From tomorrow, PRIV by BlackBerry — the first-ever BlackBerry smartphone powered by Android — will be available in Australia. “While PRIV will provide a choice in operating system to new and existing customers,” Blackberry said in a statement, “the company remains committed to the BlackBerry 10 operating system, and will continue to release platform updates focused on security and privacy enhancements”.
The focus of the PRIV is “building on BlackBerry’s legacy of security and keeping private its customers’ data”, Blackberry states.
Before you take the plunge, check out Gizmodo’s review of the PRIV from back in November 2015 — just before the US release.
The phone features a 5.6-inch curved OLED display, 22.5 hours of battery life, and a solid 18MP camera. The slide out physical QWERTY keyboard is the defining and stand our feature of the PRIV.
The PRIV will be available from 4 February 2016 to Optus Business customers for AUD $995 (excluding GST), and Optus online will offer a range of post-paid plans for consumer customers.
To coincide with the release, Blackberry have produced a series of “how to” videos for a range of functions utilising the Android platform.