Continuation of classic styling | Implied innovation | BlackBerry KEY2 Reviews

Speaking of the BlackBerry brand, most old users may first think of the full keyboard design. The unique keyboard is unique compared to the then uniform design, and since then, many people have begun to chase the BlackBerry. Road. Last year, the classic business style of BlackBerry returned again. The release of BlackBerry KEYone has shaken the long-lost BlackBerry fans. This product, which looks quite unique now, has enabled BlackBerry to successfully return to the mobile phone market. Today, BlackBerry once again brought us its successor, the BlackBerry KEY2, which was officially defined by the BlackBerry as 'new ideas'. It can be seen that it still contains many innovative elements in its function.

By 2018, all major manufacturers are racking their brains to find a full-screen, narrow border, from 18:9 to Liu Haiping, then to the lift camera, while the BlackBerry is still firmly on its own route, KEY2's full keyboard though It seems very sentimental, but I have to admit that such a product has become a niche now, but the self-contained style of the BlackBerry will still not hinder the death of fans.

Configuration, the BlackBerry KEY2 uses the Snapdragon 660 platform, 6+64GB storage combination, can be said to be the more mainstream mid-range configuration, but the price of 3999 yuan is slightly more expensive, after all, you can start a mainstream period product The BlackBerry flagship new product KEY2 is currently on the market in Jingdong. In addition to its features of security, business efficiency, it also innovatively incorporates Speed ​​Key and dual-camera, AI and other mainstream design elements. It can be said that the upgrade of this BlackBerry KEY2 is not small.

Overall design

The overall design language of KEY2 is similar to that of the first generation, or the classic U-shaped appearance, but the front glass of KEY2 extends to the top, making the screen look more integrated and adding a lot of fashion sense. Compare KEYOne, this way The design can also effectively reduce the forehead space, thus increasing the size of the keyboard.

The main frame of the fuselage is made of 7-series aluminum, with sharp edges and edges. The power keys and shortcut buttons that were easily confused by the previous generation are also placed on the same side. The power keys are designed in a textured style, which is easier to distinguish in use. It is commendable that the weight of KEY2 has been improved, compared to the weight of the BlackBerry KEYOne machine is 12g, just in the hand.

The diamond-shaped back shell on the back of the KEYOne has also been retained and upgraded on the KEY2. The one-piece design not only retains the feel, but also enhances the overall aesthetics. Compared with the current glass body, it not only effectively prevents fingerprints from being contaminated. It is also a non-slip effect.

Like the first-generation model, the front of the KEY2 still uses a 4.5-inch touch screen display, a 3:2 ratio screen with a resolution of 1620×1080 pixels, and the color tuning is softer. In addition, the KEY2 body is also With a headphone jack, dual speakers, USB Type-C interface and other common configurations.

QWERTY full keyboard evolution

The physical keyboard is the most iconic design in the BlackBerry. In the early years, I believe that most of BBer's earliest recognition of BlackBerry is this unique full keyboard. Up to now, BlackBerry still insists on retaining the QWERTY full keyboard. The ID design, the sliding touch gesture and the two-in-one function of fingerprint recognition and space bar are also continued. The KEY2 keyboard is changed to PVC matte on the material. Although it is not as smooth as KEYOne, it is still very comfortable to use. At the same time, the design also makes the overall look of the keyboard more uniform. Unlike KEYOne, the space bar does not look so awkward.

KEY2's keyboard continues the style of the first generation of KEYOne, and on the basis of the purpose of improving user efficiency, provides many improvements. BlackBerry official said that the area of ​​the keyboard single button has increased by about 20%, with a certain tilt The angle of the keyboard button, the actual use, the feeling does reduce the probability of misoperation. BlackBerry KEY2 canceled the raised crystal layer on the button surface, the button is made flatter, the feedback used is soft.

The function has a certain improvement, the keyboard Key adds a more practical magic key (Speed ​​Key) Ke. KEY2 based on the previous 52 custom shortcut keys, further upgrade to any scene using the combination of magic key + shortcut key Realize cross-scene switching application, so that users can switch the efficiency between APPs more closely (KEYOne must return to the main interface, then use shortcut keys to switch applications).

The addition of the magic key can be said to add a new gameplay for this keyboard. In actual use, you will find that there are more gameplays. The shortcut keys have the distinction of long press and short press. For example, after setting WeChat to W, Weibo can still Use long press W to call up, just press the length of time you need to find yourself to adapt.

