BlackBerry KEY2 review
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- Anonymous
- 30f
- 11 Jul 2018
The battery endurance test is strange: 86h for the Key2, 81h for the KeyOne. The new powerful Snap 660 shouldn’t be more battery hungry than the previous less powerful Snap 625? Both are 14nm.
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- geewaiho
- HC1
- 11 Jul 2018
Gosh this is so tempting. I miss my Blackberry classic days, that was a great phone.
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- AnonD-152638
- mhB
- 11 Jul 2018
Anonymous, 11 Jul 2018media on 3:2 will give you black bars top and bottom and on... moreConsidering the resolution and aspect ratio of this display it actually has to have black borders on all sides. It would make for a very small 16:9 watching experience.
Most of the 18:9 and similar phones are based on Full HD+, so there would only be black borders on two sides.
QHD+ phones are out there, many of them uses OLED screens that doesn't have a full set of sub-pixels, so there are scaling issues with those, even if they are 16:9.
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- Anonymous
- IsY
- 11 Jul 2018
Would have been interesting if this phone had SD845.
- R
- Robbie
- n5u
- 11 Jul 2018
Anonymous, 11 Jul 2018Putting into a simple perspective, this is an android phone... moreNot a great analogy as vinyl records are having a resurgence and selling more now than in the last 25 years.
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- Moj
- a3p
- 11 Jul 2018
Anonymous, 11 Jul 2018Not only is the display aspect ratio weird making it incoma... morewell your point isn't valid cause if we consume 16:9 as base every thing other than that has to rise arguments and i am curious why Gsmarena didn't nagged about idiotic 18.5:9 ratio on note 8? it get black bars in every video and we can have this black bars in Key2 and there should be no nagging about aspect ratio.
if you want to treat please treat equally with all phone which is a sign of being pro!
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- Tom.
- JK1
- 11 Jul 2018
Anonymous, 11 Jul 2018In the words of Flossy Carter. The price is too god damn hi... moreForget anyone buying it? You might want to look passed your own nose and you would be in for a surprise.
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- Anonymous
- mX@
- 11 Jul 2018
In the words of Flossy Carter. The price is too god damn high.
Unless they lower the price, they can forget anyone buying it. A phone that comes out THIS late into the market? Its like BB/TLC really want to flop and declare defeat.
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- Anonymous
- awB
- 11 Jul 2018
Putting into a simple perspective, this is an android phone, with mid range specs, physical keyboard, good looking and a blackberry logo on front asking almost the same price as an Samsung S9...
you ought to love Blackberry......it´s easy to understand where they are right now.....i mean, buying a blackberry today is like the same type of customers who buys vinyl records.....100% niche product and won´t sell.
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- Sparkxster
- q$J
- 11 Jul 2018
Sparkxster, 11 Jul 2018This is far from being the perfect phone. It's an decent im... moreI accidentally pressed the send key early so let me finish the rest of my comment here. The fact that it isn't compatible with all Android apps is a major con especially for a device being marketed towards business people.
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- Sparkxster
- q$J
- 11 Jul 2018
Kangal, 10 Jul 2018I've got a bone to pick with the editors. Why do you criti... moreThis is far from being the perfect phone. It's an decent improvement from the key 1 but it could have been so much better it they put a larger screen, full HD+ resolution, and flagship level SoC. The fact that it isn't con
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- androfox
- mJs
- 11 Jul 2018
Comparing it to pixel and oneplus or note - they dont got no keyboards...there is no competition to blackberry keyboard phones. Im awaiting a priv 2 with a solid slider and no heat problems - would be an insta buy.
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- Anonymous
- nw}
- 11 Jul 2018
AnonD-152638, 11 Jul 2018With the wider than 16:9 aspect ratio, media i usually play... moremedia on 3:2 will give you black bars top and bottom and on 18(19):9 on sides
you can also crop on 3:2 same like 18(19):9
i have to agree that gsmarena are pretty harsh about the aspect ratio and yet they praise other awkard ones
atleast they admited that 16:9 is best :)
too bad when next samesung or orange or pony or whatever comes with stupid aspect ratio it will get a praise and all that complaining about 16:9 will be gone
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- AnonD-152638
- mhB
- 11 Jul 2018
Anonymous, 10 Jul 2018I dont agree with the Alternatives to it.. Ppl who buy thi... moreI agree the alternatives doesn't make any sense. There is really no other reason to get this phone except for the qwerty. And the alternatives doesn't even come with BB style security features or BB Hub... so they are nothing like this device at all...
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- AnonD-152638
- mhB
- 11 Jul 2018
jtrogr, 10 Jul 2018There is nothing really game changing that you can do on th... moreFor some people the typing on hardware keyboards is far superior to any on-screen keyboard.
