BlackBerry hasn't been in the big league of smartphones for a long time, but it's not giving up hopes anytime soon. Following the lukewarm response towards KEYone smartphone despite positive reviews, BlackBerry is hell-bent on making an irresistible impact with a new model, KEY2.
BlackBerry KEY2 defies the current trend of massive edge-to-edge displays with notches and brings its signature QWERTY keyboard into the play. The new handset comes with sensible improvements over its predecessor, such as a larger keyboard with more responsive keys, dual cameras and more.
BlackBerry launched the KEY2 at $649, which makes it a premium mid-range device in the same price category as the OnePlus 6 and Honor 10. While it may be challenging for BlackBerry to convince buyers to buy the KEY2 when OnePlus 6 offers a much greater worth, it is banking on the uniqueness of KEY2 to succeed.
There's no word on KEY2's arrival in India, but when it does, the handset could be priced at around Rs 39,999, which was the launch price of KEYone. It will be an interesting fight between the Android bigwigs and BlackBerry, which has a major nostalgia trick in play.
For the price, BlackBerry KEY2 isn't poorly packed. The handset retains the 4.5-inch display with 1080x1620 pixels and 3:2 aspect ratio. BlackBerry KEY2 can still be perceived as a business phone since the odd screen ratio isn't ideal for multimedia consumption.
Just below the display is a physical backlit keyboard – 20 percent larger than the one on KEYone with clickier buttons. The space bar doubles as a camera shutter and a fingerprint scanner and the entire keyboard work as a touchpad for scrolling and gestures. There's also a new Speed button when pressed with other buttons can launch specified apps.
That's a lot of work on the keyboard, which is justified considering it is the only element differentiating the KEY2 from other smartphones. Other features are pretty standard considering it is a mid-range smartphone.
BlackBerry KEY2 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor paired with 6GB RAM and 64GB/128GB onboard storage, a 3,500mAh battery and Android 8.1 Oreo. There's a microSD card slot, which can support up to 2TB additional storage.
Now for the optics, BlackBerry KEY2 sports a dual rear camera setup, featuring two 12MP sensors with dual-tone LED flash and 4K video recording support. On the front, there's an 8MP sensor with Full HD video recording.
Other features include a USB Type-C port for charging, 3.5mm headphone jack, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, GPS and GLONASS. With these features and setup, would you be interested in buying the KEY2? Let us know in the comments below.
