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Introduction
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.
The KEYOne was criticized for being too slow running the Snapdragon 625. The KEY2 doesn't get a higher-end CPU, but it does have a higher-end mid-range CPU from Qualcomm - the Snapdragon 660. 6GB of RAM keeps the UI running smoothly while base internal storage has doubled to 64GB.
The overall look of the phone is less curvy, so look for more straight lines and bold corners. Gone are the chrome accents in favor of matte finishes on both the metal accents and the keyboard's keys are no longer glossy. The grip pattern has been replaced with a nice diamond one for optimal holding comfort.
BlackBerry KEY2 specs
- Body: 7000 series Aluminum body, physical backlit QWERTY keyboard, soft touch grip on the back
- Screen: 4.5-inch IPS-LCD (1080 x 1620 px), ~434 ppi, 3:2 aspect ratio, protected by Gorilla Glass 3.
- Rear cameras: 12MP (f/1.8, 1/1.3", 1.55 micron pixel, Dual PDAF) + 12MP (f/2.6, 1.0 micron pixel, PDAF), dual-tone flash, HDR; 4K @ 30 fps
- Front camera: 8MP fixed focus, Selfie flash via LCD display, 1080p @ 30 fps
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 CPU, Octa-core (4x2.2 GHz Kryo 260 & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 260); Adreno 512 GPU
- Memory: 6GB RAM, 64/128 GB storage; microSD card slot up to 256GB
- OS: Anndroid 8.1 Oreo with Secure BlackBerry App Suite
- Battery: 3,500 mAh non-removable battery; Quick Charge 3.0 support
- Connectivity: Single/Dual-SIM (hybrid slot), Qualcomm X12 modem - support for up to 3x LTE-A carrier aggregation. Cat. 12 (600 Mbps) down, Cat. 13 (150 Mbps) up, USB Type-C (v3.0) with OTG, 3.5mm headphone jack, GPS/A-GPS, NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, FM Radio, Display Port via USB-C, 802.11 b/g/n for 2.4GHz; 802.11 a/n/ac for 5GHz
- Misc: Fingerprint scanner in Space key, touch sensitive keyboard gestures, Convenience and Keyboard shortcuts
Currently, BlackBerry is competing in unoccupied waters. There is no other mainstream smartphone that offers a compelling physical typing experience. For this reason, the BlackBerry form factor is appealing to past (and even current) owners of legacy BlackBerry devices. The KEY2's keyboard is an appealing feature of the phone, and one that BlackBerry has built to the likeness of the BlackBerry Bold 9000's keyboard.
The BlackBerry KEY2 may not be the one to put the BlackBerry back under the mainstream consumer's radar, but it sure is something that can appeal to many customers on the business enterprise level.
We didn't expect the KEYOne's camera to perform the way it did in our review. For this reason, we have high hopes that the KEY2's new dual-camera will deliver even better looking images and improved low-light performance - more on that in the camera section.
Unboxing
The KEY2 is going to be available in several regions and packaging may vary from market to market. Our North American variant included a SIM tool, Quick Charge adapter, a USB-C cable, and some nice-looking earbuds with replacement tips.
Next up, we'll take a closer look at the design and hardware feel of the KEY2.
Design and hardware
The BlackBerry's form factor is instantly recognizable whether it's facing up or down. Let's think back to the pre-smartphone days to when we began to see full QWERTY keyboards on feature phones. You could say that feature phones were emulating the sleek look of legacy BlackBerries. In fact, before Samsung started making phones that (allegedly) mimicked the iPhone, the BlackBerry's design inspired a bunch of Samsung's handsets.
Fast forward to 2018, some phone makers have become comfortable copying the iPhone's looks which is why the BlackBerry is so refreshing to see - it is uniquely and unapologetically a BlackBerry that tries to emulate no other manufacturer.
The KEYOne's hardware certainly stood out. It combined several materials into what some might consider a "busy" looking handset. The KEY2's design is refined and simplified while still keeping a sophisticated and attractive look that will definitely intrigue anyone who sees one in public.
The first difference you'll notice is that the display on the KEY2 has a much cleaner look. The KEY2 gets rid of the forehead bar at the top and integrated the upper-display cluster behind the glass. There's an 8MP selfie camera just to the left of the in-call receiver and a RBG LED for notifications to the right. Android's Ambient Display is also featured here if you think the LED is not bright enough.
The display on the KEY2 shares the same size, resolution, and aspect ratio as the BlackBerry KEYOne's. There are some improvements with this screen though, which we'll cover in the next section. Below the screen is a row of capacitive navigation buttons and we really like how they illuminate during use and hide away when the phone is asleep to keep the display of the phone looking mysterious.
Now we're taking a look at the KEY2's keyboard, which is no longer surrounded with Chrome. This keyboard now has matte keys and the plate surrounding the keyboard has a matte silver finish (on our silver model). We really like how the keyboard and its metal plate make sleek lines in the hardware.
The KEY2 has four flat edges. Starting at the top: there's a 3.5mm headphone jack and a noise-cancelling microphone. The power key is no longer on the left side; all that's here now is the SIM/microSD card tray. Heading down to the bottom of the phone are symmetrical grilled (mic and loudspeaker) with a USB-C port to charge the device.
Heading up the right side of the handset are all of the phone's essential keys. The power key sits just above halfway up the phone's length, so it's not too high or too low. A volume rocker sits above the textured power key. Below the power key is another identically sized key, which BlackBerry calls the Convenience key. It's a multi-functional shortcut key with contextual features. More on this in the software section.
