BlackBerry KEYone

[Technarchy]

Absolutely agree.

I partly blame One Plus for managing to price their phones so well yet putting outstanding specs into them!
Everything else 'mid-range' just pales in comparison to their devices, particularly the new 3 / 3T.

And lets get real, this Mercury device will be no where near even the original 3 in terms of its internals so already they're going to be a little bit up against it.
Having said that though, who outside of those who are really tech savvy are going to know about One Plus?

The only thing this has going for it is that it's easily recognisable as a BlackBerry due to that keypad. Whether or not that's a good or bad thing will be the big question. Like I've said, advertisement could turn it around for them and put it on peoples radars, but as it's rumoured to be more of an enterprise device they're not going to be pouring all of the required money into adverts when they're not necessarily after the market that Samsung and Apple etc currently dominate.

They can take my money either way though!

One Plus? Is that bad comedy? They are insignificant players by any standard compared to just about anyone. No one barely even knows who they are outside of some diehard followers of mobile tech and industry.

I'm pretty sure it's safe to say they are in no way driving the direction of the industry.

 

[Aneres11]

One Plus? Is that bad comedy? They are insignificant players by any standard compared to just about anyone. No one barely even knows who they are outside of some diehard followers of mobile tech and industry.

I'm pretty sure it's safe to say they are in no way driving the direction of the industry.

Really? So you don't think that competitors are lookin at what One Plus are doing and not taking some notes?
Anyone with a little bit of common sense will do their research before they buy a mobile phone (blind fan boys aside who just upgrade to the next one in the series and pay no attention to anything else), and they'll do that by going to tech websites or reviewers.

You only have to look at the views these tech guys get on their YouTube channels, some in the millions. All of these tech people praise the OnePlus series for many things, affordability and the fact their devices run as well as most flagships being the main plus points.

To give you some context, I used to work in a phone shop until last weekend and I saw a load of people with One Plus phones. Helps that they're starting to get network support (o2 UK sell them over here on contract), so people are aware.

The comment you have quoted me on is in relation to the price of the KEYone, which compared to a OnePlus 3T for instance, is pretty high. The 3T has better specs all round and probably runs better day to day yet BB have a very mid range chip set but are charging much more. I still bought the BB as it suits me better, but it's food for thought before purchasing for a lot of people.

To say they are insignificant players is a massive detriment to them and doesn't really help your argument, whatever it is you were trying to get at.

 

[Technarchy]

Really? So you don't think that competitors are lookin at what One Plus are doing and not taking some notes?
Anyone with a little bit of common sense will do their research before they buy a mobile phone (blind fan boys aside who just upgrade to the next one in the series and pay no attention to anything else), and they'll do that by going to tech websites or reviewers.

You only have to look at the views these tech guys get on their YouTube channels, some in the millions. All of these tech people praise the OnePlus series for many things, affordability and the fact their devices run as well as most flagships being the main plus points.

To give you some context, I used to work in a phone shop until last weekend and I saw a load of people with One Plus phones. Helps that they're starting to get network support (o2 UK sell them over here on contract), so people are aware.

The comment you have quoted me on is in relation to the price of the KEYone, which compared to a OnePlus 3T for instance, is pretty high. The 3T has better specs all round and probably runs better day to day yet BB have a very mid range chip set but are charging much more. I still bought the BB as it suits me better, but it's food for thought before purchasing for a lot of people.

To say they are insignificant players is a massive detriment to them and doesn't really help your argument, whatever it is you were trying to get at.

Competitors? If you mean 2nd string d-list players operating in the niche margins, sure maybe they care. If you mean Apple and Samsung, you're being incredibly optimistic.

Mind you this is not a matter of if their phones suck or are awesome, but you're certainly puffing up their significance with a bit too much enthusiasm.

 

[Aneres11]

Competitors? If you mean 2nd string d-list players operating in the niche margins, sure maybe they care. If you mean Apple and Samsung, you're being incredibly optimistic.

Mind you this is not a matter of if their phones suck or are awesome, but you're certainly puffing up their significance with a bit too much enthusiasm.

