BlackBerry KEYone

[Lobwedgephil]

Black KEYone launches in India tomorrow. Those lucky people!
Although in fairness, they've had to wait long enough for it!

Apparently, a couple of European sites have listed the black model as a selection on their websites but not with the possibility to buy just yet.
Could just be an error, or could be something to be hopeful for.

Also, why on earth has this thread title still not been changed?!

Think you have to do that as OP. Also, the lagging of this phone now, waze not working on Android auto due to processor power or lack of it, and not getting notifications has me eying the Note 8 or Pixel XL 2 very soon.

 

[Aneres11]

Think you have to do that as OP. Also, the lagging of this phone now, waze not working on Android auto due to processor power or lack of it, and not getting notifications has me eying the Note 8 or Pixel XL 2 very soon.

Ooo I think I'm the OP?
I'll have a look.
And yeah, mine started to lag a little but I did have a direct comparison to my XZ Premium which absolutely flies with power to spare.

The additional GB of RAM apparently doesn't do a great deal on the new black model either, so I've read.

 

[Aneres11]

BBMobile
The @att exclusive Space Black BlackBerry #KEYone is coming soon to business and online customers. bbmobile.me/ATTSpaceBlack #BlackBerry pic.twitter.com/w7JrTICvWa

Looks like the 'Space Black' is coming to America.

Europe - your turn.
In fact, part of me hopes it doesn't coz I would be so tempted.

 

[sk1wbw]

Think you have to do that as OP. Also, the lagging of this phone now, waze not working on Android auto due to processor power or lack of it, and not getting notifications has me eying the Note 8 or Pixel XL 2 very soon.

Google Maps works perfectly on my KEYone. Why not try that instead of complaining?

 

[Lobwedgephil]

Google Maps works perfectly on my KEYone. Why not try that instead of complaining?

Waze gives cop updates, Google maps doesn't. One post is complaining, should I mention my screen fell off while on a phone call? Replacement seems okay though.

 

[Aneres11]

It's official. The black KEYone is getting a worldwide release and will be in the UK in quarter three. So basically this month it seems.

Double the storage (64gb over 32gb) and an extra gig of ram (4gb over 3gb) in this one over the standard black and silver model.
Urgh. Whyyyy!

 

[Aneres11]

So a girl I used to work with at CPW (the one who called me a bad influence, as we constantly changed phones and blamed each other for doing so... ) has just returned her S8 she's had for a week and got the KEYone. She hated the S8.

Anyway, texting me about it (it came today) and I'm telling her all the cool things she didn't know about the keypad being a trackpad, and swiping back over the keys to delete words, keyboard shortcuts etc... got me missing the little beast.

Aaaand then I look at my XZ Premium and snap myself out of it.
That black model is going to be hard to avoid.

 

[Sportsdoc212]

Well I gave it a try....

Long story short: used the Keyone for a week but, regardless of the battery life, which is excellent, I just can't justify the money for a processor that is desperately underpowered for a workhorse device.

The lag, janks, hiccups, stutters, etc when multi tasking general apps killed it for me. If its like that on week one I dread to think how it's gonna be in 12/18/24 months.

For all the nice design, ergonomics and functionality, the SD625 (and to a lesser extent 3gb RAM) was a poor choice. Shame as I quite liked the keyboard experience (typing/swiping/shortcuts).

[doublepost=1514762669][/doublepost]You are so correct. I have had BlackBerry's since they were pagers. Their love to android although understandable has been fraught w a mediocre experience outside of the keyboard. KEYONE is woefully underpowered, crashes and is horrible multitasker. Great keyboard....which is desired so much by me I carry an s8 for everything else as I cannot deal with the delays, crashes and unreliable nature of the device.

 

[Tsepz]

Such a shame. BlackBerry should have just made the KEYOne with a Snapdragon 821 at least, not the latest chip but at least it's a very powerful chip that would help a lot when multitasking.

Something I always appreciate is when a phone has good hardware as the software can be fixed, but when the hardware is weak, theres only so much that can be done.

