Blackberry Key 2 review – A beautiful disappointment

See that title of this review? These are the only words I can think of to describe the Blackberry Key 2.

The reason for this is that the latest device by the ‎TCL Corporation, who have licensed the Blackberry name and software from its parent company, simply can’t compete with the range of devices in its price range, despite looking amazing, and tickling all those nostalgic emotions for us former Crackberry addicts.

Before going into the reasons not to buy this phone, let’s first look at what they managed to get right. First, there is obviously the keyboard. Though many of us would scoff at the idea of a physical keyboard, there are some who appreciate that kind of thing. Blackberry, of course, have always been the masters of getting these to work, and the Key 2 is no exception. There is just something satisfying about the tactile feedback provided by the set of QWERTY chiclets. Along with that, the Key also manages to pack over 50 customisable options into those keys.

Second, the phone offers that incredible security Blackberry has always been renowned for combined with the convenience of Android, and the security conscious among us could definitely appreciate that. That is where it ended for me though.

After two days of using the Key 2 as my sole device, I switched to having it as a secondary phone, alongside my Samsung Note. Two days later, I removed my SIM card completely, and put it back in its box. Why? Well, the idea and feel of the keyboard was great at first, but it wore thin very quick.

I realised that it simply couldn’t keep up with the convenience of a Swype keyboard, and having a full set of numbers and special characters readily available on my screen, without the need to programme them, or use the shift key.

The Blackberry also lacks in power, and while the company sells itself as a business device, they missed a step by going with the dated Snapdragon 660 chipset.  Most flagship devices currently utilize the Snapdragon 840 and some the 845, both of which are miles ahead in performance.

Finally there were the camera and display, which were the eventual deal breakers for me.

The Blackberry’s front and rear snappers were, simply put, terrible, when compared to the competition. Pictures simply had way too many artefacts, while low light performance was putrid, despite its dual rear camera setup. And while the lackluster 1620 x 1080 LCD may help extend the phone’s battery life to far beyond that of its competitors, it simply doesn’t measure up to OLED or QLED, when viewing pictures or video.

So, bottom line, the Key 2 is a massive upgrade over Blackberry’s previous attempts at revival, but when compared to the beasts like the Huawei P20, Honor View10, and scores of other smartphones in its price range, it really can’t  compete.

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