When you read phone reviews, you don't typically see Fun as a category upon which different devices are rated and compared - it's things like Performance, Design and Battery Life that are the norm. It's too bad really that the fun factor isn't given much consideration. As much as tech products are there to add utility to our everyday lives, given how much we use and rely on tech these days it's a nice bonus if the ownership experience can bring us a little extra joy, too. Enter the BlackBerry Passport. I have been having an absolute BLAST as a BlackBerry Passport owner these past few weeks. I haven't enjoyed owning a new phone this much since 2005, which is when I got my first BlackBerry (which by the way I felt was BIG and UGLY when I first put my hands on it). And while the Passport is proving to be a solid performing phone once you work through the initial adjustment phase (it takes a few days to get used to the wide body design and three row keyboard), it truly is the fun factor of being a Passport owner that I'm loving the most. Which is kind of ironic really, considering BlackBerry set out to make the Passport the ultimate tool for productivity (and yes, it excels at that too... Instant Actions in the Hub FTW!).

The Good 'Ol Days of BlackBerry All Over Again

Part of the fun and excitement of being an early adopter of tech is the exclusivity of it. For the better part of a decade, the world has become phone-obsessed. When you're the first to buy a phone that has not yet widely been seen or held by the masses, it gets a lot of attention wherever you go. I've been fortunate over the years to enjoy this experience on many occasions, often by being the first to have new BlackBerry Smartphones that are not even available yet, or exclusive phones like the Porsche Design devices that you'll rarely see in public. And much to the chagrin of CrackBerry Nation, beyond BlackBerry I have often been a first-day purchaser of new smartphones and gadgets from other platforms as well - having the newest iPhone as soon as it comes out is always an attention getter (and a good way for me to get into the newspapers with the aim of helping promote our sister site, iMore). The Passport just looks so different to everything else on the market right now that it commands attention No phone I have ever owned has received as much attention and reactions from people I encounter though as the newly-announced BlackBerry Passport. Talk about a conversation starter! I've been leaving the house the past week with the Passport in one pocket and the iPhone 6 Plus in the other. The iPhone 6 Plus gets some attention - people want to hold it and see how it feels. Then they say It's a bigger iPhone and they're over it. The same person looks at the Passport, and WOW. The reactions range from WTF is that?! to That's Awesome, I want one to That's Ridiculous and pretty much everything in-between. The Passport just looks so different to everything else on the market right now, even other keyboard BlackBerry phones, that it commands attention. And while the design of the device is polarizing — people straight up either love it or hate it — everybody seems to be in agreement that the capacitive keyboard is totally cool. Personally, I'm still in awe of the trackpad-like abilities of the Passport's keyboard. Being able to swipe to the left on a physical keyboard to delete words is basically magic. :)