Back in November, AT&T announced it would be selling the very first BlackBerry phone powered by Android. AT&T would be the only carrier to be selling the phone at that time and still currently is. But as part of an announcement at CES (Consumer Electronics Show), BlackBerry’s CEO John Chen has confirmed that all of the major carriers in the U.S such as T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless will soon be showcasing and selling BlackBerry’s new phone. Being the only carrier right now in the U.S to have exclusivity of BlackBerry’s PRIV, AT&T was only to have this phone exclusively for 60 days as per the deal, which is now nearing its end.
The BlackBerry PRIV is a game changer for BlackBerry as it’s their first time putting Android on one of its business-targeted phones. BlackBerry’s first touchscreen phone, BlackBerry Storm, brought much hype and excitement just as the announcement for Blackberry’s first Android-based phone, the PRIV, has had. But unlike the Storm, the PRIV has made a notable impression for BlackBerry redeeming what the Storm phone had initially lost. From the Storms sludgy and buggy software, BlackBerry has now improved and replaced its new phone, the PRIV, with high-end specs and adding Android-based software to it while still keeping true to its originality that had always made the company so notable in the first place.
Originally announced in October of last year, the BlackBerry PRIV features nice high-end specs that allow it to take on other high-end phones of such quality. Featuring a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 64-bit processor, the phone can easily multitask while maintaining speed for anything you throw at it. The phones sleek 5.4-inch curved screen, has an AMOLED 2560 x 1440 resolution display featuring 540 ppi (pixel per inch). It also has 3 GB of RAM and has a 32 GB flash storage with expandable memory up to 2TB. BlackBerry’s PRIV also features an 18 MP-megapixel rear camera with a 2-megapixel front camera for all those selfies you would want to take. Shipping with Android’s 5.0 Lollipop operating system this phone is sure to have many Android and non-Android users taking a second glance. Although you could say that the overall feel and build quality could use a little work, the phones pretty capable of holding its own against other flagship devices. Although there is no word on when the PRIV will be available from the other carriers, T-Mobile has recently announced and confirmed that it will begin selling the PRIV both online and in-stores starting January 26th. Verizon should not be far behind with it recently gaining the FCC’s approval.