Although its been on pre-order for a short while already, BlackBerry has now official unveiled the BlackBerry Classic, its smartphone that combines the new elements of the BlackBerry 10 operating system with some of the traditional, much-loved features from the manufacturer's past devices.

The company has also recently revealed that the Classic could be the last phone released by BlackBerry for a while, so it us hoping to bring old BlackBerry fans back to the brand, either through the new handset or the Passport, the phone launched in September this year.

So, if you are looking for a new BlackBerry phone - something with a QWERTY keyboard - which of the two should you choose? Hopefully, this trawl through the comparative specifications should help you make your mind up.

Screen

The two devices both feature a square touchscreen display above the keyboard. The BlackBerry Passport has a 4.5-inch IPS LCD display with a 1440 x 1440 pixel resolution. That's a 453ppi pixel density so will look very sharp.

The BlackBerry Classic has a 3.5-inch LCD display with a 720 x 720 resolution. That's a pixel density of 291ppi, so clearly not as sharp and well defined.

READ: BlackBerry Classic officially launches to 'upgrade' the Bold experience

Trackpad and keyboard

One of the BlackBerry Classic's main features is the return of the trackpad. After having jettisoned it in the past, in favour of on-screen controls, BlackBerry has admitted its mistake and brought it back.

That didn't happen in time for the Passport, so is a definitely plus for the Classic. The Classic also has physical call, home and return buttons.

The Passport's keyboard is naturally larger thanks to it being a wider device.

Dimensions

The BlackBerry Passport is something of a monster with measurements of 128 x 90.3 x 9.3mm. The Classic is actually slightly taller and thicker, but has a more appealing width. It is 131 x 72.4 x 10.2mm.

Processor and RAM

The BlackBerry Classic is powered by a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chipset with 2GB of RAM. In comparison, the Passport is a much better specified beast, with a quad-core 2.26GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor and 3GB of RAM.

Storage

The Passport comes with 32GB of storage as standard and a microSD card slot that can beef that up by up to a further 128GB. The Classic can also be expanded by up to a further 128GB but comes with 16GB internal storage as standard.

READ: BlackBerry Passport review: It's not hip to be square

Cameras

The BlackBerry Classic has an 8-megapixel rear camera with the ability to record 1080p video, while the front has a 2-megapixel sensor for video calling and the like. The BlackBerry Passport, however, is better for rear-taken pics, with a 13-megapixel camera on the back. The front is a similar 2-megapixel snapper, however.

Battery

BlackBerry hasn't specified what size of battery is in the Classic, but it does quote talk time at up to 11.7 hours on GSM, standby at 14.5 days on GSM, and audio and video playback at 70 hours and 13.7 hours respectively.

The BlackBerry Passport in comparison is quoted at up to 23 hours of talk time, 18.5 hours for standby and up to 84 hours for music playback.

Conclusion

Clearly the BlackBerry Passport is the device with the higher specifications and could well be the device for power users, but there's something about the Classic's return to BlackBerry's roots that perhaps appeals more.

Bringing the trackpad back is a masterstroke as it's one of the things Bold users couldn't live without. And the other specs are decent enough for what the handset will be mostly used for, communicating. Isn't that, after all, what a phone is really for? Certainly one used for business.