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BlackBerry Priv Android Slider Goes Up for Pre Orders: Price, Availability

BlackBerry Priv Android Slider Goes Up for Pre-Orders: Price, Availability

By Manish Singh | Updated: 26 October 2015 12:45 IST

After months of leaks, rumours, and accidental listings, the BlackBerry Priv is now officially available for purchase. The company's first Android handset is priced at $699 (roughly Rs. 45,500), and will begin shipping in the United States from November 6.

The retail price tag of $699 for the Priv is $50 less than the briefly listed $749, which everyone who is interested in purchasing the handset would appreciate. The company, however, has noted on its website that its upcoming handset wouldn't work on Verizon, Sprint, or US Cellular networks in the United States. So those planning to purchase and use the Priv in the US will have to be on AT&T or T-Mobile networks. The handset is also available in the UK and Canada, at 559 GBP (roughly Rs. 55,700) and 899 CAD (roughly Rs. 44,500) respectively. There's no word about its Indian availability as yet.

As for the specifications, the BlackBerry Priv sports a 5.4-inch Oled QHD (2560 x 1440) display. It is powered by a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 hexa-core SoC coupled with 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of built-in storage that can be expanded using a microSD card should you need more space.

Other features of the handset include an 18-megapixel rear camera with optical image stabilisation capability and f/2.2 aperture, and a 2-megapixel sensor placed upfront. The handset comes with a 3410 mAh battery, which the company claims can last for up to 22.5 hours under "mixed usage". The NFC-capable Priv supports 4G LTE, 3G, Wi-Fi, and other standard connectivity options. In runs Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box.

The handset also comes with a physical keyboard, which slides out from underneath the display in portrait mode. In addition, the handset also offers more security sophistications, a feature that BlackBerry is known for. The company's executive recently detailed the additional layers of security that they have baked on top of Android.

The BlackBerry Priv is the company's latest, and arguably strongest bet to save its tumbling market relevance. The Canadian smartphone maker, which has seen Android and iOS thrive as its own platform became less popular, is finally embracing Google's mobile operating system to reboot its mobile efforts. And it might as well be its last effort. The company CEO John Chen has previously stated that if its mobile business doesn't return profits, he would have no choice but to shut the division.

BlackBerry Priv

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Physical keyboard
Vast Android app ecosystem
Fantastic materials and construction
Good screen

Bad
Extremely expensive
Weak front camera
Slightly unwieldy
Lacks many current-day features

Read detailed BlackBerry Priv review

Display 5.40-inch

Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 808

Front Camera 2-megapixel

Rear Camera 18-megapixel

RAM 3GB

Storage 32GB

Battery Capacity 3410mAh

OS Android 5.1.1

Resolution 1440x2560 pixels

More BlackBerry mobiles BlackBerry mobiles price in India

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