14 DAY TRIAL // A modern BlackBerry phone is still nowhere to be seen, but according to a new report, the long wait could finally come to an end at some point this year.
As everybody knows already, BlackBerry has a hard time dealing with the strong competition in the mobile market, but a company called OnwardMobility decided to give the Canadian phone maker another chance last year when it agreed with a partnership to launch a 5G device.
And while no new information in this regard has been provided, the cited report confirms a 5G BlackBerry phone is projected to go live this year.
The good news is the plan hasn’t changed since the August 2020 announcement, but the bad news is that no further details have been offered.
Launch later this year
So right now, what we do know is that the new BlackBerry device would sport 5G support and a QWERTY keyboard, something that has set aside the classic BlackBerry models from the rest of the crowd.
“BlackBerry is thrilled OnwardMobility will deliver a BlackBerry 5G smartphone device with physical keyboard, leveraging our high standards of trust and security synonymous with our brand. We are excited that customers will experience the enterprise and government level security and mobile productivity the new BlackBerry 5G smartphone will offer,” said John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO, BlackBerry, back in August.
Will a QWERTY keyboard make any sense in 2021 when everybody is interested in a larger screen estate? That’s hard to say, but there’s a chance the new BlackBerry phone would be aimed mostly at nostalgic users who were big fans of the brand back in the days when BlackBerry was dominating the mobile market with excellent devices and state of the art security services.
For now, it’s better not to hold your breath for the new BlackBerry device, despite this new confirmation that the 5G model is coming later this year.