BlackBerry Ltd. is not out of the mobile race. In an effort to prove its relevance, the Canadian company has unveiled the BlackBerry Passport, its latest smartphone. BlackBerry will be hosting a series launch events today in London, Dubai and Toronto. The device is set to be available immediately, within one or two weeks after the launch in some areas, and will cost $599 in the U.S. without a contract, making it slightly cheaper than most smartphones under a two-year carrier contract.

The Passport features a 4.5” display, a physical keyboard, and is directed at the enterprise, an area of expertise for BlackBerry.

“The reason why our focus is so enterprise is because what we know how to do is security and productivity” BlackBerry CEO John Chen stated. “Security, cybersecurity, personal identity protection. This is going to be a big deal.”

The question now is, can the Passport compete with other recently launched smartphones?

BlackBerry Passport vs. other smartphones

Design and dimension

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BlackBerry Passport: Comes in a unique square-ish design with sharp corners compared to other smartphones with rounded edges. Color options include black and white, and the device measures 128mm in height, 90.3mm wide, 6.9mm thick, and weighs 129g. It comes with BlackBerry’s signature keyboard, redesigned to feature three layers of keys that also doubles as a touch-enabled trackpad, and a fourth layer of virtual adaptive keys.

Apple iPhone 6: Features an ion-strengthened cover glass that is rounded on the edges and curves to seamlessly connect with the anodized aluminum enclosure at the back. Available in gold, silver and space gray, measuring 138.1mm x 67mm x 6.9mm and weighing 129g.

Samsung Galaxy S5: Has a more rectangular shape than its predecessors. The back panel features a more grippable, dimpled design with a matte finish, and is available in Electric Blue, Charcoal Black and Copper Gold. It measures 142mm in height, a width of 72.5mm, 8.1mm thick,  and weighs 145g.

HTC One M8: Brushed metal unibody frame, Corning Gorilla Glass 3, measures 146.36 x 70.6 x 9.35 mm and weighs 160 g.

Motorola Moto X: It features a curved metal body that can be customized to your liking with 25 back finishes to choose from. Measures 140.8mm x 72.4mm, curve is at 3.8mm- 9.9mm and weighs 144g.

Amazon Fire Phone:  The device measures 139.2mm x 66.5mm x 8.9mm, and weighs 160g.

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Display

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BlackBerry Passport: 4.5-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1,440 x 1,440 pixels and 453 ppi, uses Corning Gorilla Glass 3.

Apple iPhone 6: 4.7-inch LED-backlit widescreen Multi‑Touch display with IPS technology, 1334-by-750-pixel resolution at 326 ppi or Retina HD display, with a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating on the screen.

Samsung Galaxy S5: 5.1” 1920 x 1080 full HD Super AMOLED touchscreen.

HTC One M8: 5” Super LCD3, 1080 x 1920 pixels, capacitive touchscreen display.

Motorola Moto X: 5.2” (423 ppi) 1080p OLED display, Corning Gorilla Glass 3.

Amazon Fire Phone: 4.7″ HD LCD display, with 1280 x 720 resolution at 315 ppi, 590 cd/m2 brightness (typical), 1000:1 contrast ratio (typical) features dynamic image contrast, a wide viewing angle, circular polarizer, and an industry-leading ultra-bright display at 590 nits.

Internal components

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BlackBerry Passport: 2.26GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 32GB storage which is upgradable to up to 64GB via microSD, 3GB RAM, runs on BlackBerry 10.3, non-removable Li-ion 3450 mAh battery, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, WiFi hotspot.

Apple iPhone 6: A8 chip with 64-bit architecture, M8 motion coprocessor, runs iOS 8, built-in rechargeable Li-Po 1810 mAh battery with a standby time of 250 hours, available in 16/32/128GB with no microSD slot, NFC chip, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi hotspot.

Samsung Galaxy S5: 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Krait,  16/32GB, with a microSD slot up to 128GB, 2GB RAM, 2800mAh battery with a standby time of up to 390 hours and talk time of up to 21 hours with Ultra Power Saving Mode, runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat, WiFi: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac HT80, MIMO(2×2), Bluetooth 4.0 BLE / ANT+, USB 3.0, NFC, IR Remote, LTE Cat.4 (150/50Mbps).

