BlackBerry KEY2 :: A few thoughts
by Volker Weber
BlackBerry Mobile has finally unveiled the KEY2, if there was anything left to unveil. Time to give you my thoughts.
- I am glad this phone exists. In a sea of similar slabs aiming for either "flagship" status or bargain basement prices, the KEY2 stands out as a device optimized for messaging.
- You know you want one if you see it. Or you know you don't want it. For many people it's the latter. You trade in screen real estate for a keyboard, and that only makes sense if you do a lot of typing.
- Last year, BlackBerry Mobile had two new devices: KEYone and Motion. I liked the Motion design way better, and this year I am not so sure anymore. KEY2 has the boxy shape that I like so much about the Motion, it has gotten thinner, the keys are larger, which was made possible by the screen moving up in a similar sized body. It's a millimeter thinner and no longer has these weird round radiusses around the edges. Also matte keys instead of glossy ones. It will come in black and silver, both are aluminium frames. My preference is for black.
- The first KEYone batch had the screen come out of the device, because there was not enough adhesive around the screen, and boy did they fix this fast. I expect the KEY2 to not repeat that mistake.
- KEYone shipped with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. KEY2 doubles both. 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. If that isn't enough, there is a 128 GB option in some markets and you can extend storage via SDXC. Dual SIM will only be available in some markets. Germany being one of them.
- It's running on the SD660 chip set. Paired with a 3500 mAh battery and a 4.5" screen, battery life should not be a problem, ever.
- On/off moves to the right, between volume rocker and convenience key. Much easier to hit than the old one on the left side.
- Keyboard gets a new speed key, which lets you invoke shortcuts from anywhere and not only on the home screen. This will make the KEY2 faster than any other phone out there.
All good so far. A number of concerns:
- $650 and 650 € is a lot of money. It's a $100 more expensive than the KEYone launch price. BlackBerry is hedging their bets with another device, codename Luna, that will ship later. Apparently it looks very similar but it is designed with cheaper components to bring the price down. If you are ruling out KEY2 for its price, Luna might be for you.
- The dual camera provices 2x zoom and portrait bokeh, but BlackBerry does not have the expertise to produce outstanding computational photography.
- No wireless charging.
- KEYone sold in the hundreds of thousands, three order of magnitude below the iPhone. Opinion: KEY2 is not changing this equation.
- Development resources for software updates seem to be constrained. BlackBerry wants to update monthly, but often lapses or delays. KEYone and Motion shipped with Android 7 and have yet to be upgraded. It's coming, but it is taking a long time. I guess there will not be speedy updates to Android P. Caveat: KEY2 ships with 8.1 so it is required to support Project Treble, which makes it easier to upgrade. On the other hand, BlackBerry applies lot of under the hood changes to Android.
Comments
Ich kann es kaum erwarten endlich eins in die Finger zu bekommen (mit QWERTZ-Tastatur)... ;-)
Ralph Hammann, 2018-06-12
