The new Blackberry’s second act: KEY2 announced

It’s the first ever Blackberry to feature a dual-lens rear camera and that’s just another sign of the new Blackberry under TCL.  The second act following the KEYOne last year, the KEY2 is an incremental advance aimed fair and square at Blackberry users.

One big difference is a new key on the keyboard called the “Speed Key” – which is a universal shortcut to the key functions of the device – likely born out of feedback from KEYOne users.

“Although there are many different smartphones for consumers to choose from today, most tend to offer very similar experiences without much distinction from one to the next,” said Alain Lejeune, Senior Vice President, TCL Communication & President, BlackBerry Mobile. “With the introduction of BlackBerry KEY2, we’ve created a distinct smartphone that captures all the traits that have made BlackBerry smartphones iconic, while introducing new innovations and experiences that not only make this one of the best devices for security and privacy, but also the most advanced BlackBerry smartphone ever.”

Primary selling point for the KEY2 remains security with the claim it’s the “world’s most secure Android Smartphone” referring to all the modern Blackberry’s.

At a glance it looks like the KEYOne, but the whole thing has been redesigned – with a new look keyboard and 4.5 inch touchscreen display and a wider more edge to edge look on the screen.

It’s the little things really, with key height on the keyboard raised by 20 percent for a better typing experience.

Under the hood it’s got 6GB of memory, and comes in 64 and 128GB storage capacities, though we’d anticipate just one of those (the 64) hitting Aussie stores later this year.

Battery life is aimed at 2 days, though the real battery benefit comes from the Quallcomm Quick Charge built in, which allows the phone to learn from your regular charging habits and optimise based on that.

Dual 12MP rear cameras aim to provide faster auto focus, better stabilisation and of course, Portrait mode.  Plus, being so tightly and cleanly integrated with Google’s Android – it features Google Lens their image processing and data search system which means you can just point the camera at something to find out what it is:)

Aussie availability and pricing is due in the months ahead, though at $649 USD, we’d expect it to drop at $999, but the local Blackberry team here would be working hard to get it in at $899 no doubt.