HTC One M8: Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 2.3GHz quad-core processor, 16GB or 32GB storage options, microSDXC support for up to an additional 128GB of storage, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 with aptX, and runs Android 4.4 KitKat with Sense 6 – HTC’s redesigned user interface, 2600 mAh rechargeable Li-polymer battery with a standby time of 496 hours on 3G.

Motorola Moto X: MSM8974-AC 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 with quad-core CPU, 2GB RAM, runs Android 4.4.4 KitKat,  available in 16GB and 32GB versions, WiFi 802.11a/g/b/n/ac (dual band capable), mobile hotspot support, BT 4.0LE, 2300 mAh battery that lasts up to 24 hours with mixed usage.

Amazon Fire Phone: 2.2GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU, with Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM, runs Fire OS 3.5, available in 32GB or 64GB with free cloud storage for all Amazon content and photos taken with Fire phone, 2400mAh battery that lasts up to 285 hours on standby.

Camera

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BlackBerry Passport: 13 MP rear-facing camera unit with LED flash with a 2MP front-facing camera, optical image stabilization, Geo-tagging, face detection, HDR.

Apple iPhone 6: New 8-megapixel iSight camera with 1.5µ pixels, Autofocus with Focus Pixels, True Tone flash,Five-element lens, Sapphire crystal lens cover, Auto image stabilization, burst mode, Slo-mo video; 1.2MP FaceTime camera, Burst Selfie, HDR, geo-tagging, face detection.

Samsung Galaxy S5: 2MP front camera, 16MP rear camera that can focus in as fast as 0.3 second and capable of 4K video recording.  The rear camera features HDR (Rich tone), Selective Focus, Virtual Tour Shot, geo-tagging, face detection.

HTC One M8: 5MP front facing camera with a 4MP Duo Camera at the back.  The M8 has two cameras at the back, with the topmost camera recording depth information while the main camera takes the photos.  The addition of the second lens allows for the creation of more interesting photos, such as those with 3D effects.  New camera effects and features were also introduced that greatly utilize the depth-sensing camera, such as UFocus, Foregrounder, Seasons, Dimensions Plus, stickers, and copy & paste.

Motorola Moto X: 13MP rear camera with Quick Capture , LED flash, 4K UHD video capture,  4X digital zoom, Slow motion video, Burst mode, Auto HDR, Panorama, 2MP front camera.

Amazon Fire Phone: 13 MP rear-facing camera, multi-frame HDR, auto focus, optical image stabilization, f/2.0 5-element wide aperture lens, LED flash, 2.1 MP front-facing camera.

Sensors

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BlackBerry Passport: Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, ambient light sensor.

Apple iPhone 6: Barometer, three-axis gyro, accelerometer, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor.

Samsung Galaxy S5: Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, Hall, RGB ambient light, Gesture(IR), Finger Scanner, Heart rate sensor.

HTC One M8: Accelerometer, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor, Gyro sensor, Barometer sensor.

Motorola Moto X: Proximity sensor, accelerometer, ambient light sensor, gyroscope, barometer, temperature sensor.

Amazon Fire Phone: Dynamic Perspective sensor system with invisible infrared illumination, gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer, barometer, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor.

The Verdict

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The square-ish design of the BlackBerry Passport may be too much for most consumers, but keep in mind that it is catered for the enterprise full of employees doing serious work with documents and spreadsheets.

What makes the BlackBerry Passport unique is the physical QWERTY keyboard, and though it’s not the same keyboard that BlackBerry fans have come to know and love, having a full keyboard may still be an attractive feature for some business users. Also, BlackBerry prides itself with its security and top-grade enterprise offerings, so even if consumers in general won’t give it another look, the enterprise may be the phone maker’s saving grace.

Another feature of the BlackBerry Passport that may have business users considering it for their next smartphone purchase is its 3450 mAh Li-ion battery. That long battery life makes it worth considering for business travelers.