BlackBerry Motion Review: Similar To KeyOne But Still Radically Different

Blackberry Motion has been unveiled by China’s TCL communications and if by Blackberry all you can think of is a QWERTY keypad then you might not like what Blackberry Motion has to offer. On the other hand, if an Android-powered, full-screen smartphone from the former member of the major league is what you have dreamt of, then this might be a dream come true for you.

As we told our readers earlier, Blackberry Motion is a KeyOne but with a full HD display and will come with better features than its physical-keypad flaunting cousin like a bigger battery, IP37 rating and even a more economical price tag, all of the previous leaks seems to have come true with the launch.

However, priced at $460 (Rs 30,041 roughly), Blackberry Motion has a lot of ground to cover, as this time, there will be no nostalgic advantage over the competition because the likes of OnePlus 5, Honor 8 Pro and LG G6 have been ruling the segment with class-leading features including, dual-camera setup and a flagship powerhouses under the hood.

That said, TCL communications definitely deserve a round of applause as they have priced Blackberry Motion very competitively and to justify the asking price, they also have the loyal Blackberry fan base as well as the interest of the business class, who would prefer a Blackberry Motion over any other full-screen Android smartphone, anytime.

But still, the martlet has changed drastically over the course of time and restructuring the Blackberry brand will not be an easy task for TCL. So, without further adieu, let’s see how well Blackberry Motion manages to stand apart from its competition?

Blackberry Motion Specifications

• 5.5-inch (1920 x 1080) IPS display with scratch-resistant DragonTrail Glass protection, offering 403 PPI

• 2GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 625 SoC coupled with Adreno 506 GPU

• 4GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage, expandable up to 2TB via microSD

• Android 7.1.1 (Nougat) out of the box, upgradable to Android Oreo

• Dual SIM support and Fingerprint sensor embedded in the home button

• 12MP rear camera with PDAF, Sony IMX378 sensor, 1.55μm pixel size, dual-tone LED Flash, f/2.0 aperture and 4K video recording

• 8MP front-facing fixed-focus camera with 1.12µm pixel size and f/2.2 aperture
• Water resistant (IP67)

• 4000mAh battery with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 support

• Blackberry Motion measures 155.7 x 75.4 x 8.13 mm

• 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4 & 5 GHz), GPS / GLONASS, NFC, 3.5 mm audio jack and USB Type-C support.

Blackberry Motion Review

What we like about Blackberry Motion

• The built quality seems dependable and in the modern days of metal smartphones, the back panel of Blackberry Motion feels quite unique with a rubberish feel to it.

• Convenience Key is one of the most lovely features that TCL has thought of as it basically acts like a shortcut access key to four options- Home, Car, Office and User.

• IP67 rating is a welcomes feature at this price point and this means that Blackberry Motion can survive 30 minutes underwater for up to 3.3 meters.

• The performance package is similar to that of the KeyOne and it is capable of running heavy duty games as well as has the ability to multitask with heavy applications. For details (Read Our Blackberry KeyOne Review).

• The device has a massive 4,000mAh battery which can power the phone for nearly 26 hours under mixed usage and this one of Blackberry Motion’s strong points.

• Near stock Android experience with BlackBerry’s usual set of security as well as highly productive applications.

• The 5.5-inch, though not one of the most vibrant ones, is sharp and crisp. It offers great viewing angles and brightness levels are good enough for easy outdoor usage.

• The 12 MP rear sensor is the same one that is housed inside Google Pixel as well as the KeyOne and it does justice to its new body, as well. Autofocus works quickly, there are a nice depth of field effects in close-up pictures and detailing is quite good.

• The front camera, if used with steady hands, offers great details and almost unnoticeable grains.

What we didn’t like about Blackberry Motion

• Color production could have been better in the display.

• The heavy bezels at the top and bottom of the front profile makes the device feel like from the stone age.

• A high-end processor would have made this one of the best performance oriented devices we have ever seen.

• A separate microSD card slot could have been a stand-alone feature in this segment.

• Though it is upgradable to Android Oreo, we wonder the appeal if Blackberry Motion would have come with the OS out of the box.

• The front camera struggles a bit to capture the true ambiance under heavy exposure to natural lighting.

Verdict

Blackberry Motion is a no-nonsense work oriented smartphone and we won’t be shocked if ends up being the secondary work-only device for Blackberry fans. Moreover, while the specs-sheets seems a bit outdated, Blackberry Motion is all about practicality and this is something it really excels in.

As for VFM (value for money), this has never been Blackberry’s forte and TCL communication has tried it really hard to price it competitively.

Yes, there are better devices than the Blackberry Motion but for what it is worth, this is THE best full-screen smartphone from Blackberry’s stable and while we don’t expect it to sell like hot cakes, Blackberry Motion has definitely hit the right chord for its future with TCL.