BlackBerry had announced that it will be holding an event in India on January 15 to launch the BlackBerry Classic smartphone. As assured the smartphone has been launched today for the Indian market for a pricing of Rs . As the name suggests, the Classic features the same old traditional QWERTY keyboard as on the typical BlackBerry smartphones. BlackBerry appears to have launched this smartphone to regain its lost market share as it was struggling in the smartphone race with the competition from other firms.
Camera and Internal Storage
The BlackBerry Classic features an 8 MP primary camera at its back accompanied with LED flash. Up front, there is a 2 MP selfie snapper that can facilitate in video conferencing and in clicking attractive self portrait shots respectively. The primary snapper can click decent snaps provided there is enough ambient light. This should be sufficient for the mid range smartphone and hence, we can say it has an acceptable imaging department.
On the storage front, there is 16 GB of native storage capacity that should be ample enough to store most of the content. There is a micro SD card slot as well on the BlackBerry Classic that will help in expanding the storage space up to 128 GB that will definitely house all the stuff that the users want to store on their device.
Processor and Battery
The BlackBerry Classic is powered by a dual core 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 processor and this chipset is paired with 2 GB of RAM. The processor is dated as the handset’s predecessor also came with. Also, the chipset makes use of an Adreno 225 graphics unit that should be capable of handling the graphic requirements without much difficulty. Despite using a dated processor, we can expect the smartphone to render a decent performance smashing through the capabilities of its challengers.
A 2,515 mAh battery powers the BlackBerry Classic that is capable of pumping in up to 17 hours of talk time, 348 hours of standby time and 14 hours of video playback when used over 3G networks. These figures indicate that the smartphone can let users to experience all the activities without any battery concerns.
Display and Features
The BlackBerry Classic features a 3.5 inch touch screen display carrying a resolution of 720×720 pixels that results in a pixel density of 294 pixels per inch. Also, the screen is layered with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection to keep it away from scratches and damage.
Under this display are the Call, Menu, Back and End buttons and an optical touchpad in the middle for navigating. Also, there is a QWERTY keyboard below these keys and shortcuts such as a long press on A to access the Address Book and Q for silent mode.
The BlackBerry Classic runs on BlackBerry 10 3.1 operating system similar to the one on the BlackBerry Passport. Notably, the platform supports using Android applications on the Classic, but it is limited to those apps on the Amazon Appstore alone. There is support for the BlackBerry World applications as well. But the square aspect ratio of the screen will make the Android applications look odd on the square screen. Furthermore, Classic comes with BlackBerry Assistant that is similar to the Siri or Google Now virtual assistants.
Comparison
The BlackBerry Classic smartphone will be a challenger to mid rangers such as HTC Desire 820Q, Samsung Galaxy A5, Sony Xperia Z1 Compact and others.
Key Specs
| Model | BlackBerry Classic |
| Display | 3.5 inch, 720×720 |
| Processor | 1.5 GHz Dual Core Snapdragon S4 |
| RAM | 2 GB |
| Internal Storage | 16 GB, Expandable up to 128 GB |
| OS | BlackBerry 10 3.1 |
| Camera | 8 MP/ 2 MP |
| Battery | 2,515 mAh |
| Price | Rs |
What we Like
- Physical keyboard
- Support for Android apps
Price and Comparison
The BlackBerry Classic priced at Rs is a definitely a killer smartphone that has the potential for BlackBerry to come back with a bang. The vendor has merged new technologies and old traditions in the Classic to make it successful among the BlackBerry loyalists and to lure in new fans. The phone includes a compact screen, snappy hardware and an acclaimed design BlackBerry device. We hope this smartphone can bring back the old charm for BlackBerry smartphones.
