BlackBerry has officially launched its latest smartphone handset in an attempt to win back users.

According to Digital Spy, the BlackBerry Classic is a throwback to the company's Bold and Curve handsets, staying true to a full QWERTY keyboard and physical navigation keys.

CEO John Chen unveiled the device in Manhattan today (December 17) after teasing its launch for some time.

"The conversation about BlackBerry has changed in the last year," he said. "We are here to stay, there is no question about that. Now we have to engineer our growth."

Powered by a dual-core 1.5GHz processor and 2GB of RAM, the Classic features a 3.46-inch touchscreen with a 720 x 720 HD resolution and a pixel density of 291ppi.

Costing £349, the handset also includes an 8-megapixel camera on the rear, 16GB of internal storage with microSD expansion, and the BlackBerry 10.3.1 operating system.

UK buyers can purchase the handset today from BlackBerry's website and can expect it to arrive sometime in mid-January.