KEYone is the best BlackBerry since the Passport
by Volker Weber
Passport was not the success that BlackBerry had hoped for. But I was obsessed with it. Very solid hardware, a huge screen, fast at everything but Android. Classic, the next BlackBerry, was equally solid but it was just retro with not enough screen resolution.
PRIV was an outstanding device but it did not feel like a BlackBerry. Its hardware keyboard wasn't much better than the soft keyboard. I like DTEK50 for its no-nonsense utility. DTEK60 didn't click with me. BlackBerrys should not have a delicate glass back.
Ebter the KEYone: It feels like a proper BlackBerry much like the Passport. It's different, in a good way. Editor-refuses-to-give-it-back award. This is now my backup for the iPhone 7 Plus.
Comments
Volker, this sounds like a terrific phone, with one big question mark though: The physical keyboard. We all had smartphones with physical keyboards in the past. But now after getting used to all-touch phones with 5 inch and larger screens and virtual keyboards with changing keys in each language (e.g. English Qwerty vs. German Qwertz plus Umlaut), doesn't it feel strange going back to physical and in your case from 5.5'' real estate to just 4.5''? Wouldn't it be the better phone with the same size and hardware but all-touch?
PS: I was at Heathrow last week and wanted to test the KeyOne. Completely sold out. The retailer told me whenever they get a delivery it gets sold out just within 24 hours. Huge demand (maybe also limited supply, don't know about that).
It's brand new. Demand exceeds supply, as usual.
And yes, most people prefer soft keyboards. Hard keyboards are not faster, but they provide tactile feedback.
Being an old fart and being used to physical keyboards, I totally agree with Volker - it's the best Android phone I used so far. While I liked the S3 I hated Android in Android 5.x and 6.x . The combination of Android 7 and the keyone goes really well together and closes some of the enerving small shortcomings android had for me so far. Plus gtreat battery life and I don't miss the 5.5" the 4.5" do it just as nice.
