BlackBerry KEY2 is here in India, so who should get it and who should not

The BlackBerry KEY2 has left me pleasantly surprised. To be honest, I did not expect a BlackBerry to go to bed. In 2018, even loyalists, have found alternatives in Apple and Samsung. But here I am pleasantly surprised by how KEY2 has turned out to be. This is not the perfect package. No phone is. But the good thing about the KEY2 is that it is able to combine the charm of the old world with modern technology in a way that only a certain BlackBerry could conjure up. Not Apple. Not Samsung. Only BlackBerry. And that is what makes all the difference.

I've already reviewed the BlackBerry KEY2 and I called it the best BlackBerry phone you can buy right now. You can read the review here. But this piece is not about how KEY2 is good or bad. It's about whether it makes sense to you. This is probably not the case for many people, but I can always say with firm conviction that this is not totally a lost cause. This is a good phone in fact, and if you have always wanted to own a BlackBerry or someone who is just waiting for the company to make a comeback, the KEY2 is the phone for you. Hands down.

Before going into details, here is a quick overview of the phone's specifications. The KEY2 comes with a 4.5-inch IPS 1080p LCD screen with an unusual aspect ratio of 3: 2. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor with 6GB of RAM. The phone comes with 64B of internal storage that is still expandable up to 256GB via a micro-SD card slot. The phone is backed by a 3500mAh battery with support for Quick Charge 3.0 on USB Type-C.

The KEY2 runs Android 8.1 Oreo ready to use with the usual suite of BlackBerry security and productivity apps.

Optically, the KEY2 is equipped with a dual rear camera system consisting of a 12-megapixel camera (aperture f / 1.8) and a secondary camera 12 megapixel (f / 2.6 aperture) for depth detection and 2X optical zoom. There is a dual LED flash and a support for 4K video recording. On the front, the KEY2 comes with an 8 megapixel camera.

KEY2 has two positive points. You can say that these are the things that can make you want to buy the KEY2. Although priced at Rs 42,990, the KEY2 packs in what you can call mid-range specifications. The KEY2 runs an almost vanilla version of Android, and it has a physical keyboard. You can learn more about these two features here. For now, it is safe to say, the KEY2 excels in both of these departments which means that if you buy it only based on software and QWERTY, you will not be disappointed.

This brings us to the proverbial question: who is the BlackBerry KEY2 for. The simple answer is, it's a phone designed for business executives looking for productivity and security / privacy from their purchase. The KEY2 also excels in these two departments. But let's do a little deeper now, are we going? Who is the BlackBerry KEY2 for?

– It is for people who like to type and do not be wary of physical keyboards. These are the people who would find satisfaction in the clickety-clack of a real keyboard. The BlackBerry keyboard in its current avatar has larger keys with sufficient spacing and with a smooth matte finish. They just have the right amount to give, and the click-clack you get when typing, is so very satisfying.

– It's for people who like Android stock but also want a little more on their phone's software. The KEY2 runs Android 8.1 Oreo and an almost vanilla version, much like Google's Pixel phones. In fact, even if BlackBerry has launched its own launcher and a number of proprietary applications inside the KEY2, you will not be able to in any way differentiate the full experience of a Google phone. pixel. Unless you choose the finer details. Only you will not care since the software experience here is the best in clbad, even better than Google Pixel phones to some extent, because of the extra features that BlackBerry's security and productivity apps bring at the table. This is for people who really care about the battery life of their phone. The 3500mAh battery inside the KEY2 is a big highlight of the phone after its keyboard. When paired with its energy-efficient processor, the KEY2 can easily last from one to a day and a half, even when you're testing stress. The phone also supports a fast charge and a proprietary feature called Charge Boost that can charge the phone from 0 to 50% in just half an hour.

– It is intended for people who like to spend a lot of phone calls. Clear and neat phone calls. Now you can say that most phones give you these days, but there is something very special about the KEY2's earpiece and speaker, but I want to point out that there becomes very strong but its quality is not as good would imply.

– Another subtle but important aspect of KEY2 is its design. That's the BlackBerry signature which means that it's pretty well built. What I really like about the KEY2 is that it does not justify a case like a majority of premium headlights. This one, on the contrary, can take a shot or two and also it would never fly off your hands or slide on a surface.

But, the KEY2 is definitely not for you, though:

– You like to consume a lot of multimedia on your phone. The KEY2's 3: 2 screen is designed for web browsing, note-taking, e-mailing: you know, all the typical things of the conference room. It is not designed for multimedia consumption. Everything from Netflix to YouTube to regular 1080p videos that you have saved on your phone's storage will appear letter-boxed. The same is true about watching / posting stories on Instagram or Snapchat because watching IG / Snap stories on different formats simply reduces the image. Vertically playable games work well, but playing games on the KEY2 in landscape orientation can be a daunting task. It is better not to do it.

– You like to click on a lot of photos and by that I mean good quality photos. What you end up getting with the KEY2 is decent at the best photos in bright light. The dynamic range is unsatisfactory and the white balance is almost always off unless you shoot in the interior. HDR does not help much either, more often than not resulting in softer saturated photos with not enough detail. Low light pictures have a lot of noise

ALSO READ : BlackBerry KEY2 review: The best BlackBerry you can buy right now