The BlackBerry Mercury is again in the news, thanks to a new leak. A screenshot of Android 7.0 Nougat running on the smartphone has been leaked, allegedly confirming a display with a resolution of 1620 x 1080 (420 ppi density), according to GSM Arena.
Powered by Snapdragon 625 SoC?
The leak came in the form of a tweet from known tipster Roland Quandt. In the comment section of the tweet, Quandt says the device is expected to be powered by the Snapdragon 625 SoC and is “highly likely” to be coming to Indonesia. Previous rumors had suggested that the Waterloo-based firm has powered the handset with the Snapdragon 821 chipset, says GSM Arena.
Here's a screenshot of Android 7.0 on the BlackBerry "Mercury" BBB100-x. 1620×1080 resolution 420dpi. pic.twitter.com/yoevL8IHc4
— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) December 29, 2016
A previous tweet by Quandt revealed that the Mercury has a model number of BBB100 and will be launched by Verizon in the United States. So far, most of the news revealed by the tipster has been accurate. We are fully certain that the Mercury will be offered exclusively by Verizon in the U.S.
Considering that BlackBerry’s first Android phone, the Priv, was exclusive to AT&T upon release, chances are that Verizon will get exclusivity for the new smartphone.
Other expected specs for the BlackBerry Mercury
The tech community will, in a few days, descend upon Las Vegas to take part in one of the major tech shows, CES 2017, which begins on Jan. 5 and runs through Jan. 8. It is rumored that the Canadian firm will unveil its new smartphone at the big event.
The Mercury, unlike BlackBerry’s most recent smartphone, the DTEK60, will feature BlackBerry’s iconic physical QWERTY keyboard that is quite reminiscent of its former flagship smartphones. The other rumored specifications of the device include a large battery, enough to get the device through two days of use, and a display of around 4.5 inches. According to the recent reports, the smartphone will come with 32 GB of internal storage and 3 GB of RAM.
Recently, the Canadian firm announced that it will not be manufacturing its devices. It has partnered with TCL, which will now manufacture and sell smartphones under the BlackBerry brand. But before ending its run in the smartphone market, the Canadian firm is expected to reveal one last Android-powered device, and there are good chances that it will be the Mercury.
However, nothing is confirmed, as BlackBerry has not revealed any plans to release one final device. So all this information must be taken with a grain of salt.
On Thursday, BlackBerry shares closed down 0.71% at $6.95. Year to date, the stock is down more than 25%, while in the last six months, it is up almost 5%.
