[ray689]

They were indicating a pkb device for sure, yes. But is that the Mercury, or plans for another?

BlackBerry muddied the waters by calling the Mercury the last in-house device.

Like I've said so many times, anything Chen says should never be taken seriously. He continuously sends the wrong message leaving BlackBerry to do damage control. There is one physical keyboard device and TCL will unveil it at CES is my belief.

[BB-JAM215]

...BlackBerry muddied the waters by calling the Mercury the last in-house device.

The words "last in-house device" did not originate with BlackBerry. They were put to John Chen as a question and since it was already an in-house design, he said something like "maybe we can call it that".

The story got reported as "John Chen promises last in-houses device".

Marty Beard later said more than once that BlackBerry was no longer in the hardware business and that people misunderstood.

Lets hope it will all become perfectly clear on January 4th.

[tiada nama1]

Maybe both of them(tcl and blackberry) will produce pkb...one flagship and one midrange(821 and 625)...greenbench shows 625..so tcl is 625....821 stil cannot be sure because no proof yet

Blackberry leap

[UrbanGlowCam]

If you look at the Tweets going around from TCL employees, they keep teasing new BlackBerry(s) with a connection to the "legacy" devices, which sounds like might also be on display.

The whole #TheNewBlackBerry sounds like they're also going through an identity change or rebranding with TCL but that's just speculation on my part.

Once again we wait for details on a new era for BlackBerry. This time, I hope it's successful and TCL can help them continue to put out good products.

[ardakca]

Not. Even. Close. Classic had internals of a 2012 Galaxy S3, which was already a year old in 2013, let alone 2014. 625 is a 2016 SoC, and PDAdb is pointing to it being upgraded to the 626, which is a speedbump optimization.

Price wise you are absolutely incorrect. Hardened S4 chip in 2014 probably cost the same amount as a SD625 in 2017.

Anyways, like any other product on the market, if overpriced Mercury is doomed to fail also. I hope they price it reasonably. I am not talking about giving it for free but 599 for a mid range. C'mon.

[aespix]

I don't know what you guys are expecting ,

I don't buy into the 821 chipset , it will probably have the 625 and priced over 500.

It's a niche product and they not targeting the masses but the blackberry purist, it's designed to bring back a certain nostalgia that once was.

You a purist? You a keyboard junky? If not clearly this isn't for you.

Price will be expensive , expecting this to be about 500 usd.

It doesn't matter if it doesn't sell well, will only produce about 100 000 units or so because that's pretty much what the priv got.

[pookpooi]

Either give me 626 or 821, just don't give me 625/820. Yes, I know they're (625/626, 820/821) the same chip with different clock speed.

[japsuki]

The ideal scenario, for me, is to do what the giants are doing -- release 2 versions, a Mercury lite and a Mercury expensive... or something like that.

[anon(9742832)]

You are paying for a low volume, custom run of a niche device. If $550-$600 is too much for a mid-range pkb device, then stick with a slab.

Did you have to stick a pin in his balloon?....LOL

[ardakca]

So much ignorance here. I just can't bear it. How would anyone here know this device will be a limited run?
Moreover just to let you enlighten. Xiaomi Mi Mix is a limited run phone. It costs around 600 in China. I won't even upset myself writing down its specs and the tech inside it.

Thank God TCL is a Chinese manufacturer so that the �but they paid higher for internal parts because blablabla� cult will be left behind. How less do you think a company pays per unit if it orders more parts? 300 $? 200 $? I really wonder what are your thoughts?
Plus, TCL orders the common internals in bulk. They don't say �hey hi I will just build mercury Can you wrap me up a limited run purposed 100 k chips? Thanks.�

[ardakca]

The ideal scenario, for me, is to do what the giants are doing -- release 2 versions, a Mercury lite and a Mercury expensive... or something like that.

That would be great.

Here is to create more uncertainity.

Maybe the Silver version has the SD821.

The black one the Reddit poster saw is the common version with the SD625.

Highly unlikely but making things up is very fun.

[conite]

So much ignorance here. I just can't bear it. How would anyone here know this device will be a limited run?

Because the market for a pkb phone is limited. Probably only in the 6 figures.

But that's just the opinion of an ignorant person like myself.

[ardakca]

Because the market for a pkb phone is limited. Probably only in the 6 figures.

But that's just the opinion of an ignorant person like myself.

Please don't pick out one sentence and be offended. Xiaomi Mi Mix is a limited run phone (announced that way) with
-highest specs (6 GB of Ram, 256 GB internal storage)
-fingerprint sensor
-ceramic chassis
-piezoelectric (whatever) ear piece
-6.4" custom made sharp edge broken QHD display
-a high resolution sound driver
-a very very expensive employee who designed the phone.
-590 $ price tag.

Internals of the mercury won't be limited run so are Mi Mix's. The ram, the SoC, the camera sensors etc etc. are not solely made for the mercury. As you might also agree on, TCL may order these internals cheaper than BlackBerry or such since they are the 4th largest manufacturer?