Though we said there's no more chrome on this phone, the volume rocker and Convenience key are both polished to a near-mirror finish. The power button is textured to make it easy to tell it apart from the others. We have to say that these buttons on the side feel excellent when pressed, just like the keyboard keys.
Around back is a newly redesigned textured backing which improves grip and adds a unique aesthetic. BlackBerry integrated these materials into the hardware like it did on the KEYone and the BlackBerry Motion and we can't get enough of this. More manufacturers should do this.
The BlackBerry logo is embedded right into the backing of the phone and carries a matte silver color on our silver unit. The black version of the phone has a black icon in a black body, so it doesn't stand out as much from far away. Finally, here is the new dual-camera setup with two 12MP sensors. We expect the camera to be just as good as the KEYOne's if not better.
Although we are sure that the BlackBerry KEY2 will dent if dropped on one of its metal corners, it's a device that doesn't "feel" so delicate that it needs a case. In fact, we might even like some kind of bumper-style case around it. We believe that more smartphone makers should start designing phones in a way that doesn't force the consumer into buying an overpriced case out of fear.
The overall feel of the KEY2 is great in the hand. Its weight is also balanced well enough that it doesn't tip forward when you're holding it at keyboard level. Manufacturing tolerances are tight and the KEY2 is a sturdily built smartphone.
We want to remind you that the KEY2's keyboard makes it almost impossible to seal up for water resistance. We don't think we'll see a fully water resistant QWERTY BlackBerry anytime soon, but you never know.
Display with 3:2 aspect ratio
The KEY2 uses a display identical to the BlackBerry KEOne's - it's 4.5-inches, diagonally. It's got a resolution of 1080 x 1620 px and has a pixel density of about 434 ppi. This display is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 whilst the KEYOne had Gorilla Glass 4. Gorilla Glass 3 offers a different balance between durability and flexibility that also costs less.
The company was set on using a smartphone display with an antiquated aspect ratio. This 3:2 ratio is optimized for viewing documents and reading longer emails. The fact that this display is not of a more standard wide (16:9) aspect ratio makes it natively incompatible with multimedia consumption.
Standard-definition TV has an aspect ratio of 4:3 while today's widescreen TV standard is 16:9. No matter what you're watching, there is a really good chance you'll see it with letterbox bars either above or beside the picture. The camera's native aspect ratio is 4:3 and while you can change it to 3:2, doing so will crop the photo.
While we're still on the topic of aspect ratio, watching Instagram or Snapchat stories on different aspect ratios will simply crop the image. IG stories created on the KEY2 will be stretched tall (for taller phones) and crop some of the sides of the image. On the flip side, watching IG videos created on taller displays will crop the upper and lower ends off, so much so that text or stickers may be cropped or not visible.
Aside from the crop factor, the KEY2's display produces a soft image when watching videos or even reading text. This probably isn't noticeable to the average person, but to our trained eyes, we can really see a noticable softness in pictures and video.
The display brightness on the KEY2 isn't as intense as we saw on the KEYOne, but it's still fairly visible in direct sunlight. 434 nits can be reached with automatic brightness disabled. When enabled, the brightness boost brings the display to 577 nits. Minimum brightness is pretty good at 4.7 nits.
Display test | 100% brightness | ||
Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
0.463 | 670 | 1448 | |
0.367 | 577 | 1573 | |
0.277 | 502 | 1812 | |
0.266 | 467 | 1756 | |
0.276 | 434 | 1572 | |
0.214 | 389 | 1818 | |
0.2 | 366 | 1830 | |
0 | 647 | ∞ | |
0.468 | 640 | 1368 | |
0.399 | 566 | 1419 | |
0.397 | 554 | 1395 | |
0.456 | 514 | 1128 | |
0 | 456 | ∞ | |
0 | 412 | ∞ | |
0 | 410 | ∞ | |
0.345 | 393 | 1140 |
There are three color profiles: Natural, Boosted, and Saturated. Color reproduction isn't perfect on the KEY2: we saw an average DeltaE of 4.7 with a max DeltaE of 11.4 at cyan. Otheriwse, all colors have a distinct cold hue so whites look a bit on the blue side. The boosted profile is great if you like that "AMOLED" look.
There is no way to tune the colors to your liking, but the most accurate profile is the default "Natural" one.
The BlackBerry KEY2 managed well enough outdoors, on a bright sunny day, but definitely left more to be desired. The fairly modest Max Auto mode did help legibility a bit. At the end of the day, we'd say this phone's visibility in sunlight is generally average: not great, but not terrible.
