For a long time now, BlackBerry’s primary target audience has been business buffs and the company held on to the niche segment for too long. Now, in order to change the beaten path, the company unveiled 'Leap' at the ongoing Mobile World Congress (MWC), which seems like is an attempt by BlackBerry to woo the young professionals. Interestingly, the Leap has been priced at $275 without a contract. Even though the price tag is low, but that does not mean that the company has resorted to using cheaper parts. The Leap seems to feature most of the familiar-sounding parts used in many of the previous BlackBerry devices.
The new offering from BlackBerry seems primed for the young crowd, featuring a finely dimpled back panel, which gives the device a rather trendy outlook. A glossy black strip at the back houses an 8-megapixel rear camera. However, the device does look and definitely feels a lot like the recently launched Classic, especially the weight and density of the phone. The 5-inch IPS LCD screen is capable of generating 720p images and videos, but it lacks the ability for extreme viewing angles, though this is not necessarily a deal breaker for many.
Being consistent with the whole Classic-like experience, the device even features the same dual-core Qualcomm chipset as the Classic and even the age old Z10. Although the UI on the new device appears to be smoother than the clunky response as the Classic, it does appear as if the touch response could use some more work. There is a palpable lag between the touch inputs and the UI response and though the device hasn’t hit the market yet, it is unlikely that there will be any significant software overhauls. Apart from the slow-motion UI, the device mostly seems fairly stable.
Moreover, BlackBerry is not missing out on the keyboard, while launching the Leap, the company displayed an unnamed future BlackBerry device featuring a curved screen and a slider keyboard. The display was for a very short time and by the looks of the mystery phone, we can say that BlackBerry is trying to mix the old with the new. It would be interesting to see if it impresses the users.