I didn't say Apple and Samsung directly. So no, I didn't mean that. I meant what I said. Competitors in general. Other smart phone manufacturers. Particularly the likes of HTC who are stuck in a bit of a difficult position pricing their phones in a similar bracket as samsung and iPhone's when it's just setting them up for a failure.

And hey, you think it's enthusiasm, I would rather say it's appreciating that they are doing a great job with their devices for people who don't want to spend a fortune on a phone and don't want to give up great performance.

There are not too many other phone companies giving that same performance and build quality and at that price point, so I take my hat off to them.

 

[fitzsimonsjl]

Picked one up myself yesterday (coming from a BlackBerry Passport and iPhone 6S). Been absolutely amazing so far. Wish this was what they'd released the first time round rather than the PRIV- of which I ended up exchanging three before finally getting a refund due to build quality issues.

 

[Aneres11]

Picked one up myself yesterday (coming from a BlackBerry Passport and iPhone 6S). Been absolutely amazing so far. Wish this was what they'd released the first time round rather than the PRIV- of which I ended up exchanging three before finally getting a refund due to build quality issues.

Excellent! Welcome fellow KEYone member! .

Yeah, same story with me and the PRIV. Had 5 before I got one without build issues. But it ended up being the phone I kept hold of for the longest amount of time. I loved it, still do like the device.
But they didn't half get quality control so wrong.

The KEYone is firmly cementing itself as one of my favourite BlackBerry's. The PRIV is up there (I did genuinely love it) along with the 9700. Hopefully this continues to go from strength to strength with updates etc.

 

[5105973]

Here's a very good video on the camera.

Wow I was not expecting the KeyOne to give such strong showing against the S8 camera. That's great! I love my S8+ but I always want to see strong competition and there is something about the KeyOne that makes me want to see it thrive. I like that it offers something different for people who want something other than the usual slab phone. It also reminds me so much of a classic SLR so it's nice that it has a competent camera to compliment the looks.

 

[Aneres11]

Wow I was not expecting the KeyOne to give such strong showing against the S8 camera. That's great! I love my S8+ but I always want to see strong competition and there is something about the KeyOne that makes me want to see it thrive. I like that it offers something different for people who want something other than the usual slab phone. It also reminds me so much of a classic SLR so it's nice that it has a competent camera to compliment the looks.

Yeah, it's camera is definitely capable of taking fantastic shots in the right hands.
It is pretty decent in low light compared to my S8 too, from a comparison I did anyway.

I hope it does well when it releases in America.
Here in the UK it is apparently tricky to get hold of now this first batch has been and seemingly gone.
I don't see it as 'demand' more a smaller initial batch selling out. But it's nice to hear over on CrackBerry forums that lots of people are going into phone shops and asking for the new BlackBerry.
I'd love nothing more than to see this do well and it result in a KEYtwo!

 

[fitzsimonsjl]

Yeah, it's camera is definitely capable of taking fantastic shots in the right hands.
It is pretty decent in low light compared to my S8 too, from a comparison I did anyway.

I hope it does well when it releases in America.
Here in the UK it is apparently tricky to get hold of now this first batch has been and seemingly gone.
I don't see it as 'demand' more a smaller initial batch selling out. But it's nice to hear over on CrackBerry forums that lots of people are going into phone shops and asking for the new BlackBerry.
I'd love nothing more than to see this do well and it result in a KEYtwo!

You'd be correct there. Weirdly enough they wouldn't do an inter-store transfer of stock (because ordering from the warehouse for in store delivery or home delivery both weren't an option as there weren't any to ship). No idea if this is a general policy of Carphone, or if it's just a KEYone thing. In the end Weybridge had a few, so I snagged one there. Thankfully not a particularly long journey from Kingston. Much as I wanted the phone, I didn't feel like fighting my way through central!
[doublepost=1494793148][/doublepost]

Excellent! Welcome fellow KEYone member! .

Yeah, same story with me and the PRIV. Had 5 before I got one without build issues. But it ended up being the phone I kept hold of for the longest amount of time. I loved it, still do like the device.
But they didn't half get quality control so wrong.

The KEYone is firmly cementing itself as one of my favourite BlackBerry's. The PRIV is up there (I did genuinely love it) along with the 9700. Hopefully this continues to go from strength to strength with updates etc.

