Blackberry Mercury had popped into the scene a couple of months back, with leaked renders showing the design of the device. We didn’t get to see or hear anything about the specs of the Blackberry smartphone back then. Although we are still yet to get an official disclosure of the specification of the Blackberry flagship device, hands-on images of the device have surface at CES 2017 and we are bringing it to you thanks to Android Central.

It is likely that Blackberry will launch this as its last device before TCL takes the rein, having gotten license to produce and sell Blackberry phones globally. It’s not as if TCL is new to the Blackberry project, though. In actual fact, earlier Blackberry DTEK phones like the DTEK 50 and DTEK 60 were rebranded Alcatel Idol phones. TCL also owns the Alcatel brand.

A look at the images shows that the device code-named Mercury will indeed come with a QWERTY keyboard. So those who still cherish the physical keyboard will fall in love with this one. The design isn’t bad looking either, adopting a somewhat curved display and a thin build. While the edges are well chamfered at the bottom, it is sharp at the top. It has a rectangular shape which is long on the axis due to the physical keyboard but in its entirety, the device is smaller than a 5.5-inch device. The screen is even smaller, robbed off its size by the physical keyboard. Although Blackberry is yet to say the display size, earlier rumor places it at a meager 4.5 inches.

Despite the presence of a physical button, the display is a touchscreen one. There are three virtual capacitive keys at the bottom of the screen, one of which would be the home button. There is a fingerprint sensor embedded underneath the space bar button on the QWERTY keyboard and it is likely it holds other security features aside unlocking the device.

At the rear, the back is said to have a soft feel which very likely isn’t made from metal. The rear camera is tilted to the left top edge of the device with the dual-tone LED flash sitting by its side.

On the software terrain, the Blackberry Mercury runs Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box and will be Blackberry’s first device to do so when it is launched. Apart from that, nothing else is known about other software features the phone will come with as well as the hardware features we are to expect. Blackberry is also yet to disclose a launch date or pricing detail for the device but it is likely to drop around MWC 2017 which starts next month in Barcelona.

Read More: TCL Gets License to Produce & Sell Blackberry Phones Globally

Other features that can be spotted on the Blackberry Mercury hands-on images include a USB Type-C charging port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and what looks like a down-facing set of speakers. On the left side is the power button, while the volume rocker sits at the right side just above the convenience key.

As a recap, the Blackberry Mercury is rumored to launch powered by the Snapdragon 821 chipset and come with a 4.5-inch 1080 pixels display . The flagship is also expected to cram a large battery touted to last up to 2 days of regular usage.

(image source)

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Just when the days of Blackberry smartphones look like they were numbered, a ray of hope has emerged which could see the ailing brand returning back to store shelves and users’ hands globally. This is because Chinese smartphone maker TCL, owner of the Alcatel brand, has signed an agreement with Blackberry which would see TCL use the Blackberry brand name in the production and sales of mobile phones globally.

Reuters reports that the agreement was announced Thursday and the license covers the global production and sale of Blackberry branded mobile phones in all countries except India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Indonesia. Indonesia is the largest market for BlackBerry phones and in September Blackberry signed an agreement with Indonesia’s BB Merah Putih, which licenses it to produce and sell and BlackBerry phones locally.

Read More: TCL’s Upcoming Phone Certified On TENAA: Features Dual Front & Rear Cameras!

Blackberry, owned by Research in Motion (RIM), had announced in September that it is discontinuing it smobile phones production division, instead would become a purely software company. Also recall that Blackberry had returned tried to revive the brand by producing Android phones and that led to the launch of the DTEK 50 which was closely followed by the DTEK 60. It is interesting to note that both Blackberry DTEK phones were produced by TCL for the Canadian company. The phones were in fact earlier released under the Alcatel Idol brand in China before they are outed as Blackberry phones in the international market.

It seems likely, though, that Blackberry would still still be involved in the design and manufacturing process so that it meets its standard. What lies ahead for this new license agreement is unknown but it is hoped that we’ll start seeing a resurgence of the highly revered Blackberry brand sometime soon.

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