Sunlight contrast ratio
- Apple iPhone X
5.013 - OnePlus 5T
4.789 - Samsung Galaxy S8
4.768 - Samsung Galaxy S8+
4.658 - Samsung Galaxy S9
4.63 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
4.615 - Samsung Galaxy S9+
4.537 - Motorola Moto Z2 Play
4.459 - Oppo R11
4.454 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
4.439 - OnePlus 3
4.424 - Samsung Galaxy S7
4.376 - OnePlus 6
4.321 - HTC One A9
4.274 - Oppo R15 Pro
4.251 - Samsung Galaxy Note7
4.247 - Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241 - Nokia 8
4.239 - Google Pixel 2 XL (pre-update)
4.234 - OnePlus 3T
4.232 - Google Pixel XL
4.164 - ZTE Axon 7
4.154 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
4.148 - Meizu Pro 7 Plus
4.147 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
4.124 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
4.124 - Huawei Mate 10 Pro (normal)
4.096 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
4.09 - Huawei P20 Pro
4.087 - Xiaomi Mi 8
4.086 - Nokia 6 (2018)
4.052 - Google Pixel 2 (pre-update)
4.023 - LG V30
4.022 - Huawei Nexus 6P
4.019 - vivo NEX S
4.012 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
3.998 - OnePlus X
3.983 - Vivo Xplay5 Elite
3.983 - LG G7 ThinQ (outdoor)
3.978 - Oppo R7s
3.964 - Apple iPhone 7
3.964 - Apple iPhone 8 (True Tone)
3.957 - Huawei P9 Plus
3.956 - Meizu Pro 6 Plus
3.935 - Lenovo Moto Z
3.931 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
3.918 - OnePlus 5
3.914 - Samsung Galaxy C5
3.911 - Samsung Galaxy C7
3.896 - Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895 - Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
3.879 - Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
3.873 - Motorola Moto G6 Plus
3.865 - Samsung Galaxy A8
3.859 - Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
3.842 - Sony Xperia XZs
3.818 - Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
3.817 - Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
3.812 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
3.804 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
3.802 - Xiaomi Redmi Pro
3.798 - LG V20 Max auto
3.798 - Sony Xperia XZ
3.795 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
3.789 - Apple iPhone 6s
3.783 - Meizu Pro 5
3.781 - Microsoft Lumia 650
3.772 - Xiaomi Mi 6
3.767 - Sony Xperia XZ1
3.765 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
3.756 - Nokia 8 Sirocco
3.745 - Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact
3.729 - Apple iPhone 8 Plus (True Tone)
3.725 - Oppo F1 Plus
3.709 - Vivo X5Pro
3.706 - Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
3.688 - Huawei P20
3.683 - Apple iPhone SE
3.681 - Huawei Mate 9
3.68 - Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679 - Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact
3.675 - Meizu PRO 6
3.659 - BlackBerry Priv
3.645 - Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
3.597 - Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3.588 - Sony Xperia XZ2
3.58 - LG G6
3.556 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
3.53 - Motorola Moto Z Play
3.526 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
3.523 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
3.523 - Acer Jade Primo
3.521 - Microsoft Lumia 950
3.512 - Oppo R7 Plus
3.499 - Nokia 7 plus
3.479 - nubia Z11
3.466 - Huawei P10 Plus
3.456 - HTC U Ultra
3.453 - Motorola Moto G6
3.448 - Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra
3.445 - Samsung Galaxy J7
3.422 - Motorola Moto G6 Play
3.419 - Meizu MX5
3.416 - LG V20
3.402 - Samsung Galaxy A6 (2018)
3.397 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI Dual Camera
3.393 - LG G7 ThinQ
3.39 - Huawei P10
3.379 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
3.378 - Oppo R9s
3.352 - Honor 8 Pro
3.341 - Oppo F7
3.333 - Oppo R7
3.32 - Lenovo P2
3.316 - Archos Diamond Omega
3.305 - Honor 9
3.289 - Xiaomi Mi 5s
3.276 - Nokia 5
3.261 - Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
3.244 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
3.238 - Samsung Galaxy J2
3.235 - Sony Xperia X Performance
3.234 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
3.228 - Motorola Moto X Play
3.222 - Oppo F3 Plus
3.218 - BlackBerry KEY2
3.212 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
3.206 - Huawei P9
3.195 - Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
3.19 - ZTE Nubia Z17
3.159 - Oppo R11s
3.153 - Lenovo Vibe Shot
3.113 - HTC U11 Life
3.108 - Motorola Moto X Force
3.105 - LG Nexus 5X
3.092 - HTC U11
3.089 - HTC U12+
3.085 - Xiaomi Redmi S2 (Y2)
3.077 - Huawei Mate S
3.073 - Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
3.065 - Apple iPhone 6 Plus
3.023 - Asus Zenfone 4 ZE554KL
3.019 - Sony Xperia XA1
3.012 - Motorola Moto X4
3.012 - Sony Xperia L1
2.994 - Sony Xperia X
2.989 - LG Q6
2.987 - Huawei P10 Lite
2.974 - Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97 - Huawei P20 Lite
2.952 - Xiaomi Redmi 5
2.951 - Huawei Mate 8
2.949 - Sony Xperia XA2
2.938 - Oppo Realme 1
2.932 - Xiaomi Redmi 4
2.92 - Xiaomi Redmi 3S
2.913 - Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
2.913 - Sony Xperia XA Ultra
2.906 - LG G5
2.905 - Huawei Honor View 10
2.896 - Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
2.893 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
2.884 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium (sRGB)
2.877 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium
2.877 - Sony Xperia Z5
2.876 - Nokia 3
2.871 - Microsoft Lumia 550
2.851 - Lenovo Moto M
2.813 - Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
2.803 - Sony Xperia Z5 compact
2.784 - Honor 10 (Vivid)
2.757 - Nokia 2
2.752 - Meizu MX6
2.751 - LG V10
2.744 - Huawei Mate 10 (normal)
2.742 - Motorola Moto G5S Plus
2.737 - Xiaomi Redmi 3
2.735 - Huawei Honor 7X
2.734 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
2.714 - Meizu M5
2.71 - Sony Xperia M5
2.69 - Xiaomi Mi A1
