Previously, the rumors and speculations about an Android-run device codenamed Venice have been put to rest by BlackBerry itself, as company CEO John Chen himself confirmed the upcoming BlackBerry Priv is coming before the year ends.

Now, as if to feed the belief that the Priv will soon be released, an in-depth sneak peek at the device was reported recently.

According to industry insider Android Authority, website derStandard.at managed to secure a pre-production model of the BlackBerry Priv and made a mini-review of the upcoming unit.

In terms of quality, the reviewer mentioned the Priv as one of the most premium quality phones to date, at least in terms of feel and look. Notwithstanding its unique slider keyboard feature, the Priv also manages to combine metal, plastic, and rubber in its design. The back panel is made of a rubbery material that makes for a secure grip for the phone.

Meanwhile, BlackBerry fansite Crackberry lifted some specs details for the upcoming Priv from the same derStandard.at report.

According to the review, the Priv has a 5.4-inch curved display, although the curves themselves are not as apparent as those on the Samsung Galaxy Edge units. Although the site doesn't say what type of display the BlackBerry unit uses, it lists the resolution at an above-average 2K – 2560 x 1440 and a high pixel density of 544 ppi.

Under the hood, the BlackBerry Priv houses a Snapdragon 808 processor, with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of on-board storage, which can be expanded via microSD card support. The Priv will also run on Android 5.1 Lollipop, though it is unclear if BlackBerry will run a stock Android platform or will make a hybrid one much like OnePlus's Oxygen OS.

BlackBerry still has to come out with a specific release date for the device, though some observers expect the Priv to make its way to consumers before the year ends or early next year.