interface, the appearance of the tablet, as well as a weak battery, which is quitetakes a long time to charge, cause complaints from many users. The small number of applications from the manufacturer is inconvenient. Therefore, PlayBook tablets are not popular at the moment.