2.689 - Huawei P9 Lite
2.679 - Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
2.679 - vivo V7+
2.671 - Vivo V3Max
2.659 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
2.658 - Huawei Mate 10 Lite
2.654 - Oppo F5
2.653 - Doogee Mix
2.642 - Xiaomi Mi 4i
2.641 - Xiaomi Redmi 4a
2.635 - Xiaomi Mi 5X (Standard)
2.616 - Sony Xperia XA
2.609 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus
2.582 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
2.582 - Meizu M5s
2.58 - Xiaomi Mi 4c
2.574 - LeEco Le Max 2
2.567 - Microsoft Lumia 640
2.563 - Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
2.563 - Huawei P Smart
2.563 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
2.561 - HTC U11+
2.556 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A (Y1)
2.556 - Lenovo Moto G4
2.544 - Lenovo K6 Note
2.544 - Oppo F1
2.528 - Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
2.525 - Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
2.506 - Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
2.503 - BlackBerry Motion
2.494 - Oppo F1s
2.481 - Motorola Moto G
2.477 - Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
2.473 - Huawei G8
2.471 - Huawei nova
2.467 - Sony Xperia Z
2.462 - Lenovo Vibe K5
2.459 - Meizu m3 max
2.447 - Xiaomi Mi 4
2.424 - Xiaomi Mi 5X (Auto)
2.417 - HTC 10 evo
2.407 - Huawei Honor 7
2.406 - Vivo V7
2.404 - Sony Xperia E5
2.386 - ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
2.382 - HTC 10
2.378 - Oppo F3
2.376 - vivo V5 Plus
2.371 - Meizu m1 note
2.362 - Huawei nova plus
2.329 - Razer Phone
2.328 - HTC One E9+
2.305 - Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272 - Sony Xperia L2
2.266 - Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
2.254 - Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
2.253 - HTC U11+ (EU)
2.253 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
2.249 - Sony Xperia C4 Dual
2.235 - Xiaomi Mi Note
2.234 - Motorola Moto G (2014)
2.233 - LG Nexus 5
2.228 - Huawei P8
2.196 - Meizu M5 Note
2.189 - Huawei Honor 6
2.169 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
2.166 - OnePlus Two
2.165 - HTC One X
2.158 - LG Aka
2.145 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (X20)
2.145 - Archos 50 Diamond
2.134 - Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119 - Xiaomi Mi 4S
2.095 - Acer Liquid X2
2.084 - Huawei P8lite
2.078 - vivo V5
2.059 - Moto G 3rd gen max manual
2.026
If you like to wear polarized sunglasses, viewing the display in the standard portrait orientation is no problem. When turning the phone to landscape mode to take a photo or watch a video, the screen goes completely dark when viewing through polarized lenses, so do keep that in mind.
Battery life
The KEY2 has an identically sized battery to the KEYOne's, it's a 3,500 mAh battery. The choice of using an efficient Snapdragon 660 on the 14nm process paired with a relatively low-resolution display was a great recipe for battery life. The BlackBerry KEYOne already had exceptional battery endurance and we can say the same thing about the KEY2.
The KEY2 scored 86 hours overall in our endurance scores. We saw the best improvement in call time, which was about 50% improved with a call time of 30:58h. The browser test scored less than an hour better than the KEYOne - 11:48h.
Finally, video playback saw about the same endurance time at 12:33h. With the KEY2, a full battery should last you at least one full day of heavy usage. Lighter usage could easily take you into the next day.
Our endurance rating denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the BlackBerry KEY2 for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
The BlackBerry KEY2 supports Quick Charge 3.0 and offers a few power-management features baked into the UI. The first one you'll notice is Boost charging. Upon plugging the BlackBerry in, you're asked if you'd like to charge normally or with Boost mode. Boost mode is basically a "power save mode" that activates while the phone is charging so that it can charge quicker.
Boost Mode when plugging in • Settings
New to the KEY2 is a smart power management feature that will learn your normal charging routine and will occasionally warn you if it estimates you will drop below 20% before making it to your regular charging window.
Like the KEYOne before it, the KEY2 is prone to becoming quite warm while Quick Charging. We attribute this to the phone's textured backplate, which insulates the heat behind the back cover. Just make sure you leave it somewhere well ventilated for optimal charging. We saw the BlackBerry KEY2 make it from a dead battery to 47 percent in half an hour.
Loudspeaker
There's a single bottom-firing loudspeaker to the right of the USB-C charging port. It's got plenty of volume and produces a sound that's loud and clear. Like many other smartphones, bass and lower tones are barely existent.
Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing |
Overall score | |
67.8 | 69.5 | 71.5 | Good | |
67.5 | 68.9 | 72.5 | Good | |
66.2 | 70.5 | 72.5 | Good | |
66.1 | 69.6 | 77.1 | Good | |
70.2 | 74.7 | 70.0 | Good | |
66.5 | 72.0 | 79.8 | Good | |
67.2 | 71.1 | 80.7 | Good | |
69.7 | 73.5 | 76.6 | Very Good | |
71.7 | 77.8 | 80.3 | Excellent | |
78.3 | 76.4 | 82.3 | Excellent | |
76.0 | 73.6 | 88.5 | Excellent | |
77.0 | 73.8 | 91.1 | Excellent | |
82.2 | 76.1 | 86.8 | Excellent |
The sound is clean all the way into the maximum volumes with no distortion. This is a clear and loud speaker. If you hold the phone in landscape, be sure to hold it with the keyboard to the right. If you hold it with the keyboard left, chances are high that you'll block the loudspeaker with your palm.
Audio quality
The BlackBerry KEY2 did well when working with an active external amplifier. The clarity of its output was as great as we've come to expect from smartphones these days, while the loudness levels were just above average.
