Openly carrying a BlackBerry in 2015 is an invitation to be interrupted. You’re bound to be asked by some well-meaning friend or nosey stranger, “is that a BlackBerry? Do people still use those?” And while the answer to both questions is an unqualified yes, the more interesting question (to me) is “what’s that like?” Thanks to the fine folks at GSM Nation and US Mobile, I had the opportunity to spend a couple weeks finding out. The result is the BlackBerry Classic review video below.

During my time with the BlackBerry Classic, I took pages and pages of notes over several days at one of the world’s biggest technology shows. I juggled traffic from two email accounts as well as Facebook and Twitter, and used BlackBerry Messenger to keep in touch with my iPhone- Android- and Windows Phone-toting teammates. I kept my calendar in sync, took the occasional phone call, kept an eye on the weather, watched the odd video, streamed a podcast or two, and read most of a novel using Amazon Kindle. In short, I used the BlackBerry Classic for work about 80% of the time, and that’s when it was at its best.

The rest of the time was another story.

See what it’s like to carry a full-QWERTY “Crackberry” in our BlackBerry Classic review video below. And keep in mind that this review was made possible by the folks at GSM Nation, offering unlocked smartphones and top-tier customer service at GSMNation.com, and by US Mobile, providing simple, fully-customizable wireless service at goUSMobile.com. If you want a BlackBerry Classic of your own, pay them a visit – and tell ’em Pocketnow sent you!

BlackBerry Classic review

Don’t miss out on Pocketnow’s other recent videos: check out our YotaPhone 2 review and our hands-on with the new LG G Flex 2 at CES 2015, and then check out the technology behind E-Paper displays in our E-Ink explained video!