BlackBerry’s flagship Android smartphone, the Priv, will soon go on sale in the United States, as it has cleared the FCC hurdle. Three different versions of the device having model numbers STV100-1, STV100-3, and STV100-4 have been certified by the agency under the IDs L6ARHK210LW, L6ARHL210LW, and L6ARHM180LW.
Priv pre-registration starts today
FCC approval comes a day after the Priv was seen briefly on the official online store, revealing the prices of the unlocked models in the U.S. and Canada, among other details. The BlackBerry Priv will cost $750 and $949 in the U.S. and Canada, respectively. The site listed the shipping date of the device as Nov. 16. Carphone Warehouse in the U.K. and Rogers in Canada are among the retailers that are accepting pre-orders for the Priv. Interested buyers will be able to preorder the smartphone today, as per expectations.
The site also revealed the specifications of the gadget. The BlackBerry Priv runs on the powerful Snapdragon 808 SoC and has 5.4-inch display with a screen resolution of 2560×1440 at 540 DPI. The device has 3GB of RAM and a powerful 3410 mAh battery that can last up to 22.5 hours. The Priv has a rear camera of 18 MP and a front camera of 2 MP. The camera of the device offers features like 4K video at 30 fps, OIS, and Phase Detect Auto Focus.
Is the Priv the last device from BlackBerry?
Daniel Bader, editor-in-chief of MobileSyrup, predicts that the Priv will be BlackBerry’s last in-house device. Previously, BlackBerry CEO John Chen said if the company’s handset business did not turn profitable, then he will shut it down.
“If I cannot make money on handsets, I will not be in the handset business,” Chen said then. Later, he clarified that before taking such a step, he would first try all ways to make it profitable.
“I do think this is their final experiment. It has all the trappings of a last gasp,” Bader said.
The on-contract price of the phone is expected to be somewhere around $400, while it can also be bought outright for $950 in Canada. The Priv could be a good gamble at such a premium price point, believes Bader, adding that the hardware margins can be profitable if sold in high enough volumes and could help BlackBerry reboot its handset business.
