Blackberry Z30 to be available from next week in the UK and Middle East

5 inch in the Android device realm is not considered phablet size but for the likes of blackberry who’ve always stuck at the sub-4.5 inch category, we can safely call it a phablet. It has been a long time coming and with the Blackberry Z30 having leaked in recent days, it was not going to be long till we saw it. And today we have it.

The Blackberry Z30, from the spec sheet, seems to be a well thought device that Blackberry will be counting on to take the likes of other 5 inchers currently luring consumers like the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Sony Xperia Z. It is a much beefed up Z10 from an increase in the display size to a larger battery.

The Blackberry Z30 also has HTC One-like front facing speakers named BoomSound Natural Sound.

Here are the rest of the specs:

• 5 inch Super AMOLED display. A .8 increase from the 4.2 inch Blackberry Z10.
• 1.7 GHz processor with quad graphics. No further details provided though word has it that it may be the Snapdragon S4 pro chip as used in the Moto X alongside the X’s quadcore Adreno graphics chip.
• 2880 mAh battery
• An updated BB OS 10, Blackberry OS 10.2, that introduces some cosmetic changes to BBM and BBM Video chat and also a Priority Hub for messages in Gmail Priority Inbox style.
• Blackberry also touts a new antenna to better support network connectivity.

See here for more on the specs and announcement of the device.

Here’s a video announcing the Blackberry Z30

Do you think the Z30 will turn around Blackberry’s fortunes and get it rising again in the wake of missed opportunities with the Z10 and the Q10 and Q5 which were called out for being overpriced and late introduction in key Blackberry markets worldwide like Indonesia and several African countries including Nigeria and South Africa? Importantly, will you get one?

The Z30 will be available as early as next week and will ship first to the UK and Middle Eastern markets.