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BlackBerry KEYone Review: Here Are Three Reasons Why It Should Be Your Next Phone

By Louise Elliot
Published on: 21:46 PST, May 13, 2017

The BlackBerry KEYone is putting the brand back in the mobile scene with its surprisingly good performance and Android OS, sparking memories of why it was very popular back then. It is not the typical smartphone and that might be the number one reason why consumers will want this over the Galaxy S8 or LG G6.

The Keyboard

The appeal of BlackBerry at its height was the keyboard and years later, it still is. The company explored touchscreen smartphones and though they were good in their own right, they still failed to leave a sizable dent in the mobile industry. Now, they are back at it with a physical QWERTY keyboard that serves its purpose well.

While Samsung and LG opted for ditching mechanical buttons this year, BlackBerry installed a full physical keyboard with touch functionalities. Switching to this kind of set-up may be troubling for people who are used to touchscreens, but The Verge noted that it was effortless to adapt to the change.

The keys are also easy to handle. They have good feedback and typing on the KEYone feels great even for people with larger thumbs, which may lead one to question when the whole world started liking touchscreens in the first place. BlackBerry even thought of a way to integrate the fingerprint sensor: by putting it in the space bar.

Battery Life

The BlackBerry KEYone may not have the best of specs with only a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SOC and 3GB RAM, but because of it, its 3,505 mAh battery is able to power the phone for up two full days of regular usage. Furthermore, it does not really need to have the latest Snapdragon 835 for it to function smoothly.

PhoneArena performed tests on the BB KEYone and was impressed with the results. They smartphone was able to last 12 hours and 26 minutes in their test, besting the Galaxy S8 that only scored 8 hours and 22 minutes. The iPhone 7 came close to Samsung with 7 hours and 46 minutes, but the LG G6 was a little disappointing at 6 hours and 20 minutes.

Another test was performed to confirm how many minutes it would take to charge the phone from zero to 100. In this test, they KEYone came in third with 115 minutes. That is not a huge issue, though, as the Galaxy S8 is only faster by 15 minutes. The LG G6’s 102-minute charging time is also great, while the iPhone 7’s 141-minute charging time is mediocre.

For Productivity

The BlackBerry KEYone’s top features mentioned above both play into the smartphone’s role: to offer better productivity to its users. It caters to the pro-consumer sector, which is why it is important that it should have advantages over the more popular flagships.

The battery life is important as the average professional is very busy, so having a business phone that can keep up with their activities is preferable. The KEYone is just perfect for this as having a dead phone can spell the end to a deal.

The keyboard and the small screen also inspire its users to write emails instead of checking out Facebook or Twitter. The layout of the social media apps does not look great on the screen of the BlackBerry handset and using a keyboard to navigate through these apps may be a pain to some users.

The BlackBerry KEYone does not only provide the tools needed to be more productive, but it also inspires its users to actually do some work. Pair that with the smartphone’s great look and it should be the perfect phone that professionals can take with them in their meetings.

The BlackBerry KEYone’s release date in the U.S. is on May 31 for $549, the Inquisitr previously reported.

[Featured Image by Manu Fernandez/AP Images]

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