BlackBerry Priv released today. The verdict? Not bad

BlackBerry shimmies over to Android with high-end keyboard-toting device

BlackBerry has released the BlackBerry Priv smartphone, its first Android device as it looks to reinvigorate handset sales.

The device is based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 and comes with three gigabytes of memory. Unlocked using a picture passcode, BlackBerry claims its key selling point is the additional security it provides on top of a stock Android Lollipop distribution, as well as built-in physical keyboard. Features carried over from its BlackBerry 10 operating system include the Messaging Hub, a repository of emails, Tweets, Facebook and other communications.

Physically, it's a hefty 192 grams and 9.4 millimetres thick. Its key technical features include a massive 3,410mAh battery - twice the capacity of the 1,715mAh battery in Apple's iPhone 6s - which enables it to be fully used continuously for two days. In contrast, the iPhone 6 often has to be charged up throughout the day.

Its 32GB of storage is also twice as much as the base iPhone 6s, and this can be expanded via a microSD slot to up to 2TB, if you've got the money.

It's camera bears an 18 mega-pixel sensor on the rear, paired with optical image stabilisation (OIS), two-tone flash and a 4K video-shooting capability.

However, overall, it scores relatively poorly on Antutu benchmarks, coming in at 49,674 on Antutu compared with the Galaxy S6 Edge's 70,075. Reviewers of the pre-production models also report some bugs which may or may not have been ironed out in production models.

The highly specified device also comes with a price to match: starting at £549 it will go up against the latest Samsung Galaxy devices and, of course, the Apple iPhone.

The Priv has already been reviewed by Computing's sister publication The Inquirer, with reviewer Carly Page giving the £549 device the thumbs up: "Gorgeous screen, excellent camera, stellar battery life, great keyboard, solid design," she concluded. However, BlackBerry's Android implementation still has a number of bugs to iron out, she warned.

Furthermore, BlackBerry's relationship with the most important channel to market, the mobile operators, doesn't appear to have been mended, with none of the major operators in the UK offering the BlackBerry Priv at launch. Buyers will therefore have to lash out the full price directly with BlackBerry in order to get their hands on one - or Carphone Warehouse, the only major outlet offering deals on the new device.