Blackberry Keyone - back to the roots - Review!
First of all - I'm a big BlackBerry fan since BlackBerry OS 10. Unfortunately this OS came to late (it was damn awesome) to stand the fight against iOS or Android. So BlackBerry decided to use Android for their new Phones.
Specs
Display: 4.5 inches | 1080 x 1620 pixels | Corning gorilla Glass 4
CPU/RAM: Snapdragon 625 | 3GB
Back/Front Camera: 12MP | 8MP
full Specs at: http://www.gsmarena.com/blackberry_keyone-8508.php
Case and Quality:
BlackBerry partnered up with TCL to made the Keyone. In my opinion the quality has decreased by comparison with the BB10 Phones. When you compare it with other Android phones the quality is great because BlackBerry isn't using so much plastic as Samsung etc.. The back of the phones comes in a great rubber based material which is typically for BlackBerry phones.
BlackBerry made just one strange design decision - they put the lock button on the left side of the phone.. which is weird the first 2 Weeks!
Camera:
As you can see in the picture the camera is big and stands out a little bit. It's the same sensor which is used in the new Google Pixel. But the Chip behind is different - so it is, unfortunately, not the same. The quality is good to middle... if you have enough light. In low light situation you hardly get a good shot because the shutter speed is so slow that you have to use a tripod to get any good result. But I always said since I got my first BlackBerry - never buy a BlackBerry because you want to take pictures with it!
Software:
The Keyone comes with almost all BlackBerry Apps preinstalled - for a BlackBerry fan that's not a big problem because I would download it anyway - but If you don't want to use the BlackBerry launcher and the other apps you have to deinstall a lot.
All the rest is standard Android (ships with Android 7.1) and I don't explain that deeper.
The Killer Feature - Keyboard:
Oh god how i missed it! A physical keyboard is gold worth if you do a lot of typing. I don't know why, maybe my fingers are too fat or so, but I can't type on a touchscreen without a lot of mistakes. The keyboard is just great - you need a little bit of time to get used to but then you will never switch back to a touchscreen keyboard!
Another great 'feature' which comes with an physical keyboard is that you don't lose the half of your phones screen when typing!
Maybe you know it from the BlackBerry Passport, the keyboard is an touchscreen too! You can scroll with the keyboard without touching the screen.
Battery:
I was used to load my Android Phone every night when I go to bed. With the Keyone and it's 3505mAh battery lasts about 2,5 days with lte, wifi and bluetooth on. This is awesome! That is why BlackBerry using a Snapdragon 625 instead of the newest one which needs more energy.
With Quick Charge 3.0 you get the BlackBerry back to 50% in 36minutes!
Screen:
The screen is bright enough for sunny days and it's sharp - maybe not the best screen when you compare it with a Samsung Galaxy S8 but for a BlackBerry it's good and sharp.
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If you are interested in macro photography take a look at my other posts!
It's a shame that the quality of the build is sub-par. There are photos going around of the Keyone's screen hanging off just by bending the phone.
A lot of phones can be cracked with bending. I think a phone is not made for bending? I don't get it why people cry about that.