BlackBerry the launched of two 'made in India' phones – the BlackBerry Evolve and the EvolveX. The smartphones are priced at Rs 24,990 and Rs 34,990 respectively. The Evolve will be available on Amazon from the end of August, while the EvolveX will be available from mid-September. At the launch event we did get to spend a precious few moments with both the smartphones and here’s our initial impressions. A thing to keep in mind is that the BlackBerry EvolveX that was on display at the event was a prototype.
Kicking things off with the design, both the smartphones look similar when you look at them for the first time. They both sport 5.99-inch Full HD+ displays and have a textured back, which adds grip to the smartphones. Blackberry says that the textured back will eliminate the need for a case when you use the smartphones and after holding the phones in my hand, I can agree with this. The phones don’t feel fragile and whether they can withstand a few drops is something only time will tell. Both the phones bring with them Gorilla Glass 5 protection which is nice. They also support wireless charging along with Qualcomm’s Quick charge 3.0. In terms of design there is a slight difference between the 2 smartphones. The EvolveX has more angular edges surrounding it and the Evolve has rounded edges.
In terms of specs, the EvolveX is powered by the Snapdragon 660 along with 6GB RAM and the Evolve is powered by the Snapdragon 450 with 4GB RAM. The rest of the specs including the camera, storage and battery is the same. You can check out the specs in detail here.
Even though both the phones run on nearly stock Android, BlackBerry has added a slew of features to distinguish its devices from the crowd. To begin with, the smartphone will receive monthly security patches, a hallmark of Android-powered BlackBerry devices. The smartphone will also come with DTEK security, which essentially shows you what permissions an app is using. For example, if the torch app is accessing your contacts, you will see it here. We have seen the DTEK app in action on BlackBerry smartphones before.
The keyboard will feel familiar to those that have used an Android-powered BlackBerry in the past. It has prompts, which will help you type with ease along with giving suggestions.
If you are one that forgets your passwords or has a bad habit of setting easy passwords, then BlackBerry has an interesting preinstalled app for you. Called the BlackBerry Password Keeper, this works a lot like the 1 Password app. Not only will the BlackBerry Password Keeper store all your passwords for you but it will also suggest strong passwords for your various accounts.
Since we got to spend a little time with the device we can’t comment on things like performance, camera and battery life. The smartphone may not have state-of-the-art specs on paper, but then again, that isn’t the target audience for the smartphones. The ones that will pick up this device are the ones looking for a well-built phone with convenient security features and functional performance. Whether it succeeds in its venture is something we will tell you when we get the smartphones in for review.