 

[Aneres11]

Just to chime in here. As I had the KEYone for a while when it came out. The phone is a beast. I had zero crashes or freezes or even slow down. Sure it wasn’t as fast as something like a Galaxy S8 but anyone buying one and then returning it as it isn’t S8 quick is a bit naive to begin with.

The phone was fantastic at what it was built to do and that’s to get stuff done with that keyboard. Multitasking and gaming and media and social media apps are an added bonus of BB finally running Android but it’s not what the Phone lives and dies by, like an S8 or something similarly powered.

 

[Tsepz]

Just to chime in here. As I had the KEYone for a while when it came out. The phone is a beast. I had zero crashes or freezes or even slow down. Sure it wasn’t as fast as something like a Galaxy S8 but anyone buying one and then returning it as it isn’t S8 quick is a bit naive to begin with.

The phone was fantastic at what it was built to do and that’s to get stuff done with that keyboard. Multitasking and gaming and media and social media apps are an added bonus of BB finally running Android but it’s not what the Phone lives and dies by, like an S8 or something similarly powered.

I fully agree WRT gaming and media but Multitasking is a soul part of a smartphone and one of the defining areas of what originally made smartphones what they are.

 

[Aneres11]

I fully agree WRT gaming and media but Multitasking is a soul part of a smartphone and one of the defining areas of what originally made smartphones what they are.

Absolutely. I’m talking multitasking all of that heavy stuff. Emails and docs and calls and texts as per the phones core purpose with work / business in mind and it breezes through. Or it did for me. And lasted all day and then some, which was welcome!

 

[Lobwedgephil]

Not to mention the detachable screen.

 

[Sportsdoc212]

No way this thing is not way underpowered...anyone think the 4GB unit would make a difference...everything crashes...the phone crashes....the text app crashes....chrome crashes....even when I have things shutdown in the background but what's the point of that? I have no unreasonable expectations of the device but for something priced at a premium...touts that it is going after the business user this is really unacceptable. I love the keyboard which is the only reason it is not in the Hudson but when the phone crashes on trying to answer a call thats a bit much. I have deleted and reloaded. Willing to go to the 4GB unit if folks think it will help. Thoughts? Thanks

 

[Aneres11]

No way this thing is not way underpowered...anyone think the 4GB unit would make a difference...everything crashes...the phone crashes....the text app crashes....chrome crashes....even when I have things shutdown in the background but what's the point of that? I have no unreasonable expectations of the device but for something priced at a premium...touts that it is going after the business user this is really unacceptable. I love the keyboard which is the only reason it is not in the Hudson but when the phone crashes on trying to answer a call thats a bit much. I have deleted and reloaded. Willing to go to the 4GB unit if folks think it will help. Thoughts? Thanks

I'd suggest returning it? Hate to be one of those posters, but that 'never happened to me' and that's not me blindly defending it either. If a phone crashes everytime your opening and app and it itsn't just one app then that needs looking at as faulty.

That'd be my first action before looking to get the more expensive model. Unless it won't cost you anything and it'll be like a faulty exchange thing.

 

[AppleRobert]

Last I read on phonearena was this one was very underrated for the year’s releases and not giving its credit when it is justified. I have zero experience with it but why in the world would it be given that evaluation in the first place if all it does is crashes.

 

[fat jez]

I'd suggest returning it? Hate to be one of those posters, but that 'never happened to me' and that's not me blindly defending it either. If a phone crashes everytime your opening and app and it itsn't just one app then that needs looking at as faulty.

That'd be my first action before looking to get the more expensive model. Unless it won't cost you anything and it'll be like a faulty exchange thing.

I’d agree. My partner has one and it’s solid. The only complaint is it’s not great on 4G (3G is fine), but that might just be O2 being rubbish in the UK.

 

[Sportsdoc212]

I'd suggest returning it? Hate to be one of those posters, but that 'never happened to me' and that's not me blindly defending it either. If a phone crashes everytime your opening and app and it itsn't just one app then that needs looking at as faulty.

That'd be my first action before looking to get the more expensive model. Unless it won't cost you anything and it'll be like a faulty exchange thing.

