Remember BlackBerry and its QWERTY keyboard-loving ways? Yeah, well, BlackBerry's still a thing - just about - and the company's set to launch its first ever Android phone, the BlackBerry Priv. Pairing high-end specs with a hearty dollop of smartphone nostalgia, the Priv is official and heading to UK stores in the coming weeks.
Set to go head-to-head with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the iPhone 6S, the Google-powered handset isn't just BlackBerry's latest phone - it could well be its last. So, with the fate of the ailing one-time giant resting on its boxy shoulders, here's everything you need to know about the firm's would-be saviour - or coffin nail.
BlackBerry Priv Release Date: When can you buy it?
BlackBerry Priv
The BlackBerry Priv release date has been confirmed, and you won't have to wait long to snap up the follow-on to the company's desperately dire last effort, the BlackBerry Passport. Set to be exclusive to Carphone Warehouse here in the UK – at least on day one – the BlackBerry Priv has been pencilled in for a November 6 launch. That means there's less than 3 weeks separating you from a return to physical smartphone keyboards – who's excited? Oh, that few.
For those who simply can't wait to snap up BlackBerry's Android convert, BlackBerry Priv pre-orders have already kicked off. Those desperate to secure the handset can drop their cash now, with the phone coming on contract plans starting at a lofty £49 per month - ouch.
BlackBerry Priv Design: The return of the QWERTY keyboard
BlackBerry Priv
© BlackBerry
Keen to scream that a BlackBerry is no longer just for fuddy-duddies in suits, the 5.4-inch Priv is very much a case of old meets new. It pairs the maker's trademark physical QWERTY keyboard with the cutting-edge in smartphone design, a Samsung Galaxy S6 edge-inspired dual-side encompassing display. Keeping things as refined and compact as possible, the handset's keyboard is a slide out affair, dropping down from behind its stunning display.
Despite the phone's double layer, it's not particularly obese. Yes, sat next to the iPhone 6S or Sony Xperia Z5 it will look positively portly, but at 9.4mm thick and 192g in weight, it's not too large. Heck, even the Moto X Play is chunkier and that doesn't host a physical input option. It's not quite a classic BlackBerry look, but in 2015 that's a good thing. Like its recent siblings, however, the Priv features a soft-touch, carbon fibre-effect rear.
BlackBerry Priv Specs: Where business meets pleasure
BlackBerry Priv
© BlackBerry
Samsung Galaxy S7: Everything you need to know
Keyboard aside, the BlackBerry Priv is a high-powered device in its own right, with a meaty array of innards looking to appease both your business and pleasure needs. The phone's 64-bit, 1.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor is paired with 3GB of RAM to comfortably take you from spreadsheet multitasking to a decent 3D gaming session without breaking a sweat.
With a hearty 3,410mAh battery on board, the Priv should get you through a day's usage without much concern, too. Storage limitations won't be an issue either, with the phone's 32GB of integrated internals able to be expanded up to a massive 2TB by use of a microSD card – it's ticking all the right boxes here, then.
BlackBerry Priv Screen: Setting the visual standards
Thankfully, the bizarre, boxy nature of the BlackBerry Passport's square panel is gone. In its place is something special, a 5.4-inch AMOLED display with dual curved edges and a stunning 2560 x 1440 pixel QHD resolution. Sound impressive? Well, it should.
Essentially the same screen tech used on the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge, the Priv's 5.4-inch form sits between the classic, 5.1-inch Sammy handset and the oversized, 5.7-inch Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+. Its 540 pixels-per-inch image density will provide stunningly sharp, detailed images, while the AMOLED panel should offer vibrant colours and deep blacks without hammering the phone's battery.
A screen wasted on emails, this panel is worthy of serious Netflix sessions and hours spent enjoying iPlayer catch-up. Yes, the phone will get you through boring business meetings, but it's on the commute home that it will really come into its own.
BlackBerry's Venice phone with retractable keys
© Tinhte
BlackBerry Priv Camera: Selfie shortcomings
If you want to make further use of the phone's screen without downloading mounds of content, the handset's camera collection has got your back, with an 18-megapixel primary camera capable of capturing hi-res shots and some decent video of its own.
It's not all sunshine and lollipops, though. Showing that the world's second favourite fruit-based tech manufacturer isn't completely stepping away from its business-centric roots just yet, the Priv's selfie snapper features a lowly 2-megapixel resolution. Which means grainy, flat, lifeless vanity shots, then. We want more here now, BlackBerry - come on, catch up.
BlackBerry Priv Software: Android, with a twist
Gone are the days of BlackBerry's proprietary BB10 software - here is the dawn of Android powering yet another former giant of the mobile space. So that pretty much just leaves Apple as the only major manufacturer never to have dipped a toe in Google's waters, then.
As much as we like stock Android, BlackBerry hasn't left the OS untouched. Yes, there's the usual array of Google apps - we're talking Maps, Google Now and the Play Store. But the big-B has been tinkering with things too, throwing in a few of its own classic touches, including the BB10-introduced BlackBerry Hub.
Shipping with Android 5.1.1 Lollipop direct from the box, there's currently no word when, or indeed if, the Priv will be pushed to the new Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS.
BlackBerry Priv Price: How much?!
BlackBerry Priv
© BlackBerry
Just when we though BlackBerry might have brought us back around to its smartphone efforts, the Canadian company has kicked us in the shins with a massive Priv price. Not only isn't the BlackBerry Priv coming cheap, it's going to leave the wallets of those interested in plumping for something new weeping in the corner.
With a lofty £579.99 SIM-free asking price, the Priv is sat firmly alongside the iPhone 6S Plus and Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ at the wallet-busting end of the smartphone space. With contract prices starting at a painfully high £49 per month, it's going to be out of many people's price range.
