BlackBerry KEYone Review

The 3-Minute BlackBerry KeyOne Review

A phone that's designed to work

By Zach Riley | September 10, 2017

Image Credit: CC image courtesy of Tinh tế Photo on Flickr.

The Specifics:

Features & Design: 4/5 ● Performance: 4/5 ● Value: 3.5/5

The Best:

The BlackBerry KeyOne is a business workhorse. The physical keyboard, sophisticated operating system, and great battery life make it easy to stay connected on the go.

The Bugs:

Mid-range hardware and poor audio mean that this phone struggles with more demanding, non-business related things like games and video.

Is it for you?

With how much people rely on their phones for entertainment, it’s important for a phone to have decent technical specs. The BlackBerry KeyOne is an excellent phone for productivity but falls short if you’re planning to use Snapchat and play games.

“The name of the game for the BlackBerry KeyOne is efficiency. Getting your work done quickly is easy with a phone that’s designed to be put to work.”

Meet the BlackBerry KeyOne

BlackBerry has always geared their phones to focus on productivity and convenience for business users. The KeyOne is no exception. It's one of the few phones in 2017 that’s available with a physical keyboard. While many people have gotten used to on-screen keyboards, there’s something to be said for the tactile feeling of real keys. Though the keyboard takes some getting used to, it offers a quick and accurate typing experience.

The name of the game for the BlackBerry KeyOne is efficiency. Getting your work done quickly is easy with a phone that’s designed to be put to work.

Image Credit: CC image courtesy of Tinh tế Photo on Flickr.

What we like

For the business user, there are few phones better than the Blackberry KeyOne. The physical keyboard allows you to multitask while typing since it’s possible to feel the keys rather than having to blindly navigate the flat surface of a screen.

One of the biggest draws of the KeyOne, outside of the keyboard, is its sophisticated operating system. Designed with security in mind, you can use your phone with full confidence that your information will stay safe. The BlackBerry Hub also acts as a useful, centralized location for all of your notifications, messages, and events, giving you easy access to everything that you need to know when you need to know it.

The battery life will easily last 36 hours with regular use and only loses a few percent when left idle overnight. Designed with a beautiful rubberized backing that looks and feels like leather, this phone has an elegant look on top of its many great features.

What we don’t like

If you’re looking for a phone to entertain yourself with, you should probably pass on the BlackBerry KeyOne. While it has a decently powerful processor, the phone falls short in its ability to handle more demanding tasks. The KeyOne is a solid phone for day-to-day use but is not at all optimized for HD video or gaming.

Adding to the phone’s poor entertainment performance, the KeyOne’s audio also isn’t the best. With just a single speaker, it’s not going to provide the high-quality sound that we’ve come to expect from high-end smartphones. This won’t be a problem for calls or regular use, but it will definitely be noticeable when watching videos, playing games, or listening to music.

Image Credit: CC image courtesy of Tinh tế Photo on Flickr.

Should you buy it?

The BlackBerry KeyOne is one of the best phones on the market for business users. If you’re looking for a device that can handle all of your daily work tasks (bonus points if you like physical keyboards), it’s a great buy. If you rely on your phone for entertainment, you should probably pass. There are much better phones for that at a similar price point.

All in all, it’s easy to recommend the KeyOne for business users. It falls short with its performance, but considering that it was designed with a specific purpose in mind, it’s absolutely forgivable.

Check out the product video:

About the Author / Zach Riley

Zach Riley is a tech author who's combined a love of gadgets with a love of writing.