A new BlackBerry with a physical keyboard is on its way. Here is everything we know about the BlackBerry Key2 before it launches soon
There is a new BlackBerry on the way in 2018 and it’s now confirmed it’ll be called the Key2. The return of BlackBerry was a surprising one, but a welcome one to many. It turns out that the KeyOne was more than a nostalgia trip and actually a quite capable Android smartphone.
BlackBerry Mobile tweeted a teaser confirming the name of the phone and the time and place of the launch
If you want a physical keyboard on a slim, secure Android device, it is literally your only option. Until the sequel, of course. It’s been codenamed Athena for a while, but surely it’ll be the Key2.
Here is everything you want to know about the BlackBerry Key2.
BlackBerry Mobile confirmed the name and launch date of Key2 in the below tweet:
The KeyOne launched in London in April 2017, so it’ll be a full 14 month gap till the Key2 is unveiled in New York on 7 June.
‘An icon reborn’ is a ballsy tagline if it’s referencing the KeyOne, which was a good but hardly iconic phone despite our good review. Presumably it’s a reference to BlackBerry in general, as the leaks show the Key2 will look exactly like the KeyOne.
This is harder to call. The standard KeyOne retails for £499 / $499, but with new hardware may come a higher price.
We expect the Key2 to cost at least £599/$599 given the probable hike in internal specs.
Specific features and specifications have been hard to come by but what we do have are leaks of renders and also some real-world photos. Take a look:
Yep, it looks an awful lot like the KeyOne, particularly the later Black Edition.
There’s still a long display, keyboard, textured back, USB-C port, headphone jack and capacitive navigation keys.
But there are some changes too. The keys look slightly larger and this time they are matte, unlike the clear shiny keys on the KeyOne. There’s also far less silver trim, a BlackBerry logo on the spacebar which may well still be the fingerprint reader, although this is not on the photo leak, only on the render.
There are also dual cameras on the rear, with a slight bump. BlackBerry has never been a bastion of mobile photography, but any upgrade to the passable but not great KeyOne camera is welcome to us.
The picture of the AirPods is supposedly taken on the new device, hence the watermark reading ‘BlackBerry Key2’, a now confirmed accurate clue to the branding of the new phone.
On the photo you will also notice a grid on the button to the right of the spacebar and symbol key. On a BlackBerry this is usually a shift key, but this may be a shortcut key to the dial pad or even app drawer. Or it’s a fake! Leaks, eh.
Of course, this is all the work of TCL, a company licensing the BB name rather than BlackBerry itself. But BlackBerry does work on the software, and we are hoping for Android Oreo on the Key2, an upgrade that has not yet hit the KeyOne.
We’ll keep our eyes peeled for the latest Key2 updates and have a full review of the phone upon its release.
