Yes, there is a difference. No preorders for US. On sale from BB Mobile unlocked the 31st as I stated previously. Sprint only carrier onboard so far, and mid summer sale for them.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
BlackBerry KEYone
- Thread starter Aneres11
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Yes, there is a difference. No preorders for US. On sale from BB Mobile unlocked the 31st as I stated previously. Sprint only carrier onboard so far, and mid summer sale for them.
Can someone please change this thread title?! No love for the KEYone thread 
!
Also, been rocking a dark theme on my KEYone the last few days.
All of a sudden, going into the app drawer has resulted in a noticeable lag - again - but this time probably a bit worse than before!
Not sure why it's started lagging on that particular action again, but there we go.
Switched back to light and no issues at all.
!Also, been rocking a dark theme on my KEYone the last few days.
All of a sudden, going into the app drawer has resulted in a noticeable lag - again - but this time probably a bit worse than before!
Not sure why it's started lagging on that particular action again, but there we go.
Switched back to light and no issues at all.
I will most definitely be picking up this phone...once the price drops. I simply cannot justify nor really afford paying $500+ for a phone. My Q5 is still holding on for now (geez I'm going to miss BB10 horribly) so there's no real rush. I just wish BlackBerry could stop shooting themselves in the foot at what seems like every. single. opportunity. I swear, if they would just update the specs a bit on the Classic and Passport designs and run Android on them, and sell them below the $350 price mark, they would stand a much better chance of making a small (read:tiny) rebound in smartphone marketshare. But they don't know how to price their devices, nor do they know how to market them. I love my Q5 and the Bold 9310 that came before it, but anyone who has followed BlackBerry's moves over the past couple years knows how laughably bad they are at basically everything outside of hardware/software design.
$550 is dirt cheap for a brand new unlocked device running Android 7.1.1. Really now. That's about 300 less than the S8+ or Pixel XL. What more do you expect?
I disagree with this.
I owned both the Passport and the Classic. Good phones but for a start, the square screens on these devices means that a lot of Android apps wouldn't fit very well as they do on other Android devices with completely different screen ratios.
You wanting a Classic running Android? Well, effectively that is the KEYone, just with better specs and a bigger screen. What most people were wanting in a modern day BlackBerry with a keypad.
Unfortunately, the Passport was too niche. The design was all over the place. There's a reason phones are not square!
The keyboard was also an odd design on that phone, with the space bar being shoved up into the bottom row of keys. I had no problems adjusting to using it, but I think if they were to redo this kind of thing on a future BB, they'd alienate those few users who might be tempted to move back over to a PKB phone due to it's non-conventional layout. And that's the last thing they need.
It's good that your Q5 is holding up, but as sk1wbw says, the KEYone is pretty well priced compared to other flagships, but I do agree it might be a touch too expensive for the specs it holds when comparing it directly to the much cheaper Motorola's that have the same kinda set up.
But honestly? If I was bothered about that I'd have bought the Motorola. Instead, I want that incredible build quality, amazing battery and fantastic PKB, and I can't get that anywhere else so the premium is kind of justified for me.
That's just it though - I've never been interested in flagship phones. There's a reason I use a Q5 - it's lower end, which means it's cheap, but still has a good physical keyboard on it. I don't want a top of the line, fancy flagship model; I want a phone with a decent real keyboard that I can toss around and be less than gentle with without worrying about breaking it because of how expensive it is.
Now, my personal preferences aside: I don't know people who buy flagship phones. By which I mean, I know a lot of people who go and buy one, but then break it within months and immediately regret spending as much as they did on a phone, and go buy mid-tier or usually low end models. BlackBerry is trying to carve itself out a niche in a saturated high end market dominated by Apple and Samsung - it's just not going to happen. They need to concentrate on the mid-range and low-end market, where there a lot of "me too's" manufacturers that they can stand out from with their design and keyboards.
I don't know. I've never spent more than $200 for a phone, my needs are basic. There are so many people who see me using my Q5 who express their desire to own a smartphone with a physical keyboard. I knew people weren't going to jump on the sinking ship that is BB10, but when the Priv was released, I excitedly showed it to these same people. They were extremely interested - that is, until I showed them price: all interest evaporated immediately.
