[Device Reviews and Information] polartux:
Hello guys, i'm new here and registered because I wanted to discuss one of the phones I own.

This thread's objective is to bring attention of Silent Circle's (

SGP

) Blackphone 2 (

BP2

) owners because I believe we are few and share ROM-specific information, due to a lack of it on the internet and specially this forum.

Full Stock ROM for this device: http://xdaforums.com/general/general/rom-blackphone-2-t3516909

Specs:

LTE and Worldwide 3G/HSPA+ connectivity

5.5" FullHD Gorilla Glass display, 1080x1920 pixels

Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 Octa-Core Processor ("About" shows MSM8939, but kernel compiled for MSM8916)

3GB RAM & 32GB internal storage

microSD card slot supports additional 128GB

13 MP BSI Camera Sensor (5 MP front)

3060 mAh Battery with Quick Charge 2.0

OS: Silent OS (Android 5.1.1 Lollipop + Cyanogenmod)

Dimensions: 152.40 x 76.40 x 7.90

Currently, I am full of hate for this phone's OS and my first objective right now is to get rid of that useless system called "Silent OS" (formelly "PrivatOS", another clownish commercial fork of AOSP+Cyanogenmod) that is installed on this phone.

I could've simply sold the phone or threw it out, but instead I would like to help other owners and myself since this forum is awesome.

So, here is my little review before I start a thread in the "Upgrading, Modifying and Unlocking" section with info on my AOSP or OmniROM future build.

What drives me to flash a custom ROM at this phone?

Well, there are several reasons:

-

improperly realized additional user spaces

(actually there are 3), that drain the whole battery in some 20 minutes.

-

insane battery drain

at all by improperly modded OS.

-

phone heats up very much

, i believe due to improperly built OS

-

it's impossible to get root

with a current kernel due to well configured (applauding) SELinux in Enforcing mode that can't be turned off even by modifying the initrd.

- official BP2 representatives say

they won't provide any root method

.

-

camera's FPS is disappointing, so slow, much lag

, and even after numerous reports to their support it wasn't improved

-

useless "Silent Circle" market

with its useless apps (they were supposed to be free when there was Blackphone 1)

-

"Silent Phone"

application is just a paid analog of Telegram,

it can't be removed

!

-

impossibility of removing the annoying "Google Now" widget

from the main screen, even after a bunch of requests to their support since the phone was released.

- I don't want gapps at all and would prefer a clean ROM.

- This OS is full of

bloatware

.

- Its main unique features such as

private user spaces

and

OS encryption

are introduced in

Android 6.0 by default

Finally, the main reason I bought it was I heard personally from their former CEO they will bring an

active and passive cellular security

into this phone, I've made a pre-order when I heard this because this would've beaten all other smartphones on the world.

Now I have it, and it's not 'NSA Proof' at all (as was described in mass media), this is bull**** because THIS PHONE DOESN'T HAVE ANY ACTIVE/PASSIVE GSM COMPLEXES PROTECTION (A5 tracer, UnPing, imsi catcher detector, among others)

Proof: official BP2 team reply on the screenshot =>

https://s28.postimg.org/7bz8wx3h7/blackphone2.png

[IMG="No GSM interception protection at all"]http://s28.postimg.org/7bz8wx3h7/blackphone2.png[/IMG]

The only way to make your communications secure on this phone is to use their paid app "Silent Phone", by the word of its creators. Lol.

What I dislike in design?

- Your "secure and NSA proof" phone's

IMEI is written right on its rear panel

! (WTF???)

Cool. So basically, while one of the main requirements to be an NSA-proof phone is ability to change IMEI on the fly, these guys decided just to write it on the back panel and introduced the full impossibility of changing it by not allowing to root the device. GENIOUS!!!

The Open Source part.

Just take a look at this wonderful and promising github repo with their "kernel":

https://github.com/sgp-blackphone/Blackphone-BP2-Kernel

Great, isn't it? Looks like they are trolling us or something. I haven't even met a single line in that repo containing such strings as 'BP2' or 'Blackphone'.

"Let's just copy a source from kernel.org and publish it as our device's source code!" - GENIOUS!!!

Bottom line

I haven't described any PROS of this device because they don't really exist and the phone doesn't worth the price it's being sold for without active/passive GSM complexes protection. OS security is a thing that every actual android phone includes by default.

Basically, anyone who wants to use the main features of Blackphone 2 doesn't really need to buy the phone, it's enough to download the app 'Silent Phone' from Play Market and use it :D

Please post your thoughts/feedback about this device here.