BlackBerry Priv is the Canadian device maker’s new smartphone. It is yet to be made available in the market but it has been making the rounds a lot lately. Right from the time it was a rumour in tech circles to when it started showing up in renders, real world photos and eventually some hands-on videos. BlackBerry CEO John Chen even showed off the device to reporters moments after the company confirmed its existence in its financial reports. Now, there’s a review on the interwebs detailing the device’s various key features like the camera and the battery life.
Specifications
- Display: 5.4 inch Quad HD (2560 x 1,440 pixels; 544 ppi)
- Processor: Hexacore Qualcomm Snapdragon 808
- Memory: 32 GB internal storage; 3 GB RAM
- Camera: 18 megapixel main sensor; 5 megapixel sensor on the front
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.1, NFC
- Network: LTE
Here’s the low-down from the first review of the BlackBerry Priv:
- Build-wise, the back is said to be made from kevlar.
- The camera is just ok. From the review, it looks like the BlackBerry Priv’s camera won’t be winning any awards despite packing one of the best sensors BlackBerry has ever put in a phone. It also has optical image stabilization but that can only go so far.
- The battery is expected to last users for at least a full day. The reviewer did not spend a lot of time with the device so his tests are not conclusive.
- The user interface is mostly stock Android with just a few customizations here and there.
- While the Priv is an Android device, it is a BlackBerry first and foremost and BlackBerry is providing all the apps and services that hard core BlackBerry users expect while giving them the ability to have access to more apps through the Google Play Store. BlackBerry has previously allowed developers to port Android applications to its BlackBerry 10 platform but those apps have for the most part felt second rate to their Android equivalents from which they are ported. Now BlackBerry users get the real thing alongside what they are used to.
There is no launch date yet but with the information trickling in as more and more people document their experiences with BlackBerry’s first smartphone running a third party operating system, it will be interesting to see the buzz that builds up around the device prior to launch. As the reviewer noted, there are several glitches in both hardware and software and it could be these that BlackBerry is addressing before making the device available for purchase by the public. You can read the entire review here.
