BlackBerry CEO John Chen previously said that his company is prepping two new Android phones for release in 2016, and now details on both devices as well as a third phone have leaked out.
First up its the Neon, a full-touch device with a 5.2-inch 1920x1080 display. The Neon’s spec list also includes 13-megapixel rear and 8-megapixel front cameras, octa-core Snapdragon 617 processor, 3GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and a 2610mAh battery that supports QuickCharge 2.0. All of those features are wrapped in a body with an aluminum frame and soft touch back.
The Neon will reportedly launch in July or August with a competitive price tag.
Next up is the Argon. This device is a step up spec-wise over the Neon, offering a 5.5-inch 2560x1440 display, quad-core Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, 21-megapixel rear and 8-megapixel front cameras, and a 3000mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0. Also said to be included is a fingerprint reader — which would be a first for a BlackBerry Android phone — and USB Type-C port. One thing that the Argon has in common with the Neon, though, is that it’s also a full-touch device.
The Argon will reportedly launch in October.
The third phone detailed in today’s leak is the Mercury, a device that reportedly has a candybar-style (like the Classic) physical keyboard. Sitting above the Mercury’s display is said to be a 4.5-inch display with a 3:2 aspect ratio. Inside of the Mercury’s aluminum shell is said to be an octa-core Snapdragon 625 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a 3400mAh battery. Rounding out the spec list are 18-megapixel rear and 8-megapixel front cameras.
Unfortunately for physical keyboard enthusiasts, the Mercury is the farthest out of these three phones, with a release that’s currently slated for Q1 2017. To help you pass the time until then, you can view a leaked render of it that was recently posted by Mondo BlackBerry.
The BlackBerry Priv is a nice device, but it hasn’t put up huge sales, likely due to both its high price and competition from the likes of Apple, Samsung, and others. We’ll have to wait until the Neon, Argon, and Mercury are released before we know what kind of sales numbers they’ll produce, but one thing that’s likely is that the phones will likely face the same stiff competition that the Priv has been putting up with.
What do you think of these rumored BlackBerry devices? Could they help BlackBerry regain some of its former smartphone glory?