If the current trend is any indication, smartphones with bigger screen size have a better chance of surviving in the intensely competitive market. While Apple launched the iPhone 6, having the largest screen size the flagship has ever had, this month, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 4 phablet in the recently concluded Berlin IFA.

Even BlackBerry is scheduled to launch its latest BlackBerry Passport in three cities across the globe - Toronto, Dubai and London, simultaneously on Sept. 24.

Consumers interested in buying either the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 or BlackBerry Passport should learn about the specs, features and prices of both the devices, before making a purchase.

Display, Design, Look and Size

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 comes with a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display, while the BlackBerry Passport is relatively modest, sporting a 4.5-inch IPS LCD display. While the screen resolution and pixel density of the Passport are 1,440 x 1,440 pixels and 453 ppi, respectively, the Galaxy Note 4 has a 2K resolution of 1,440 x 2,560 pixels and 515 ppi density.

Apart from the perforated back panel, the Galaxy Note 4 comes with a metallic rim that covers the plastic sides of the phablet, giving it the premium look, which was absent in the Galaxy Note 3. In terms of the details, the Galaxy Note 4 has an ultra-sharp display and thinner bezels.

On the other hand, the BlackBerry Passport sports a unique "square" design, avoiding the traditional "rectangular" display. Whether or not the market is ready for the more "square" displays, only time can answer that, but BlackBerry is definitely targeting business and enterprise users who use their phablets to do much more than simply downloading apps, playing games, watching videos and making phone calls. The BlackBerry Passport is designed for both work and play.

In addition, BlackBerry is getting back the QWERTY keyboard and the Passport comes with a one-of-a-kind physical QWERTY keyboard that can double as a touch-enabled trackpad. The keyboard will have three rows of letters plus another row for virtual keys. Thus, numerals, special characters and punctuation marks will not be part of the QWERTY keyboard.

The BlackBerry Passport is 0.36-inch thick and weighs 194.4 g, while the thickness and the weight of the Galaxy Note 4 are 0.33 inch and 176 g, respectively.

Hardware, Software and Memory

While the Galaxy Note 4 is powered by a superior quad-core (Qualcomm Snapdragon 805) Krait 450 processor, clocked at 2.7 GHz, the BlackBerry Passport is powered by a quad-core (Qualcomm Snapdragon 800) processor, clocked at 2.26 GHz. Both phablets are, however, backed by 3 GB of RAM. Additionally, Samsung offers a more powerful processor option - octa-core (Exynos 5433) processor, but it will not be available for customers in all countries.

On the other hand, the Galaxy Note 4 runs on Android OS 4.4.4 KitKat with Samsung's TouchWiz UI, while the BlackBerry Passport runs on BlackBerry 10.3 OS. Both devices offer 32 GB of internal storage and microSD card support for expansion. While the internal memory of the Samsung device is expandable to 128 GB, in the case of the BlackBerry Passport it is just half - 64 GB.

Camera and Battery

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 comes with a 16 MP ISOCELL rear-facing camera unit with LED flash, while the BlackBerry Passport sports a 13 MP rear-facing camera unit with LED flash. The BlackBerry Passport as well as the Galaxy Note 4 feature 2 MP and 3.7 MP secondary snappers, respectively. Both phablets also come with optical image stabilization (OIS) support.

As far as the battery is concerned, the Galaxy Note 4 sports a 3220 mAh unit, while the BlackBerry Passport excels the Samsung device with a 3,450 mAh battery unit.

Price

It is reported that the BlackBerry Passport will be priced at around $700. The Samsung Galaxy Note 4, on the other hand, is available for about $935.