BlackBerry KEY2 review

10 July 2018
BlackBerry is well into its second comeback year and it has been getting plenty of attention. The Canadian company’s KEY2 is a well-refined successor to the KEYOne. It brings a new dual-camera system, which is a first for any BlackBerry. Along with this, an updated CPU, increased RAM, and a new keyboard with improved tactile movement and feedback.

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dvidxoxo, 14 Jul 2018its blackberry's flagship bro, yea over priced in factSorry but its specs are not for a flagship especially the chipset SD 660. -,-

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    • AnonD-82756
    • nE$
    • 15 Jul 2018

    Got to admit I like the look of this handset, is it any good?

      • j
      • jtrogr
      • sv7
      • 15 Jul 2018

      Just watched the review of Unbox therapy, my words exactly.
      Nothing worth 650 euros on this device, not even close.

        Solika, 12 Jul 2018Im thinking between keyone &2 Keyone is cheaper Wha... morei think better you go for key2,
        check it physically, totally different from key1, you wont feel bulky like key2,
        the keypad also amazing,,
        again check physically

          Dominique, 13 Jul 2018Overpriced that one can buy android flagship phones. -,-its blackberry's flagship bro, yea over priced in fact

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • v3B
            • 13 Jul 2018

            RobZ, 13 Jul 2018I am shocked that GSMarena is praising the annoying touchke... moreTotally agree, they should've gone full screen and use software buttons instead. Screen size would be bigger from 4.5" to 4.6" inches.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • v3B
              • 13 Jul 2018

              This device is truly a nice, niche product. Hate that it doesn't have dual speakers, and the fact its only snapdragon 660 is a bummer. Camera could've been better and some basic IPX protection would be nice too.

              However, tried it recently and honestly, not bad at all. The hotkey shortcuts can be super useful and the ability to scroll both vertically and horizontally on the keyboard is seriously so refreshing; you can view the screen without your thumb blocking the way. Fingerprint scanner on the spacebar which can take protected photos is amazing too.

                Overpriced that one can buy android flagship phones. -,-

                  • R
                  • RobZ
                  • B}g
                  • 13 Jul 2018

                  I am shocked that GSMarena is praising the annoying touchkey navbuttons in the review! as a blackberry keyone black edition user, one of the worst design flaws of bb keyone is those touch keys! everytime you try to scroll on the keyboard you accidentally hit one of the and either go back, home or switch between apps! and guess what bb kept it just like how it was on bb key1 on bbkey2! instead of using on screen navkeys which would eve help making the screen larger! and just for that bb lost a customer!

                    • S
                    • Solika
                    • N6J
                    • 13 Jul 2018

                    Anonymous, 13 Jul 2018Better keyboard.What’s the keyboard difference??

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                      • Anonymous
                      • S6$
                      • 13 Jul 2018

                      Solika, 12 Jul 2018Im thinking between keyone &2 Keyone is cheaper Wha... moreBetter keyboard.

                        • S
                        • Solika
                        • N6E
                        • 12 Jul 2018

                        Im thinking between keyone &2
                        Keyone is cheaper
                        What do u think. Key2 is much better specs??

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • IsY
                          • 12 Jul 2018

                          AnonD-546724, 12 Jul 2018You obviously don't pick the BBK2 for the SD660 performance... moreTrue. Refreshing to see a different phone out on the market.

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                            • AnonD-546724
                            • J6V
                            • 12 Jul 2018

                            You obviously don't pick the BBK2 for the SD660 performance, of for the photo quality, you pick it up because it's COOL.

                            And it IS so REFRESHING to finally see something different coming out of that ocean of Notch and glass sandwichs.

                            The battery is big considering the tiny screen, and the back isn't made of glass, so it won't break. Because, honnestly, who use that stupid wireless charging thing

                            Good phone

                              BlackBerry should make FHD 16:9 Screen WITH four rows Physical keyboard.

                              I know it will be taller , but I dont mind . 18:9 phones are tall and no one hated them.


                              Hey black berry , MAKE the same phone with FHD screen please 16:9 and not 3:2

                              and make it AMOLED as well.

