Starting this December, all customers who trade in their iPhone smartphones for the square-screened, keyboard-equipped BlackBerry Passport will get up to $400 (depending on the iPhone model they trade in) and a $150 gift card, according to a statement published by BlackBerry Inc. on November 24th, cited by Business Week.
BlackBerry – formerly RIM (Research in Motion) – was one of the most popular smartphone maker in the United States until losing its market share to Android-powered handsets. Now it focuses on trying to recover a part of its market share, targeting especially on business and government users with its wide screen Passport model. The smartphone has returned to having a physical keyboard, making it easier to use for some, and has a quite convincing configuration. Besides the trade-in deal, BlackBerry has also announced a Black Friday sale, new financing options, and new colors for the BlackBerry Passport.
Speaking of the configuration – here are the specifications of the latest BlackBerry Passport, released this September:
- 2.26 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core, paired with an Adreno 330 GPU
- 3GB RAM, 32Gb internal storage that can be extended with a MicroSD up to 128 GB
- a 4.5″ IPS LCD screen with a 1440×1440 resolution and an approximately 453 ppi pixel density
- Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3, multi-touch with up to 10 fingers recognized
- 13 megapixel back camera with a LED flash, capable of recording 1080p video at 60 fps
- 2 megapixel front camera, capable of recording 720p video
- running BlackBerry OS 10.3
- dimensions: 5.04″ x 3.56″ x 0.37″ (128 x 90.3 x 9.3 mm), 6.91 oz (196 grams)
- fitted with a 3-row capacitive BlackBerry keyboard, QWERTY
- non-removable 3450 mAh battery, assuring a talk time of up to 23 hours (3G), a standby time of up to 444 hours (3G) and music play up to 84 hours
- connectivity: HSPA, LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0 A2DP LE, NFC
BlackBerry has different pricing options for its Passport models in various colors: the black model can be purchased at their shop for $499, the white one can be pre-ordered for $599, while the red one will cost $699 once it becomes available.