BlackBerry KeyOne, which was officially launched in February, will land in China in two months from now, as per a leak. Come July and the BlackBerry handset with its iconic QWERTY keyboard will be up for grabs in the Asian country.
Coming straight out of China itself, the news was leaked on Chinese microblogging site Weibo by a user who goes by the moniker @C Technology (translated). The Android phone from BlackBerry has already been released in the UK.
Read:Â BlackBerry KEYone now available in UK
Accompanying the KeyOne is a mere 4.5 inch Full HD display with a QWERTY keyboard and a fingerprint scanner placed beneath the space bar of the keyboard. What is more unique about the fingerprint sensor is that it doubles up as a trackball as well.
The BlackBerry KeyOne is powered by a 2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor paired with Adreno 506 GPU. It packs in 3GB RAM and an internal storage of 32GB, which can be expanded upto 2TB via a microSD card. Running Android 7.1.1 out of the box, the KeyOne is backed by a 3500 mAh battery. The camera on board include a 12MP rear IMX378 sensor with PDAF, 4x digital zoom, dual-tone LED flash and an 8 MP selfie snapper.
With Chinese smartphone maker TCL, which is also the global licensing partner of BlackBerry, behind the KeyOne manufacturing, it will be interesting to see the response it generates in China when released.
via Weibo
An Overall great device from Blackberry but 500$ is just too much to ask for a device with SD625, sure it has other great specs to but with the devices like OnePlus 3T and Xiaomi Mi6 recently announced with SD835 and 100-150$ cheaper and better than Key One smartphone and many other flagship devices from a POOL of Brands in China, I don’t think this smartphone has any chance surviving in the Chinese market!!
I know the specs seem to be very low for the price of the phone and that is by no means an invalid complaint but the Blackberry is aimed at a completely different set of users than the ones OP3T or Xiaomi phones are aimed at. Blackberry is about privacy and business robustness. It has the 625 aimed at power efficiency rather than performance. It isn’t for a power user who will use the phone for a wide array of activities like everything from gaming to reading books.
Although it is true that blackberry has to get out of its zone a little bit to survive in the android world.
I agree, but don’t u think if as a businessman kinda guy, u will be better off with the iPhone 6s for the same price with more secured iOS and guaranty of constant updates for the same 500$ price tag, since u r not going to do any heavy tasks and only use the phone for calling and stuff the difference of Android and iOS doesn’t matter, also u may have heard that one of the Chinese company hacked Blackberry’s last year’s phone within 30 sec and Pixel phone within a minute so not that secured either…
Yes. Chinese business class do exactly that as of now. Most of them own iPhones, I believe. Blackberry is looking to break into that exact target market and gain those customers.
As far as I am aware, the chinese market is quite different and vast, in the sense that there are a HUGE number of consumers who all have their own preferences. Yes, there are a lot of chinese brands no doubt, but the fact still remains iPhone is most popular and widely used in China itself. It’s quite safe to assume that like the US, the business class believe in the bigger brands. Blackberry might just shine here. 🙂
(P.S: Never as brightly as the iPhone though)
I am glad this doesn’t have the slide keyboard like priv. Although I loved that slick little move, this seems more finished and solid. Spacebar/ trackball/ finger print scanner! Phew! That is really smart design honestly. I can always appreciate minimalistic incremental improvements like these. It avoided a patch on the back of the phone for the finger scanner which otherwise would be there and also added trackball capabilities to the same space bar. Reminds me of a traditional laptop minimized into a phone, looks wise.
This is trademark Blackberry, and qwerty keyboards are their territory. They have retained their best features while also adding some new features. I am sure, it would be a treat for all Blackberry lovers out there. 🙂
An Overall great device from Blackberry but 500$ is just too much to ask for a device with SD625, sure it has other great specs to but with the devices like OnePlus 3T and Xiaomi Mi6 recently announced with SD835 and 100-150$ cheaper and better than Key One smartphone and many other flagship devices from a POOL of Brands in China, I don’t think this smartphone has any chance surviving in the Chinese market!!
I know the specs seem to be very low for the price of the phone and that is by no means an invalid complaint but the Blackberry is aimed at a completely different set of users than the ones OP3T or Xiaomi phones are aimed at. Blackberry is about privacy and business robustness. It has the 625 aimed at power efficiency rather than performance. It isn’t for a power user who will use the phone for a wide array of activities like everything from gaming to reading books.
Although it is true that blackberry has to get out of its zone a little bit to survive in the android world.
I agree, but don’t u think if as a businessman kinda guy, u will be better off with the iPhone 6s for the same price with more secured iOS and guaranty of constant updates for the same 500$ price tag, since u r not going to do any heavy tasks and only use the phone for calling and stuff the difference of Android and iOS doesn’t matter, also u may have heard that one of the Chinese company hacked Blackberry’s last year’s phone within 30 sec and Pixel phone within a minute so not that secured either…
Yes. Chinese business class do exactly that as of now. Most of them own iPhones, I believe. Blackberry is looking to break into that exact target market and gain those customers.
As far as I am aware, the chinese market is quite different and vast, in the sense that there are a HUGE number of consumers who all have their own preferences. Yes, there are a lot of chinese brands no doubt, but the fact still remains iPhone is most popular and widely used in China itself. It’s quite safe to assume that like the US, the business class believe in the bigger brands. Blackberry might just shine here. 🙂
(P.S: Never as brightly as the iPhone though)
I am glad this doesn’t have the slide keyboard like priv. Although I loved that slick little move, this seems more finished and solid. Spacebar/ trackball/ finger print scanner! Phew! That is really smart design honestly. I can always appreciate minimalistic incremental improvements like these. It avoided a patch on the back of the phone for the finger scanner which otherwise would be there and also added trackball capabilities to the same space bar. Reminds me of a traditional laptop minimized into a phone, looks wise.
This is trademark Blackberry, and qwerty keyboards are their territory. They have retained their best features while also adding some new features. I am sure, it would be a treat for all Blackberry lovers out there. 🙂