So the big write downs would be the screen and the keyboard. I really don't believe these two will add 150-200 $ in a world a Chinese manufacturer can release the aforementioned smartphone for 590 $. Even the DTEK 60 came for 499 $, BlackBerry and TCL profited both from that price.

So eventhough I still think 499 is expensive for a mid range I can suck it up for a niche device as you said. But more than that, I find it highly opportunistic in a bad way.

My 0.02 $.

And sorry if I offended you in anyway. Take care and happy holiday.

[Matty]

Phonearena just reported the following.

"The BlackBerry Mercury will reportedly be powered by the Snapdragon 821 chipset, which includes a quad-core CPU and the Adreno 530 GPU. A large battery with enough juice to run the phone two days on a single charge is expected to be inside. The screen-size, shortened by the physical QWERTY, is said to measure 4.5-inches. A fingerprint scanner will be embedded in the space bar. This will be the first 'Berry to include the Biometric reader."

Please, please let this be true. The only thing holding me back from purchasing this phone are the middling specs. I'll gladly pay a premium for an actual 2017 Blackberry phone with a great camera and top-tier specs.

Obviously none of use can say for 100% that its false because its all rumours BUT some information get leaker for MUCH more credible sources. As @ToniCipriani said, PhoneArena stated that "This will be the first 'Berry to include the Biometric reader.".

This is already not true since the DTEK60 had one so not much thought has gone into that article and probably just copied from somewhere. I expect to see a Snapdragon 625

[twelvezero8]

So question. Is it possible TCL wanted or thought the device needed a boost in specs. Did the initial specs rumors for this device come out before the deal. It is possible they had initial plans for the 625 and then decided to switch.

[3junior]

you guys are crazy this is TCL. They are not like BB.. They will make sure phone is under $500 USD or it wont sell. I am thinking if its 625 or 626 it will be $299 USD - $399 USD

[DiegoV_G]

The battery claims are always so false. 2 days, please, maybe with battery saver enabled from 100% and barely touching the phone. I still can't believe my Priv can only hold 4 to 5 hours in hard use, for reference I've had 2 Priv and the battery is the same

Posted via Passport SE

[conite]

you guys are crazy this is TCL. They are not like BB.. They will make sure phone is under $500 USD or it wont sell. I am thinking if its 625 or 626 it will be $299 USD - $399 USD

Dare to dream.

[thurask]

you guys are crazy this is TCL. They are not like BB.. They will make sure phone is under $500 USD or it wont sell. I am thinking if its 625 or 626 it will be $299 USD - $399 USD

I don't think TCL has ever done something as niche as this, though. Mass-marketable phones allow for some leeway in the MSRP to be made up with volume.

[ldudiaz]

So many expert in here telling members they are wrong, so may experts saying the leaks over here and over there are wrong. Seriously you people saying otherwise don't even know, unless you work for the companies that drafted the contracts between BlackBerry and TCL.

One point could be that Maybe BlackBerry was going to release the PKB but once the contract with TCL was finalized maybe maybe one of the facts of the contract was that TCL were to release any BlackBerry branded devices here in US regardless of who designed it.

Posted via CB10

[robertillo]

Chip FM Radio in BlackBerry mercury?

[asublimeday]

This thread is a nice microcosm for the ongoing failure of BB's hardware: barf out inferior products with the "IF IT'S NOT FOR YOU, LEAVE" attitude.

There is a place for a PKB in 2017. The touch-capacative scrolling while preserving screen space is great. Not needing to lose half your screen to a pop up keyboard half the time is great. Hotkeys to bring up apps immediately is great.

If you highlighted those features, put a high-end processor and camera in it, and made it water-resistant, the phone would sell. Instead, we are all resigned to an immediately dated product in the name of a PKB that nobody will know about. Great.

[asublimeday]

Wow, you need to know new people if they will sit around asking what CPU is in your phone...

And how much of a premium can you put on a pkb? A lot more than some arbitrary spec numbers that you'd likely never notice unless you're sitting around comparing di.. I mean benchmark scores with your strangely judgmental "friends"...

Posted without the aid of AutoCorrect with my physical keyboard via CB10

Yeah, God forbid people be educated consumers who say, "why does the one with the 600 series processor cost the same as the one with an 800 series?"

I suppose all of your friends just buy high-priced electronics without doing any research?

[asublimeday]

The battery claims are always so false. 2 days, please, maybe with battery saver enabled from 100% and barely touching the phone. I still can't believe my Priv can only hold 4 to 5 hours in hard use, for reference I've had 2 Priv and the battery is the same

Posted via Passport SE

Yeah, without massive batteries, Androids aren't known for their battery life.

[conite]

Yeah, God forbid people be educated consumers who say, "why does the one with the 600 series processor cost the same as the one with an 800 series?"

Because it has a physical keyboard, unlike any device with an 800 series SoC?

DTEK60 / Z30