Display and Processor
The BlackBerry Passport is pretty huge with a 4.5 inch IPS LCD square display that has a resolution of 1440 x 1440 pixels that translates to a pixel density of 453 pixels per inch. On the other hand, the Galaxy Note 3 is equipped with a larger 5.7 inch Super AMOLED display that boasts of FHD resolution of 1920×1080 pixels resulting in 386 ppi pixel density. Both the screens are protected with the scratch resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. While the IPS screen on the BlackBerry phone will render great viewing angles and good color reproduction, the Super AMOLED panel on the Samsung phone will consume the battery life effectively. Both phones have unconventional display real estate. The BlackBerry Passport has a wide display which makes viewing contents and web pages much easier and productive, while Note 3 uses a Spen to effectively manage the extra display real estate for efficient note taking and multi tasking. In terms of processing power, the BlackBerry Passport is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor from Qualcomm clocked at 2.5 GHz. This is processor is paired with Adreno 330 graphics unit and 3 GB of RAM. In comparison, Samsung announced the octa-core variant of the Galaxy Note 3 in India and the handset uses an Exynos 5 Octa 5420 SoC onboard that is assisted by Mali-T628 MP6 graphics engine and 3 GB of RAM under its hood. Both the smartphones can render a decent performance with such powerful hardware aspects that they pack.
Camera and Internal Storage
Both the smartphones are more or less similar in terms of photography as they pack in a 13 MP primary camera at their rear with auto focus, LED flash and HDR. The BlackBerry Passport features optical image stabilization as well that makes it relatively better. In terms of front facer, both the smartphones are very similar with a 2 MP front-facing selfie camera for video conferencing. In terms of storage, the BlackBerry Passport packs 32 GB of internal storage space, whereas the Galaxy Note 3 comes with 16 GB of native storage in India. Both the smartphones support expandable storage support up to 64 GB via a micro SD card.
Battery and Features
The Galaxy Note 3 is equipped with a 3,200 mAh battery that is known to provide a decent backup. In comparison, the BlackBerry offering incorporates a juicier 3,450 mAh battery that is rated to provide a much better backup to the device of 30 hours. When it comes to operating system, the BlackBerry smartphone is based on BlackBerry OS 10.3, whereas the Galaxy Note 3 has received the Android 4.4.2 KitKat platform. Furthermore, the Samsung phablet comes with S Pen stylus that allows for the convenient operation of the large screen device.
Key Specs
Conclusion
If your primary requirement is productivity, it would be tough to choose one of from the duo as Blackberry provides a physical QWERTY keyboard, solid battery backup and the BlackBerry 10 OS with enhanced security features. However, the Galaxy Note 3 has an easier access to a plethora of apps as it is an Android smartphone. The S Pen technology renders great productivity features and an intuitive UI. The handset has a good display, octa-core processor and much more. If you are an Android fan, you should prefer the prowess of the S Pen over a physical keyboard. On the other hand, if you cannot do without the physical keyboard, prefer Blackberry Passport.
