TCL had introduced the BlackBerry KEY2 LE smartphone at IFA 2018 in August. The same smartphone has been brought to India through Optiemus Infracom which builds and distributed phones with BlackBerry branding. Amazon India will be exclusively selling the smartphone in the country starting from Oct. 12 with a price tag of Rs. 29,990 (~$406).

The BlackBerry KEY2 LE will be available in India in a single color edition of Space Blue. The USP of the phone is its full-sized QWERTY keyboard that comes with fingerprint scanner enabled space bar and a Speed Key that can be used in combination with other keys on the keyboard for launching different apps and functions. It is also packed with various security features such BlackBerry Locker, Password Keeper, Privacy Shade, BlackBerry Hub and DTEK security manager.

The KEY2 LE features a 4.5-inch IPS LCD screen that delivers FHD+ resolution of 1620 x 1080 pixels and an aspect ratio of 3:2. The screen is protected by 2.5D curved glass. The handset is loaded with Android 8.1 Oreo and it allows users to launch dual instances of certain apps like Facebook and Instagram for accessing different accounts.

The Snapdragon 636 and 4 GB of RAM are present under the hood of the BlackBerry KEY2 LE. It has an inbuilt storage of 64 GB. It is packed with a 3,000mAh battery. For photography, the KEY2 LE is equipped with 13-megapixel + 5-megapixel dual camera system on its rear shell. At the front is an 8-megapixel camera for shooting selfies. The handset features a polycarbonate chassis with a textured pattern on its rear.

• Read More: BlackBerry Evolve to go on sale in India from October 10 for Rs. 24,990 ($340)

Apart from BlackBerry KEY2 LE, Optiemus Infracom is also selling BlackBerry Evolve smartphone in India. The handset is available in the country with a pricing of Rs. 24,990 through Amazon India.

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The BlackBerry KEY2 LE was officially released a couple of hours ago but two different retailers in UK and Netherlands have already placed the device on preorder for those who have been patiently waiting for it to come. The UK retailer Unlocked-Mobiles has placed the KEY2 LE Black 32GB model on pre-order for £349 and has also indicated that the device would ship on September 10. While in the Netherlands, the retailer Belsimpel has also placed the device for pre-order with a price tag of €429 and is expected to ship in two weeks time.

The Blackberry KEY2 LE is coming out as a trimmed down version of the KEY2 which made its entrance a few months back. The KEY2 LE is powered by a Snapdragon 636 processor which is actually a great mid-range processor. The processor is paired with 4GB of RAM while there are two versions with 32GB and 64GB of storage respectively. The KEY2 LE also packs dual rear cameras but it is a 13MP+5MP combo and not 12MP + 12MP like the Key2. The front-facing camera has not been changed, so you get an 8MP selfie snapper. The phone has Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, a USB Type-C port and an audio jack for connectivity. It has a smaller 3,000mAh battery that TCL claims should last up to 22 hours on a single charge. It also runs Android 8.1 Oreo and will get updated to Android Pie but there is no timeframe yet.

Read Also: BlackBerry releases video teaser for its first wireless charger

The smartphone is expected to be launched in the U.S for $449 in the US while in Canada it will cost CAD 579. The rest of Europe will be able to buy the KEY2 LE for €429.

(via)

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The BlackBerry KEY2 is a nice phone with its upper mid-range specs and physical keyboard but it sells for the price of a flagship. So TCL decided to release a cheaper version with less powerful specs and named it the BlackBerry KEY2 LE. It unveiled it at IFA today.

BlackBerry KEY2 LE Design

The Blackberry KEY2 LE comes with the same 4.5-inch screen as the KEY2 and even retains the 1620 x 1080 resolution. So if you compare both devices, sharpness and overall screen quality should be the same.

Below the screen is a full QWERTY keyboard with a space bar that doubles as a fingerprint scanner. Do note that the KEY2 LE’s keyboard doesn’t function as a trackpad. It has a textured back but the pattern is different. However, it has a polycarbonate frame instead of a metal frame like the KEY2. Early reviews say even with the polycarbonate build, the KEY 2 LE feels well-made.

