When most of us thought that BlackBerry was out of the game, we were clearly wrong. The BlackBerry KEY2 launches on the success of the KEYone, its predecessor that was released April of 2017. With its up and coming release, BlackBerry’s high-flying market are in for a treat.
According to Alain Lejeune, BlackBerry’s global general manager, the brand is set to release at least two new smartphones within the year. Here’s what we have uncovered about the first new device.
Design
The BlackBerry KEY2 remains traditional with its physical QWERTY keyboard, albeit pushed to the bottom of the handset. The keys are noticeably matte and slightly larger than the KEYone keys. The screen is noticeably extended, resulting from the top bezel being slimmer. The screen size will remain the same as the KEYone screen, however. We can perhaps expect a 4.5-inch, 1080×1620-pixel screen on this one. The BlackBerry options remain to be the only slim handset with a physical keyboard that doesn’t compromise on the screen size.
While the BlackBerry KEYone was more rounded along the edges, the leaked rendered images of the BlackBerry KEY2 show that it will have more defined edges in its rectangular shape. Similar to the KEYone, the KEY2 will have a Type-C USB port, capacitive keys, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
The rear of the device also looks to be equipped with soft-touch plastic covered in dimples for easy grip.
Specifications
Out of the box, the handset will run on Android 8.1 Oreo. Unlike the KEYone, which had the Snapdragon 625 chipset, the KEY2 is rumored to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 and will be paired with either a 6 GB RAM or a 4 GB RAM.
It will have a dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi. The battery is expected to be a minimum of 3,500 mAh.
New features
Based solely on the leaked images, the BlackBerry KEY2 will have a dual-lens camera on its rear panel. This is an exciting new feature as the KEYone only has a single lens unit. The new dual camera is rumored to have 12 MP and 8 MP lenses with impressive dual-toned LED flash. Although BlackBerry is not really known for great cameras, this rumored new feature would certainly be quite the improvement.
Price
Although no definite price has been announced yet, the KEY2 is predicted to start at around $600. This is a bit more expensive than the BlackBerry KEYone, which sold for $549 when it first debuted.
Release date
BlackBerry has confirmed the KEY2’s launch to be on June 7. There is no date yet for when it will be available on the market. Everyone will have to keep their eyes peeled for its release.
All these are pure speculation, even with the leaked rendered images. Nothing is certain until the BlackBerry KEY2 is finally unveiled in June. BlackBerry is certainly back in the game, and this is a pleasant surprise to many.
