BlackBerry’s first attempt at a smartphone that runs on Android, instead of just running Android apps, is finally here. And for the most part, it’s getting some great reviews. It’s available here in the US with AT&T and Verizon coming later this year. Starting today, Carphone Warehouse in the UK is selling the handset for £579, SIM free (or as we like to say in the US, “Unlocked”). However, if you do want to sign a contract, or in the least don’t want to drop £579 on a smartphone today. You can get one with Vodafone which will include 6GB of data for £59 upfront and £39 per month. Interestingly, that’s £12 more than a SIM-only plan with the same 6GB of data. Carphone Warehouse is one of the largest retailers in the UK, and they have the BlackBerry Priv available both in store and online today.
The Priv is a 5.4-inch smartphone with a dual-curved display. It’s also a slider smartphone, so you have the full physical QWERTY keyboard there, allowing you to type with ease. And if you were ever a BlackBerry user, then you know how amazing their keyboards are, and the Priv is really no different here. Other internals include the Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor, 3GB of RAM along with 32GB of storage and a microSD card slot that can support up to 200GB of storage. All powered by a pretty hefty 3410mAh battery inside. The Priv also has a number of security options here, which is what you’d expect from BlackBerry, however there is no fingerprint sensor, as the company says it isn’t that safe. Contrary to popular belief.
Now for those in the UK, you have another option for buying the BlackBerry Priv if you wish to do so. It’s a great smartphone, and if you were a fan of BlackBerry’s hardware, then you’ll no doubt love this smartphone from BlackBerry, especially with Android 5.1 Lollipop on board (Marshmallow to come in early 2016). Not to mention it’s relatively vanilla Android, with no real customization, other than what’s under the hood. And that battery should last quite a while given that it’s one of the largest batteries when compared to the size of the screen of the Priv.