Here's the thing - if BlackBerry can get carriers to subsidize their phones just as well as they subsidize iPhones and Galaxy models, then they might stand a chance. But you can get an iPhone 5c on evermore popular prepaid carriers for $200 or less. It's nowhere near the latest model, but still very functional and most importantly, affordable. This is where BlackBerry desperately needs to edge its way into, in my humble opinion.
I understand what you're saying, and it makes sense when looking at it from your personal wants and needs.
I guess for me, I think BlackBerry are finally doing it right.
They've finally got a phone that appeals to the BB fans AND the people who would like to try a PKB again. There's enough under the hood / design wise here to maybe tempt some people over. Also, there isn't much in the way of compromise this time around, which always seemed to be the case with BB and BB10.
I don't really think that they should go low end. Maybe add a lower end model to the new BB/TCL line up, if they feel they could make some sales with it. But likelihood is it would mean that sales of the higher end model may suffer. There isn't too much of a want / need for one PKB phone, let alone 2.
As this is more of an enterprise model too, there needs to be some decent specs inside it so it will perform adequately. There's not much point in making a low end Android BB for business use as low end Android generally means bad performance, from my experience. But I guess it depends how low end you're talking.
When you look at what you're getting for your money with the KEYone, the price almost starts to make sense. It does to me. Build quality is fantastic. You mention about breaking an expensive phone easily - well that's a fear we all have. And a chance we all take. But cases, insurance products, screen protectors all go some way to help with that. And FWIW, the KEYone is the first phone in ages I am using totally naked. I have little to no concerns about this breaking / slipping out my hand and being damaged as easily as previous devices like iPhones etc.
Add to that the battery, build, camera sensor and keypad tech (which is brilliant) and the cost starts to seem a little more reasonable. Again for my needs.
I guess BB are in a tricky spot because they're trying to build market share and get some users back, but they must be scratching their heads wondering how. Like I say, I think the KEYone is the first right step they've taken in a long time. As much as I loved the Priv, it had too many flaws / QC problems (along with sky high price) to compete, so the KEYone strikes a nice balance for the moment.
Hopefully your Q5 lasts (that's the only BB10 QWERTY device I never tried BTW!) and then when / if the price of KEYone drops you can come aboard. I think you'd love it.
I guess for me, I think BlackBerry are finally doing it right.
They've finally got a phone that appeals to the BB fans AND the people who would like to try a PKB again. There's enough under the hood / design wise here to maybe tempt some people over. Also, there isn't much in the way of compromise this time around, which always seemed to be the case with BB and BB10.
I don't really think that they should go low end. Maybe add a lower end model to the new BB/TCL line up, if they feel they could make some sales with it. But likelihood is it would mean that sales of the higher end model may suffer. There isn't too much of a want / need for one PKB phone, let alone 2.
As this is more of an enterprise model too, there needs to be some decent specs inside it so it will perform adequately. There's not much point in making a low end Android BB for business use as low end Android generally means bad performance, from my experience. But I guess it depends how low end you're talking.
When you look at what you're getting for your money with the KEYone, the price almost starts to make sense. It does to me. Build quality is fantastic. You mention about breaking an expensive phone easily - well that's a fear we all have. And a chance we all take. But cases, insurance products, screen protectors all go some way to help with that. And FWIW, the KEYone is the first phone in ages I am using totally naked. I have little to no concerns about this breaking / slipping out my hand and being damaged as easily as previous devices like iPhones etc.
Add to that the battery, build, camera sensor and keypad tech (which is brilliant) and the cost starts to seem a little more reasonable. Again for my needs.
I guess BB are in a tricky spot because they're trying to build market share and get some users back, but they must be scratching their heads wondering how. Like I say, I think the KEYone is the first right step they've taken in a long time. As much as I loved the Priv, it had too many flaws / QC problems (along with sky high price) to compete, so the KEYone strikes a nice balance for the moment.
Hopefully your Q5 lasts (that's the only BB10 QWERTY device I never tried BTW!) and then when / if the price of KEYone drops you can come aboard. I think you'd love it.
You can find a lot of really great (not just good, but great!) smartphones for even less.
