The BlackBerry Z30 isn't exactly a new kid on the block, having launched on Verizon back in November, but to date the big red carrier has been the only way for U.S. consumers to easily get their hands on the BB10 phablet. That's changing today, because BlackBerry has announced that it's now offering a GSM unlocked version of the Z30 in its online store.
Priced at $499, the unlocked BlackBerry Z30 features largely the same spec list as its CDMA-based brother. That means that it's packing a 5-inch 720p Super AMOLED display, 8-megapixel rear and 2-megapixel front cameras, a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 16GB of storage, LTE connectivity and a 2880mAh battery. One big difference with this unlocked model is that it's GSM-based, meaning that it'll play nicely with AT&T and T-Mobile here in the U.S.
It's always nice to have the option of buying unlocked smartphones direct from the manufacturer, just like Sony has been doing for quite a while with its Xperia handsets. That's certainly not the way that most U.S. consumers buy their handsets, but for those of us that are more fanatical when it comes to smartphones, being able to skip the carriers entirely and get our hardware straight from the source is great.
If you're interested in snagging an unlocked BlackBerry Z30 to call your own, you can hit up the Shop BlackBerry link below. Meanwhile, those of you on the fence should check out our two-part video review of this BlackBerry 10-powered phone/tablet hybrid, which can be found here and here.
Via ShopBlackBerry: BlackBerry Z30