Do you mind if I ask...what type of apps you are running....I had an issue with my text not coming through and had to switch to Textra...nothing else terribly exotic except a reminder app that runs in the background to keep my text notifying like a pager...I had these issues before that and an app that changes the color of the notification light....everything else fairly standard

 

[Aneres11]

Do you mind if I ask...what type of apps you are running....I had an issue with my text not coming through and had to switch to Textra...nothing else terribly exotic except a reminder app that runs in the background to keep my text notifying like a pager...I had these issues before that and an app that changes the color of the notification light....everything else fairly standard

When I had the device, I was running social media stuff really. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, lots of shopping apps, emails, whatsapp, messenger, home apps. Never had any issues at all it ticked along nicely.

Don't get me wrong, if someone put the phone in front of me now after using an iPhone X for so long, I'd probably notice a less than blazing performance. But when I had it, it ran really nicely and I loved the phone.
I ultimately sold it because I can't keep a phone for more than 3 months seemingly but I'd happily have a black one of these again!

 

[Tsepz]

No way this thing is not way underpowered...anyone think the 4GB unit would make a difference...everything crashes...the phone crashes....the text app crashes....chrome crashes....even when I have things shutdown in the background but what's the point of that? I have no unreasonable expectations of the device but for something priced at a premium...touts that it is going after the business user this is really unacceptable. I love the keyboard which is the only reason it is not in the Hudson but when the phone crashes on trying to answer a call thats a bit much. I have deleted and reloaded. Willing to go to the 4GB unit if folks think it will help. Thoughts? Thanks

I'd say go give the 4GB RAM variant a go.

Honestly, IMO, the KEYOne should have come with 4GB RAM from Day 1, just to ensure it is future proofed.

 

[Aneres11]

A wild BlackBery KEYone BRONZE edition appeared...!

Looks hawt.
Still prefer the all black though!

Makes me ponder... the KEYone must have sold pretty well (or above expecation) to result in 3 colour ways being manufactured?
Excited to know there will be 'at least' two more Berry's this year.

Perched for my KEYtwo!

 

[Lobwedgephil]

A wild BlackBery KEYone BRONZE edition appeared...!

Looks hawt.
Still prefer the all black though!

Makes me ponder... the KEYone must have sold pretty well (or above expecation) to result in 3 colour ways being manufactured?
Excited to know there will be 'at least' two more Berry's this year.

Perched for my KEYtwo!

They announced two more coming this year? Interesting.

 

[SkyBell]

Finally picked one of these up the other day - and so far I really like it. I already miss BB 10 sorely (I keep trying to swipe up to get out of an app and making the gesture to get into the Hub ), but I gotta give credit to BlackBerry for their customization of Android - they've done a pretty good job making it look and feels more like a classic BlackBerry. Feels extremely fast to me, but of course this is by far the most powerful phone I've ever used, so I guess my opinion doesn't count for much there.

Mostly, the only gripes I have are based off of adjusting from using BB 10 for 3 years to Android after having not touched it since Jellybean. The battery life is astonishing to me, I can't believe that I was on a call with someone for 45 minutes and browsing the web for the entire duration, and only losing 6% battery. That's just crazy to me. The touch sensitive keyboard is neat; I've messed with one on a BB Passport briefly in the past, but this has been my first chance to really get to use one, and it certainly does come in handy from time to time - would rather have the trackpad from my BB Classic which I am missing dearly, but I suppose in time I'll come to get used to it.

Overall, I'm pretty impressed. The whole phone feels extremely solid just like my Classic did, and it's fairly striking in design I think as well. I'm sad that I've had to cross over to Android as I've never much cared for it, at least not in any stock/manufacturer designed configuration I've ever used - but as stated, the version of Android on the KEYone is BB customized, and you can definitely tell. I'm hoping all my little quibbles with this phone are simply a matter of unfamiliarity, and I will adjust and come to get used to them in time.

 

[ryankul]

My black edition is on the way in the next few days! Haven’t been this pumped for a phone in a long time!

 

[Wildo6882]

My black edition is on the way in the next few days! Haven’t been this pumped for a phone in a long time!

I've got one sitting in my cart on Amazon right now. I can't quite get myself to pull the trigger yet.