For my father, I have bought Xiaomi Redmi 3 for 130$. 4000mah on 5" and 720p screen phone = 2-3 days of battery life. At least. And it has dual sim. It is aluminium phone, with really great build quality. Only thing lacking is camera. It's ok during day light, and horrible with low light. But he doesn't care about camera.
After that, I have bought the same phone for myself. When I travel and run out of battery, I will use that phone. And that thing is a battery beast. What is also interesting, performance is really great as well. I have seen less lag on that phone then on S7
Where at exactly? I see an 'international version but I'm not paying over $800 for one flat out.
Taken from Blackberry Mobiles page:
GSM: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06ZYGDY4P
CDMA: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071RBP5J6
Best Buy: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/blackbe...-phone-unlocked-black/5844003.p?skuId=5844003
I'd love to pick one up myself but I'm getting married next week and have a house under contract so it'll be a while and my iPhone 7 certainly isn't in need of replacing. Though a I am giving the Priv a shot right now I'll probably end up sending it back because the SD808 just isn't that quick or efficient. At least the 625 is efficient. Though I am loving the form factor. RIP slider phones, haha.
But seriously, when these start popping up on Swappa I'll give it a fair shot.
Update from me having had the KEYone for over a month.
I love the phone, still do. But I'm going to be selling it shortly.
When it comes down to it, its only the keypad that is keeping me with the phone.
It's fantastic at a number of things as well as the keypad - build quality, battery life etc.
But for me, it's all about how I use my phone these days and what I use it for, and the KEYone just isn't really the right phone for me when I look at it that way.
I could make it work for me, and have had a good time using it, but I guess when we use our phones for as much as we do these days, I wanted to have something that did those key things better.
For me, it's mainly music, media, social media and messaging. KEYone does only one of those things well and that's messaging. The rest, well it does the, but it could be better.
I've found myself frustrated with a few things when using the KEYone. The biggest was those Android buttons. They need to be on screen buttons really, to give a slightly longer screen . They're also not great buttons either, sometimes they're difficult to press, sometimes they're pressed / touched too easily, especially when scrolling with the keypad.
I also found the scrolling to be very cumbersome too. It was never really fluid.
Camera was capable of great things, and I was very impressed at shots in good light. Surprised even!
But in low light I could presss the shutter, go and pop the kettle on, make a cup of tea and drink it before the photo was taken*
*dramatisation, may not have happened. Haha.
It was slow in lower light which was no good when trying to snap the dog etc.
I'm not going to hate on it as I really do still love the phone. But social media apps are not great. Especially snapchat. Yes, the core user of this phone will not give 2 hoots about SC, but I use it and the screen ratio is not optimised for it, so it wasn't completely ideal but liveable.
Also, Android's version of Facebook is pretty bad. I hate that when going to most recent it removes the notification bar. Why? iOS doesn't do that. And I can't tell you the amount of time I'd click into notifications only for the screen to be blank. I'd have to quit out, close the app and go back in to make them appear. This happened on my S8 too.
Music apps not as good (note, for me) compared to music. I use this on my MacBook and iPad and the Android version is alright, but not quite as good.
I also hate the lock screen art work which I've turned off but then it's difficult to change tracks.
Ultimately, I've gone back to a 7 Plus. I feel really satisfied with it having had it for 2 days. Not really missing the KEYone which I expected I would having used the S8 a few days a couple of weeks ago and ended up clamouring for the KEYone back. That was more down to the S8's terrible terrible FPS and narrow design meaning difficult VKB use though.
I'd never say this in the S8 thread as it seems you get shot down for making a complaint about the FPS coz so many people are used to it now so it's my fault.
Anyway, I recently bought AirPods and absolutely love them. They work with my Android devices but with an iPhone they're fantastic. It all works so well with my other products (I'm not bothered about the 'ecosystem') which makes it a no brainier to move back to iOS and iPhone for the time being.
It does what I need it to do really well and I still like the design despite the S8 making it look positively archaic.
Also, I got the product Red edition, which is just glorious. That and the blue Pixel have always been on my radar, and I'm really chuffed with my choice.
I'll always champion the KEYone, and knowing me I'll buy it again next year or something ha. But for now it's been a great ride and I look forward to the KEYtwo...
I love the phone, still do. But I'm going to be selling it shortly.
