BlackBerry Neon/Hamburg vs BlackBerry Priv: What’s the rumoured difference?

BlackBerry is rumoured to be announcing three smartphones over the next 12 months, one of which is claimed to be the Neon.

The Neon has also been codenamed Hamburg and more recently DTEK50, but we will be calling it Neon for the sake of this feature. Rumours claim it will be a high to mid-tiered, entirely touchscreen device.

We’ve put the BlackBerry’s Neon’s rumoured specs up against the flagship Priv to see how they compare, based on the speculation.

BlackBerry Neon/Hamburg vs BlackBerry Priv: Design

The BlackBerry Neon is rumoured to measure 147 x 72.5 x 7.4mm and weigh just 135g, which would make it smaller, slimmer and lighter than the BlackBerry Priv.

The Priv by comparison measures 147 x 77.2 x 9.4mm and weighs 192g. It features SmartSlide technology that reveals a QWERTY keyboard however, while the Neon appears to be touchscreen only with no physical keyboard.

In fact, the Neon looks more like a standard Android smartphone, much like the Alcatel Idol 4. It is distinguished only by the BlackBerry logo on the rear and the textured-looking finish. Neither the Neon or the Priv have or are reported to have a fingerprint sensor.

BlackBerry Neon/Hamburg vs BlackBerry Priv: Display

The BlackBerry Neon is reported to offer a 5.2-inch display that features a Full HD resolution resulting in a pixel density of 424ppi.

The BlackBerry Priv has a slightly larger display at 5.4-inches and it also offers double the resolution at 2560 x 1440 pixels for a pixel density of 540ppi.

If the rumours are accurate, the Priv will theoretically feature slightly sharper images and more detail than the Neon thanks to the extra pixels per inch.

BlackBerry Neon/Hamburg vs BlackBerry Priv: Cameras

According to the rumours, the BlackBerry Neon will arrive with a 13-megapixel rear camera featuring an aperture of f/2.2, optical image stabilisation and phase detection auto focus.

It’s been claimed, the Neon will have a dual-LED flash on board and be capable of 1080p video recording from its rear camera. The front-facing snapper is said to be 8-megapixels with a f/2.2 aperture, 1080p recording and a selfie flash.

The BlackBerry Priv has a higher resolution rear camera at 18-megapixels and it too has an aperture of f/2.2, OIS, PDAF and a dual-LED flash on board.

The rear camera is capable of 4K video recording, while the front-facing 2-megapixel camera only manages 720p. There is no selfie flash on the Priv and the aperture sits at f/2.8, meaning the Neon should deliver better selfies in low light conditions.

BlackBerry Neon/Hamburg vs BlackBerry Priv: Hardware

The BlackBerry Neon is reported to be coming with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 617 processor, coupled with Adreno 405 graphics and 3GB of RAM.

There will apparently be 16GB of flash memory that can be expanded via microSD and the battery capacity is rumoured to be 2610mAh.

The BlackBerry Priv has Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 808 chip with Adreno 418 graphics and it too is supported by 3GB of RAM.

The Priv has double the storage though at 32GB, also expandable via microSD and its battery capacity is quite a bit larger at 3410mAh.

BlackBerry Neon/Hamburg vs BlackBerry Priv: Software

The BlackBerry Neon should arrive on Android Marshmallow and feature a number of BlackBerry apps pre-loaded, including the company’s DTEK security software.

The BlackBerry Priv also runs on Android and it too has BlackBerry apps pre-loaded so expect a similar software experience on both devices being compared here, if and when the Neon launches.

BlackBerry Neon/Hamburg vs BlackBerry Priv: Conclusion

Based on the leaks, it looks like the BlackBerry Neon will be a smaller, lighter device compared to the Priv, but it will be a full-touch controlled smartphone, with no physical QWERTY keyboard. It is also likely to be cheaper with a sub-£300 price tag rumoured.

A slower processor appears to be on board the Neon, as well as a smaller battery and less storage. It does have a higher resolution front camera than the Priv based on the rumours though, even if it has a lower resolution rear camera and display.

This is all based on speculation at the moment but we will update this feature when Neon’s official details and name are announced. For now, you can read our Hamburg/Neon rumour round up for more details.