BlackBerry Z3 Review, Specs: New Lower-End Smartphone with 5-Inch Display Now Available in Singapore

There is little doubt that BlackBerry, formerly known as Research in Motion (RIM), is facing serious problems. Just five years back, everyone seemed to be willing to cough up large sums of money to own a BlackBerry handset, but with iPhone and Android smartphones nowadays, the Canadian smartphone manufacturer seems like a thing of the past.

However, people hoped that the launch of the latest BlackBerry 10 operating system, a little over a year and a half ago, would help to give a boost to the company, but that never happened. Although BlackBerry has come out with its latest flagship handset - BlackBerry Z3, it has failed to give the company another chance to revive its stock.

The specs of the BlackBerry Z3 include a 5-inch display, 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core processor, 5MP rear camera capable of doing Full HD videos and 1.1MP front-facing camera. A press release issued by the company said that the Z3 is currently available in Singapore through StarHub. The new phone will be available on service contract or in the form of an unlocked unit for a projected $179.

BlackBerry Z3 also includes 8GB storage with microSD support, 1080HP video plus a 2,500 mAh battery.

A recent report by Reuters says that the Z3 is a lower end smartphone built under partnership with FIH Mobile, the Hong Kong-based unit of Taiwanese electronics firm Foxconn Technology Ltd.

As mentioned earlier, the success of the Z3 may turn out to be the deciding factor of Blackberry's collaboration with the contract manufacturing giant as well as the company's own future in smartphones. Also, the Z3 Jakarta Edition is available in the Indonesian city since May 15.

In fact, the Z3 is the first smartphone to be launched by Blackberry since the company's new CEO John Chen took office in 2013. Apart from Indonesia and India, the BlackBerry Z3 will soon be available in six other countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia.