BlackBerry Priv officially available to pre-order in the US and Canada

A couple of days ago, BlackBerry temporarily showed the Priv as being available to pre-order in the US for $749. However, it's only today that pre-orders are officially starting, and the good news is that the handset doesn't actually cost that much.

Customers in the US can pre-order the BlackBerry Priv for $699, while folks in Canada have to pay 899 CAD (about $684) for it. The smartphone should start shipping on November 6, both in the US, and Canada. The Priv is not a CDMA handset, so it will not work on Verizon, Sprint, and US Cellular, but it is compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile.

As you may know, the Priv is BlackBerry's first Android-based smartphone, and is presented as a secure handset. It comes with a new BlackBerry app called DTEK, which reportedly "lets you know when your privacy could be at risk so you can take action to improve it," while at the same time offering access to the Android ecosystem. The Priv has a sliding QWERTY keyboard (a rarity these days), in addition to a 5.4-inch dual-curve Quad HD (1440 x 2560 pixel) display. Other features include LTE connectivity, a six-core Snapdragon 808 processor, 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of expandable internal memory, and a 3410 mAh battery. An 18 MP rear camera (with OIS and 4K video recording) and a 2 MP front-facing camera complete the specs list.

So, who's ready to pre-order the BlackBerry Priv?


sources: BlackBerry US, BlackBerry Canada