Fans of the physical keyboards on the smartphones of old rejoice! BlackBerry has launched their brand new KEY2 smartphone in Malaysia!
Manufactured by TCL, the BlackBerry KEY2 is the follow-up device to the company’s BlackBerry KEYone. This time opting for a number instead of spelling it out, the new device brings a number of upgrades to the table.
First off the phone now features an upper-mid-tier Snapdragon 660 octa-core processor mated to 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. It also features a 3,500 mAh battery inside with Quick Charge 3.0 to keep everything running. It will support dual SIM and a microSD card slot for storage expansion. However, it’s in a hybrid setup so you will have to sacrifice one SIM if you want to use a microSD card.
Up front, the device packs a 4.5″ Full HD IPS display in a 3:2 aspect ratio which is a lot closer to square than the common 18:9 ones on today’s flagships. It’s still pretty crisp so I’m not really complaining.
But the key feature on the KEY2 is its physical keyboard. Unlike the KEYone, the new keyboard has slightly taller keys and a matte finish to it. The rest of the body is made of aluminium and it features a rubberised back with a BlackBerry logo at the back for better grip.
The next big upgrade BlackBerry gave its new phone is the dual-camera system. Instead of a single camera the back, the BlackBerry KEY2 features two 12MP sensors. One features a wide angled f/1.8 aperture lens while the other sports a short telephoto f/2.6 aperture unit instead. This allows for portraits because even business people like portrait phones. In front, you’ll find an 8MP selfie shooter.
There are no stereo speakers, but there is a 3.5mm headphone jack. It runs on Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box that’s mostly stock but with BlackBerry’s renown security features and BB apps like the BlackBerry Hub.
The BlackBerry KEY2 is priced at RM2,599 and will go on sale starting the 12th of July 2018 at Shopee and authorised Brightstar retailers. Besides that, Shopee will also host a special Shocking Sale for the KEY2 from 9am onwards where you can buy the phone for RM2,449 and get a free Bluetooth headset worth RM109.
