Blackberry is certainly pulling out all the stops in its latest shot at relevancy with the introduction of the Blackberry Priv. It officially hits the market Monday in the U.K. with exclusive pre-order availability from the British retailer, Carphone Warehouse.
Blackberry Priv should be interesting for tech enthusiasts and consumers in general for several reasons. For instance, it is Blackberry's first Android device. Therefore, it launches with its own interpretation of the operating system. Although it runs with the latest Android Lollipop version, the Blackberry aesthetic preferences are quite prominent, as demonstrated by the hands-on video below.
The Blackberry Priv also takes a cue from several features identified with the Blackberry brand. First, there is the obligatory full keyboard. The device has a sliding screen that reveals a physical keyboard underneath, which most who have used Blackberry smartphones before will surely love. In order for Blackberry to integrate the keyboard with a massive, sliding display, it deployed the curve glass technology found on the display of Samsung S6 Edge.
In addition, Priv also packs a security solution that most Android phones lack today. This is achieved through a proprietary software modification called the DTEK software and is part of Blackberry's bid to address the Android market's need for more choice and more security, according to The Register.
"Priv combines the best of BlackBerry security and productivity with the expansive mobile application ecosystem available on the Android platform," John Chen, Blackberry's CEO, said in a Daily Mail report. "This phone is the answer for former BlackBerry users who miss the physical keyboard but also need apps."
The spec sheet is also quite impressive. It has a 5.4-inch 2560x1440 pixel dual-curved AMOLED display, which is translated to 540 ppi, according to First Post. The device is powered by a 3410 MaH battery and runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 SoC and 3GB of RAM. It has expandable storage that can accommodate up to 2TB. The hardware design is also very pleasing. Blackberry managed to pack everything in a 9.4 mm thin device, including an 18MP rear-facing camera.
The phone costs £580 ($897) and is expected to ship Nov. 6.
