This news should delight BlackBerry fans. The new BlackBerry Classic is now available for pre-ordering at BlackBerry's online store. For American buyers, the device is priced at $449 for a GSM unlocked version with support for LTE (bands 1/2/4/5/7/13/17/25) and HSPA (bands 1/2/4/5/6).
The Classic is BlackBerry's fourth smartphone offering this year. It joins other 2014 releases such as the Z3, the P'9983, and the BlackBerry Passport. Although BlackBerry is already accepting pre-orders for the Classic right now, the device will actually be officially launched on December 17th this year.
As seen on its pre-order page, the BlackBerry Classic is only available in a few select markets. Also, the device will not work on Sprint, Verizon Wireless, and US Cellular networks.
Although the device is already present in BlackBerry's online store, none of its specifications have been officially published yet. Still, with the abundance of leaked images and specs found on the Internet, some may already have an idea of what the BlackBerry is all about.
First, the looks -- based on leaked images, the BlackBerry Classic is very much reminiscent of the BlackBerry Q10, Bold, and Curve models. It features a physical QWERTY keyboard and a fairly sized display screen. The rear panel appears to have a textured design, while on the base of the device, speaker cutouts run along the bottom-facing exterior.
Other notable physical attributes that can be gleamed from the leaked images include a sleep/wake button on the top side of the device, a MicroSD slot (next to the SIM tray on the side), and a camera lens housed in a horizontal strip.
As for the specs, these are the (unconfirmed) details:
The last few years have been tough on the formerly dominant BlackBerry. But the company is optimistic about its two-year turnaround plan, which is currently underway. BlackBerry certainly has been busy recently. This week, it is introducing BES12, the newest version of its mobile device management software for enterprise users. And even if the BlackBerry Classic will not be flying off the shelves until next month, initial sales of the company's Passport smartphone have been promising.
Want to explore more BlackBerry devices? You can start comparing BlackBerry phones and plans here.
