Continues a tradition of replacing impressionable codenames with weird final names. BlackBerry's second Android device is durable, battery-lenient, and well-built; a step up from its powerful but irritatingly flawed predecessor. Panel gaps and other imperfections are noticeable but not detrimental to the phone's build quality.
The prevalence of metal on the KeyOne's frame is a refreshing step up from the PRIV, showing itself where it can where the latter could not with its soft plastic body. There is no doubt it is a divisive design, blending together elements of the Passport Silver Edition and the shapely forms of the iPhone 6-onward. This makes for an unconventional mixture of feelings; it's crisp and soft. It's chiseled and rounded. Some will call it one of the best designs BlackBerry's approved in years, and some will be off-put by its inconsistency. The back is covered mostly in a soft rubber plastic, good for traction and grip. It is not impossible to be reminded by the design of the dignified and sophisticated black leather and stained metal finishes that were seen across cameras from Kodak, Nikon and Leica in the 1960s. It is also not impossible to be reminded of them in spirit either, in the KeyOne's assuring weight and solid, professional feel.
The keyboard continues the phone's iPhone influences, with a glossy finish (the fingerprint reading spacebar is matte) and a rounded finishing piece. It's a clicky QWERTY setup with satisfyingly deep button presses and some useful UI functions, offering quick and long-press shortcuts to apps and phone functions, as well as being able to be used as a trackpad for scrolling through web pages, as well as a variety of other uses. As a keyboard, it should make quick work of long paragraphs and sentences with few errors for most, as the author of the Fifty Shades of Grey series of books can attest - though one can argue to an extent that the series itself is one long error. Emails, word documents and texting becomes less focus intensive than on a touchscreen and becomes more comfortable. And jokes aside, it can be used as an effective writer's tool for those finding a good way to capture ideas in the moment. Some units may come with a historically persistent issue in that the keyboard's spacebar (which also functions as a very quick and accurate fingerprint reader) may be more sensitive to light presses on one corner than the other. It is unknown whether this is an intended detail or a minor, commonly overlooked production defect, and its value depends on the user. The keyboard, of course, means screen space will be sacrificed, but screen size is still decent if one can deal with its unconventional orientation. The screen itself produces colours accurately and is very visible in daylight under moderate brightness. Screen sensitivity isn't as good as on an iPhone, Samsung or OnePlus. Unlike the mentioned 3, where scrolling and tapping is instant and feels like you are in direct, complete control of the screen, the KeyOne has a noticeably slower feel. That sort of immediate feeling you'd expect is found in the capacitive keyboard instead.
The PRIV unit this reviewer owned had some peculiar characteristics. It had a chipset that should've been snappy and powerful but lagged often and overheated. It had a large battery that drained quickly and unpredictably. BlackBerry addressed these issues in the KeyOne by focusing on optimisation and efficiency. It runs a less powerful but more modern chipset with smooth all-round performance, and can hold a charge for as long as a whole day under moderate use. Its screen size and power may put off some users who expect to be able to play games smoothly and quickly though.
The KeyOne comes with Android Nougat out of the box, with BlackBerry promising on-line updates for the foreseeable future. it comes with BlackBerry's own custom launcher which aims to be as close to stock Android as possible. Not only that, but it enables the mentioned keyboard shortcuts, so using other launchers may disable them. Swiping down on certain apps will display their widgets, which can save screen space and processing power.
The camera used is the same one used on the Google, Pixel, judged to have arguably one of the best cameras on the market. it doesn't have the same programming that polishes pictures on the Pixel, but it works well enough. It's not the best, but it's good. Pictures come out on Snapchat muddy and blurry, as it is not optimised for the phone's orientation and screen size, but pictures taken from Instagram come out phenomenally, especially in the right conditions. The selfie camera isn't as good, taking less sharp images, but it works.
Overall, the BlackBerry KeyOne is a fantastic device all-round, and one of the finest BlackBerry-branded devices as of yet. A robust, reliable workhorse with some useful and neat features meant to juggle your day's demands, look good doing it, and leave a few hours of battery life for you when you get home.
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Top reviews from other countries
Sinsangre
¿Quién quiere un iphone pudiendo tener la keyOne?
Reviewed in Mexico on March 16, 2019Misskelly
Vendeur sérieux, bon téléphone résistant
Reviewed in France on February 22, 2020Mr Simpson
Wow...! What a great phone...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 29, 2019Amazon Customer
A very good phone. An extremely satisfied customer I am
Reviewed in Canada on June 20, 2017