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Optiemus unveils BlackBerry Evolve devices with massive batteries and displays

Optiemus unveils BlackBerry Evolve devices with massive batteries and displays

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But you’ll have to order from India to get one yourself

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Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Optiemus Infracom has announced a new line of BlackBerry-branded smartphones for the Indian marketplace: the new Evolve line of smartphones, which includes the BlackBerry Evolve and the BlackBerry Evolve X. Both phones share tall screens with 18:9 aspect ratios, and both also have massive batteries. The Evolve line will ship running Android 8.1 Oreo.

Unlike fellow BlackBerry licensee TCL’s latest device, the the Key2, the Evolve won’t have a physical QWERTY keyboard, but a standard full-width touchscreen instead. For security, both phones offer fingerprint sensors on the back, along with a face-unlock feature. Both phones also sport 4000 mAh batteries, charge via USB-C, and are compatible with wireless charging.

The Evolve will be available exclusively through Amazon India towards the end of August for about $365, while the beefier Evolve X will be offered mid-September for about $510. For the extra bucks, users get an extra 2GB of RAM, for 6GB in total, over the standard Evolve’s 4GB. Both come with optional cashback offers from different Indian carriers and banks. Right now, Optiemus hasn’t confirmed availability beyond India anytime in the near future.

Update 8/3, 12PM ET: Clarified that Optiemus is a BlackBerry licensee for the Indian market, so the company develops, manufactures, and markets the device without direct support from BlackBerry Mobile. The headline has been updated to reflect this fact.