If the privacy-focused Blackphone 2 caught your eye earlier this year, it's now available for pre-order.
Oddly, however, Silent Circle has not yet revealed how much the handset will cost. The phone is slated to arrive at some point this September, but as of now its price and exact shipping date is a mystery. The original Blackphone sold for $629, but the second-generation version offers a bump in specs, so here's hoping it won't get a significant price increase, too.
If you're interested in purchasing the handset, head over to Silent Circle's pre-order site and enter your information. The company said its sales representatives will "soon" be reaching out to those who sign up.
Unveiled in March at Mobile World Congress, the Blackphone 2 is focused on privacy and security, with built-in services and features to help keep your data safe from prying eyes.
As we noted in back at MWC, the Blackphone 2 goes for a more premium look and feel than its predecessor (video below) with Corning's tough Gorilla Glass 3. The 5.5-inch 1080p display brings the BlackPhone 2 on the level with flagship devices like the HTC One M9 , and offers a big size jump from last year's 4.7-inch display.
Powering the BlackPhone 2 is a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 chip with 3GB of RAM. Inside is a beefy 3,060mAh battery, while memory can be expanded via the microSD card slot.
As for security, the phone's Silent OS (formerly called PrivatOS) software — built on an Android foundation — sandboxes various parts of the system, closing the door on potential security holes. It also boasts a set of applications for conducting private and secure communications with other Silent Circle customers. Meanwhile, a new management tool called Silent Managers targets the enterprise crowd with secure device management options.
But while the device is more secure than your average smartphone, it won't protect you against the prying eyes of government agencies like the NSA.