Bold 9900 for me, though the KEYone keyboard is pretty close to that so I'm a happy camper. Agreed- right cock up with QC. I think had I had the time (I was only back for a week before I left the country again for another 8 months - like I am this time) I would have chanced one more exchange and crossed my fingers that they build was stellar.

 

[Aneres11]

You'd be correct there. Weirdly enough they wouldn't do an inter-store transfer of stock (because ordering from the warehouse for in store delivery or home delivery both weren't an option as there weren't any to ship). No idea if this is a general policy of Carphone, or if it's just a KEYone thing. In the end Weybridge had a few, so I snagged one there. Thankfully not a particularly long journey from Kingston. Much as I wanted the phone, I didn't feel like fighting my way through central!
[doublepost=1494793148][/doublepost]

Bold 9900 for me, though the KEYone keyboard is pretty close to that so I'm a happy camper. Agreed- right cock up with QC. I think had I had the time (I was only back for a week before I left the country again for another 8 months - like I am this time) I would have chanced one more exchange and crossed my fingers that they build was stellar.

It's a carphone thing. Stock inventory cannot be passed from store to store (there was a reason, but can't remember what I was told!)
Best we could do at our store is call the manager (if it was within the same region) and ask them to keep it to one side for a customer.

I never had a 9900, or I'm sure that would have been a favourite. After the 9700, the iPhone took over for me so Blackberry never got a look in from me then until the Q10. Another one I loved!
I'm such a fan boy.
But I love being a BlackBerry fan boy. Distinctly different is definitely correct, and I will forever be a PKB fan. Nothing comes close for me.

 

[fitzsimonsjl]

It's a carphone thing. Stock inventory cannot be passed from store to store (there was a reason, but can't remember what I was told!)
Best we could do at our store is call the manager (if it was within the same region) and ask them to keep it to one side for a customer.

I never had a 9900, or I'm sure that would have been a favourite. After the 9700, the iPhone took over for me so Blackberry never got a look in from me then until the Q10. Another one I loved!
I'm such a fan boy.
But I love being a BlackBerry fan boy. Distinctly different is definitely correct, and I will forever be a PKB fan. Nothing comes close for me.

Funny that! I asked them if they could call the Weybridge manager to ask them to keep one aside but it was a no go as they "didn't know the manager at that store" and it's not a done thing (not that it should make a difference about a polite request).

Yeah, same here. Always kept a a BlackBerry around even then. It is nice to stop carrying two phones and not have any kind of app gap though.

Completely agree, as good as virtual keyboards are I was never completely comfortable with them. Always relied too much on autocorrect. And once you throw multiple languages in (at least on iOS) autocorrect brings its own set of issues. Loved the Passport for the combined suggestions (same for the KEYone) going between English/ Swedish/ Danish- makes life so much easier.

 

[Aneres11]

Funny that! I asked them if they could call the Weybridge manager to ask them to keep one aside but it was a no go as they "didn't know the manager at that store" and it's not a done thing (not that it should make a difference about a polite request).

Yeah, same here. Always kept a a BlackBerry around even then. It is nice to stop carrying two phones and not have any kind of app gap though.

Completely agree, as good as virtual keyboards are I was never completely comfortable with them. Always relied too much on autocorrect. And once you throw multiple languages in (at least on iOS) autocorrect brings its own set of issues. Loved the Passport for the combined suggestions (same for the KEYone) going between English/ Swedish/ Danish- makes life so much easier.

Yeah the Passport was a great phone, I loved mine, but ultimately preferred the Classic.

No app gap from BB10 is definitely a good thing now that they use Android.
I think to put the cherry on the cake though I'd love to see them bring the BB browser back so we have all of the keyboard shortcuts to navigate round.

I loved that browser!

 

[sk1wbw]

Beating a dead horse here, but when do US preorders begin? Anyone?

 

[Lobwedgephil]

Beating a dead horse here, but when do US preorders begin? Anyone?

May 31st unlocked, at carriers mid-late summer.

 

[sk1wbw]

May 31st unlocked, at carriers mid-late summer.

