BlackBerry Leap Review: A Small Step for BlackBerry, a Huge Leap for Productivity

BlackBerry is all about productivity and enterprise, there's no doubt about that. You'll never see a BlackBerry fan playing Temple Run or Candy Crush Saga on his or her phone, unless they're utterly bored and have nothing better to do.

But in 99.99 percent of the cases, BlackBerry buyers buy a phone manufactured by the Canadian company because it's the best tool for productivity, for enterprise tasks, or simply because they're very loyal to the brand (we already know that BlackBerry has extremely loyal customers, so once you go BlackBerry, it's really hard to try something else).

So in April 2015 when the company announced the affordable BlackBerry Leap, everyone went crazy. An affordable BlackBerry is a combination of words that sounds extremely intriguing, but which also suggests that the Canadian manufacturer is no longer playing the “we're okay with the 1 percent market share” card.

BlackBerry wants more from the device business and affordable devices are the ones that could help gain market share, so the Leap was thrown in the battle with this goal in mind.

Basically, the Leap was supposed to be an affordable way to step into the BlackBerry world. And while the Leap was indeed affordable, it wasn't cheap. It went on sale for $275, which, let's be honest, isn't quite what cheap means. A cheap Windows Phone device, for instance, costs below $100, so the Leap is nearly three times more expensive.

And yet, it was still a way to get a taste of BlackBerry's magic without running out of cash. Because everything sounds to good to be true, we wanted to find out on our own how good the Leap actually is, so we used the device for several weeks as our primary phone.

Read on to discover our findings.

Play Video

Design - It just feels good in your hand

If you've ever tried the BlackBerry Passport, you probably know that the Canadian manufacturer doesn't always build phones that are easy to carry around. With the Passport, it takes more than a couple of weeks to get used to its unusual dimensions, but in Leap's case, a few minutes is all you need.

The Leap has a more natural design, one you would expect from a 5-inch all-touch phone that's supposed to fit in your pocket much more easily than the Passport.

The phone doesn't come with a fancy design that helps it stand out of the crowd, but it's more like the approach that simply does its job. It has a design that works for a five incher, and even though some expected BlackBerry to create something more unique, there's no need for that. The purpose of the phone is to unleash the power of BlackBerry without trying too hard.

The square edges are something that you instantly get used to, while the plastic textured back is there to make sure that the phone doesn't become slippery. It does become so at random times, especially in a sweaty hand, but the dotted texture is most of the time quite effective.

All in all, the design of the Leap reminds of the BlackBerry Z3 and there's no doubt that Microsoft used this model as inspiration for its new affordable phone. But it still has that little something that makes it a head-turner among BlackBerry fans, so while it might not impress many, it surely makes some fall in love with it.

The Leap can easily become a “love it or hate it” device in terms of looks, even though it doesn't stand out of the crowd, but for the BlackBerry fans, it might be the all-touch smartphone that we've all been expecting.

BlackBerry Leap and Z30

Power and performance - It does its job

The Leap is the first all-touch BlackBerry model in a couple of years, after the Canadian manufacturer went back to its roots and launched the Passport and the Classic, both with QWERTY keyboards.

So comparing the Leap with the Z3, Z10, and Z30 is a thing that pretty much everyone does, especially because it's the latest all-touch device launched by BlackBerry.

The Leap looks a lot like the Z3, but it shares its underpinnings with several other BlackBerry models, so read the comparisons below to find out how similar it is to its predecessors.

Versus Z3

BlackBerry Leap was announced approximately one year after the Z3, which was only available in limited markets, so it's natural to expect the first to come with some important feature improvements.

The Leap has LTE, the Z3 doesn't, Leap comes with a higher screen resolution (720x1280 pixels versus 540x960 pixels), 16 GB of built-in storage instead of just 8 GB, 2 GB of RAM versus 1.5 GB, and an 8-megapixel camera instead of a 5-megapixel one.

