Suddenly the BlackBerry Classic looks like a really awesome phone

The BlackBerry Classic, featuring the QWERTY keyboard from the original BlackBerry phones, will be available to Verizon Wireless customers on February 26, the company said in an announcement today.

BlackBerry Classic was first announced before Christmas and received largely positive reviews. Business Insider even ranked it at number 16 on its best smartphone list.

The model harks back to the smartphone's glory days, with a similar design to the Curve or Bold. It's great for anyone who misses pushing buttons on a keyboard.

"BlackBerry loyalists and keyboard fans will feel right at home with the new BlackBerry Classic. The familiar design and iconic keyboard return for those who have 10 minutes to type 10 emails before moving onto their next task. QWERTY fans, this is for you," the company said in a press release.

The Classic is a fresh take on the old BlackBerry phones. There are features such as BlackBerry Hub, which puts all conversations (such as BBM, email, and so on) in one place. And it has 16GB storage, so it can hold a lot more than work emails and a few snaps of the family dog. There's an 8 megapixel camera and the BlackBerry 10 web browser.

The phone operates on a 4G network and gives users access to apps from BlackBerry World and Android apps from Amazon's app store.

In addition, it offers 22 hours of battery usage through BlackBerry's "Power Optimization" function, 50% longer than the Bold, and is made of sturdier material than many of today's smartphones.

So far in the UK, the reviews are mostly positive. It's got a 5 star rating on O2 customer ratings.

"Classic is about productivity and getting things done," BlackBerry writes, in a sign that the company is still branding itself to a business market.

The new phone looks like a sweet deal. It's available for $99.99 (£63) in the US with a two-year contract and a $50 rebate. In the UK, it's already available on O2, Vodafone, and EE. On a lot of the contracts it's free and plans start at under £30.

Here's the phone's basic spec: