BlackBerry PRIV Now Up For Preorders At $699
BlackBerry's first Android smartphone, the BlackBerry PRIV, is now available for preorders with the company's regional retailers, according to a report in Tech Times. Preorders can be made by prospective buyers in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada through a list of authorized retailers. The PRIV is priced at $699 and will start shipping on November 6.
U.S. buyers can make their preorders on the ShopBlackBerry U.S. site, while those in the U.K. can do so at Carphone Warehouse and ShopBlackBerry for £559 inclusive of VAT. Canadian buyers may go to Rogers and ShopBlackBerry as well, where the device will sell for $899 Canadian dollars. Countries which are not listed will need to wait for further announcements when and where the device will be available.
The new device comes with a premium price that is higher than that of recently released flagships of Apple and Samsung. A Fortune report compares its price with that of other devices one can purchase for a little bit more, such as a 64 GB iPhone 6S, a 32 GB Samsung Galaxy Note 5 or a 128 GB Nexus 6P.
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Under the hood, it has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor paired with 3 GB of RAM, as well as 32 GB of internal storage. Through a microSD slot, storage can be expanded to up to 2 TB. It has a 3,410 mAh battery pack, an 18 megapixel rear-facing camera and a 2 megapixel front-facing camera.
Among its unique features is a slide out physical keypad, in addition on the onscreen keypad. As attested by its name, PRIV, the device boasts of security integrations with Android that provides the user with extra security and privacy. For BlackBerry, this feature alone justifies the device's relatively high price.
In the BlackBerry blog, CEO John Chen emphasized the company's commitment to security when it announced the PRIV: "I committed that we would release an Android phone only if we could make it, like everything else we produce: secure. We have — and so today is that day."
