BlackBerry’s first Android effort gets a PH launch date

In Phones by Ramon LopezLeave a Comment

The last time I heard about the BlackBerry Priv, it was being handed to the Kardashians before anyone else, serving as a sort of reminder that not everyone in Hollywood has an iPhone in their pocket or clutch bag.

Now it appears the company’s first Android effort, a vertical slider phone with Android Lollipop on tap instead of BlackBerry 10, is heading to local shores, with a launch date slated for December 3. I know what you’re thinking: Just in time for the biggest shopping season of the year.

As someone who has long believed that BlackBerry would do well to collaborate with Google on a phone, I’m excited about next week’s unveiling.

The Priv, of course, should be no stranger to the dwindling number of BlackBerry faithfuls. After all, this is, in essence, a premium BlackBerry phone running better software that doesn’t require sideloading apps to provide a complete smartphone experience.

On the hardware side of things, the Priv has a 5.4-inch curved AMOLED display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage, a sliding physical keyboard, and a 3,410mAh battery.

The technical nitty-gritty seem impressive enough, but I’ll wait until I get my hands on a unit before sharing my thoughts of the Priv. As someone who has long believed that BlackBerry would do well to collaborate with Google on a smartphone, I’m pretty excited about next week’s unveiling.

Specs of the BlackBerry Priv:
* LTE
* QWERTY keybaord
* Hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 CPU
* 3GB RAM
* 32GB internal storage
* microSD card slot
* 5.4-inch curved AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 (1,440 x 2,560 resolution)
* 18-megapixel rear camera with dual-LED flash
* 2-megapixel front camera
* 3,410mAh removable battery
* Android Lollipop 5.1

BlackBerry Priv review courtesy of Marques Brownlee

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Ramon Lopez

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Reviews editor: Ramon "Monch" Lopez has 15 years of professional experience creating and editing content for print and digital publications such as Yahoo. He headed the gadgets-merchandising division of one of the Philippines’ largest retail operators somewhere in between. His latest addiction is the comments section of viral Facebook posts.