Obviously, BlackBerry also used different processors, so while the Leap has a Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon S4 Plus running at 1.5 GHz, the Z3 is powered by a MSM8230 Snapdragon 400 at 1.2 GHz.

The two devices are clearly similar in terms of design and the dimensions pretty much speak for themselves: 144x72.8x9.5 mm (5.67x2.87x0.37 in) for the Leap and 140x72.8x9.3 mm (5.51x2.87x0.37 in) for the Z3.

But in terms of power and performance, the Leap is clearly the better choice and that's not surprising: it came out 1 year after the Z3.

	BlackBerry Leap	BlackBerry Z3
Release date	April 2015	May 2014
Display	5 inches, 720x1280px	5 inches, 540x960px
CPU	Dual-core 1.5 GHz Krait	Dual-core 1.2 GHz Krait 200
RAM	2GB	1.5GB
GPU	Adreno 225	Adreno 305
Storage	16GB	8GB
Camera	8 MP, 3264x2448px	5 MP, 2592х1944px
Battery	Non-removable Li-Ion 2800 mAh	Non-removable Li-Ion 2500 mAh

Versus Z10

When comparing it to the Z10, it must be mentioned that the Leap got to see daylight nearly two years later, but again, the differences in terms of power and performance are not that big.

The Z10 has the exact same processor as the Leap - Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon S4 Plus, the same GPU - Adreno 225, the same amount of storage and RAM memory - 16 GB and 2 GB, respectively, and the same back and front cameras.

Obviously, the Leap has a bigger display - 5-inch vs. 4.2-inch, and a bigger battery - 2800 mAh vs. 1800 mAh, but in its case, this battery cannot be removed.

The two devices are clearly very similar, so the Leap is mostly an overhauled version of the Z10 with a bigger screen and battery life, which makes it very intriguing given the fact that the Z10 sold amazingly well.

What's more, thanks to the hardware and software optimizations that BlackBerry made on the Leap, the device seems to run OS 10.3.1 faster than the Z10 and obviously benefit from better battery life (read more about this in the battery section below).

	BlackBerry Leap	BlackBerry Z10
Release date	April 2015	May 2014
Display	5 inches, 720x1280px	4.2 inches, 768x1280px
CPU	Dual-core 1.5 GHz Krait	Dual-core 1.5 GHz Krait
RAM	2GB	2GB
GPU	Adreno 225	Adreno 225
Storage	16GB	16GB
Camera	8 MP, 3264x2448px	8 MP, 3264x2448px
Battery	Non-removable Li-Ion 2800 mAh	Removable Li-Ion 1800 mAh

Versus Z30

If you ask a long-time BlackBerry fan, the Z30 was one of the most awesome all-touch devices released by the company in all its history, mostly thanks to its amazing Super AMOLED screen which easily helps it stand out from the crowd.

And yes, when put against the Leap, the Z30 is slightly better, but let's not forget that it was released in October 2013, whereas the Leap only came out this year.

Both come with the same screen size and resolution - 5 inches and 720x1280 pixels, but they're using different displays - standard IPS capacitive touchscreen for the Leap and super AMOLED for the Z30.

In terms of processor and GPU, the Z30 is slightly faster - it packs a Qualcomm MSM8960T Snapdragon S4 Pro (versus Plus on the Leap) running at 1.7 GHz instead of 1.5 GHz on the Leap, while the GPU chip is an Adreno 320.

Both come with the same amount of storage, memory, and cameras, and similar batteries - 2800 mAh for the Leap and 2880 mAh for the Z30. But in Leap's case, the display clearly makes the difference and provides better autonomy. If you like a shiny display more than battery life, then the Z30 is the better choice.

