Blackberry KEY2

The BlackBerry KEY2 is among the very few smartphones in the market that come with a 4.5-inch display. But that doesn't mean the handset is compact, as the touchscreen is accompanied by a physical keyboard. The design language isn't much different from its predecessor – the KEYone (review), released last year – as both phones feature similar dimensions and build quality. That also means that the phone skimps upon all the latest trends such as notch displays, taller screens, and bezel-less design, among others.

There was a time when BlackBerry phones were all the rage. And one important reason for the same can be attributed to the full-sized QWERTY keyboards at a time when other handsets were simply offering T9 keypads. The keyboard made typing on the go a lot easier and quicker. But things are different now, as touchscreen keyboards let you type faster and accurately as well, along with being more versatile and disappearing when not needed.

The KEY2 runs Android 8.1 Oreo with its proprietary skin on top. While the interface looks like stock Android, it's filled with options. Some of the features have already been discussed above, but there's much more to the UI. BlackBerry pop-up widgets for example, let you swipe up on compatible app icons to access their widgets. Most apps like WhatsApp, Gmail, Calendar, and even Chrome can be accessed in this manner. Then there's BlackBerry Hub, which integrates all the notifications at one place, making it easier to view and reply to them, without worrying which app you might have received a notification from.

The BlackBerry KEY2 is the first smartphone from the brand to come with a pair of snappers at the back. The handset features dual 12-megapixel shooters, with the primary sensor offering an aperture of f/1.8. The dual cameras let you optically zoom in to the subject to get up to 2x closer or get the depth-of-field effect. There's also PDAF (phase detection autofocus) support for allowing the camera to lock focus on the desired object quickly. A dual-tone LED flash accompanies the snappers to assist in poor-lighting conditions.

The BlackBerry KEY2 isn't aiming for the flagship stature, and instead of the latest and greatest chipset from Qualcomm, it draws power from Qualcomm's most powerful SoC in the SD600 series – the Snapdragon 660. The octa-core chip is clocked at 2.2GHz for the high-performance cores and 1.8GHz for the power-efficient cores. The SoC is paired with 6 gigs of RAM. The combination works well to enable smooth performance while using multiple documents or switching between apps. At times, there's a split-second lag while opening apps, but overall, the device offers a buttery-smooth performance.