T-Mobile has announced that customers can now purchase the BlackBerry Classic online as well as from the carrier's retail stores for $370, giving customers a $70 discount on the smartphone's original launch price of $440.
Customers who want to purchase a BlackBerry Classic can pay T-Mobile the full price of $369.99. They also have the option to avail of T-Mobile's monthly installment payment plan for $0 down payment and $15.42 per month for the next 24 months. Keep in mind that the second option requires buyers to pay the remaining balance of the smartphone if they decide to cancel their wireless service subscription with T-Mobile.
T-Mobile's relationship with BlackBerry has not always been picture-perfect. Back in February 2014, BlackBerry CEO John Chen was not pleased about a T-Mobile deal that offered BlackBerry owners to trade in their devices for an iPhone 5s, and the Canadian smartphone maker's chief was vocal about it. T-Mobile CEO John Legere, who is not exactly known for his diplomacy, traded barbs with Chen over Twitter, implying that BlackBerry was like the MySpace of the smartphone world.
The feud has led to both companies severing ties with each other, but as most wounds go, those taken by Chen and Legere had healed earlier this year when T-Mobile announced that it will start selling the BlackBerry Classic on May 13.
The BlackBerry Classic touts BlackBerry's legendary keyboard, similar to that found in older devices such as the BlackBerry Bold 9000. However, the smartphone runs on BlackBerry 10.3.1, the company's latest operating system. This means users can enjoy the old-school appeal of the keyboard smartphone while still having access to newer perks, such as the ability to download Android apps and use BlackBerry Assistant, BlackBerry's own intelligent personal assistant similar to Siri, Google Now and Cortana.
The smartphone runs on a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chipset with 2 GB of RAM and has 16 GB of built-in storage that can be expanded via microSD up 2 TB for people with more files. Aside from the keyboard, the BlackBerry Classic also sports other iconic hardware features, such as the toolbelt and the trackpad. Above these is a 3.5-inch display with a 720 x 720 pixel resolution. At the back is an 8 MP camera paired with a 2 MP camera in front.
BlackBerry currently sells the BlackBerry Classic on its own online store for $379, slightly more expensive than what T-Mobile now offers.