Carphone Warehouse has already started accepting Priv pre-orders, so if you've got your heart set on the high-end pocket blower, we'd get saving the pennies now.
Set to go head-to-head with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the iPhone 6S, the Google-powered handset isn't just BlackBerry's latest phone - it could well be its last. So, with the fate of the ailing one-time giant resting on its boxy shoulders, here's everything you need to know about the firm's would-be saviour - or coffin nail.
BlackBerry Priv Release Date: When can you buy it?
BlackBerry Priv
The BlackBerry Priv release date has been confirmed, and you won't have to wait long to snap up the follow-on to the company's desperately dire last effort, the BlackBerry Passport. Set to be exclusive to Carphone Warehouse here in the UK – at least on day one – the BlackBerry Priv has been pencilled in for a November 6 launch. That means there's less than 3 weeks separating you from a return to physical smartphone keyboards – who's excited? Oh, that few.
For those who simply can't wait to snap up BlackBerry's Android convert, BlackBerry Priv pre-orders have already kicked off. Those desperate to secure the handset can drop their cash now, with the phone coming on contract plans starting at a lofty £49 per month - ouch.
BlackBerry Priv Design: The return of the QWERTY keyboard
BlackBerry Priv
© BlackBerry
Keen to scream that a BlackBerry is no longer just for fuddy-duddies in suits, the 5.4-inch Priv is very much a case of old meets new. It pairs the maker's trademark physical QWERTY keyboard with the cutting-edge in smartphone design, a Samsung Galaxy S6 edge-inspired dual-side encompassing display. Keeping things as refined and compact as possible, the handset's keyboard is a slide out affair, dropping down from behind its stunning display.
Despite the phone's double layer, it's not particularly obese. Yes, sat next to the iPhone 6S or Sony Xperia Z5 it will look positively portly, but at 9.4mm thick and 192g in weight, it's not too large. Heck, even the Moto X Play is chunkier and that doesn't host a physical input option. It's not quite a classic BlackBerry look, but in 2015 that's a good thing. Like its recent siblings, however, the Priv features a soft-touch, carbon fibre-effect rear.
BlackBerry Priv Specs: Where business meets pleasure
BlackBerry Priv
© BlackBerry
Samsung Galaxy S7: Everything you need to know
Keyboard aside, the BlackBerry Priv is a high-powered device in its own right, with a meaty array of innards looking to appease both your business and pleasure needs. The phone's 64-bit, 1.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor is paired with 3GB of RAM to comfortably take you from spreadsheet multitasking to a decent 3D gaming session without breaking a sweat.
With a hearty 3,410mAh battery on board, the Priv should get you through a day's usage without much concern, too. Storage limitations won't be an issue either, with the phone's 32GB of integrated internals able to be expanded up to a massive 2TB by use of a microSD card – it's ticking all the right boxes here, then.
BlackBerry Priv Screen: Setting the visual standards
Thankfully, the bizarre, boxy nature of the BlackBerry Passport's square panel is gone. In its place is something special, a 5.4-inch AMOLED display with dual curved edges and a stunning 2560 x 1440 pixel QHD resolution. Sound impressive? Well, it should.
Essentially the same screen tech used on the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge, the Priv's 5.4-inch form sits between the classic, 5.1-inch Sammy handset and the oversized, 5.7-inch Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+. Its 540 pixels-per-inch image density will provide stunningly sharp, detailed images, while the AMOLED panel should offer vibrant colours and deep blacks without hammering the phone's battery.
A screen wasted on emails, this panel is worthy of serious Netflix sessions and hours spent enjoying iPlayer catch-up. Yes, the phone will get you through boring business meetings, but it's on the commute home that it will really come into its own.
BlackBerry's Venice phone with retractable keys
© Tinhte
BlackBerry Priv Camera: Selfie shortcomings
If you want to make further use of the phone's screen without downloading mounds of content, the handset's camera collection has got your back, with an 18-megapixel primary camera capable of capturing hi-res shots and some decent video of its own.
It's not all sunshine and lollipops, though. Showing that the world's second favourite fruit-based tech manufacturer isn't completely stepping away from its business-centric roots just yet, the Priv's selfie snapper features a lowly 2-megapixel resolution. Which means grainy, flat, lifeless vanity shots, then. We want more here now, BlackBerry - come on, catch up.
BlackBerry Priv Software: Android, with a twist
Gone are the days of BlackBerry's proprietary BB10 software - here is the dawn of Android powering yet another former giant of the mobile space. So that pretty much just leaves Apple as the only major manufacturer never to have dipped a toe in Google's waters, then.
As much as we like stock Android, BlackBerry hasn't left the OS untouched. Yes, there's the usual array of Google apps - we're talking Maps, Google Now and the Play Store. But the big-B has been tinkering with things too, throwing in a few of its own classic touches, including the BB10-introduced BlackBerry Hub.
Shipping with Android 5.1.1 Lollipop direct from the box, there's currently no word when, or indeed if, the Priv will be pushed to the new Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS.
BlackBerry Priv Price: How much?!
BlackBerry Priv
© BlackBerry
Just when we though BlackBerry might have brought us back around to its smartphone efforts, the Canadian company has kicked us in the shins with a massive Priv price. Not only isn't the BlackBerry Priv coming cheap, it's going to leave the wallets of those interested in plumping for something new weeping in the corner.
With a lofty £579.99 SIM-free asking price, the Priv is sat firmly alongside the iPhone 6S Plus and Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ at the wallet-busting end of the smartphone space. With contract prices starting at a painfully high £49 per month, it's going to be out of many people's price range.
Carphone Warehouse has already started accepting Priv pre-orders, so if you've got your heart set on the high-end pocket blower, we'd get saving the pennies now.
No comments:
Post a Comment