The BlackBerry KEY2[1] progresses the design and feature ideas that were expressed two years ago in the KEYone[2]. BlackBerry Mobile[3] takes Android (8.1), adds in a sprinkle of its own software usability tools, and mixes these with a physical keyboard that has more to it than the ability to put characters on-screen. The result is a handset that's refreshingly distinctive in an era of identikit smartphones. The BlackBerry KEY2 starts at $649 in the US, £579 in the UK, €649 in Europe, and $829 in Canada.
You couldn't mistake the KEY2 for anything but a BlackBerry. The keyboard on the front, the programmable 'convenience key' -- a button on the right edge that can be set to launch whatever you want -- and the familiar BlackBerry stylised logo on the back give the game away.
The 4.5-inch BlackBerry KEY2 runs Android 8.1 on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset with 6GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of storage. It has dual 12MP rear cameras, is 8.5mm thick and weighs 168g. Images: BlackBerry Mobile
The logo sits against a black, rubbery, textured backplate. This gets a mention early on in this review because it encapsulates the ethic of this phone: simple usability over excessive styling. So while Android is tweaked, and new apps and services are added to the base offering, everything has been done with usability front and centre.
Still, this handset is a bit of a monolith. The black and silver colour scheme looks rather retro here, with silver horizontal strips separating the keyboard rows. The keyboard itself occupies about a quarter of the device's height, and oddly, the phone looks tall. But a reality check shows that it's not out