14 DAY TRIAL // BlackBerry is preparing to release the BlackBerry KEYone in the US, and in preparation of this, the company has removed the Priv and a number of other smartphones from its website in the US and Canada.
BlackBerry released the Priv back in November 2015 and it was the company’s first smartphone running Android and focusing on security features. The phone is equipped with a classic slide-out BlackBerry keyboard that wasn’t very popular among consumers.
The company seems to have pulled the Priv from its online store in the US and Canada, and posted discounts for a number of smartphones during the May Sale. The DTEK50 received a 70% price cut and sells for $229, while the DTEK60 has a price of $460.
Still, US owners of Priv phones can still get accessories from BlackBerry’s official online store. BlackBerry currently discounted accessories like hard-shells, leather and flip cases, as well as headphones.
BlackBerry Priv still available in Europe
It’s also worth mentioning that BlackBerry seems to sell the PRIV in online stores in Europe, customers from Germany, France and the UK can purchase the device for a price starting at £294 or €342, depending on the country.
It’s unclear when BlackBerry will pull the Priv from its stores in Europe, especially since the BlackBerry KEYone is available in select locations in the UK, while pre-orders should start shipping later this month.
The KEYone has a price of £499 in the UK and is BlackBerry’s latest smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard and fingerprint sensor embedded in the keys. It comes with a 4.5-inch IPS LCD display with 1620 x 1080 pixel resolution with 3:2 aspect ratio and runs Snapdragon 625 SoC, with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, with the option to add 2TB using a microSD card. Rear camera capacity reaches 12MP on the smartphone, while the battery capacity is 3,505mAh with Quick Charge 3.0.