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BlackBerryKeyOne

Over the by seven years, BlackBerry's market share has slipped abroad, lost to Apple and Android. The company made multiple attempts to revive its own fortunes, from its oft-delayed BB 10 operating system to devices like the Z10 and Passport. Nothing stuck, including the company's get-go endeavour to combine a hardware keyboard and the Android operating organisation, the BlackBerry Priv.

Last week, reviews started to gyre in on a new BlackBerry device, admitting one marketed, manufactured, and distributed past TCL rather than by BlackBerry itself. It'south the last smartphone BlackBerry intends to blueprint on its own, and according to all the reviews we've seen to date, information technology'southward a surprisingly excellent device. Engadget, PCMag, and The Verge have all published reviews of the new BlackBerry KeyOne and they're collectively the best we've seen on a BlackBerry product in years.

Before nosotros dive into the reviews, we'll striking the basic specs. The KeyOne runs Android Nougat seven.1.1 and uses a Snapdragon 625 SoC. That's an eight-core CPU clocked at 2GHz (all eight cores are based on the Cortex-A53). Performance when running unmarried-threaded code will not be particularly potent, since the Cortex-A53 is intended for depression power consumption, but eight cores should give it reasonable juice with multithreaded code. The KeyOne has 3GB of RAM, a 3505mAh battery, a 12MP back camera capable of 4K capture with digital image stabilization, and an 8MP, 1080p forepart photographic camera. Information technology offers 32GB of storage and can be expanded with up to 2TB from a microSD carte, if and when such voluminous capacities get available.

As the name and photos imply, the KeyOne as well features a physical keyboard — BlackBerry'due south last farewell to the stalwart fans that have stuck by the visitor through thick and thin. According to all 3 sites, the KeyOne feels more similar a BlackBerry than any of the DTEK rebrands it launched last twelvemonth. Everyone complimented the fit and finish of the device and compared it positively with the Priv, whose form factor and overall size profile were non well-regarded (that'south the opinion of the various reviewers, non myself). PCMag notes that the physical keyboard is "full of cool tricks," with a fingerprint scanner built into the spacebar and the ability to assign shortcuts to custom keys. The speaker and earpiece audio quality too got top marks, and the KeyOne supports Bluetooth 4.2, the about current version of the standard.

BBKeyboard

The KeyOne keyboard. Photo by PCMag.

The Verge describes the fit and finish of the KeyOne every bit existence "very good," with satisfying response from the keyboard and buttons, and a rubberized finish on the back that makes information technology like shooting fish in a barrel to concur the device. If you've ever used a smartphone with an oleophobic coating, it can feel like the phone is actively trying to fling itself out of your grasp to boom on the floor. The KeyOne has no such issues. The relatively small 4.five-inch display is a 1620×1080 panel with a 3:2 aspect ratio, and reviews here are mixed. The Verge establish the square-ish brandish to be constricting in many cases, though they noted that information technology worked well for email; Engadget reported no such issues.

The KeyOne doesn't send with stock Android, but Engadget idea that the customized Android interface was "mostly helpful," though there are some bug with clearing notifications from the BlackBerry Hub and programming the convenience button. Overall operation was modest in testing — this isn't a smartphone to purchase if you lot care nearly gaming — but the Snapdragon 625 SoC pairs with the 3505mAh bombardment to offering excellent bombardment life. PCMag reports 1.5 days with regular usage, The Verge notes that most users can become two (while the writer'due south heavy usage resulted in him getting just 1 twenty-four hours), Engadget reported an easy day with heavy utilise, and up to two days if the device is used carefully. Regardless of personal needs, all three reviews are quite free about bombardment life.

The Verdict

All three reviews as well wind up in roughly the same place: The BlackBerry KeyOne is a peachy productivity device. If y'all're a BlackBerry keyboard die-hard who hasn't moved to a touch-screen telephone (or would like to movement back), this telephone was fabricated for yous. Keep in mind, yet, that the phone's 3:2 display ratio, resolution, and specs are all designed to deliver the kind of productivity that made BlackBerry devices a fable. If you're looking at the KeyOne equally a typical Apple or Samsung user, you lot may not detect the physical keyboard or foursquare screen ratio much to your liking.

With a $550 MSRP, the KeyOne isn't cheap. But BlackBerry has delivered a solid swan song for its own hardware evolution team. If you've long hoped the company would deliver one last solid product before its hardware designers exited phase left, your patience has been rewarded.