I regularly have issues where screens miss-identifies my presses. And if I press the delete button several of times in a row it almost always starts registering the button next to it and start inputting that letter instead, even though I press at the same place on the screen.
Often I write words that aren't in the predictive text input engine, and it is very frustrating trying to fix that.
I'm not alone in my experience.
This is the only current phone that addresses typing issues, except for the KeyOne that is probably going out of production soon and it was underpowered. And the Moto Mod keyboard doesn't seem to be released to the market. It probably wont be in my country at all. And the keys don't light up.
Samsung for a while had the keyboard case, but they seem to have given up on that. And it wasn't particularly good, with a lot of latency and missed presses. Probably because of the solution, where the cover actually triggered the keys on the screen. The good thing about it was that it did not get in the way of the phones IP rating. They probably could have made the keys transparent and made the screen light up stronger, so the keys could be backlit at least, but they didn't do that. But those cases was a quite expensive add on for S and Note devices so not a cheap option.
So no, a device for 300 or so, can't do what this does.
But for a person that doesn't need or prefer physical keyboard, there is no reason to buy this device, then there are many better alternatives.
The shortcut system seems good to me. But more as a method to keep the home screen cleaner. It won't save a lot of time. And really there is a limit to how many shortcuts one can really use before it gets confusing, there are only so many shortcuts one can keep in ones mind, and when one has to think for a while, finding the right icon would probably be quicker. But at least with long and short press more than one shortcut can use they same key, so for example short press for Messages and long press for Messenger, on the M key.
Using the keyboard for this function is a good use, but not a reason for buying the device.
Since there aren't any competitors, it is hard to judge if it is overpriced considering the hardware is very different compared to other offerings out there.
It still seems somewhat underpowered. And the new 7series chipset would probably been a better fit as it supposedly more energy efficient and offering more processing power at the same time... But that wasn't out when this device was constructed.
The camera taking a step back, is disappointing.
The audio quality isn't great. Sure there is always the USB-c port for higher quality sound via a good adaptor (DAC and headphone amp). At least with the port, it should be quite easy to find a hands-free and just connect it, without having to make sure to have an adaptor at hand.
And really they should have made it slightly taller and used a 16:9 display and on-screen navigation keys. Even if for no other reason than making it compatible with all apps. But it could be useful for the occasional video.
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- Anonymous
- YP9
- 11 Jul 2018
Meh. BB pushing a physical QWERTY on a device running an OS designed for tap input and navigation.. just silly. If it were running BB OS it would have made a lot more sense because that was tweaked to take full advantage and work side by side with the QWERTY.
Why they never release a Q10 TWO boggles my mind.. that little phone was fantastic.
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- Anonymous
- 7t$
- 11 Jul 2018
Kangal, 10 Jul 2018I've got a bone to pick with the editors.
Why do you criti... moreNot only is the display aspect ratio weird making it incomaptible with apps and conventional videos, but it is also dim and underwhleming overall for the price they are asking.
GSMArena has nothing to apologize for. They did their job well. What is not shortcoming to you is a shortcoming for others and vice versa. For me , the GSMArena team did a pretty good job reviewing the phone. Just buy the KEY2 and stop visiting GSMArena if you have a problem. Or if you are that great, write a review as good as GSMArena , lab tests formdisplay included.
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- AnonD-152638
- mhB
- 11 Jul 2018
Kangal, 10 Jul 2018I've got a bone to pick with the editors.
Why do you criti... moreWith the wider than 16:9 aspect ratio, media i usually played back in 16:9, using only parts of the screen, and doing so in a standard resolution, or there is such an option, if the unit zoomes by default. Notches and rounded corners are usually in the extended part of the screen, meaning they don't interfere with the media content, when displayed in 16:9.
But the edge displays on samsung devices to get in the way.
Because of the aspect ratio, this phone isn't fully compatible with all apps. Phones with wider than 16:9 ratio and notches and rounded corners usually are.
So it valid to criticise the aspect ratio of the display.
On-screens button and a slightly taller device, and they could have had a 16:9 display, so it would be compatible with all apps...
There aren't any real arguments for this aspect ratio. They could always use OLED and black out parts, if they think that a taller display somehow gets in the way of productivity in certain apps.
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- Vic4BBM
- g}t
- 11 Jul 2018
I have been a big fan of BB and it's security. I am still holding on to BB Q5 ( till December 2019 when BB ends support to BB OS 10).
Key2 is good device but it's insanely priced. I agree to it's security and productivity features, but this tag is way too insane. I use BB Hub service on my Android and it gets work done.
With asking tag of Key2, I would rather spend some more and buy Apple iPhone, which is equally good in terms of security.
But BB startegy is self destructive.
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- Shui8
- KZ8
- 11 Jul 2018
Ohh how i wish Sony resurrects their Xperia Pro long time ago....good old phone that i own
https://m.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_xperia_pro-3779.php