BlackBerry announces KEY2, the successor of last years KEYone at an event held in New York City. In terms of design, it features a Series 7 aluminum alloy frame with a textured diamond grip non-slip back and the fingerprint scanner is embedded into the spacebar same as the KEYone. The major addition is the Speed Key that allows you to assign app shortcuts apps and initiate actions from anywhere without returning to the home screen.
It is also the first dual camera smartphone from BlackBerry that includes dual 12MP sensors at the rear side with Dual PDAF support and an 8MP front snapper. The KEYtwo sports a 4.5-inch display and powered by Snapdragon 660 Mobile Platform with a quick charge supported 3,500mAh battery. It has 6GB RAM, 64GB/128GB storage and runs on Android 8.1 Oreo with a suite of BlackBerry apps.
BlackBerry KEY2 Highlights
- Soft touch back – Better grip and more comfort
- Bigger Keys (20% increase in height) for comfortable and accurate typing
- Speed Key with customizable 52 shortcuts
- Camera modes – Portrait, Optical Superzoom
- Integrated Google Lens
- Proactive Health check – Scan your device and receive instant feedback on potential vulnerabilities and security optimizations
- DTEK by BlackBerry – Privacy Apps
- Touch Navigation
- DTEK Security Monitoring App
The BlackBerry KEY2 is sold in two colors Black and Silver and has a retail price starting at $649 USD / €649 EUR / £579 GBP / $829 CAD. Shipping begins this month.
BlackBerry KEY2 Specifications
- 4.5-inch IPS Display, 1620×1080 Pixels
- 433 PPI, 3:2 Aspect Ratio, Gorilla Glass 3
- Metal Frame, Fingerprint Scanner
- Touch Sensitive QWERTY Keyboard
- Keys – Speed Key, Volume Up/Down, Lock
- 2.2GHz Snapdragon 660 Processor, Octa-core
- 6GB RAM, Adreno 512 GPU
- 64GB/128GB Storage, microSD up to 2TB
- Android 8.1 Oreo
- Dual Rear Cameras, (12MP f/1.8+12MP f/2.6), Dual-tone LED Flash, Dual PDAF
- 8MP Front Camera
- 3,500mAh Battery, Quick Charge 3.0, 9V/2A
- Hybrid Dual SIM, Nano+Nano/microSD
- Bluetooth 5.0, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.5/5GHz)
- GPS, NFC, Galileo, OTDOA, NFC
- FM Radio, RGB LED Indicator
- USB Type-C 3.0, 3.5mm Audio Jack
- Sensors – Accelerometer, Magnetometer, Gyroscope, Proximity, Ambient Light, Hall
- Dimensions – 151.4 x 71.8 x 8.5 mm
- Weight – 168g
- Color – Black