BlackBerry Classic release date at BlackBerry Passport launch; Same QWERTY design, updated specs and features

BlackBerry Passport[Photo credit: Inside BlackBerry]

While BlackBerry has appealed to a smaller market compared to those of Apple and Android, the company does have its loyal following, and it is believed that it will be launching its BlackBerry Q20 Classic along with three other new devices as its main offering for the year.

The Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo has released a number of photos of what is reportedly the new Blackberry device, known as the Blackberry Classic.

However, there have been no confirmations from the Canadian telecommunication company yet regarding the leaked photos. 

Based on the leaked images, the BlackBerry "Q20" Classic seems to have been incorporated with the vintage QWERTY keyboard design as well as a mouse-like-track-point. In contrast to increasingly bigger touchscreens, BlackBerry may have latched on to a back-to-basics notion when it comes to their new devices.

The upcoming phone also appears to be encased in an aluminum frame, similar to the handsets in the BlackBerry Bold series. The Blackberry Classic also takes on a rectangular shape but with rounder corners.

Apparently, the new phone has been designed for users who prefer the old-school QWERTY designs.  The new BlackBerry Passport is likewise equipped with the company's innovative touch-enabled keyboard..

The BlackBerry Classic is expected to come with a 3.5-inch, 1440 x 1440 resolution display with 582 ppi pixel density along with a dual-core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 2GB of RAM and microSD card slot with maximum storage of 64GB. The phone may also have an 8 mega-pixel or 13 mega-pixel rear camera and come with a 2515 mAh battery cell. The BlackBerry 10.3 OS will be its operating system.

In terms of connectivity, the BlackBerry Classic includes Wi-Fi, 4G LTE and Bluetooth, and supports NFC. The phone is also said to cost approximately $235.

The company is reportedly planning to launch the BlackBerry Classic in an international event for the BlackBerry Passport on Sept. 24.