It’s 2017, and I still fondly remember Nokia E61 and E71, these QWERTY push-button phones have been my indispensable assistants for several years. Then I decided to try Blackberry, my first blackberry was Bold 9700, I really liked it. Not everyone understood these peculiar devices, but everything worked out fine with them right away, I became attached to Blackberry for many years. Later there was a Blackberry Bold 9900 with a beautiful steel edging, a touch screen and a simply gorgeous keyboard. The typing speed on it was unsurpassed, and I still remember all the combinations and symbols today.

Push-button Blackberry I used in tandem with the iPhone. Then BIS services were still working, mail went only when a special tariff plan was connected with the operator, it was a good time, secure. Then the iPhone finally got me with its glitches and a weak battery, I switched to the Blackberry Z10. This is a delightful device with full touch control, all control lay on gestures. But for Blackberry, the Z-series was the final song. BIS services no longer worked there, mail was configured as on regular Android, but features like gestures did not give reason to think about changing the platform.

The notification system has always worked great in Blackberry: the indicator light blinked in different colors depending on the event, I liked the well-thought-out mail, and the convenient ergonomics of the phones. The Z-series already knew how to emulate Android, all the necessary apk was quietly installed on it. With the Priv model, the company completely switched to Android, the fans were indignant, because Blackberry OS 10 suited everyone, why was it not further developed?

Apparently, it’s all about economy, unification. The Blackberry Priv hasn’t lost its full physical keyboard yet, though it’s been hidden under a large screen thanks to today’s exotic slider format. Then there were two DTEK models, the twin brothers of Alcatel smartphones, we have already talked about them: DTEK 50 and DTEK 60 .

It seemed that there would never be a physical keyboard again, and all originality, the Blackberry image would disappear forever. But no, the Blackberry KEYone appeared on sale, which was developed even before the Chinese TCL began to produce phones for Blackberry, the company is known here under the Alcatel brand.

It was extremely interesting for me to try the push-button Blackberry again and remember my youthful years, and that unforgettable feeling of typing on a chic physical keyboard, but something went wrong.

Appearance

The device turned out to be big and weighty, I like those, the rubberized surface on the back ensures that the smartphone does not slip out of your hands, but why is there such a large and thick camera bezel? It looks clumsy and does not give the model a sophisticated appearance, as it used to be.

From the front, the device looks like a pumped-up Blackberry Classic, only the corners of the case have become sharper. The layout remains the same: four rows of buttons below the large touch screen. The case combines plastic, metal and glass well, the smartphone looks modern.

But why was such a hefty front camera placed on top of a silver frame? Sensors are also immediately evident, I can’t say that it’s beautiful, rather, a miscalculation of designers. Perforation of the speaker on the outer panel is also a controversial design move. In general, one gets the feeling that KEYone was made from what it was. The design elements are too disjointed, not creating that old Blackberry charm.

Keyboard

My favorite physical keyboard is right there, I reassured myself, but the miracle did not happen. Previously, the rows of buttons were curved, the fingers themselves fell on the desired letters and long strings of dialogues were born in various chats.

In KEYone, the rows are even, as it was in the Passport model, it was criticized for this. Due to the fact that the upper part of the body is heavy, typing is inconvenient, the device tends to fall out of hands, especially when working with the bottom row, where all the important buttons and symbols are traditionally collected. This is sad, the device does not already produce that magical effect as in previous years. The only thing I want is to turn on the virtual keyboard.

The transparent plastic buttons are slippery, they play beautifully in the light, but they are inconvenient to use. As with other models, the keyboard has built-in sensors and acts as a large trackpad when navigating menus or navigating the web. Well, at least this chip was not cut down, and thanks for that. There is also continuous input, an analogue of Swype, but as practice has shown, there are few fans of this method left. And anyway, why do you need a physical keyboard if you turn it into a touch one? The whole point of buying a push-button phone disappears.

The only thing that pleased me was the space bar, the key is wide and with a soft stroke, it also has a built-in fingerprint sensor. It works quickly and correctly, there were no complaints in two weeks.

Those who used the devices before can easily assign quick actions or dialing to all keys, of course, the usual ctrl + c / ctrl + v combinations have also been preserved. What has remained at the level is intelligent hints and word completion, the keyboard learns quickly and picks up words very accurately in meaning.

Screen

The display is good, bright, IPS – that says it all. The diagonal is not the largest – 4.5 inches, and the resolution is not even Full HD, there are only 1620×1080 pixels, but the density is high, 433 ppi.

The picture is juicy and bright, moderately fades in the sun, viewing angles are comfortable for perception. And the matrix itself is protected by 2.5D glass.

Filling

The Snapdgaron 625 processor is not the most productive, but not the most gluttonous, the interface works smoothly. RAM 3 GB, built-in 32 GB, memory cards are supported. The lag behind the latest iPhones in terms of benchmarks is noticeable, although who needs these synthetic tests? Blackberries are bought for nostalgia, not toys to play with.

Camera

I will say briefly about the camera: it is. The main module with a resolution of 12 MP, front – 8 MP.

There is autofocus, but there is no need to talk about some excellent quality, the camera shoots for 2017 is average. The video is written in 4k 30fps, which, by the way, is quite good.

Chips

KEYone runs on Android 7 version, all proprietary technologies are here: Blackberry Hub, notification panel on the side and DTEK security system. I like the launcher itself, I even put it on other android smartphones several times. In terms of security, everything is at a high level, perhaps Blackberry is the only Android device where I am not afraid for the safety of personal and financial data. Of course, we did not forget about the light indicator, it is customizable, the flashing color is selected for a specific person or event.

From the point of view of the phone, there are no complaints, the quality of voice transmission is at its best, here we have purebred Blackberry products. There is NFC, I launched Android Pay here, everything worked correctly, given that the phone is not intended for our market.

Battery

The battery life of KEYOne, like that of competitors, is nothing outstanding, it can be enough for a day of charging if you let go of the device more often and concentrate on work. It’s good that the conservatives at Blackberry made a USB-C connector, sending micro USB to the relics of the past.

There is fast charging, it even works with other blocks, I checked it with Meizu, there were no problems. The device charges up to 50% in just 36 minutes, which is exactly what the iPhone is missing now. If interested, the battery capacity is 3505 mAh.

Opinion

Blackberry KEYOne can now be bought for an average of 40,000 rubles, which is too expensive for such a model. I’d rather charge my old Bold 9900 and go around with it for a couple of days than go through the hassle of trying to switch languages or type a short text on the KEYOne.

Thanks to the Blackberrys.ru store for providing the Blackberry KEYone for testing.