BlackBerry allegedly working on 3 new Android smartphones, God bless ‘em

Inspired by childhood readings of The Little Engine that Could, BlackBerry has summoned the gusto to develop three new Android smartphones. Godspeed, BlackBerry. Godspeed.

Yes, in the face of terrifying sales results after their first foray into the Android market with the Priv, the Canadian company has elected not to hedge their bets, but rather to double down. Nay, triple down. This trio of new smartphones attempts to hit a variety of target audiences with their varied price points and specs, and their current codenames are Neon, Argon, and Mercury. Take the following details with a grain of salt, as they come a “briefed individual,” not an official BlackBerry source.

Neon

Neon will be the first of these devices to hit the public. It’s a 5.2-inch midranger that lacks BlackBerry’s signature physical keyboard. This aluminum-frame device is said to have a soft-coated plastic back and will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 SoC. Reportedly, Neon will have 3GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and will be juiced by a 2610mAh battery. Cameras will be 13MP and 8MP offerings. We can expect this device as early as July or August.

Argon

Argon should hit the market next, and it looks to be the powerhouse of these three devices. We won’t see it until October, but this 5.5-inch device is angled toward the premium market with a Snapdragon 820 SoC, 4 gigs of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, and a 3000mAh battery capable of QC 3.0. Argon will have a 21MP primary camera and an 8MP selfie-snapper, and it will be unlockable via fingerprint scanner. Like Neon (and unlike the Priv), Argon will not have a physical keyboard.

Mercury

Mercury, however, will have a physical keyboard. This smaller device feels like a callback to BlackBerry’s roots with a 4.5 inch screen and a non-concealable physical keyboard riding along the bottom. This aluminium device is powered by 3GB of RAM running a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625, and the internal storage clocks in at 32GB. The battery is an impressive 3400mAh offering, and its rear and front cameras are 18MP and 8MP respectively. We’ve still got a while before we see Mercury, which is allegedly coming to the market in early 2017.

What are your thoughts regarding BlackBerry’s trilogy of new Android devices? A desperate Hail Mary on the part of the Canadian company or the right strategic move to get this one-time mobile titan back on its feet? Let us know your take in the comments below!