Review: TCL’s BlackBerry KeyOne - ‘workhorse’ battery life makes up for its small screen and keyboard
With long battery life and up to 2TB of memory, the KeyOne is a good choice for those needing to work long hours on their phone, but stay away if you’re after a water-resistant, dual-SIM device with premium multimedia features
Chinese smartphone maker TCL released the BlackBerry KeyOne in Hong Kong this month without much fanfare. There was no official announcement and barely any publicity.
The Android phone – which comes with a physical QWERTY keyboard — is also not widely available in Hong Kong. This is surprising, given that the KeyOne created so much buzz abroad after its debut at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. I got my unit from the United Kingdom, where it was first launched in May, and this review is based on the BBB100-2 version (as opposed to the BBB100-1 for this region).
Design and hardware
Compared with the BlackBerry Priv, which has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and more rubbery body, the KeyOne feels far more solid, with its round aluminium edges and smooth glass front. Despite being 9.4mm thick, the same as the Priv, it is 12 grams lighter, thus giving the impression that it’s a less bulky handset.
First Android smartphone puts BlackBerry back in the game
By today’s standards, the KeyOne 4.5-inch LCD screen is considered small, but I find reading e-mails, surfing the internet and watching videos on it acceptable. Colours are sharp and clear, and stay so under direct sunlight. The physical keyboard is smaller than that on the Priv, and my first impressions of it were not great. Anyone with big thumbs or long nails will have trouble typing. But I like how it doubles up as a track pad.