Headphones dropped the volume to below average and caused more than the usual stereo crosstalk. Plus they added a tiny bit of intermodulation distortion, so it's a pretty mediocre performance in this second part of the test.
Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
+0.03, -0.02 | -90.7 | 90.7 | 0.0018 | 0.014 | -94.2 | |
+0.42, -0.06 | -93.2 | 92.9 | 0.0013 | 0.237 | -48.8 | |
+0.02, -0.15 | -94.3 | 94.3 | 0.0021 | 0.0069 | -94.3 | |
+0.18, -0.13 | -93.7 | 93.6 | 0.0024 | 0.104 | -52.7 | |
+0.44, -0.12 | -90.1 | 90.2 | 0.0056 | 0.016 | -88.7 | |
+0.51, -0.12 | -89.8 | 89.9 | 0.0097 | 0.043 | -39.9 | |
+0.01, -0.03 | -92.6 | 92.5 | 0.0012 | 0.0076 | -93.4 | |
+0.03, -0.03 | -92.2 | 92.2 | 0.0017 | 0.042 | -76.3 |
BlackBerry KEY2 frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
BlackBerry UI
This BlackBerry comes with Android 8.1 out of the box. You wouldn't notice anything unique about this phone's UI on its surface: it
Here are the home screens, the icons are arranged in a 5x5 grid plus the four icons on the dock. You'll notice that some of these icons have three white dots underneath. This is BlackBerry's Pop-up Widget feature. Swipe up on any app that has a widget and you can take a peek at the app's widget so they don't have to take up space in the home screens. We appreciate that this keeps the home screens looking neat and tidy.
BlackBerry Launcher: Intro • Home screen • Pop-up widget
In the app drawer, there are three tabs: Apps, Widgets, and Shortcuts. You can look through the latter two tabs to add either widgets or shortcuts to your home screen. The Shortcuts tab has so many specific shortcuts to choose from. You can do anything from adding a calendar event or a contact, to dialing your boss, or even composing a new tweet within Twitter. Some third-party apps that support these kinds of shortcuts will appear in this tab.
The launcher supports third party icon packs to give the KEY2 an overall different look.
If you want to switch the overall appearance of the KEY2, you can switch to dark mode. While this doesn't change the settings menu's color scheme, it will change most of the launcher to a dark or black background with white text.
BlackBerry uses a different layout for multitasking called "Masonry". This is the default multitasking view but it can be changed to the more well-known "Rolodex" style.
Recents • Masonry • Tiles • Rolodex
BlackBerry Apps
Now that we've got the UI basics, let's take a look at some of the apps that BlackBerry includes.
DTEK is BlackBerry's security suite that gives you a more comprehensive look at what apps are using which permissions. You can hit the scan button to check out DTEK's recommendations for keeping your phone secure.
In the Events tab, you can see a log of events that triggered a sensitive permission. For example, when WhatsApp accesses your phone permissions, it will show as an event here.
The Applications tab lets you see all your apps and exactly which permissions they have access to. Here, you can allow or revoke apps' access to certain permissions. We wish every Android smartphone had this level of comprehensiveness of permissions.
Our favorite feature is the ability to get notifications whenever apps request sensitive data - this can be accessed through the "Events" tab in DTEK. For instance, we set DTEK to notify us whenever location was accessed.
We didn't realize how often these apps are actually pinging our location so we were surprised to say the least. More smartphones should offer this level of comprehensiveness in something as important as security. If Yelp is constantly pinging for your location, you'd want to know about it, right?
DTEK Events • Event notification settings
Since we can't actually take screenshots in the Locker, we'll just describe it to you. The locker is where you can store sensitive files, apps, photos, and access the Firefox Focus browser. You can access the Locker via password or fingerprint, and the camera app can take photos that are stored directly into the Locker by using the fingerprint scanner as the shutter button. Now you understand why screenshots aren't allowed in the Locker.
There are two note-taking apps: Notable and Notes. Notable lets you doodle and write on screenshots or images to share. Meanwhile, the Notes app supports sync with Microsoft Exchange or Novel WiseGroup accounts.
BlackBerry Hub is an app that keeps track of all your notifications, no matter which app they came from. This is a really powerful tool that lets you see past notifications, even after you've swiped them away. You can even tap an old notification and be taken to the same notification within the respective app as if you tapped on the notification the day you got it.
Hub also lets you snooze notifications so you can be reminded of them at a later time or even in a future location. There are endless customizations and options within BlackBerry Hub - this is the spirit of the legacy BlackBerry.
Snoozing an entry in BlackBerry Hub
The Hub is also BlackBerry's default email client. Rich Text formatting is the standard with options to bold, italicize, and underline, as well as change the size and color of the text.
Redactor is a small but interesting feature. If you'd like to send a colleague a screenshot, you can use the redactor to lay black bars over sensitive information such as a client's private information.
Privacy Shade has a different function, it lets you view only a portion of the screen to keep onlookers from eavesdropping on sensitive material.
Redactor • Privacy shade • Access via notification shade
Keyboard, Speed and Convenience Keys
The keyboard on this thing feels amazing. There's something very satisfying about touching actual keys that offer more than haptic feedback. After all, haptic feedback is there to emulate the tactile feedback of physical keyboard. BlackBerry used the Bold 9000 as a reference when building and designing this keyboard. The keys have much smoother motion all the way through the action of the keys.
