14 DAY TRIAL // The fact that BlackBerry Passport hasn’t been officially introduced by the Canadian company doesn’t seem to stop carriers from kicking off pre-orders for the upcoming smartphone.
TELUS is one of the first carriers to offer customers the option to secure their BlackBerry Passport devices by pre-ordering one through its online store.
The Passport is available for as low as $200 (€155) with 2-year agreements, but customers who don’t want to commit to a long-term contract can get it for $750 CAD ($675 USD / €525) outright.
We sincerely hope this is a mistake from TELUS’ part, as BlackBerry’s CEO stated a few days ago that the Passport would be available for purchase for $599 USD ($665 CAD / €465) off contract.
Even if John Chen mentioned that the price might be different depending on the country, the amount that Canadians have to pay without committing to a new contract is a bit higher than we have expected.
The reason why the BlackBerry Passport is more expensive than the suggested retail price might have something to do with the fact that the smartphone will be exclusively available through TELUS.
No other Canadian carrier will offer the Passport today, so customers who absolutely need to have it from day one will have no choice but to get it from TELUS.
According to BlackBerryOS, the Passport will be exclusive to TELUS in Canada for just one week, so those who are willing to wait seven more days might be able to get the smartphone slightly cheaper.
The Passport may sell for slightly cheaper at other Canadian carriers next week
More importantly, customers who favor carriers other than TELUS will only be able to get the BlackBerry Passport next week. However, pre-orders may probably kick off this week, but this has yet to be confirmed.
BlackBerry Passport will be officially introduced later today during a press event set to begin at 6am PDT / 9am EDT / 1pm GMT / 5pm GST.
The smartphone will be announced in three cities at the same time (London, Toronto and Dubai) and will go on sale immediately in a few locations.
More details on where and for how much you will be able to buy the BlackBerry Passport on day one will be revealed during the livestream, so stay tuned for more updates on the matter.
On a side note, the Passport may not be the only device to be announced by BlackBerry today, as rumors claim the company may also reveal another smartphone (BlackBerry Manitoba), a non-Playbook tablet, or a wearable device.