4 Blackberry Features Users Still Miss

Ah, the BlackBerry. Has a piece of tech ever gone from "wave of the future" to "ironic nostalgia item" so quickly? Although tech enthusiasts and corporate efficiency gurus may have embraced the BlackBerry during its first few years on the market, the rise of smartphones rendered this precursor obsolete. Thus, it can be easy to forget how the BlackBerry actually offered some genuinely useful features that users still miss to this day.

Users who long for the good old BlackBerry days might not simply be looking at the past through rose-colored glasses. They highlight several key benefits the device offered that are harder to come by nowadays. Although it's unlikely the BlackBerry will make a strong enough comeback to unseat its smartphone descendants, it's worth noting that some BlackBerry features are being integrated into newer smartphone models. The past may be the past, but that doesn't mean we can't learn a thing or two from it.

According to users on Reddit's /r/blackberry subreddit, the device's keyboard is among the features they wish today's smartphones would offer. Such users may be thankful to learn this feature is making its way back to modern devices in 2026. However, for many years, it was virtually impossible to find a mainstream smartphone with a BlackBerry-style physical keyboard that didn't require users to type on a screen.

The specific reasons someone might miss a BlackBerry's QWERTY keyboard can vary from one user to another. For instance, these days, a mobile device may function as someone's main computer. That means they're using their phone to type everything from search queries to long emails. Some may find that typing on a traditional physical keyboard, even if it's small, can be more comfortable than typing on a screen.

The BlackBerry keyboard might also (perhaps surprisingly) serve as a bridge across generational gaps. Many tech users learned how to type on QWERTY keyboards. This keyboard style may thus be what they're naturally more accustomed to. On the other hand, with younger generations embracing various forms of retro tech (from physical media to miniature digital cameras), a BlackBerry keyboard could offer a welcome slice of variety.

Over on Reddit's /r/blackberry sub, those who dream of the days when BlackBerry reigned supreme lament how today's typical smartphone is "just a plain slab" when compared to the iconic device that brought mobile digital assistants to the masses. Although the BlackBerry's design might not have necessarily been bold or dramatic, its sleek minimalism offered a sense of "character" that some feel current smartphones lack.

Other users also point out that the design of many BlackBerry models offered practical benefits that smartphones often don't. For example, one user explains that the "textured" backside of a BlackBerry made it easier to grip. As such, a common smartphone issue — easily dropping a phone and cracking the screen — was much less of a problem with the BlackBerry.

Although smartphone sizes can also vary somewhat, another Reddit user explains that a BlackBerry could always easily fit in one hand and in just about any functional pocket. Carrying a smartphone in your pocket is a little more cumbersome.

Some of the most attractive "features" of a classic BlackBerry may also be some of the simplest. Discussing battery life on the /r/blackberry subreddit, users state that the BlackBerry Classic appeared to boast an average battery life of three days.

This is an arena in which the BlackBerry may be the clear winner. When testing the average battery life of a typical smartphone, tech reviewers have found that even the top performers don't last much longer than 24 hours without recharging.

Granted, the discrepancy between the battery life of a BlackBerry and that of a smartphone may partially come down to the fact that a smartphone can technically serve more purposes than a BlackBerry. If a device is used more, its battery will naturally drain more quickly. Regardless, not having to constantly look for charging solutions is one benefit of the BlackBerry that fans sorely miss in the age of smartphones that need to be plugged in at least once a day.

We might be cheating a bit with this entry. Unlike the others here, this isn't a specific feature of BlackBerry devices that some users miss. Rather, it's an absence of unnecessary features.

Today's smartphones offer undeniable convenience. There's a lot you can do when you have a computer in your pocket. However, some might argue that smartphones give us too much to do.

The abundance of apps and features available on smartphones can make it easy to get hooked on a device when you take it out to perform a simple task. You only wanted to check email, but now you're scrolling through Instagram, getting into rage-wars on Reddit, checking how many steps you've walked today, and opening mindless dopamine-reward gaming apps, all of which drain your time and mental bandwidth.

That wasn't the case with the BlackBerry. As users on Reddit's /r/blackberry community discuss, the BlackBerry was "a personal assistant in its true form." It offered "call, text, email" without "this other junk smartphones have on them that trap us and our kids in our phones."

That may be what BlackBerry fans miss most. A BlackBerry was undeniably helpful. Unlike smartphones, however, it wasn't as obviously harmful. If we can't bring the BlackBerry back entirely, perhaps we can at least learn to use our modern devices the same way we used the BlackBerry: only when we need to.