This keyboard is also more accurate and comfortable than the KEYOne's was. You can really feel the clickiness of keys, even if you press the key very slowly. However, having a physical keyboard does have one downside: it's harder to with just one hand.
It's not to say this is impossible, the BlackBerry Keyboard has gesture-based shortcuts for using the predicted word without having to type the rest of it. Sure there's a learning curve, but this seems like the best way to master the KEY2 with one hand.
One handed typing on this keyboard is totally possible, but there's definitely a learning curve. Speaking of which, if you are switching from a non-BlackBerry, you'll definitely need a few days before you can swiftly pound out emails.
There are 52 possible keyboard shortcuts on the KEY2. Each letter key on the keyboard can be assigned two different shortcuts: as a long or short press. New to the KEY2 is the "Speed Key". This key allows you to open any of your keyboard shortcuts without having to go home. This is also useful for those who prefer a third-party launcher, since changing the default launcher breaks shortcuts.
If you thought 52 shortcuts is enough, the KEY2 has BlackBerry's convenience key right on the side of the phone has contextual shortcuts. You can set up to three shortcuts for every profile: meeting, home, and car. You can program a Home Wi-Fi or in-car Bluetooth device so the phone will know when to activate the respective profile.
For example, if we're in the car profile, we can press the convenience key to access our most used shortcuts: Spotify Music and Google Maps. At home, we can use it to access Twitter or Instagram, and the meeting profile lets us quickly get to the Voice recorder, Google Keep, and the Camera.
Performance
The KEYOne's performance was less than desirable with the Snapdragon 625. This time around, BlackBerry still used a 600 series Qualcomm chip, but it is a Snapdragon 660 with superior performance. BlackBerry also doubled the amount of RAM to 6GB.
This chip has an octa-core processor housing Qualcomm's custom Kryo 260 cores - four of those cores are ticking at 2.2GHz, and the other four are at 1.8GHz. For graphics, there's an Adreno 512 GPU.
First off, we don't think anyone would enjoy playing games on this phone. Casual games that can be played in landscape are pretty much the only ones that you can play comfortably with this form factor. We do have to say we're disappointed that Brick Breaker (a classic BlackBerry game) is not a pre-loaded game. This is likely due to the fact there is no track ball/pad.
Starting with GeekBench, the KEY2 performs like the other Snapdragon 660 devices of the pack. The flagship devices are still quite ahead, but comparing these results to the BlackBerry Motion (which has identical performance to the KEYOne) we can see that the KEY2's performance is about a third better in the multi-core test and almost twice as good in the single-core.
GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 8
10214 - OnePlus 6
9011 - HTC U12+
9001 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (SD 835)
8349 - Huawei Mate 10
6625 - Oppo R11s
5907 - BlackBerry KEY2
5830 - Oppo R15 Pro
5809 - Oppo R15
5806 - Meizu 15
5770 - Oppo Realme 1
5741
The KEY2's single-core performance was not far off from the Mate 10 and View 10's Kirin 970 CPU. Meanwhile, we can see the power behind a single core of the Apple A11 Bionic and Exynos 8895 chips.
GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Apple iPhone 8
4234 - HTC U12+
2456 - OnePlus 6
2450 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (SD 835)
2199 - Huawei Mate 10
1882 - BlackBerry KEY2
1628 - Oppo R11s
1614 - Oppo R15 Pro
1612 - Meizu 15
1551 - Oppo R15
1520 - Oppo Realme 1
1511
Next up is Antutu7. This test incorporates the speed and smoothness of the UI and takes RAM and memory speed into account as well. The KEY2 did just as the other Snapdragon 660 devices did with the Oppo R15 Pro coming just a bit farther ahead. Here you can really see how the Snapdragon 625 crippled the performance of the BlackBerry Motion and KEYOne.
AnTuTu 7
Higher is better
- OnePlus 6
264200 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (SD 835)
264044 - HTC U12+
263696 - Huawei Mate 10
214037 - Oppo R15 Pro
146526 - BlackBerry KEY2
140984 - Oppo R15
140161 - Oppo Realme 1
138524 - Meizu 15
128680
In graphics performance, the off-screen scores are all rendered at the same resolution of 1080p while the on-screen scores render the test using the display's native resolution. This way we can test independently of factors like screen size and resolution for one score while the other takes all performance factors into consideration.
There is quite a large gap in graphics performance between the Mate 10 and View 10's Kirin 970 and the Snapdragon 845 devices at the top of the chart against the Snapdragon 660 devices. The Snapdragon 660's Adreno 512 GPU isn't exactly a graphics power house.
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Samsung Galaxy S9+ (SD 835)
61 - HTC U12+
60 - OnePlus 6
58 - Huawei Mate 10
38 - BlackBerry KEY2
15 - Oppo R15 Pro
15 - Oppo R11s
15 - Meizu 15
15 - Oppo Realme 1
12 - BlackBerry KEYOne
6.4 - BlackBerry Motion
6.3
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
- OnePlus 6
55 - Samsung Galaxy S9+ (SD 835)
34 - HTC U12+
33 - Huawei Mate 10
23 - BlackBerry KEY2
17 - Meizu 15
16 - Oppo R11s
15 - Oppo R15 Pro
12 - Oppo Realme 1
12 - BlackBerry KEYOne
7.4 - BlackBerry Motion
6.2
We'd not imagine that anyone is able to play intense games comfortably on this device at all. The KEY2 can surely handle the occasional candy crush or Pokemon Go session without skipping a beat. At the end of the day, this device is oriented more towards communications and important tasks and an all-powerful GPU is not a requirement of this.
