BlackBerry Evolve Android smartphones unveiled

[Newsfeed]

BlackBerry Evolve Android smartphones unveiled

BlackBerry has partnered with its manufacturing partner in India, Optiemus, to produce a new range of “Evolve” phones, The Verge reported.

The range will include two devices: BlackBerry Evolve, and the BlackBerry Evolve X, neither of which will have a physical QWERTY keyboard.

 

[falcon786]

Blackberry should just die already,they missed the boat when they had a chance,now it's too late.

 

[Bryn]

Blackberry should just die already,they missed the boat when they had a chance,now it's too late.

More competition is always better. They could have recovered imo with any of their recent iterations if they just applied some common sense to their design and engineering.

- physical keyboard: super niche
- big bezels: marketing becomes really hard
- rubbish camera: deal breaker for most
- flagship price: seriously, why?
- midrange processor: now you're pulling my leg

Anyone at BB with a modicum of sensibility should have predicted that sales would be very poor. And they'd also see that these new Evolve devices have a problem: the $365 model might do okay but the $510 will get humiliated by the absolutely brilliant and similarly priced (and number one selling premium device in India) OnePlus 6. The Evolve X is rocking a Snapdragon 660 and LCD display, both of which are nonsense is a device costing this much.

I think a large number of people still love the Blackberry brand. If they released a device with the same form factor as the Evolve X, but with a Snapdragon 845, really good camera, AMOLED display and front-facing speakers in those otherwise antiquated front bezels, then they might have had a real winner on their hands at a similar price.

 

[InfidelGastro]

More competition is always better. They could have recovered imo with any of their recent iterations if they just applied some common sense to their design and engineering.

- physical keyboard: super niche
- big bezels: marketing becomes really hard
- rubbish camera: deal breaker for most
- flagship price: seriously, why?
- midrange processor: now you're pulling my leg

Anyone at BB with a modicum of sensibility should have predicted that sales would be very poor. And they'd also see that these new Evolve devices have a problem: the $365 model might do okay but the $510 will get humiliated by the absolutely brilliant and similarly priced (and number one selling premium device in India) OnePlus 6. The Evolve X is rocking a Snapdragon 660 and LCD display, both of which are nonsense is a device costing this much.

I think a large number of people still love the Blackberry brand. If they released a device with the same form factor as the Evolve X, but with a Snapdragon 845, really good camera, AMOLED display and front-facing speakers in those otherwise antiquated front bezels, then they might have had a real winner on their hands at a similar price.

They'll do just fine. How many people actually know or care about specs? To most, it's meaningless. They buy on brand name.

 

[Inzaghi007]

Decent phone but a bit pricey I feel for the evolve x.

 

[Bryn]

They'll do just fine. How many people actually know or care about specs? To most, it's meaningless. They buy on brand name.

BlackBerry sold 850k units throughout the whole of 2017. They are not doing okay, their brand is clearly not strong enough to overcome poor specs and they have no guarantee of success going forward. Especially when they've already tried this form factor with lacklustre hardware and it sold poorly.

 

[InfidelGastro]

BlackBerry sold 850k units throughout the whole of 2017. They are not doing okay, their brand is clearly not strong enough to overcome poor specs and they have no guarantee of success going forward. Especially when they've already tried this form factor with lacklustre hardware and it sold poorly.

OK. So maybe they're not doing too well. Either way I couldn't care any less. It's not as though I'd ever buy their products again.

 

[Bryn]

OK. So maybe they're not doing too well. Either way I couldn't care any less. It's not as though I'd ever buy their products again.

But that's down to the specs. Consider the OnePlus 6, which you presumably would buy if available locally at some general equivalent of its USD price. $579 for a striking Ferrari red paintjob, Snapdragon 845, 8GB memory, 128GB storage, 3300mAh battery, miniscule front bezels, exceptional camera, solid build quality etc. It's actually the software that most OnePlus owners only get to really appreciate after purchasing, so the specs are the primary driver of the sales. A cheaper $529 64GB storage/6GB memory version is also available btw.

If BlackBerry had all the specs I mentioned above, with a vibrant colour switched out for their muted business look of course, then you can be sure sales would be much, much less of an issue for them.

 

[InfidelGastro]

The thing is, that to people like us, we understand and know the spec's, we base our purchasing decisions on specs, but to the vast majority of people, they're meaningless. They buy on price, brand and recommendation. They wouldn't know the difference between a SD845 & SD625 and neither do they care. Yes. For those in the know, the OP6 is a no brainer as opposed to the BB but apart from those who take an interest in tech, the average consumer couldn't care less.

 

[ronz91]

More competition is always better. They could have recovered imo with any of their recent iterations if they just applied some common sense to their design and engineering.

- physical keyboard: super niche
- big bezels: marketing becomes really hard
- rubbish camera: deal breaker for most
- flagship price: seriously, why?
- midrange processor: now you're pulling my leg

Anyone at BB with a modicum of sensibility should have predicted that sales would be very poor. And they'd also see that these new Evolve devices have a problem: the $365 model might do okay but the $510 will get humiliated by the absolutely brilliant and similarly priced (and number one selling premium device in India) OnePlus 6. The Evolve X is rocking a Snapdragon 660 and LCD display, both of which are nonsense is a device costing this much.

I think a large number of people still love the Blackberry brand. If they released a device with the same form factor as the Evolve X, but with a Snapdragon 845, really good camera, AMOLED display and front-facing speakers in those otherwise antiquated front bezels, then they might have had a real winner on their hands at a similar price.

