In terms of hardware, BlackBerry has focused on business users and enterprises, and has no intention of investing in the sub-Rs 10,000 price range segment. Every phone launched by the company is aimed at a specific customer group. The BlackBerry Passport is for customers who expect top quality and want to stand out from the crowd. The BlackBerry Classic is for QQWERTY keypad lovers, and now the BlackBerry Leap is for touchscreen users who think this device might be better than the existing product. It is clear from the company’s strategy that the BlackBerry Leap is not for the price-conscious customer. Read phone review.
Look and design
BlackBerry Leap is an elegant phone with a sleek black front face. You won’t be able to see anything except the company logo in silver at the bottom of the screen. The sides and back of the phone have a rubber finish which gives it a premium look. You can’t remove the back cover of the phone so you can’t access the battery. The only drawback we saw in the look is the 8 MP auto focus label next to the rear camera which looked very odd. Otherwise, it is a very professional looking device.
The BlackBerry Z3 and Leap models launched last year have many similarities. If you don’t know much about both phones, you won’t be able to differentiate them. The Leap model is a few millimeters wider than the Z3 model and a little heavier too. However, there are some differences between the two phones, such as the power button is on the top. The SIM and microSD card slots are on the left and the volume control buttons are on the right. The 3.5mm audio jack is on the top of the phone and the micro USB port is at the bottom.
The Leap is available in dark grey and white colours. The phone looks solid and reliable. However, it is too big to hold in one hand. It seems that the company has taken the positive feedback on the Z3’s build quality and style in some Asian markets seriously and has reused the same look. Surprisingly, the Leap is not made by Foxconn, the company that made the Z3.
Specifications and software
Since the Z3 was a budget phone, the product lacked some specifications which is not the case with the Leap. The display of the phone has been improved a lot, the 5-inch screen has a resolution of 720×1280. While this isn’t a unique feature, it is much better than the 540×960 resolution screen of the Z3. Text looks crisp, the colours don’t put strain on the eyes and overall the phone is a fun experience. There are some issues with the display under sunlight. Sadly, this is only the amount of improvement that Leap has made from the older model.
It is amazing how far technology has come but BlackBerry is still relying on the dual core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus processor. The company started using the MSM8960 processor two years ago in the Z10 model. If BlackBerry has to compete in terms of performance in this price range then this strategy is wrong.
The rest of the specifications are somewhat modern, but not high-end. The phone has 2GB of RAM. The handset has features like 16GB of internal storage, support for microSD cards up to 128GB, Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0. Sadly, there is no support for LTE in the 2300MHz Indian band. Its battery capacity is 2800mAh. You get a proximity sensor and a basic accelerometer. The features provided by BlackBerry do not impress you.
The company claims that the value of its platform lies in its software and services. After Apple, BlackBerry is the second company to have its own hardware and operating system. The company hopes that people will trust Leap to get their work done. BlackBerry OS 10.3.1 has a lot of nice tricks, you can use most Android apps and there is a central communications hub through which you can easily see messages from many services. However, we are not completely convinced that different gestures are the most natural way to use the OS. On the other hand, the phone’s touch keyboard is the best ever.
In terms of features, not much has changed since the launch of the Z3. However, one difference is that there is now a limit of 8 menu tiles on the first menu page instead of 4 app tiles. This has been made possible by increasing the RAM.
Performance
During our usage for several days, we noticed some issues with the BlackBerry Leap. The phone would sometimes pause for a while while launching or switching apps. Some OS animations were taking too long. However, there was no issue while using the interface, hub and other simple apps.
Android benchmarks are not a complete reflection of the capabilities of this phone. In the cross-platform browser-based SunSpider and Mozilla Kraken tests, the phone scored 1284.8ms and 26889.7ms respectively. Similar numbers are seen in ultra-budget Android phones. In the video loop test, the battery lasted for 7 hours and 19 minutes which is respectable, but not spectacular at all. The battery performance of the phone was good. Call quality was also excellent.
The camera performance is adequate, not great. But it is good enough for casual shots. Textures come out beautifully. There is also less noise and compression in the images. However, frames get blurred while clicking pictures of moving objects. The camera took good photos at night. The camera shoots 720p video by default which is sharp but a bit shaky.
Our verdict
Talking about the price, BlackBerry Leap competes with great Android devices like OnePlus One. At half the price or even less, many Android phones give tough competition in terms of experience. Being committed to the BlackBerry platform can be one reason to buy this phone. The biggest problem for the company is to convince people to use the BlackBerry platform.
The good news for the company is that many people are committed and more are likely to follow in the coming days. The target audience for the phone is young people, or professionals who are willing to spend money on a hardcore business tool but want a smartphone that is great for work. There is also a possibility that many corporations will buy this phone in large quantities for their employees in view of secure communications.
If Leap is considered a secondary phone and is only used in the workplace, then BlackBerry will win. This is enough to sell the company’s products, this way BlackBerry will remain relevant. However, we would like the company to be aggressive and invest in the mainstream pricing segment.