The BlackBerry Priv, though nostalgic of BlackBerry’s glory days, isn’t having the best time wading the waters of the current tech scene. The phone hasn’t sold well at AT&T, but BlackBerry is committed to giving the phone Android Marshmallow. There are some out there who aren’t crazy about carrier-locked phones and would rather pick up an unlocked device to use that will cost less out of pocket than carrier-locked phones. Verizon is having a deal right now that’ll let you get the BlackBerry Priv for $300 off ($720-$300=$420), but this BlackBerry Priv deal at eBay is even sweeter than the new Verizon deal.
What is the deal, you say? It’s a $299.99 offer for BlackBerry’s first Android smartphone. The device features a 5.4-inch OLED display with a Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440p) screen resolution, the hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor (considered mid-range), 3GB of LPDDR4 RAM, 32GB of storage, a 2MP front camera, 18MP back camera, 3,410mAh battery, running Android 5.1.1 Lollipop out of the box. BlackBerry has updated the BlackBerry Priv to Android 6.0 Marshmallow, so you should have Google’s latest ready for an update when you open the box (at least T-Mobile variants should, anyway). Earlier, the BlackBerry Priv was offered for $380 at eBay, but this deal takes another $80 off nothing short of a stellar phone on the market.
The hexa-core processor on the Priv isn’t necessarily the best processor ever, considering that the Snapdragon 810 and 820 are both far better in the performance department, but the 18MP back camera has done really well on the market according to mobile photography experts. The 3,410mAh battery means that you should get well over a day of battery life out of the Priv. We don’t think BlackBerry gave it the best name, but it seems to have its share of nostalgic fans regardless of its name.
Two things are of note, though: the Priv features an OLED display, from the same panel family as the displays on Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, and it features a Productivity Edge that, as you could guess, matches the edge on the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge, S6 edge Plus, and the Galaxy S7 edge. As you can expect, there’s the QWERTY slide-out keyboard that makes it special, though I fear that using the keyboard and sliding it in and out of its slot way too many times may result in a needed repair job at some point in the immediate future. Perhaps this is the reason behind why BlackBerry decided to create two follow-up Android phones that don’t have the QWERTY slide-out keyboard.
If you’re a BlackBerry fan who doesn’t need a Verizon phone, we think you should go ahead and capitalize on this deal before it runs out. We’ll see some more discounts, sure, but $300 for what may be one of the only Android smartphones BlackBerry ever makes is one sweet deal.
Head on over to the source below and grab your piece of Android history.
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