That said, the KEY2's performance is a welcome improvement over what we experienced on the BlackBerry KEYOne - which slowed down pretty badly soon after setting it up. The KEY2's 6GB of RAM is also a great addition. This is double the amount of RAM coming from the KEYOne's base tier of 3GB of RAM.
All in all, the KEY2 is a pleasure to use and is as responsive and snappy as the KEYOne should have been. We didn't experience slowing down or hiccups but we do see the occasional dropped frame in window transitions or when loading apps.
Honestly, any CPU more powerful than this one on a device like the KEY2 might arguably be more than necessary. However, with the $650 entry price, we think even a now outdated Snapdragon 835 or (maybe, probably not) even an under-clocked Snapdragon 821 could have offered more justification for the price point.
Camera
When the KEYOne came around, many of us were surprised at the kinds of images it was producing. Granted, it wasn't the fastest camera around, but the HDR image stacking was able to take some nice looking shots. We are expecting the KEY2's camera to deliver photos that are at least equal to, if not better than what the KEYOne took.
The KEY2 has an all-new camera setup - dual cameras in fact. There are two 12MP sensors: one with 1.28 micron pixels and an f/1.8 aperture while the secondary telephoto camera uses 1 micron pixels and a slower aperture of f/2.6. This second camera also enables 2X optical zoom.
Right away, we notice the KEY2 has smaller (1.28-micron) pixels (the KEYOne had larger 1.55-micron ones but a slower f/2.0 aperture) so we're not quite sure how this will affect camera performance.
The BlackBerry brand was never known for having exceptionally good cameras, so before we check out samples taken with the KEY2, let's take a look at the camera's UI.
Camera UI: HDR • Filters • Modes • Video viewfinder
The video viewfinder is quite awkward with the upper and lower bars, but at least this is a dedicated viewfinder. Manual mode is not an actual mode, it's a setting. To access manual camera controls you need to enable or disable them in the camera's settings. This is a bit cumbersome to access but it's there. You can control focus, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, and exposure compensation.
Details look generally while colors tend to be a bit oversaturated, though not overbearingly so. Foliage is quite dark in situations with bright unfiltered sunlight. Upon pixel peeping, however, you can see some residual noise from processing and the images are just a touch too sharpened.
These shots are all taken with the HDR function switched off, so dynamic range isn't excellent, while the highlights are well-exposed, the shadows are surely unexposed. If this was vice versa, it would not be a pleasant-looking photo.
We have to say - we found the white balance to occasionally be inconsistent. We found that taking multiple shots of the same scene sometimes yielded one or two shots that were slightly off white balance. The images also look very contrasty, which doesn't help its dynamic range.
The HDR mode uses image stacking to produce an image with well-balanced exposure. Let's see how the KEY2's HDR mode delivered.
The inconsistent white balance that we just mentioned can be spotted in the first pair of photos. Between taking a non-HDR and HDR Auto photo, the white balance is just ever so slightly off - the first image is cooler than the HDR one.
We also notice when taking HDR shots, the image stacking process actually softens the image as a result. Although image stacking is supposed to reduce noise, we found that some textures that are farther away can look even noisier when taken with HDR Auto.
There is an HDR On setting, but we'd be weary of using it. This mode raises exposure on everything and might make the image look far too bright and unnatural. We'd stick to HDR "Auto" ourselves.
With these last three samples, it's also apparent that having HDR mode "On" does get rid of the noticeable noise from processing. However, the downside is that the images are softened even more in this mode - the finer details are lost in this process. You can see this by looking closely at the third image of the latter three sets of images.
Taking images in less than ideal lighting conditions produces progressively worse results the less amount of light is available. Check out these shots taken in lower light and one pair taken at sunset.
Low light samples: 1 • 2 • HDR Off • HDR On
HDR does more damage than good in lower-light. You'd be better off adjusting the exposure levels of a night scene shot with HDR turned off versus relying on HDR to expose the scene better.
Here are a couple of shots taken in the Paris Metro. Camera quality significantly degrades in lower light.
Here are some samples using the camera's 2X zoom feature.
Zoomed images don't look bad, but zooming into the pixels is where we notice that the textures are completely softened over. As a result, this made the castle-like building look almost cartoonish in appearance. You can also see artifacts and pixelating all along the straight lines of the building.
The second camera allows for bokeh-style portrait shots. Aside from the images being too saturated, we thought the artificial bokeh didn't look terrible. If you can manage to get the lighting just right, portrait shots on the KEY2 look fairly good.
Selfie camera
There's an 8MP fixed focus camera reserved for selfies and video calling on the KEY2. We have to start by saying that if you want to take selfies with this phone, you should carry a second phone around with you because the KEY2's selfies were not very good.
While the main camera had inconsistencies with white balance, the front facing camera is just terrible with this. Selfies are too saturated, too warm, and have too much contrast. We also noticed that the white balance of the selfie takes inspiration from the background. The best selfies we got were indoors with natural light against a light or white background. White balancing outdoors is quite unpredictable.
We attribute this to poor dynamic range. Highlights are easily blown out so they take form of the white point for the camera's white balance reference.
Panorama
The KEY2 can only shoot panoramas in a vertical orientation - which is perfectly fine. We believe that panoramas should sweep with the larger resolution dimension so you can capture more height of the scene. These panoramas are actually quite good. Aside from the darker areas in the greenery and foliage (poor dynamic range), details are crisp and stitching is on point.
