TCL-owned Blackberry continued from where it left off on the Keyone with the launch of the Blackberry Key2 yesterday in New York. The Key2 is noticeably wearing a new, improved look when compared to its predecessor. Check out the photo gallery of the Blackberry Key2 that we got courtesy of tech blog Geekspin.
The Blackberry Key2 is one smartphone to be excited about for all reasons except its pricing. It packs the same 4.5-inch LCD utilized on the KEYone in a 3:2 aspect ratio. The small display is as a result of the physical QWERTY keyboard that is underneath the display. They keyboard took some improvement in the size of the keys and the feel. There is also new Speed key just beside the symbol key. The keyboard’s surface is touch-sensitive meaning you can swipe up and down through lists, as well as left and right. With the Key2’s QWERTY keyboard, it is possible to assign shortcuts to all of the letters.
In terms of the dimension, the Blackberry Key2 measures 151.4mm x 71.8mm x 8.5mm, meaning it is taller but the width is almost the same with the Keyone but just 8.5mm thick as against 9.4mm on the Keyone. The device is also lighter and sturdier. The body is made from the 7 series aluminium. 
Turning our attention to the back, the device use a dimpled plastic finished in a grippy diamond pattern that stretches all the way from top to bottom. The Key2 is a dual camera-packing smartphone which is the first in the series as the Keyone had only one rear sensor. The dual camera are arranged horizontally and placed at the top left edge of the back panel. There is no fingerprint sensor at the back, instead it is embedded under the space bar.
The placement of the capacitive keys on the side edges are also different on the Key2. On the KeyOne, the power button was placed in the top left corner edge and wasn’t particularly easy to reach. The Key2’s power button has now moved to the right edge, located underneath the volume rocker and is in effect within easy thumb reach (or left hand index finger). It’s also textured to differentiate it from the Convenience Key which sits underneath that.
Read More: BlackBerry KEY² Launches With More Powerful Specs, Dual Cameras & An Improved Design
The hardware onboard the Blackberry Key2 is also improved. It is powered by a Snapdragon 660 processor, paired with 6GB of RAM and up to 128GB of storage. Other features of the BlackBerry KEY² include a 3500mAh battery which BlackBerry claims should last for two days, a USB-C port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and NFC. It comes with Android 8.1 Oreo and BlackBerry’s DTEK security features. The device comes in Silver and Black colours but I think I prefer the Silver variant. Glance through more hands-on photos of the Blackberry Key2 on our gallery.
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