I thought that was the availability date for sales, not preorders? There's a difference. I was under the impression that the phone was available to purchase physically on the 31st.

 

[Aneres11]

Just thought I'd post a little update now it has been a good few weeks solidly using the KEYone.

As I've been bleating on in this thread, it hasn't been an instant connection with this phone, and I still haven't quite worked out why.

Regardless, those feelings of doubt or niggles or whatever it is they actually were have all gone.

I absolutely love this phone. Basically everything about it, but the keyboard is the greatest thing for me here, as you'd probably expect.
Battery life truly is phenomenal. The build quality is amazing, and I've had three people in work today notice it on my desk and all coo over it.
The usual story of "omg I used to love my BB" or "I didn't even know they were still making phone" etc. .
Those that have seen it though all think it looks so cool and want to have a play on it. Which I happily let them. They'd never drop their iPhone's for one or anything, but it's nice to see people react positively.

Can't see me getting rid of this anytime soon tbh. Seem to have just found my groove with it and don't want to be without it for anything else out there right now.

 

[sk1wbw]

Just thought I'd post a little update now it has been a good few weeks solidly using the KEYone.

As I've been bleating on in this thread, it hasn't been an instant connection with this phone, and I still haven't quite worked out why.

Regardless, those feelings of doubt or niggles or whatever it is they actually were have all gone.

I absolutely love this phone. Basically everything about it, but the keyboard is the greatest thing for me here, as you'd probably expect.
Battery life truly is phenomenal. The build quality is amazing, and I've had three people in work today notice it on my desk and all coo over it.
The usual story of "omg I used to love my BB" or "I didn't even know they were still making phone" etc. .
Those that have seen it though all think it looks so cool and want to have a play on it. Which I happily let them. They'd never drop their iPhone's for one or anything, but it's nice to see people react positively.

Can't see me getting rid of this anytime soon tbh. Seem to have just found my groove with it and don't want to be without it for anything else out there right now.

Seems there was an update yesterday for the keyboard which enables swipe typing. Did you get it? Not sure how good it works, but DopeTechDaily on YouTube did a review on it a few hours ago.

 

[Aneres11]

Seems there was an update yesterday for the keyboard which enables swipe typing. Did you get it? Not sure how good it works, but DopeTechDaily on YouTube did a review on it a few hours ago.

Sorry for delay had a crazy day.

I haven't had any update, no.
Just tried looking to force it, but cannot for the life of me find the option in settings to check updates?
Must be well hidden or I'm being blind!

Swipe typing? What even is that? I'll check it out though, thanks!
[doublepost=1495054252][/doublepost]EDIT

Just checked it out, sorry i thought you meant a software update, not a BB KeyBoard update.
I haven't checked if mine has as I watched the video and then understood what you meant by swipe typing.
Absolutely not for me. Completely defeats the purpose of the PKB in my opinion.

I also find that method of text input to be by far the worst one I've ever used / tried.
I know some swear by it and won't use anything else, but I find it truly awful.

But then again, I love a PKB unlike the majority of the population, so I'd take what I say with a huge pinch of salt haha!

 

[sk1wbw]

Sorry for delay had a crazy day.

I haven't had any update, no.
Just tried looking to force it, but cannot for the life of me find the option in settings to check updates?
Must be well hidden or I'm being blind!

Swipe typing? What even is that? I'll check it out though, thanks!
[doublepost=1495054252][/doublepost]EDIT

Just checked it out, sorry i thought you meant a software update, not a BB KeyBoard update.
I haven't checked if mine has as I watched the video and then understood what you meant by swipe typing.
Absolutely not for me. Completely defeats the purpose of the PKB in my opinion.

I also find that method of text input to be by far the worst one I've ever used / tried.
I know some swear by it and won't use anything else, but I find it truly awful.

But then again, I love a PKB unlike the majority of the population, so I'd take what I say with a huge pinch of salt haha!

I have never been able to swipe on a virtual keyboard. Hell, I hunt and peck on them things as it is.

 

[Aneres11]

I mean it looks impressive when you see someone in full flow with it, but I gave it a few hours once and nearly smashed my phone up I hated it that much.

