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Blackberry Passport Outright Pricing

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I buy all my devices outright. I try not to fall into the contract trap offered by local telecoms here in Canada. I was actually shocked at BlackBerry Passport outright pricing. In Canada on the ShopBlackberry.com website it was selling for $699. For some strange reason on the U.S. portion of the website it was discounted -$100.00, dropping it down to US$599.00. Still a bit steep.

Of course the US/Canada pricing difference didn’t make sense either, I do realize ShopBlackBerry.com is owned by a third party, although is considered the official store for BlackBerry. Regardless, who in their right mind would pay $699.00 for a device that hasn’t really proven itself? I’m a BlackBerry fan and do want them to succeed, but whoever is pricing their devices is out of their mind and should be fired. Due to the pricing scheme this device will simply fail.

I don’t own any Google devices, but to me Google has the best pricing scheme next to Amazon. For example their Nexus 5 outright price is CA$349.00. That’s competitive, and if I was in a need of a phone, and if my current phone died, I’d more then likely purchase a Nexus 5. Amazon is in the same boat, their tablet pricing is superb.

With more and more people wanting to be “off-contract” with their carriers in Canada, BlackBerry simply missed the boat. I would have been all over this device if it was listed for $399.00 or heck even $499.00. However, anything above $500.00 is just asking for catastrophic fail.

Even if I was insane enough to go on a 2 year contract the asking price was $249.00. You mean, I have to get into a contract and I still end up paying $249.00? I’m better of getting an iPhone 6 on a two year contract and possibly profiting in the end. Very disappointing BlackBerry.

I’ll end up checking BlackBerry Passport when the hype is over and the device ends up in the $300 outright range. Until then…..

UPDATE: BestBuy (U.S.) has already dropped the 2 year contract price to $199. I expect the Passport to be $0 on two year contract by Christmas.

Blackberry Passport

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I haven’t had the opportunity to see Blackberry Passport in person, but according to the specifications, it is absolutely an exciting form factor. The code name for Passport was/is “Windermere” and its supposedly thinner then any current BB10 models (including Q10). The most notable difference is the actual physical keyboard that doubles up as a touchpad.

The touchpad capability is interesting. Predictive text you are actually able to swipe up and select the proper word, just as you would on the current BB10 models via on-screen keyboard. Swiping, gestures and highlighting works the same way.

The form factor actual size has not been confirmed, however some specifications have been confirmed: 1440 x 1440 pixels, 4.5 inches (~453 ppi pixel density) screen, 3GB RAM, and 32GB internal space.

There have been a couple of videos that have surfaced demonstrating Blackberry Passport, however the posters never confirmed much of the information about the actual hardware. Their test run seem to demo the software portion only.

Blackberry assistant surfaced for the first time on the device (can be compared to Siri). I’m unsure if it will be included for those who have a BB10 device or will be exclusive for Passport users and future next generation BB10 devices.

For the first time in a long time I’m actually excited about a BB device.

Release is expected to be in October of 2014.

If you want to be notified for pre-orders in regards to BlackBerry Passport, you can register here.

VIDEO demo of BB Passport