BlackBerry Launches U.S. Preorders for $699 Priv Android Slider Phone

BlackBerry’s Priv will start shipping in the United States on November 6th, and you can preorder the Android smartphone with its slide-out keyboard beginning right now for $699. That’s a bit less than the $750 figure we saw only a couple days ago, but it’s still more expensive than or, at best, at parity with a number of fantastic Android flagships like the Nexus 6P, Galaxy Note 5, Moto X, and others.

For that price, you get a curved 5.4-inch Quad HD display, Snapdragon 808 processor, 32GB of storage, 3GB of RAM, an 18-megapixel camera, and that physical keyboard. The Priv also contains a pretty massive 3,410 mAh battery that BlackBerry says is good for over 22 hours of mixed use.

The Priv won’t work on Verizon, Sprint, or US Cellular, according to BlackBerry, so your options among major US carriers are pretty much just AT&T and T-Mobile. Aside from all the Android apps you’d expect, BlackBerry is also putting big emphasis on its own software (BlackBerry Hub) and security / privacy with the Priv. A built-in tool, DTEK, will constantly monitor your phone’s OS and apps for any security risks. The camera also sounds decent, features optical image stabilization, and is “certified by Schneider-Kreuznach,” if that means anything to you whatsoever. We’re actually pretty excited to check out the Priv in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for more.

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