When it comes down to it, its only the keypad that is keeping me with the phone.
It's fantastic at a number of things as well as the keypad - build quality, battery life etc.
But for me, it's all about how I use my phone these days and what I use it for, and the KEYone just isn't really the right phone for me when I look at it that way.
I could make it work for me, and have had a good time using it, but I guess when we use our phones for as much as we do these days, I wanted to have something that did those key things better.
For me, it's mainly music, media, social media and messaging. KEYone does only one of those things well and that's messaging. The rest, well it does the, but it could be better.
I've found myself frustrated with a few things when using the KEYone. The biggest was those Android buttons. They need to be on screen buttons really, to give a slightly longer screen . They're also not great buttons either, sometimes they're difficult to press, sometimes they're pressed / touched too easily, especially when scrolling with the keypad.
I also found the scrolling to be very cumbersome too. It was never really fluid.
Camera was capable of great things, and I was very impressed at shots in good light. Surprised even!
But in low light I could presss the shutter, go and pop the kettle on, make a cup of tea and drink it before the photo was taken*
*dramatisation, may not have happened. Haha.
It was slow in lower light which was no good when trying to snap the dog etc.
I'm not going to hate on it as I really do still love the phone. But social media apps are not great. Especially snapchat. Yes, the core user of this phone will not give 2 hoots about SC, but I use it and the screen ratio is not optimised for it, so it wasn't completely ideal but liveable.
Also, Android's version of Facebook is pretty bad. I hate that when going to most recent it removes the notification bar. Why? iOS doesn't do that. And I can't tell you the amount of time I'd click into notifications only for the screen to be blank. I'd have to quit out, close the app and go back in to make them appear. This happened on my S8 too.
Music apps not as good (note, for me) compared to music. I use this on my MacBook and iPad and the Android version is alright, but not quite as good.
I also hate the lock screen art work which I've turned off but then it's difficult to change tracks.
Ultimately, I've gone back to a 7 Plus. I feel really satisfied with it having had it for 2 days. Not really missing the KEYone which I expected I would having used the S8 a few days a couple of weeks ago and ended up clamouring for the KEYone back. That was more down to the S8's terrible terrible FPS and narrow design meaning difficult VKB use though.
I'd never say this in the S8 thread as it seems you get shot down for making a complaint about the FPS coz so many people are used to it now so it's my fault.
Anyway, I recently bought AirPods and absolutely love them. They work with my Android devices but with an iPhone they're fantastic. It all works so well with my other products (I'm not bothered about the 'ecosystem') which makes it a no brainier to move back to iOS and iPhone for the time being.
It does what I need it to do really well and I still like the design despite the S8 making it look positively archaic.
Also, I got the product Red edition, which is just glorious. That and the blue Pixel have always been on my radar, and I'm really chuffed with my choice.
I'll always champion the KEYone, and knowing me I'll buy it again next year or something ha. But for now it's been a great ride and I look forward to the KEYtwo...
That's a shame. Guess you find yourself no longer in the niche, or perhaps the choice of 3gb & Snapdragon 625 are to blame as with a more robust chipset the device would be closer to ideal for all tasks ...Update from me having had the KEYone for over a month.
I love the phone, still do. But I'm going to be selling it shortly.
When it comes down to it, its only the keypad that is keeping me with the phone.
It's fantastic at a number of things as well as the keypad - build quality, battery life etc.
But for me, it's all about how I use my phone these days and what I use it for, and the KEYone just isn't really the right phone for me when I look at it that way.
I could make it work for me, and have had a good time using it, but I guess when we use our phones for as much as we do these days, I wanted to have something that did those key things better.
For me, it's mainly music, media, social media and messaging. KEYone does only one of those things well and that's messaging. The rest, well it does the, but it could be better.
I've found myself frustrated with a few things when using the KEYone. The biggest was those Android buttons. They need to be on screen buttons really, to give a slightly longer screen . They're also not great buttons either, sometimes they're difficult to press, sometimes they're pressed / touched too easily, especially when scrolling with the keypad.
I also found the scrolling to be very cumbersome too. It was never really fluid.
Camera was capable of great things, and I was very impressed at shots in good light. Surprised even!