The currency key can now also be set to currency/CTRL/SHIFT/notification tray/language switching according to personal habits. It can be defined for individual usage. For example, set the button to language switching, switch input after setting. The French language does not need to be combined with alt+Enter. More custom features also make the BlackBerry keyboard more diverse.

Camera function analysis

It is worth noting that KEY2 is the first smartphone with dual camera in BlackBerry. The back camera module is composed of dual 12 megapixel sensors, with lens combination of main lens F1.8 and sub-camera F2.6 aperture. The main sensor has a single pixel size of 1.28μm. The lens supporting Dual PD speed-focus sub-camera supports 2x optical zoom, and the dual-camera combination can shoot portrait mode. The front camera is 8 megapixels with F2.0 aperture lens.

As can be seen from the sample shots, the BlackBerry KEY2 is still good in terms of color performance. The overall tone of the shot is brighter, looks more comfortable, and it is slightly lacking in the details of the performance. For the shadowy part, The picture has some noise, and the purity is slightly lacking. In close-up shots, the double shot has a blurring effect on the background. The smearing is more noticeable and some are not natural enough.

In the case of dark ambient light, the content of the shooting also has a problem of low purity. It seems that the camera's photo sea needs to be tweaked through the software later. This BlackBerry KEY2 still adds a watermark to the photo. The logo with double shot is also more recognizable.

Secure software protection

Software experience and application services, it can be said that BlackBerry's strengths. As early as long ago, the BlackBerry system has been known to the majority of users with strong security. Now the BlackBerry from BlackBerry OS to the Android camp has gradually begun to improve Whether KEY2 is fluent, battery life optimization or UI design is enough to satisfy people, and friends who are interested in buying don't have to worry about the software will become the shortcoming of the phone.

The Blackberry KEY2 still uses the powerful Blackberry service of the BlackBerry. However, for domestic users, it seems to be awkward, although it has already implemented the QQ, WeChat aggregation function, but in addition, we often use nails. The chat tools such as Bo have not yet been integrated. Also limited to the Android platform and application developers, the Android version of the Hub can only implement notification aggregation of QQ and WeChat. If users want to reply to messages, they still have to go to their respective APPs. Operators can do it. However, for users who need to handle multiple account emails, Hub's classification filtering, rapid deletion, batch processing, and adding reminders are very useful. If you look at it as a message aggregation class for the Android platform Software, its comprehensive experience is still relatively good.

BlackBerry also developed DTEK by BlackBerry, PasswordKeeper (Password safe), and Privacy Shade (for information voyeurism) for Android systems. These three softwares are also well inherited from KEYOne. DTEK by BlackBerry will remind users of some of the current challenges. Risk, and every time the software is installed, it will scan for new software; PasswordKeeper can store the account password that I will use in daily, avoiding the trouble of forgetting the password waste time reset. Privacy Shade is to prevent public use (such as public transportation or Subway), when users browse some privacy texts, avoid a software that is seen by people around. In addition, this BlackBerry KEY2 also adds hard disk encryption function, the phone enables this function, even if the hard disk is removed, The data is still protected and will not be read.

BlackBerry KEY2 also launched artificial voice and flower-shifting functions for the Chinese market. Voice assistants have developed rapidly in the past two years. Nowadays, mobile voice AI has become popular. Intelligent voice has become a must-have function for every mobile phone. This function can be turned on by pressing the magic key and the space bar at the same time. The transfer control is also a function of searching queries between applications. For example, a message about the location is received in WeChat, and the system predicts by dragging and dropping to the map application. User intent, and the location is filtered out from the information to search, and the process of editing information can be omitted for the user.

KEY2 is actually a terminal machine, and it is more focused on battery life. The inside of the machine is equipped with Snapdragon 660 processor, standard 6GB memory and 64GB storage space, also provides a 3500mAh battery, support QC 3.0 fast charge and OTG counter Charge.

As can be seen from the above characteristics, the BlackBerry KEY2 is a mid-to-high-end model for the business market, and is a mobile phone that always adheres to the BlackBerry DNA. After the release of the BlackBerry, the official said that the BlackBerry will stick to the full keyboard label, because this is the BlackBerry. Unique features, the BlackBerry will not rest on its laurels, but will continue to integrate new technologies. However, for ordinary users, this mobile phone with a full keyboard has a high learning cost, and it is the biggest difficulty to not adapt quickly. Due to the nature of the screen ratio, there are some problems with the compatibility of the software. However, the powerful security protection and the featured full-size keyboard will still pay for users who love this brand.