What's good
- Premium stainless steel frame
- Excellent physical keyboard
- Good battery life
What's bad
- Grainy photo quality in low light
- Display not ideal for media consumption
- Average processor performance
The BlackBerry Porsche Design P'9983 is the third device to emerge from the collaboration between BlackBerry and Porsche Design. Like the other two iterations, the P'9983 is basically a standard BlackBerry device in a much more stylish (and expensive) shell. Unlike other metal-framed smartphones, the P'9983 goes the extra mile and provides a stainless steel frame instead of aluminum. The back cover, or the back door as Porsche Designs calls it, is removable so users can personalize their phone.
The standout design feature that grabbed reviewers' attention, however, is the keyboard. Modeled after the BlackBerry Q10, Porsche Design employees added a couple bells and whistles to account for the high price markup. Instead of the standard plastic keys, the P'9983 features specially-crafted keys made from composite plastic coupled with 3D effect for the lettering. Despite being a rather narrow phone at 2.6 inches, experts were impressed with the even spacing and overall size of the keys. Engadget adds, "The high-gloss keyboard is tremendously easy to run your fingers across, and there's a surprising amount of travel considering the size…"
Above the keyboard is a 3.1-inch, 720 pixel display. Due to its small size, it provides an excellent pixel density of 328ppi. Although it provides experts with crisp and bright details, they also mention that it isn't the best for consuming media. Around the back of the phone is the 8MP, sapphire crystal-coated lens. Critics note that it isn't the best smartphone camera on the market, but add that it takes decent photos in bright light while low-light images were fairly grainy.
Internal specs are practically identical to the Q10: 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 2GB of RAM. Likewise performance is similar. Experts had no issues doing basic tasks like browsing the web or checking emails. They only experienced real lag when trying to play 3D or other graphics intensive games. Battery-life is somewhat more impressive, lasting critics a full day of heavy usage. Other features include 64GB of internal storage and a microSD slot that accepts 128GB cards.
The BlackBerry Porsche Design P'9983 is targeted to the "Power Professional" instead of the average consumer. Still, most reviewers have a hard time recommending it even to the more affluent crowd. The Next Web states, "…it's perhaps a little too run-of-the-mill…it somehow manages to not feel any more premium than an HTC One (M8)…"
Prices (Where to Buy)
Common Questions
We've got you covered! Download a free PDF copy of the BlackBerry Porsche Design P’9983 user manual here.
BlackBerry backs up the Porsche Design P’9983 with a 1 Year parts & labour warranty.
If your Porsche Design P’9983 has problems and is still within its warranty period, you could contact BlackBerry support or the retailer you purchased the phone from. You'll find BlackBerry's contact information here. If your phone is off warranty and needs repair for a physical problem such as a broken screen or bad battery, you should visit an authorized service centre or a local phone repair shop. You can also connect with others in The Informr Community Forum to find and share answers to questions.
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