But in low light I could presss the shutter, go and pop the kettle on, make a cup of tea and drink it before the photo was taken*
*dramatisation, may not have happened. Haha.
It was slow in lower light which was no good when trying to snap the dog etc.
I'm not going to hate on it as I really do still love the phone. But social media apps are not great. Especially snapchat. Yes, the core user of this phone will not give 2 hoots about SC, but I use it and the screen ratio is not optimised for it, so it wasn't completely ideal but liveable.
Also, Android's version of Facebook is pretty bad. I hate that when going to most recent it removes the notification bar. Why? iOS doesn't do that. And I can't tell you the amount of time I'd click into notifications only for the screen to be blank. I'd have to quit out, close the app and go back in to make them appear. This happened on my S8 too.
Music apps not as good (note, for me) compared to music. I use this on my MacBook and iPad and the Android version is alright, but not quite as good.
I also hate the lock screen art work which I've turned off but then it's difficult to change tracks.
Ultimately, I've gone back to a 7 Plus. I feel really satisfied with it having had it for 2 days. Not really missing the KEYone which I expected I would having used the S8 a few days a couple of weeks ago and ended up clamouring for the KEYone back. That was more down to the S8's terrible terrible FPS and narrow design meaning difficult VKB use though.
I'd never say this in the S8 thread as it seems you get shot down for making a complaint about the FPS coz so many people are used to it now so it's my fault.
Anyway, I recently bought AirPods and absolutely love them. They work with my Android devices but with an iPhone they're fantastic. It all works so well with my other products (I'm not bothered about the 'ecosystem') which makes it a no brainier to move back to iOS and iPhone for the time being.
It does what I need it to do really well and I still like the design despite the S8 making it look positively archaic.
Also, I got the product Red edition, which is just glorious. That and the blue Pixel have always been on my radar, and I'm really chuffed with my choice.
I'll always champion the KEYone, and knowing me I'll buy it again next year or something ha. But for now it's been a great ride and I look forward to the KEYtwo...
As for iPhone, enjoy
That's a shame. Guess you find yourself no longer in the niche, or perhaps the choice of 3gb & Snapdragon 625 are to blame as with a more robust chipset the device would be closer to ideal for all tasks ...
As for iPhone, enjoy
I think I'm still part of that niche. It's just I also now use my phone for more things that the KEYone doesn't do quite as well. Part of that is screen size, part of it is chipset etc.
I think it's part of the reason I enjoyed the Priv so much. Full size screen plus a keypad plus decent specs even if it was toasty all the time. That was the best of both worlds for me but I can't see BB/TCL going there again, unfortunately.
I do still think PKB phones should be around though. The keypad on keyone is amazing.
Just bought the Incipio DualPro case. Rasberry colored.
https://www.incipio.com/cases/smart...one-cases/dualpro-blackberry-keyone-case.html
https://www.incipio.com/cases/smart...one-cases/dualpro-blackberry-keyone-case.html
Do you not fancy rocking it nekkid?!
It's almost too delicious to put in a case but I understand why you'd want the added protection.
Putting my keyone on ebay and have decided to just not bother.
I like the phone too much. I was selling it to recoup the funds for my iPhone, but ya know what? Sod it.
I'm just gonna have the best of both worlds with iOS and Android which I think a lover of tech like me should have. Despite me being broke for a while now.
Plus, both my devices are unlocked so I can swap between as and when I want which I don't really like doing, but it's an option.
Guess I just don't want to give up on it just yet.
I like the phone too much. I was selling it to recoup the funds for my iPhone, but ya know what? Sod it.
I'm just gonna have the best of both worlds with iOS and Android which I think a lover of tech like me should have. Despite me being broke for a while now.
Plus, both my devices are unlocked so I can swap between as and when I want which I don't really like doing, but it's an option.
Guess I just don't want to give up on it just yet.
Putting my keyone on ebay and have decided to just not bother.
I like the phone too much. I was selling it to recoup the funds for my iPhone, but ya know what? Sod it.
I'm just gonna have the best of both worlds with iOS and Android which I think a lover of tech like me should have. Despite me being broke for a while now.
Plus, both my devices are unlocked so I can swap between as and when I want which I don't really like doing, but it's an option.
Guess I just don't want to give up on it just yet.
lol. Can't beat the best of both