Under TCL Communications\u2019 watch, BlackBerry hardware has taken a fascinating turn for the exciting, and although the new Key2 is full of tech and some interesting innovation, it pays homage to a classic BlackBerry in the best way possible. Here\u2019s how the BlackBerry Bold 9900 from 2011 influenced the new Key2.<\/b>
\nWhen Gareth Hurn, Global Device Portfolio head at the BlackBerry Mobile division of TCL Communications, walked into a design meeting a few years ago, he took a stack of phones with him. He had one particular phone in mind to be a benchmark device for the team: The Blackberry Bold 9900.
Hurn wanted to emulate the typing experience from that device \u2014 his favorite BlackBerry phone \u2014 for the latest project being discussed. This phone would eventually become the BlackBerry Key2, showing that even from day one, it has been a true BlackBerry at heart. After all, TCL Communications licenses the BlackBerry brand name and manufactures the hardware, while the software and security is handled by BlackBerry Limited in Canada.
\u201cWe obsessively went into detail on how to make this the perfect keyboard experience,\u201d Hurn told Digital Trends at the Key2\u2019s launch. \u201dWhen people pick up the Key2 and start typing, the larger keys and less slippery matte finish really help introduce people to typing on a physical keyboard.\u201d
All the while, a Key2 was in his hand, and his fingers often grazed the keys as he spoke. It\u2019s no easy task replicating the 9900\u2019s feel. Getting the tactility just right takes time, effort and thousands of humans and artificial key presses throughout the test period.
\u201cThere\u2019s something about the physicality,\u201d continued Hurn on how pleased he was with the Key2\u2019s feel. \u201cIt\u2019s like holding a magazine, a book, or putting on a vinyl record. It\u2019s something physical, with a different feeling over a something digital.\u201d
Referring back to the Bold 9900 inspiration, he said, \u201cI love that we were able to reinvent that keyboard.\u201d
Reinvent? Is that the right word? Definitely. It\u2019s easy to forget that in 2011 when the Bold 9900 was in the hands of eager mobile typists, the keyboard was just a keyboard. The team couldn\u2019t lift a Bold 9900 keyboard out of the phone and put it in the Key2. Times have changed, and there is a whole lot more tech under the keyboard than ever before. The Key2 has a complex software layer, a capacitive surface, and gesture controls.
Integrating this, and retaining the desired feel and \u201cspringiness\u201d that Hurn so loved from the 9900, meant everything from the size and shape had to be subtly altered. Aside from the 20 percent increase in key size and redesigned frets, great attention was paid to the bevelling on the keys. One Key2 gesture lets you \u201cflick\u201d words from the predictive list onto the screen, and doing so requires the keys to have the right indentation and balance, making that flick fast and natural.
Get it wrong, with a bevel that\u2019s too pronounced, and it\u2019s not fluid enough. Hurn\u2019s pleased with the Key2, saying it strikes the right balance between paying homage to the Bold 9900\u2019s keyboard, and the technical necessities of the cutting-edge keyboard on the Key2.
It\u2019s fascinating to hear how TCL Communications\u2019 BlackBerry division continues to pay attention to BlackBerry\u2019s past mobile endeavours, something it did with the KeyOne too, but in a different way.
\u201cThe KeyOne was more of an emphasis on something traditional,\u201d Hurn said, noting the modernity of the Key2\u2019s design. \u201cOn the KeyOne, we concentrated on doing something that resonated with our core audience, and the design intent was safer.\u201d
But the KeyOne found a larger-than-expected degree of success and attracted many other people. Hurn said 50 percent of KeyOne buyers came from other Android or iOS devices. Will the Key2, which draws perhaps even more deeply from BlackBerry\u2019s roots, continue to appeal to more people? The keyboard is the phone\u2019s major differentiator, outside of the desirable security and privacy features. Hurn is confident about the Key2\u2019s wide appeal.
\u201cWith the Key2 the goal was to listen to customer feedback,\u201d noting the reduced weight and increased performance over the KeyOne, and drawing attention to the new design which he said was influenced by the silver BlackBerry Passport, providing, \u201can elegance and simplicity, instead of the gloss of the KeyOne.\u201d
More importantly, although BlackBerry\u2019s heritage is deep inside the Key2 and directly influenced the keyboard feel, in our early use of the phone, we found it considerably more accessible to physical keyboard newcomers than the KeyOne. This is crucial, and we asked Hurn what makes the Key2 so tempting for those used to touchscreen keyboards.
\u201cWe use a laptop to type anything of substance, not a tablet,\u201d he said, explaining that on a laptop, \u201cI know what keys I\u2019ve pressed, it\u2019s accurate, and the display is entirely focused on the content and not overtaken by a virtual keyboard.\u201d
Hurn believes, \u201cit\u2019s not such a leap,\u201d to go from the no compromise approach of a laptop to the Key2, thus avoiding the pitfalls of typing on glass. But surely, phones with physical keyboards are dead, right? BlackBerry didn\u2019t disappear because people fell out of love with physical keyboards. Instead, Hurn said the maker wound up in trouble because the operating system didn\u2019t have apps that people wanted to use.
That\u2019s all changed with the Key2. It runs Android 8.0 Oreo, and therefore has all the apps you could want. It also has a keyboard that pulls in the feel from an incredibly successful BlackBerry device from the firm\u2019s past peak, and then adds a innovative software and gesture layer over the top. The Key2 may pay homage to its forebears, but it\u2019s definitely a thoroughly modern smartphone everywhere else.
The Key2 goes on sale at the end of June, and while we\u2019ve already spent some time with the device, our full review will come soon.<\/p>\n

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Sentiment rank: 0.9<\/div>\n

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