So the BlackBerry’s much talked ‘Mercury‘ smartphone goes official with the name – KEYone. BlackBerry has announced it’s latest Android smartphone – BlackBerry KEYone – at MWC 2017. The phone is designed by BlackBerry and is made by TCL Communication Technology. BlackBerry’s KEYone comes with the 4-row physical QWERTY backlit keyboard along with the touch display. The keys respond to touch gestures, have support for flick typing, have up to 52 customizable shortcuts such as pressing “I” for your inbox or “M” to access maps and the fingerprint sensor is built into the spacebar.
Coming to the other specifications, BlackBerry KEYone has a 4.5-inch display with a resolution of 1620x1080px (434 PPI) and 3:2 aspect ratio. The phone sports an anodized aluminum frame and a soft touch textured back. It is powered by an 2GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 625 SoC coupled with 3GB of RAM. It comes with 32GB internal storage with support for expandable memory up to 2TB with microSD. The BlackBerry KEYone runs Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box. On the camera specifications, BlackBerry KEYone features a 12MP rear camera with dual-tone LED Flash, Sony IMX378 sensor, 4K video recording and a 8MP front-facing camera. The phone is powered by a 3,505mAh battery with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 that charge up to 50% in just 36 minutes.
As usual like the other BlackBerry phones, KEYone also brings BlackBerry Hub that brings all your messages, emails and social media accounts in one app. It also has security keys to the processor and an BlackBerry DTEK app to improve protection both of hardware and software. It offers constant monitoring and protection, letting you know when your privacy could be at risk and what can you do to improve it.
BlackBerry KEYone Specifications
- Display: 4.5-inch (1620 x 1080 pixels) display with 433 PPI, scratch-resistant glass protection
- Processor: 2GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 625 processor with 650MHz Adreno 506 GPU
- Memory: 3GB RAM, 32GB internal storage, expandable memory up to 2TB with microSD
- Operating System: Android 7.1 Nougat
- Rear Camera: 12MP camera with dual-tone LED Flash, Sony IMX378 sensor, PDAF, 4K video recording
- Front Camera: 8MP camera with 1.12µm pixel size, f/2.2 aperture
- Physical Keyboard: 4-row Physical QWERTY backlit keyboard with capacitive touch
- Fingerprint sensor: Yes
- Other Features: BlackBerry Hub suit, BlackBerry DTEK app for security, 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
- Dimensions: 149.3 x 72.5 x 9.4mm
- Weight: 180g
- Connectivity: 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4 & 5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS / GLONASS, NFC, USB 3.1 Type-C
- Battery: 3,505mAh battery with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0
- Color: Black
Price and Availability
BlackBerry KEYone is priced at US$ 549 (approx. €599 EUR/£499 GBP, Rs. 36,500 INR). It will be available globally starting from April.