I don’t think they could have recovered to compete with the big players, would just be in that chasing pack at best.

Definitely would have been better in hindsight if they had gone all in on Android rather than trying to compete with BB10.

Now partnering with TCL I think they are happy to serve the niche business men market who love a keyboard for popping out quick emails on the go etc

BB taxes them with a premium price for keeping this form factor alive. And making a great camera is difficult for any manufacturer but especially now considering the size and resources of BB now.

Even if they invested in the R&D and equipment to make the phone you describe, how many are really gonna buy that over an S9 or the plethora of other flagships from the chasing pack.

 

[Bryn]

The thing is, that to people like us, we understand and know the spec's, we base our purchasing decisions on specs, but to the vast majority of people, they're meaningless. They buy on price, brand and recommendation. They wouldn't know the difference between a SD845 & SD625 and neither do they care. Yes. For those in the know, the OP6 is a no brainer as opposed to the BB but apart from those who take an interest in tech, the average consumer couldn't care less.

The average consumer finds out about good products, from reviews, word of mouth, in-store assistants etc. The OnePlus 6 is the number one selling premium phone in India. It's not just tech-savvy people buying it.

Many of the specs carry through to the physical feel of the phone and relate to the few concerns even technophobes have, such as the quality of the camera, the battery life, the all-screen design and what the device feels like in the hand. All those characteristics form part of the phone's specifications.

I don’t think they could have recovered to compete with the big players, would just be in that chasing pack at best.

Definitely would have been better in hindsight if they had gone all in on Android rather than trying to compete with BB10.

Now partnering with TCL I think they are happy to serve the niche business men market who love a keyboard for popping out quick emails on the go etc

BB taxes them with a premium price for keeping this form factor alive. And making a great camera is difficult for any manufacturer but especially now considering the size and resources of BB now.

Even if they invested in the R&D and equipment to make the phone you describe, how many are really gonna buy that over an S9 or the plethora of other flagships from the chasing pack.

Many would have bought it. As I mentioned above, the OnePlus 6 is the best selling premium phone in India, the one country it has truly settled in. If it was available properly in American, UK and other markets (i.e. all major carriers and online stores) then it would almost certainly be doing phenomenally. There isn't a phone on the planet with such amazing value for money. Price is a primary consideration for people buying phones.

If new entrants to the market like Essential, Razer, OnePlus (a few years ago) etc. can organise the latest Snapdragon processors and other premium hardware, there's no way BlackBerry can't too. I don't know what the hell they think the path to success is, but their poor sales suggest that they're misguided. BlackBerry may not currently have the resources for a proper flagship, but they definitely did after selling half the company for a few billion. With a modicum of sense, they could have taken a simple approach of releasing the sort of top-notch phone that would have sold well coming from any brand. Quality BlackBerry-esque firmware, a seriously good digital keyboard and an amazing email app (and perhaps even a cool redesign of BBM) would have been the thing they need to differentiate their devices.

Absolutely no reason they couldn't have competed with anyone out there.

 

[ronz91]

Many would have bought it. As I mentioned above, the OnePlus 6 is the best selling premium phone in India, the one country it has truly settled in. If it was available properly in American, UK and other markets (i.e. all major carriers and online stores) then it would almost certainly be doing phenomenally. There isn't a phone on the planet with such amazing value for money. Price is a primary consideration for people buying phones.

If new entrants to the market like Essential, Razer, OnePlus (a few years ago) etc. can organise the latest Snapdragon processors and other premium hardware, there's no way BlackBerry can't too. I don't know what the hell they think the path to success is, but their poor sales suggest that they're misguided. BlackBerry may not currently have the resources for a proper flagship, but they definitely did after selling half the company for a few billion. With a modicum of sense, they could have taken a simple approach of releasing the sort of top-notch phone that would have sold well coming from any brand. Quality BlackBerry-esque firmware, a seriously good digital keyboard and an amazing email app (and perhaps even a cool redesign of BBM) would have been the thing they need to differentiate their devices.

Absolutely no reason they couldn't have competed with anyone out there.

I think their idea is to make money on the services side.

Yes Oneplus is a success but they are backed by the might of Xiaomi.

Possible for BB to be a success if BB threw all its resources at its peak when Android was surging but no company is gonna wanna throw their own successful proprietary hardware and software aside.

Organizing the latest hardware is not the issue but the work in optimising it is expensive, for eg Essential PH1s poor camera and software bugs.

 

[Bryn]

I think their idea is to make money on the services side.

Yes Oneplus is a success but they are backed by the might of Xiaomi.

Possible for BB to be a success if BB threw all its resources at its peak when Android was surging but no company is gonna wanna throw their own successful proprietary hardware and software aside.

Organizing the latest hardware is not the issue but the work in optimising it is expensive, for eg Essential PH1s poor camera and software bugs.

Xiaomi? OnePlus, Oppo and Vivo are owned by BBK Electronics.

BlackBerry had plenty of resources once upon a time. Their decline is purely their fault, and I don't see a future for them at this stage. They keep hitting the market will seriously lacklustre products. Not even business people give a damn about a business phone with a super email app if the camera is crap.

It goes without saying that it isn't easy to put a fantastic device together, especially at a good price. Else BB probably would have done that. But they need to put their thinking caps on and ensure maximum effort. Otherwise, why waste everyone's time and just close the business, as the prospect of success is zero. The market no longer has time for underspec'd and overpriced phones with poor cameras.

 

[WaxLyrical]

They should do what Nokia did. Entry level budget and call it a Blackberry One/Start. People will flock to get it on nostalgia alone.

Build up the brand from there.