Video
The KEY2 can record video in up to 2160p (4K) resolution at 30fps. We do like that the KEY2 offers 24 fps frame rates in addition to 30 (and 60fps in 1080p) so there isn't any shortage of video resolution modes. Enhanced Video stabilization is available for up to 1080p resolution at 30fps. There is no optical image stabilization, so try to avoid shooting handheld video in 4K.
We've given the still images this same note: videos we took were too high in contrast, so while the clouds in the sky were exposed well, foliage was quite dark. This is a recipe for poor dynamic range. Resolved detail was also not good. Textures were grainy and the lack of stabilization was very apparent despite our unit being secured to a tripod.
In 4K, the added resolution, without a double, helps details shine through. We noticed noise throughout the swaying foliage and thought "oh this is okay, the trees are moving". That's until we saw that all the greenery in the scene was covered in noise, whether it was a tree or not.
We were expecting the KEY2 to have a camera experience similar to the KEYOne's, but we can't help but be disappointed in the camera. We have to conclude that the camera isn't very good and not worthy for a smartphone that costs $650.
You can also download these videos, taken straight from the BlackBerry Key2: 2160p@30fps (10s, 47MB), 1080p@30fps (10s, 23MB).
Alternative devices
The KEY2 is up against some really compelling devices - particularly because it has been priced at $650. This is the same price as an entry level Pixel 2. Not only this, but there are also some value-driven devices that are below $600.
At $650, the KEY2 does one thing right: the keyboard. There is currently is no modern alternative for a smartphone with a physical keyboard like the KEY2's, add the ability to put 52 programmable shortcuts and you have yourself a compelling device for a multitasker.
Unfortunately (for BlackBerry), there are other phones that are more competitively priced which offer a superior experience in other aspects of the BlackBerry, most notably the camera.
The first smartphone that came to mind is the OnePlus 6. It has a lower starting point of $530 and offers Oxygen OS, a minimally skinned version of Android that offers plenty of minimally obtrusive software features and options. Moreover, you'll get the highest-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 and a snappy software experience.
More than that is the camera, which is quite excellent. This is a camera that can easily be found on a $700 smartphone for less than $550, this is not as much as we can say about KEY2's camera, which we think belongs on a sub-$300 smartphone. As far as battery life, the KEY2 will definitely outlast the OnePlus 6.
Like the OnePlus 6, the Honor View 10 is also a high-value device that's priced competitively. To put it simply, this device is the Honor version of the Huawei Mate 10 Pro. It has the same EMUI software suite, Huawei's top-of-the-line Kirin 970 CPU, and a more-than-decent camera experience. EMUI is packed with features and customizations, but some may not prefer it over the KEY2 and OnePlus 6's stock android look. The View 10 also has a generously sized battery to match the KEY2's endurance.
When we think of productivity, the Galaxy Note8 comes to mind. It has the S-Pen, which is unmatched by any other smartphone maker to this day. We understand that the S-Pen isn't a replacement for a keyboard, in fact - those who use the S-Pen probably don't care for the BlackBerry's keyboard, and vice versa. The Note8 has a very large screen, optimal for taking hand-written notes, arranging and managing files and documents, as well as multi-window features.
The Note8 surely is pricier, but we've seen them go on sale often, especially this far into its life cycle. Otherwise, you'll be getting an excellent camera and a software experience that's both feature-rich and snappy.
OnePlus 6 • Huawei Honor View 10 • Samsung Galaxy Note8
The verdict
BlackBerry was once at the top of the smartphone game and it is really difficult for a brand to revive itself as BlackBerry has done. The KEY2 is a compelling revival of BlackBerry's legacy devices. Otherwise, the hardware build is great and the KEY2 is a wonderful successor to the KEYOne: it improved on two major aspects of the smartphone experience: software performance (CPU), and the refinement of the keyboard was both unexpected and welcome.
That said, the KEY2 missed one huge mark: the camera. We expected the camera to be the same or better than the KEYOne's, but despite being a dual-camera, it somehow was inferior to the KEYOne's. To add insult to injury, BlackBerry went ahead and raised the starting price by $100.
We understand that the manufacturing process of this device is likely more expensive than a conventional 2018 smartphone: there's an entire mechanical keyboard whose design and manufacturing R&D likely soaked up financial resources. Hence, the higher price point.
Pros
- Lighter and sleeker body with attractive design
- Excellent keyboard with improved feedback
- Over 50 fully-customizable keyboard and convenience key shortcuts
- Textured back plate
- Extensive BlackBerry suite of apps
Cons
- Lackluster camera
- Arguably high price-point
The KEY2 is a step in the right direction for the KEY line's hardware and form factor, but there is still plenty of room for improvement. Otherwise, we'd love to see another BlackBerry with a physical keyboard using a more conventional 16:9 display and on-screen navigation keys. Or perhaps a true successor to the BlackBerry Priv: one with a slide-up display.
As for the demographic of who would buy this device, it is still very much a niche smartphone. We can't imagine that an iPhone 8 or Galaxy S9 owner would be rushing to go get a BlackBerry. The KEY2 is for whoever really misses the physical feel of a keyboard or for those who are still holding onto a legacy BlackBerry for the same reason just mentioned.
BlackBerry's reception has been generally good since it revealed the KEYOne. This is a brand that is certainly on the right path to a successful revival, though, it will be a very long road ahead. BlackBerry needs to figure out how to cater to its legacy users while also appealing to the younger, digital generation of smartphone users. If it doesn't, it will likely remain what it is today in 2018: a niche brand.
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