With its physical keyboard, the new BlackBerry smartphone surfs on the legacy of the 2000s devices. After several days of practice, it must be admitted that it is far from obsolete.
Since June 1st, a smartphone is a bit special for sale. At 599 euros, the BlackBerry KEYONE does not offer a screen edge-to-edge, powerful processor or dual photo sensor. In 2017, the brand - whose devices are now manufactured under license by TCL - relies on what made its strength ten years ago, the physical keyboard. A major risk-taking in a market where tactile is king. But when you have a market share of 0.0%, are there still risks not to be taken? BlackBerry does well to return to the physical keyboard for three reasons.
Because people talk about it (rightly so)
Less than a year ago, the Canadian brand stopped producing the BlackBerry Classic. Meanwhile, it has completely withdrawn from the manufacture of smartphones to delegate the task to the Chinese manufacturer TCL, also behind the Alcatel brand. Before and after the Classic, BlackBerry had offered us the Passport and the Priv. Two devices also equipped with a physical keyboard, but with anecdotal success. The KEYONE arrives after a welcome media break, which allows BlackBerry to switch from the "lassitude" box to the "nostalgia" box.
In no case, it is a "big comeback" of the historic brand, which has launched other more consensual smartphones. Marketed at the end of last year, the DTEK50 and DTEK60 have merged into the mass of mid-range Android smartphones. The KEYONE thus acts as a "true false return" of a physical keyboard device, which allows BlackBerry to redo talk about it. Unlike Nokia's empty communication / shell operation called 3310, the KEYone offers relevant new features, even in 2017.
Because it works well
Unlike the old models, the physical keyboard of the KEYONE is not just a set of plastic keys. As with Priv and Passport, they allow you to scroll through a web page. The space bar also houses the fingerprint sensor and can be used to take a picture. Finally, each key can act as a double shortcut by launching an application after a brief press, another after a longer press. If one takes the trouble to use them, all these shortcuts are useful on a daily basis. After a week of use, they almost succeed in demonstrating that the tactile is not necessarily the best ergonomic solution.
Although the smartphone is manufactured by TCL, the physical keyboard takes advantage of the BlackBerry know-how, like the engine's very effective suggestions. A little resistant to our taste, the keys require a time of adaptation. This is probably proportional to your year of birth: if you have grown up with an iPhone or a Samsung, you will feel like holding a brick in your hand. If a sequence of numbers and letters of type "2387B876" speaks to you, then you will quickly find your ease.
The author of these lines has practiced a BlackBerry Bold for several years, with a typing comfort never found under iOS or Android. In a few days, the KEYONE did not make it possible to regain such an impressive typing speed - which could reach that of a computer keyboard. But the physical resistance of the keys reduces the number of input errors. In addition to the good predictions of the BlackBerry keyboard, the experience is superior to that of most virtual keyboards.
Because this is what BlackBerry does best
For BlackBerry / TCL, returning to the physical keyboard is not just a choice. Currently, the Chinese manufacturer does not have the weapons to win against Samsung, LG or Huawei. Despite the integration of the same photo sensor as that of the Google Pixel, the software processing does not make it possible to offer such good shots. Far from there. The KEYONE will not win either the design battle won by the Galaxy S8 or, to a lesser extent, the LG G6.
The BlackBerry KEYone 01net.com - The BlackBerry KEYone
While smartphones seem doomed to fade behind a giant screen, the BlackBerry counterfoil is to be taken as a perfectly executed fatality. The product is not for all generations - do not even consider offering it to a high school student. Its price - more moderate than that of the Priv but still too high - could also prejudice it.
Our very positive opinion on the return to this mode of seizure does not mean that we are amazed by a smartphone that suffers from other weaknesses. But in an environment where the novelties are increasingly monotonous, this nostalgic incursion remains relevant. Of course, it could only come from the old Canadian glory.