Black to the Future: BlackBerry Classic lands in Australia

Depending on where you stand, the BlackBerry Classic is either a perfect device or completely obsolete. Either way, it's now on sale in Australia.

Available from Telstra, the Classic is available for $504 outright or on a range of 24-month plans ranging from $63 per month with 500MB of data, $550 of calls and MMS, and unlimited text, to $130 per month with 3GB of data and unlimited talk, MMS and text.

The BlackBerry Classic marks a return to the company's roots, boasting a physical keyboard and a chunky build, though not as chunky as the bizarre BlackBerry Passport.

Old is new again

While it certainly resembles older handsets – moving on from efforts like the BlackBerry Z30 to mimic the more streamlined smartphones we're used to seeing – BlackBerry claims the Classic offers a browser with triple the speed, 60 per cent more screen space, and 50 per cent more battery.

BlackBerry also claims the Classic will feature a greater variety of apps, though most of the world's most popular apps remain absent.

Our guess is Telstra won't be stocking as many Classics as it does iPhones.

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