BlackBerry officially launches Classic smartphone for users looking for 'traditional BlackBerry experience'

BlackBerry has reportedly announced the BlackBerry Classic, the smartphone that CEO John Chen has been teasing for the better part of a year.

The phone has a "throwback look," true to its name, with a QWERTY keyboard, physical navigation keys, and a nearly indistinguishable design from BlackBerry smartphones from years ago, such as the Bold, reported The Verge.

Featuring a 3.5-inch touchscreen, the Classic is significantly smaller than the Passport which was launched earlier this year. It has an eight megapixel camera on the back and a two megapixel unit on the front.

The smartphone runs BlackBerry 10, which offers productivity tools like the Hub, Assistant, and Blend.

BlackBerry said that the phone will appeal to those looking for "traditional BlackBerry experience" that made the devices so popular years ago.