BlackBerry Leap Mid-Ranger Is Official, Promises 25-Hour Battery Life
Last week, we told you that the first live images showcasing the elusive BlackBerry Rio or Leap had leaked in the wild.
Why do we call it elusive? Well, word about this particular smartphone emerged ever since last year, but rumors related to it quickly died down, leaving us to wonder when the Canadian company would roll out the new handset.
Then a few weeks back, a report came in saying that the device maker would launch the Rio device under the Leap moniker. And this is exactly what happened today when the company officially announced the Leap.
Meet BlackBerry's latest touch-based smartphone, the Leap
Following the trend of mid-rangers coming with decent specifications, BlackBerry has bundled the new Leap with a 5-inch HD display (720p resolution) and 294ppi.
Under the hood, the Blackberry Leap is powered by quite an outdated chip, the Snapdragon S4 Plus which takes advantage of a 1.5GHz dual-core Krait CPU fitted with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage (microSD allows for memory expansion up to 128GB).
The Leap comes equipped with a main 8MP auto-focus camera with LED flash, which can record 1080p videos at 30fps and also enjoys the services of a 5x digital zoom.
The new smartphone takes advantage of the company’s latest BlackBerry 10.3.1 out of the box, which brings several new features to the table, like the BlackBerry Assistant or the ability to download your favorite Android apps from the Amazon Appstore.
The updated OS also adds new camera features including HDR (when sharp contrast is detected) or enhanced Time shift mode (when faces are in view).
The phone measures 144 x 72.8 x 9.5 mm / 5.5 x 2.8 x 0.37 inches, so it’s not the sleekest you’ll see around. It tips the scales at 170 g / 0.37 lbs.
The new phone’s life cycle is sustained by a 2,800 mAh non-removable battery, which BlackBerry says is good for 25 hours of continuous use.
BlackBerry also promises enhanced security to keep things private while using the handset, which is characteristic of the company’s products.
Anyhow, the Canadian device maker hasn't said anything about when we can expect to see the Leap start shipping out or for what price. Nevertheless, if you are interested, you can go ahead and register on the official BlackBerry website.