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                                • AnonD-152638
                                • mhB
                                • 12 Jul 2018

                                Moj, 11 Jul 2018well your point isn't valid cause if we consume 16:9 as bas... moreApps are only made to support certain aspect ratios and resolutions.
                                Today extra tall screens are popular, and all apps may not support them, but then they can just use a part of the screen that is also full HD in resolution or even QHD in resolution for compatibility.
                                In this case there is no such option. In theory, black berry could probably program the device to have a compatibility mode, but it would only use a fraction of the screen with black borders on all sides, and be restricted to 720p resolution.

                                Considering that they have capacitive touch buttons and not mechanical ones for navigations keys, they could have instead extended the screen and used on-screen buttons. That would still not be 16:9, but then by only making the device and the screen slightly taller they could have solved that.

                                If the resolution and aspect ratio actually worked for all apps, or if by only sacrificing a small part of the screen for compatibility, it would have been one thing. I could accept Black berry saying that most of their users would not turn the device sideways to watch videos, so making it 16:9 for media compatibility wasn't a priority. But as it stands now, it isn't fully compatible with all apps.
                                The screen isn't compatible with either image or video in the camera app.
                                And the screen isn't even 720p compatible in portrait mode, so it isn't even designed for the occasional video in portrait mode.


                                Because this is the only option with a hardware keyboard that is widely available, it will still sell to some degree. And people will accept the compromises.
                                But it was a really bad design decision by BlackBerry. Had there been other makers competing, it is very unlikely that others would have gone for the same compromise, as it just doesn't make any sense.

                                  • N
                                  • Nk
                                  • 0tD
                                  • 12 Jul 2018

                                  Moj, 11 Jul 2018well your point isn't valid cause if we consume 16:9 as bas... moreThere is a big difference. The problem with this device isn't the 3:2 format, it's the screen resolution. For compatiblity with 16:9, it should have use 1920*1280 and not 1620*1080. The 18.5:9 screen, you talked about, can display 1080p without transformation (beside the add of black band) The Key2 (and the KeyOne) can't.

                                    Remembering me when I use blackberry dakota 9900 and torch 9810 almost 10 years ago.. When BBM so hyping us exclusively by blackberry. PING! But booting after switch on makes me crazy.

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                                      • AnonD-152638
                                      • mhB
                                      • 11 Jul 2018

                                      I still don't get why they put blankers instead of keys at the outmost key slots on the international version. They should have put two programmable keys there instead.
                                      For me, living in a country with more letters than the qwerty set-up, it could have been a great way to add them myself.
                                      For a lot of business purposes there are symbols that are frequently used, that the user could have then programmed in to the keys.
                                      Or for social media junkies, @ and perhaps #.

                                      Hearing about the issues with the aspect ratio, is really a let-down. There simply is no excuse for blackberry not to make the device slightly taller and replace the capacitive touch keys with on-screen keys. I like hardware keys, but capacitive touch ones lacks the feel of physical keys, and given that the aspect ratio creates app incompatibility issues, it isn't worth having dedicated space for those buttons, instead of full app compatibility.
                                      Social media plattforms are means of communication, that is used both by business people to post things, as well as a source of information. So one can't even really claim that the intended audience for this device would no suffer from that issue. And there are probably other apps as well, that won't work as intended...

                                      The camera might be ok for business use.
                                      And the headphone jack, can at least be used to keep compatibility with typical headsets, even though the audio quality is sub par.
                                      The display issues are a bit concerning as well. A device like this should be a great performer outdoors. And the color balance can be annoying for a person that works in an environment mixed on desktop and on the mobile, since the color balance will differ.

                                      Given the pricetag, these are areas where it should have been really good or great even.
                                      The chipset makes some sense, since they would want to balance power consumption and processing power, and under-clocking a 8-series chipset would have added to the price-tag, and when this was developed the Snapdragon 7 series wasn't out and at first it seemed to be targeted at other things than phones.

                                      They should really release a Key3 as quickly as possible, and lower the price of this, as an budget offering.

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                                        • AnonD-152638
                                        • mhB
                                        • 11 Jul 2018

                                        Anonymous, 11 Jul 2018The battery endurance test is strange: 86h for the Key2, 81... moredifferent cores in different configurations, means that the 660 is more powerful and yet draws less power at least when it is not pushed to the max all the time.
                                        Also the screen isn't as bright....