More people at work wanting a go of the KEYone this morning.
I let her, she has the biggest false nails you've ever seen (and pointy...) - I feared for my shiny gloss keys I won't lie!
Needless to say, she didn't get far with it before giving up.

 

[MRU]

I mean it looks impressive when you see someone in full flow with it, but I gave it a few hours once and nearly smashed my phone up I hated it that much.

More people at work wanting a go of the KEYone this morning.
I let her, she has the biggest false nails you've ever seen (and pointy...) - I feared for my shiny gloss keys I won't lie!
Needless to say, she didn't get far with it before giving up.

Lol

 

[Aneres11]

Me again! Shock haha.

Took the KEYone on a dog walk tonight.
Really, really impressed with some of the photos I took. It surprises me, because when I'm taking them I always think they are going to come out off focus, or a bit blurred. Couldn't be more wrong. It does such a good job at capturing everything in the frame in some sort of focus.

These attachments are just me clicking the camera (convenience) key and snapping. No edit, just auto mode.

For some reason, these have been more compressed than normal... they're very sharp on my screen and MacBook prior to upload.

Having a great time with my KEYone. Well and truly found my swing with it and I love it.
Downloaded a pretty decent app the other day called Light Manager Pro which lets me change the RGB LED colour for specific apps / phone actions.
There are some apps which don't have a notification light, like Instagram, which always annoyed me.
So now I have a pinky purple flash when I have an Instagram notification. Red for email. Dark blue for Facebook. Green for WhatsApp. White for texts. Yellow for Snapchat and a lighter blue for Twitter.
Works a charm. Can also increase the speed of the LED light depending on your tastes.

I really want to see this be a success for BlackBerry / TCL.
I'd also like to see them build on the KEYone. They've finally built a phone which is unmistakably BlackBerry, and it's pretty much what you would expect from them in 2017.
As much as I have loved owning all these wildly different BB devices over the past few years, I've always wanted a design like the KEYone. The design of this phone is spot on, IMO. They've finally hit on something that has piqued peoples interest so I think they now need to take this and run with it for the foreseeable.

Next year, release a KEYtwo. Get a bigger screen on there with on screen buttons, not virtual ones underneath it. Get rid of the big silver bezel at the top and put a slither more screen in. Under the hood, beef the specs out.
I'd love them to do this, not sure if they will. If they're marketing it at enterprise, then they probably don't think they need to do that. Nor are they likely to think it needs a refresh in a years time. I guess it's just wishful thinking on my part.

But more of this going forward would be great and it would maybe even give people reason to invest in them again.

 

[MRU]

Fab pictures, your lab is a real poser @Aneres11 and it's great that you are enjoying the KeyOne. I'm hoping to get to see it in person next week and can't wait to try the keyboard out myself. I loved the keyboard of the Bold 9900 and hope the Keyone's keyboard provides the same experience.

 

[Aneres11]

Fab pictures, your lab is a real poser @Aneres11 and it's great that you are enjoying the KeyOne. I'm hoping to get to see it in person next week and can't wait to try the keyboard out myself. I loved the keyboard of the Bold 9900 and hope the Keyone's keyboard provides the same experience.

Well normally he's camera shy. But he appears to pose on his walks as I have his ball in my other hand above my head and he's waiting for me to hurry the hell up and throw it for him.
I have to take 3 balls out, he legs it for the first 2, keeps them in his mouth and trots after the third, which I have to keep picking up and lobbing as he can't fit 3 in.

He's weird. He understands drop, but will not drop the balls for anyone.

And I am excited to hear your thoughts!! Lets us know as soon as you can!

 

[Aneres11]

Miracles happen!

Some amazing person somewhere has basically remade BlackBerry Browser (called Keyboard Browser)!!

It has all of the BB10 keyboard shortcuts. T to go to the top of the page, B for bottom, space bar to scroll down, N for next, P for previous (back) I LOVE IT!
It even looks exactly like BB10 browser.

Check out the article from Crackberry on it:

http://crackberry.com/every-priv-an...heck-out-keyboard-browser#LgHDVJljYQhthBTo.97

Ta-ra Chrome!