For years now, BlackBerry has been struggling to maintain some semblance of relevancy in a smartphone market that seemingly passed them by in an instant. BlackBerry, a brand which once ruled the smartphone market with an iron fast, is now almost an afterthought in a market dominated by the iPhone and an assortment of Android devices from a variety of manufacturers.

Down but not out, BlackBerry is going for broke in a last-ditch effort to keep its handset business alive. And the product BlackBerry CEO John Chen is betting the farm on is the BlackBerry Priv. Available today in select markets, Chen recently said that BlackBerry might exit the handset business altogether if the Priv can’t move 5 million units a year. Clearly, the pressure for the Priv to perform is immense.

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That said, the Priv is unquestionably an interesting device. For starters, it runs Android; as the old adage goes, if you can’t beat em’, join em’. Furthermore, BlackBerry set out to create a user experience that blends the best aspects of Android with traditional BlackBerry security, privacy, and productivity features. And lastly, because this is BlackBerry after all, the Priv features a full slide-out physical keyboard.

On paper, the BlackBerry Priv seems far less compelling than, say, the Motorola Droid Turbo 2. Nonetheless, the Priv, with it being BlackBerry’s final Hail Mary pass, will be a lot more interesting to keep a close eye on.

Late on Thursday, the first BlackBerry Priv reviews began rolling in and we’ve compiled some of the best excerpts to help give you an idea as to how seriously the Priv will fare in a competitive smartphone market. Priced at $699.99 without a contract, BlackBerry is positioning the Priv as a premium product. Now, it’s finally time to see if the device can live up to the hype and actually keep the company afloat.