BlackBerry KEY2 LE Specs

The KEY2 LE has a Snapdragon 636 processor which is actually a great mid-range processor. There is 4GB of RAM and 32GB or 64GB of storage. It comes with dual rear cameras but it is a 13MP+5MP combo and not 12MP + 12MP like the KEY2. The front-facing camera has not been changed, so you get an 8MP selfie snapper.

The phone has Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, a USB Type-C port and an audio jack for connectivity. It has a smaller 3,000mAh battery that TCL claims should last up to 22 hours on a single charge. It also runs Android 8.1 Oreo and will get updated to Android Pie but there is no timeframe yet.

The KEY2 LE may come with less-powerful specs but it doesn’t skimp on any of BlackBerry’s apps and security features such as the DTEK security manager, Privacy Shade tool, redactor Blackberry Hub, BBM, and BlackBerry Locker etc.

READ MORE: BlackBerry releases video teaser for its first wireless charger

KEY2 LE Price

All those scraping off means the KEY2 LE gets a cheaper price tag and it is a significant cut when compared to the $649 launch price of the KEY2. The phone is priced at $399/€399/£349 for the 32GB version and $449/€429/£399 for the 64GB variant. It is available in Atomic (red), Slate (black), and Champagne (gold) color variants. There is no info on when it will hit the market. BlackBerry also released two official cases for the phone. One is a flip case and the other is a soft shell but both are NFC-friendly.

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Despite physical keyboard having totally disappeared in the phones market due to the big touchscreen displays, BlackBerry is still releasing devices with physical QWERTY keyboards. After launching the new KEY2 with upper-midrange specs, the Canadian company acquired by TCL will soon announce its more affordable Lite version: BlackBerry KEY2 LE. Today, BB’s official account on Twitter has posted a teaser video which confirms that the handset will officially debut at IFA 2018, on August 30.

Just like its older sibling, BlackBerry KEY2 LE will be equipped with a physical QWERTY keyboard with a space bar doubling as a fingerprint reader. It is expected to come with an unusual 4.5-inch display (due to the presence of the keyboard) with an “almost” Full HD resolution of 1080 x 1620 pixels.

Almost time for a new introduction. #IFA18 pic.twitter.com/9KPX5GrgvY

— BlackBerry Mobile (@BBMobile) August 24, 2018

On the hardware side, there will be an octa-core Snapdragon 636 chipset running at a max clock frequency of 1.8 GHz, supported by 4 GB of RAM and 32 or 64 GB of internal storage depending on the chosen variant. The rear plastic back should house a dual camera configuration with resolutions of 13 and 5 MP, while the front camera should be a 5 MP snapper. At last, the battery will have a capacity of 3000 mAh. Excluding the keyboard, none of BlackBerry KEY2 LE alleged specs are impressive, so we hope at least that it will be sold at a reasonable price.

(via)

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The BlackBerry KEY2 LE is a less-powerful version of the KEY 2 released a few months ago. We want to believe TCL is releasing this model as a way to woo those who can’t afford the KEY 2. A new render of the KEY2 LE has been leaked online and it shows all the sides of the device.

The BlackBerry KEY2 LE has the same form factor as its more powerful sibling. There is a full QWERTY keyboard below the screen and there are dual cameras on the rear. The phone has the fingerprint scanner baked into the space key and also has the new Speed Key from the BlackBerry KEY 2.

The top of the phone is home to a 3.5mm audio jack and a secondary microphone while the bottom houses a USB-C port flanked by grilles which hide the speaker and the primary microphone.

Just like the KEY 2, there is a convenience key and it sits below the volume rocker and the textured power button. The SIM tray is on the left of the phone. The textured back of the phone has a different design but nevertheless, it should prevent the phone from sliding off smooth surfaces and provide a comfortable grip when holding it.

