BlackBerry launched the Priv for the Philippine market today, marking a renewed push to be competitive in the high-end segment. A vertical slider phone that runs Android Lollipop instead of BlackBerry 10, the Priv is the Canadian firm’s first product to use a third-party operating system; all previous BlackBerry hardware had its internally developed software on tap.
Which is a good thing for consumers. BlackBerry OS has long had a shortage of quality apps, and sideloading Android apps on older BlackBerrys isn’t the solution. The Priv might be just what BlackBerry needed to lure in those who have lost faith in the second-most-popular fruit company behind Apple, as well as those who have found it in Android. The Priv represents a marriage of BlackBerry hardware and Google software, however odd that may seem.
This might be just what BlackBerry needed to lure in those who have lost faith in the company, as well as those who have found it in Android.
As for the hardware itself, the Priv sports a curved AMOLED display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage, and a physical keyboard that slides out from under the screen (don’t worry; an on-screen keyboard is also available). The general look and feel of the software is stock Android, though BlackBerry included some tweaks and apps of its own to improve the overall usage experience.
The BlackBerry Priv is priced at P45,000 in the Philippines, which is a far cry from its $700 (around P33,000) price tag in the U.S. Ouch.
Specs of the BlackBerry Priv (Price in the Philippines: P45,000):
* 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
Image via Android Central
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