One of BlackBerry’s upcoming two smartphones previously reported to be in the works has been recently approved by the FCC. The device bears the model number BDD100-2 but the FCC’s documents also mention the “Krypton” moniker, which has been previously linked with a total of four different model numbers when the device passed through the Wi-Fi Alliance in late August. Those were the BBD100-1, BBD100-3, BBD100-6, and BBD100-2, though the FCC’s certificate only mentions the latter.
Reports from earlier this summer suggested that BlackBerry has two new smartphones in the works which are identified by the codenames “Juno” and “Krypton.” The Krypton is supposed to adopt a full-screen design, in that it won’t make use of a physical QWERTY keyboard like the BlackBerry KEYone does. Instead, the device has been rumored to sport a more conventional panel with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and should be driven by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset housing eight ARM Cortex-A53 CPU cores clocked at up to 2.0GHz, as well as the Adreno 506 GPU. The processor should work alongside 4GB of RAM and the device is said to make use of a 4,000mAh battery. Lastly, the smartphone should accommodate a fingerprint recognition sensor within its physical home butto, and is expected to run Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box.
The FCC’s documents don’t reveal any hardware specifications and make no mention of the other three model numbers previously associated with the codename Krypton. Nevertheless, the device is expected to be part of the company’s new Android-powered and keyboard-free lineup which currently includes models like the BlackBerry DTEK50, DTEK60, and BlackBerry Aurora. On the other hand, the Juno is presumed to be more similar to the BlackBerry KEYone and Priv. The former features a full QWERTY physical keyboard below an unconventional 4.5-inch panel with a resolution of 1620 x 1080, whereas the BlackBerry Priv conceals its physical keyboard under a 5.4-inch display by adopting a slide-out design. However, in terms of internal specifications including the SoC and RAM configuration, the BlackBerry Krypton “BBD100-2” appears more similar to the KEYone Black Edition. As to when the Krypton will be introduced, no firm details on the matter have yet made its way online.