	BlackBerry Leap	BlackBerry Z30
Release date	April 2015	October 2013
Display	5 inches, 720x1280px	5-inch super AMOLED, 720x1280px
CPU	Dual-core 1.5 GHz Krait	Dual-core 1.7 GHz Krait
RAM	2GB	2GB
GPU	Adreno 225	Adreno 320
Storage	16GB	16GB
Camera	8 MP, 3264x2448px	8 MP, 3264x2448px
Battery	Non-removable Li-Ion 2800 mAh	Removable Li-Ion 2880 mAh

Camera - Decent, but not enough

As mentioned, the Leap comes with the exact same camera as the Z10 and the Z30, so if you've tried any of those, you probably know what to expect.

BlackBerry indeed introduced some software optimizations, and while the camera does its job decently, it's still not enough for the current mobile environment. Manufacturers improve their phone cameras continuously, so the Leap has a hard time keeping up with competition, especially since we're talking about a camera that was used on another model launched nearly 1 and a half year ago.

The Leap has a 8-megapixel unit shooting at 3264x2448 pixels, with autofocus and a LED flash, as well as face detection, HDR, touch focus, panorama support, and geo-tagging. It can record 1080p videos at 30fps, while the 2-megapixel front unit for selfies and video calls is capable of 720p at 30fps.

On paper, the 8-megapixel camera should do well, but we've seen 8MP units shooting really stunning photos (look at the iPhone 6, for instance), so sensor and software optimizations are clearly a must-have.

But this doesn't mean that Leap's camera is terrible. You can't compare it with the 13-megapixel camera on the Passport, which can take some brilliant photos, but it performs decently in optimal light conditions. In low-light, it struggles most of the time, but again, it does its job.

Below is a photo comparison between cameras on the Leap and the Z30. A video sample with the Leap is also embedded after these photos.

BlackBerry Z30 camera sample

BlackBerry Leap camera sample

Battery life - Every heavy user's dream

As we told you earlier, the BlackBerry Leap is very similar in terms of technical specifications to the Z10 and Z30, but there's one thing that helps it stand out: battery life.

The Leap packs a 2800 mAh battery which, according to BlackBerry, can provide you up to 25 hours of talk time.

After our tests, we found that the Leap can actually last for two full days of heavy use, including messaging, browsing, camera shooting, and various apps running in the background. This is clearly better than the Z30, which can give you one day of use, and than the Z10, which, as we told you, has a hard time coping with OS 10.3.1.

This is actually Leap's ace up the sleeve, as it provides excellent battery life in any condition. If you're the kind that recharges the phone every night, then you're safe 365 days a year. You will never run out of battery with a Leap, no matter how much you use it.

Operating system - It's BlackBerry OS

Once you go Black, you never go back. BlackBerry has one of the most feature-complete, stable, reliable, and productivity-oriented mobile operating systems out there and despite its small market share right now, it's still the best choice for enterprise.

We won't go into full detail on the operating system because on the Leap, it's practically the same software as on the Passport, the Z10, the Z30 and all the other models released by BlackBerry in the last couple of years, but it's worth mentioning that the affordable BlackBerry runs 10.3.1 pretty smoothly.

There's something that you need to keep in mind, though. When you first open the Leap, the device could feel slow and you might see some lagging even when swiping left or right on the home screen, but that's perfectly normal.

At the first run, the device indexes all OS files and optimizes the install, so just give it a few hours until it completes the process and then everything should work smoothly. In most of the cases, the Leap should be in tip-top shape after 24 hours, but it can very well happen faster or slower. So don't rush to criticize it for being slow, give it some time and you won't be disappointed.

As far as the OS is concerned, you have everything you need, including a browser, BlackBerryM (which is now cross-platform and also available on Windows Phone, Android, and iOS), a very intuitive settings screen for setting up the device, third-party apps such as Twitter and Facebook, calendar, notes, reminders, and all the usual stuff you find on a BlackBerry.

Plus the Hub. The Hub is undoubtedly the most awesome feature of a BlackBerry and no other OS has such a thing. You can easily manage all your email, IM, and communication accounts from just one place, putting you in full control of everything that's important for your business.

BlackBerry OS 10.3.1 home screen, battery info, and settings