The arrival of BlackBerry Key2 LE has come as a surprise.
Why?
Well, the Canadian company had announced a few years ago that it was quitting hardware manufacturing and instead, focus on software technology.
Recently, we reported that Blackberry was in the process of acquiring Cylance – a cybersecurity firm for the hefty price of $1.4 billion.
But the announcement of the return of the BlackBerry smartphone to the Nigerian market on Monday has got phone enthusiasts asking the million Naira question: What does the new BlackBerry Key2 LE have in stock?
According to digitaltrends.com, quite a lot!
DESIGN AND DISPLAY
Well, it looks pretty similar to the Key2 and has the same 4.5-inch display and a matte keyboard, but the keyboard is slightly smaller and the phone weighs less.
The keyboard does not have a capacitive touch features you’ll find on the Key2, which is one of the sacrifices you make for the cheaper phone, but the new Speed Key is still present.
It helps you swap between apps much faster using the keyboard shortcuts.
Flip the phone over and you’ll also notice the textured back on the Key2 LE is a little different than the Key2.
The chassis is plastic instead of aluminum, but it does come in more colors: Slate, atomic, and champagne. Of the three, the atomic version — which is red with a dark rear panel — looks best, and is the only where the color extends into the frets between the keys on the keyboard.
While TCL may have cut some corners on the BlackBerry Key2 LE, the display didn’t take a hit.
You’ll find the same 4.5-inch LCD screen on the Key2 LE as is present on the Key2, with a 1,620 x 1,080 resolution.
CAMERA
The BlackBerry Key2 LE has a dual-camera lens module on its rear just like the Key2, but the megapixel counts are different.
The primary lens comes in at 13 megapixels, while the secondary lens comes in at 5 megapixels.
Google Lens is integrated into the camera as well.
The front-facing camera comes in at 8 megapixels and has an LCD flash. There’s also a Wide Selfie Mode and beauty filter for more options when you’re snapping away.
SPECS AND SOFTWARE
While the BlackBerry Key2 falls firmly into mid-range smartphone territory, TCL wanted to make its light-weight Key2 LE more competitive. To do so, it made some minor hardware changes.
The Key2 LE ships with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor and 4GB of RAM.
As for storage, the default option comes in at 32GB, however a 64GB option will also be available in many regions.
The phone will also have a MicroSD slot for external storage.
The battery on the Key2 LE is slightly smaller as well, coming in at 3,000mAh compared to the 3,500mAh on the Key2.
That still should be enough to get you though more than a full day though, and since the phone features Qualcomm QuickCharge 3.0 it you’ll be able to charge the battery quickly.
Like the BlackBerry Key2, you’ll find Android 8.1 Oreo on board. Expect to see an update to Android 9.0 Pie in the future.
There’s not much else different with the software suite provided by BlackBerry on the phone.
The Convenience Key defaults to triggering Google Assistant, and it can be customized a little more now. As usual, TCL promises the Key2 LE will receive monthly Android security updates as well.
RELEASE DATE
It’ll be released on December 6 and comes in dual-SIM configuration with 64GB storage space.