BlackBerry has been around for a long time. This Canada-based smartphone manufacturer was once one of the largest and most respected mobile manufacturers in the world, but they managed to get behind in the pecking order. BlackBerry has been waiting for too long to introduce their BB10 OS, and as a result, the BB10-powered devices didn’t really sell all that well. The company has been faced with serious financial losses, and has decided to release an Android-powered smartphone last year, the BlackBerry Priv. This smartphone has been selling quite well according to reports, and BlackBerry actually plans to release at least two more Android-based phones this year.
That being said, the Priv has been available in various markets across the world, but hasn’t been available in India, until now. BlackBerry has introduced their Priv handset to the Indian consumers, and has revealed its availability info. The BlackBerry Priv features a 5.43-inch QHD (2560 x 1440) AMOLED display with Corning’s Gorilla Glass 4 on top of it. The device also packs in 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of internal storage (expandable up to 2TB via a microSD card). This handset is fueled by the Snapdragon 808 64-bit hexa-core processor, and an Adreno 418 GPU is also available here. The 3,410mAh battery is also included in this package, and same can be said about Fast Charging. The 18-megapixel OIS shooter (f/2.2 6P lens, PDAF) is placed on the back of the BlackBerry Priv, and a 5-megapixel snapper (f/2.8 aperture, 1.7 micron pixel size) can be found up front. Android 5.1.1 Lollipop comes pre-installed here with some of BlackBerry’s additions. The Priv measures 147 (184 when it’s opened) x 77.2 x 9.4mm, while it weighs 192 grams.
There aren’t many Android-powered devices that sport full physical QWERTY keyboards, especially not high-end ones. BlackBerry Priv tries to combine the power of Android, with BlackBerry’s distinctive physical keyboard, and judging by the reactions, this was a good move by the company. The BlackBerry Priv comes in Black color option only, and it is priced at Rs. 62,990 ($925) in India, while it will be available starting from January 30th, in case you’re interested.
