Blackberry Priv is now on sale in the UK

The Blackberry Priv has a slightly curved 5.4inch Quad HD display

BLACKBERRY PRIV – the Canadian company's first Android smartphone – is now on sale in the UK.

 

Blackberry's first Android smartphone is now on sale across the UK.

The Android-powered Priv has a physical keyboard, like the Blackberry Curves of yore. The physical keyboard is also a rarity on modern Android smartphones.

Out of the box, the Priv looks like any other flagship phone until you slide the keyboard out from the bottom, like a desk drawer. 

It's an engineering feat given that the Blackberry phone still feels thin, although it is slightly thicker than Samsung and Apple's flagships.

 

BlackBerry devices are known for their security and privacy protections – and the Priv is no different.

Amongst the new additions to Google's Android operating system, the Canadian firm has included some of its famous privacy features. 

The Priv ships with an app that quickly rates your device security based on factors, such as whether you've enabled a passcode. 

The BlackBerry app also identifies other apps that grab personal information. I saw that Facebook has accessed my location 41 times in the past week, for example.

 



BlackBerry devices are known for their security and privacy protections – and Blackberry Priv is no different



Another headline feature of the Priv is its impressive battery life with Blackberry promising a staggering 22.5 hours of mixed use.

The Priv boasts a large 5.4inch display, which is slightly curved on both sides, similar to Samsung's Galaxy S6 Edge devices. 

Slide a toolbar from the side to access your calendar, messages and contacts. 

The email app is also more sophisticated than most; it supports rich-text formatting, such as italics and colours, when composing messages.

 

BlackBerry also offers icons that serve as shortcuts to frequent tasks, such as composing a message, viewing alarms or checking data usage. Windows phones have a similar feature, but like BlackBerry 10, few people use them.

The latest Blackberry smartphone, which sports a sharp 18-megapixel camera and runs on Android 5.1.1, will carry a £579.99 price tag SIM free.

The cheapest monthly cost rings in at £32.50 if you don’t mind paying out a little more for the handset upfront – some £79.99.

When will Blackberry Priv be available?

Carphone Warehouse is taking pre-orders now and according to the retailer’s online store it expects to ship orders starting 6 November 2015.

Which networks will carry Blackberry Priv?

At the time of writing the BlackBerry Priv will be available on O2, Vodafone, EE and Carphone Warehouse’s very own iD network.

 

The physical Blackberry keyboard slides away into the device

How big is Blackberry Priv screen?

The BlackBerry Priv sports a 5.4-inch QHD display (the Q stands for quad) and delivers a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels (540ppi).

Which version of Android will Blackberry Priv be running?

The BlackBerry Priv is the first ever Android-toting smartphone from the Canadian phone maker.

Out of the box you’ll find Android 5.1.1 Lollipop - but with Android 6.0 Marshmallow on the horizon, it remains to be seen how soon the update will arrive on the Blackberry Priv.

BlackBerry has also built something it calls DTEK into its Android packaging. DTEK offers an extra layer of security to the user, taking care of all your privacy concerns.

 

BlackBerry Priv processor and memory

The Priv runs a 1.8GHz dual core (+ 1.44GHz quad core) Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 SoC. It also packs a regulation 3GB of RAM.

What about Blackberry Priv camera?

The Priv carries a 18-megapixel camera on the rear (there have been rumours of optical image stabilisation and 4K UHD video recording capabilities too).

On the front you’ll find a 5-megapixel snapper for selfies.

 

How long does Blackberry Priv battery last?

Until we get our hands on a device to review we don’t know for sure, but the specifications indicate a pleasingly healthy 3,410mAh capacity (put in perspective the Samsung Edge clocks in at 2,600mAh, while the iPhone 6S only carries 1715mAh). 

Additional technical specifications:

Device size: 147 (184 when opened) x 77.2 x 9.4mm

Device weight: 192g

Internal memory: 32GB

Removable memory: MicroSD up to 2TB