READ MORE: BlackBerry Evolve, Evolve X go official with 18:9 displays, dual cameras, and big batteries

The BlackBerry KEY2 LE will come with a 4.5-inch screen, a Snapdragon 636 processor, 4GB of RAM and up to 64GB of storage. Its dual cameras are a 13MP sensor paired with a 5MP sensor. It will have a 3,000mAh battery and run Android 8.1 Oreo. TCL is expected to announce the phone at IFA Berlin on August 30.

(Source, Via)

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TCL Communications has today sent out media invites for a launch event on 30th August at IFA, Berlin. While the company has not revealed what device it plans to announce at the launch event, it is likely to launch BlackBerry KEY2 LE.

Last week, the images of the KEY2 LE smartphone surfaced online, as well as the phone’s specifications have also leaked. It is expected to be available in four color options — Black, Red, Blue, and Copper.

The BlackBerry KEY2 LE will come with a 4.5-inch Full HD display with 1620 x 1080 pixels screen resolution, 443ppi pixel density, and 3:2 aspect ratio. The display is protected from minor scratches by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3.

Under the hood, the device will be powered by Qualcomm‘s Snapdragon 636 octa-core processor clocked at 1.8GHz, coupled with Adreno 509 graphics processor. It’ll pack 4GB RAM and will have two options for onboard storage — 32GB and 64GB. There’ll be a microSD card, allowing users to further expand the phone’s storage capacity up to 2TB.

For photography, the phone features a 13-megapixel rear camera sensor with dual-tone LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing snapper. As with the BlackBerry’s usual design, the phone comes with a 4-row Physical QWERTY backlit keyboard with capacitive touch. There’s a fingerprint sensor embedded into the space bar for added security. However, it lacks the trackpad functionality that we saw KeyOne and Key2.

Connectivity options on the device include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4 & 5 GHz), Bluetooth 5 LE, and GPS / GLONASS. The phone will be running Android 8.1 Oreo operating system out-of-the-box and will be fuelled by a 3,500mAh battery.

Read More: BlackBerry Evolve and Evolve X phones go official with 18:9 displays, dual cameras, and big batteries

To know more about the BlackBerry KEY2 LE’s pricing and availability details, we’ll have to wait for the company to officially announce the phone at IFA in Berlin.

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TCL is set to launch a new version of its BlackBerry KEY2 smartphone. The new version will cost less and launch as the BlackBerry KEY2 LE according to Roland Quandt. Now specs of the upcoming device have leaked online.

According to AndroidPolice, the BlackBerry KEY 2 LE will come with a Snapdragon 636 processor paired with 4GB of RAM. It will also come in 32GB ROM and 64GB ROM storage variants.

The processor is quite different from the Geekbench listing of the device which says it has a Snapdragon 660 processor. We’ll advise you keep your fingers crossed on this one.

As seen from leaked photos, the KEY 2 LE will have dual rear cameras but they will be less powerful. Instead of two 12MP sensors, they will be 13MP and 5MP sensors.

Even though the design of both the KEY 2 and KEY 2 LE appears the same, the latter is slightly smaller measuring 150.25 x 71.8 x 8.35 mm. It also weighs less at 156g. TCL has also cut the battery from 3500mAh to 3000mAh which is a pretty significant decrease. The phone will retain the display size and resolution of its more powerful sibling which is a 4.5-inch 1080 x 1620 screen.

AndroidPolice have also gotten their hands on a picture that shows both sides of the device. The QWERTY keyboard looks similar and it is said to house a fingerprint scanner under the spacebar key. However, it won’t have the trackpad functionality of the KEYone and KEY2 which is a bummer.

READ MORE: BlackBerry releases video teaser for its first wireless charger

The BlackBerry KEY2 sells for $650 which is super pricey when compared to other flagship phones which have significantly better specs including cameras. But with the KEY2 LE, physical keyboard-lovers will obviously pay less.

(Source)

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