BlackBerry has unveiled the successor to last year's BlackBerry KEYone smartphone with improvements to the design and hardware. For the most part, the BlackBerry KEY2 remains the same as KEYone, but BlackBerry has taken the feedback it received for the KEYone and implemented the same on the KEY2. For example, the keyboard is 20% larger on the KEY2 when compared to the KEYone, which itself is a big deal for many. Also, BlackBerry says the keyboard now has more responsive and clickier keys. And the specifications are pretty decent too, but it doesn't offer the value as much as the OnePlus 6 but gets the job done for many.
BlackBerry KEY2 Specifications and Features
The KEY2 retains the same 4.5-inch display with 3:2 aspect ratio and 1080 x 1620 pixels resolution. The phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 Mobile Platform and comes with 6GB of RAM. BlackBerry said the phone would be available in two different storage options- 64GB and 128GB. Both the variants will feature 6GB of RAM. The storage can be expanded up to 2TB with a microSD card.
BlackBerry, for the first time, has used dual camera setup on a smartphone. The KEY2 comes with two 12MP sensors on the back; The primary 12MP sensor has a f/1.8 aperture, laser autofocus and PDAF, while the second sensor has a telephoto lens with f/2.6 aperture. The rear camera is capable of shooting 4K videos at 30fps and 1080p videos at 60fps. There's an 8MP front-facing shooter which also has a selfie flash this time around.
BlackBerry has kept the battery size same at 3500mAh and it has Quick Charge 3.0 support too. The phone lacks water resistance properties. The fingerprint scanner is still placed on the space bar.
As always, BlackBerry has added its security features to the KEY2 as well. The device ships with DTEK security suite and FIPS 140-2 Full Disk Encryption. Connectivity options in the smartphone include 4G LTE, VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, GPS and GLONASS. It measures 8.5mm in thickness and weighs 168 grams.
BlackBerry KEY2 Pricing
The BlackBerry KEY2 will be available at an outright price of $649 (approx. Rs 43,200). The phone will be launched in India at a later date because the KEYone was released in the country in August 2017. It's also expected to be priced at Rs 39,999, same as the KEYone. Also, BlackBerry is rumoured to be working on two smartphones for the Indian market, namely BlackBerry Ghost and Ghost Pro.
