After teasing consumers for months, BlackBerry is now has its first Android-driven Priv smartphone for high-end buyers. BlackBerry Priv offers a large Quad HD AMOLED display, powerful rear camera, a hexa-core processor, a decent battery life, and also promises the most secure Android experience.
Design and Screen
Featuring a slide-phone design, the BlackBerry Priv, to an extent, brings the old BlackBerry Torch to mind, though much bigger and more powerful. This means the smartphone offers Touchscreen and a keyboard that can be slide out when needed.
Below the integrated keyboard you will find a speaker grille that stretches the entire width of the device for great sound. The BlackBerry Priv looks relatively slim given its design.
BlackBerry Priv packs a 5.4-inch curved display with Quad HD resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels for a stunning pixel density of about 540 pixels per inch.
Camera and Storage
On the rear of BlackBerry Priv is provided a robust 18-megapixel shooter with Schneider-Kreuznach lens, Phase Detect Autofocus and optical image stabilisation (OIS).
This camera can be used to record stunning 4K videos at 30 frames per second.
A 5-megapixel front-facing camera is also expected on the device, which comes with 32 GB of internal storage. There is also a microSD card slot for memory expansion, up to 2TB.
Power and Performance
Under the hood, the BlackBerry Priv will feature a six-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor, putting it in the same performance class as the LG G4 flagship. The chip is paired with ample 3 GB of RAM to enable responsive and smooth multitasking.
For the first time ever, BlackBerry completely ditches its own software for a rival offering. The Canadian company has chosen to power the Priv with Android 5.1.1 (Lollipop) operating system. It is not clear for now if the OS will be upgradeable to the latest Android 6.0 (Marshmallow).
Despite running on the Android OS, the BlackBerry Priv has security and privacy front and centre. The BlackBerry Priv is designed to strongly protect users’ privacy, which is what the ‘Priv’ stands for, with features such as BlackBerry’s Hardware Root of Trust that that injects cryptographic keys into the device hardware to enhance security.
BlackBerry Priv also comes with the DTEK application that helps you better manage your privacy. BlackBerry Priv features Verified Boot and Secure Bootchain, which verifies the integrity of every layer of your smartphone on startup from operating system to apps to ensure that nothing has been compromised.
All these security and privacy features might just make it great for the business execs and the business crowd in general. Juice will be supplied to the phone by a large 3410mAh battery, which BlackBerry says is capable of supporting up to 22 and half hours of use.
Pricing and availability
BlackBerry Priv is now available in Nigeria. You can buy the BlackBerry Priv at leading online stores in Nigeria.
BlackBerry Priv Price in Nigeria is expected to range between 205,000 to 250,000 Naira at launch, depending on your location.
BlackBerry Priv Specs
Here are a few specs of the BlackBerry Priv:
General Features
- Platform: Android 5.1.1 (Lollipop)
- Processor: 64-bit, Hexa-core Processor (Snapdragon 808)
- GPU: Adreno 418
- Memory: 3 GB RAM
- Colours: Black
- Dimension: –
- Weight:
- SIM Type: Nano SIM
- SIM Count: Single SIM
Display
- Display: 5.4-inch AMOLED Display, 1440 x 2560 pixels (540ppi)
- Display Protection: –
Camera
- Rear Camera: 18 MP Camera, dual-LED Flash, 2160p ultra HD 4k Video
- Rear Camera Features: Geo-tagging, HDR, Face Detection, Panorama, Optical Image Stabilisation
- Front Camera: 5 MP Camera ?
Storage
- Built-in Storage: 32 GB Storage
- Memory Card Support: Up to 2TB
- Bundled Cloud Storage: –
Network Support
- 2G GSM: Yes
- 2G CDMA 1X: No
- 3G WCDMA: Yes
- 3G CDMA EVDO: No
- 4G LTE: Yes
Internet & Connectivity
- GPRS: Yes
- EDGE: Yes
- 3G/WCDMA/HSPA: Yes, up to 21Mbps
- HSPA+: Yes, up to 42Mbps
- CDMA EVDO: No
- 4G LTE: Yes
- WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Miracast
- Wi-Fi Hotspot: Yes
- Bluetooth: Yes, Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP, LE
- NFC: Yes
- Infrared Blaster: No
- USB Port: Yes, microUSB 2.0 (microHDMI out), USB on the Go
Messaging
- SMS/MMS: Yes
- Instant Messaging: Yes
- Push Emails: Yes
- Email Protocol: IMAP4, POP3, SMTP
Entertainment
- Music Player: Yes, mp3, WAV, FLAC, eACC+
- Video Player: Yes, MPEG4, H.263, H.264, XviD
- FM Radio: Yes (with RDS)
- Loudspeaker: Yes
- 3.5mm Jack: Yes
Navigation
- Navigation: Yes, GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS
- Maps: Yes, BlackBerry Maps
Sensors & Control
- Digital Compass: Yes
- Accelerometer: Yes
- Proximity Sensor: Yes
- Light Sensor: Yes
- Barometer: No
- Pedometer: No
- Gyroscope: Yes
- Fingerprint Scanner: No
- Iris Scanner: No
- Intelligent Digital Assistant: Yes (BlackBerry Assistant)
- Motion Sensing / Gesture Control: –
- Voice Control: Yes
Other Features
- Video Streaming: Yes
- Security: Hardware Root of Trust, DTEK, Verified Boot, Secure Bootchain
- Keyboard: Yes, slide-out Keyboard
- Active Noise Cancellation: Yes (with dedicated mic)
- Wireless Charging: No
- Water Resistant: No
- Dust Resistant: No
- Image Editor: Yes
- Video Editor: Yes
- Document Viewer: Yes
- Document Editor: No (download at store)
Battery
- Battery: 3410 mAh Battery
- Standby time: –
- Talktime: up to 22.5 hours
- Music Playback: –
