Keyone Limited Edition Black 64GB GSM ONLY Factory Unlocked

Overall I wish that I had run into this phone earlier as there's nothing on the market that suited my taste. BB you seriously need to improve your marketing; random people on the train and in public ask what it is that I am using as they are shocked to find out that BB still exists Synapse: AMAZING battery life, great functionality/productivity, great build Long Version after 1 month's use- it's worth the read Straight out of the box, after the initial set up you are asked if you want to upgrade to the new Android Oreo 8.1 OS. Battery: This is certainly the category where the KeyOne outshines every phone I've every played with thus far. Having the habits of heavy texting, a lot of emailing, a couple webpages and maybe a 10 minute youtube video a day; I can get really close to 3 days of juice out of this. On a weekend where I wouldn't use it as much, it can get close to 4 days on a full charge. A great feature is a turbo charge, you can plug it into a source for 15 minutes, and you'll easily get over 25% charge. Build: The body is made out of several pieces of Aluminum, many of the premium handdsets are milled from 1 piece. However it's really nicely done, all of the pieces are flush and perfect. The backplate is a rubber compound, helps give you a good grip on the device. It's a bit heavier than most phones, it's a good heavy though, it has the feel like it's a quality device and not a cheap piece of plastic. I definitely know that I haven't forgotten it at home or somewhere else, I like it. Display/Sound: Display is solid, IPS touch screen, nice color range. The sound is above average for media, good listening volume is only a 1/3 of the way up. I do like the call the call quality a lot. I had no problem hearing someone speaking as I was walking under the elevated tracks as an EL train was roaring by, good clarity. Processor/OS Very fluid to the touch, there's no lag when you're swiping around on the screen. Web pages load very fast. You can load up on the apps in the background and the KeyOne seems to handle it very well. Functionality/Productivity: The keyboard has a great feel to it and easy to get used to if you're a first time BB user. The fingerprint sensor is in the spacebar, very quick and responsive. A great feature is using any of the keys as a dedicated shortcut to call, email, launch an app, new events depending if you long/short press a key.... very very useful. You can use the entire keyboard as a trackpad, super cool. Given that it's a physical keyboard, I've seen that you can enable Swype if you like that feature. Also, you can control the brightness of the backlit keyboard, useful if you text at night. Another intuitive feature is the word completion, while typing long words, the predictive text will show 3 likely words at the bottom of the screen you can use the keyboard to flick upwards to complete which word you want; I found this to speed up emailing. There are other productive features where you can easily juggle messaging, email, work email using BB's hub... pinch, snap, customize sounds and leds, read and still outstanding.... very nicely done. There's a lot of functionality with the calendar such as a direct call invite to a meeting, warning of double bookings etc. Lastly among other features is a sidebar that flicks out where you can control the productivity functions. I'm learning new tips and tricks every day from other users and videos. Camera: Lastly the camera, I personally think that the camera is very good, I've already used it to scan documents and they've come out very well. No complaints about video quality when I participated in video conference.

UPDATE: After finally receiving the Oreo update on my keyone, black limited edition black (BBB100-7), i received an on screen notice that my device was now connected to an optiemus server, AND that tarriff fees may apply!!! There was NO opt out option. This message never appeared before the Oreo update. There were no notices from either Amazon or the seller (mercato group) that my device would be automatically, without consent, connected to a foreign server and that my data and personal information could be subjected to inspection by a foreign entity/government. I'm in the process of addressing this issue with Amazon and the seller. Buyer be ware! This is unsettling and of grave concern. Love the pkb. Phone is great!

I am a working man who travels quite a bit, so this review is mostly for people in that boat. I had a Samsung Galaxy S5 (with Verizon bloatware) on it. I've also used an iPhone (latest was 4S), and I've also used older RIM Blackberries (I don't remember any of the model numbers because who cares?). I liked aspects of all of these phones, and this phone seems to combine them all into a fabulous package (I bought the 64GB International Unlocked with Micro SD and sim card slots): 1. Physical keyboard! With a keyboard, you get far greater typing accuracy, meaning that you can type a long email while you stand in the security line at the airport. In other words, you can send all of your in-depth emails immediately and not have them all piled-up and waiting for you in your hotel room in the evening. 2. Micro SD card slot. Running out of disk space is more of an inconvenience to me than swapping out a sim card in some other country. The 128GB sim cards are in the $40 range as of this review. Now I can load up my phone with all kinds of garbage. 3. Android. I fully believe that RIM's attempt to have their own operating system is what ultimately did in the Blackberry. I love that I can plug an Android phone into a computer and have it treated as another external drive instead of ever needing to load iTunes ever again. 4. The camera is even good! I always liked the iPhone camera (because it was always fast to point and shoot) over the Samsung (maybe it was user error, but it seemed like it had a narrow depth of focus, so I'd always take awful photos when I was in a hurry). This camera is closer to how I remember the iPhone. 5. No bloatware. My Samsung Galaxy S5 was 16GB and the internal memory was always full. I moved as much as I could to the external disk (images, videos, etc), I did cache cleanings and it still is full. Why did I put up with this nonsense for so long? The only remaining question is reliability. I plan to use this phone for years, so hopefully it won't fall apart too quickly. I'll make an update if anything goes wrong.

I just got the device today, so cannot yet comment on long-term durability/useability. However: - I absolutely love the physical keyboard, the built-in (on the spacebar) fingerprint sensor, and the ability to program hotkeys (shortcuts) on the keyboard. I found the keys to be the perfect size for my (female-sized) fingers, and they respond well. - I personally don't find the screen to be too small, but if you like watching movies on your phone, this might not be the best device for you. - The extra built-in security features are the biggest reason I bought a Blackberry, and they are pretty good. I personally wish that they were more extreme, and that there were more privacy (rather than security) features, but I think that the political climate in the U.S. makes that not particularly viable for Blackberry or any other phone company. If you're reading this trying to decide whether or not to pick this phone over another, I think that the primary choice points are these: - Choose a Blackberry if you want more security and privacy than the average smartphone. Keep in mind that you'll have to do legwork on your end setting things up securely and privately... Blackberry just makes it easier. - Choose the KEYone if you want a physical keyboard. The KEYone keyboard is great. (Although some other reviewers have pointed out that it is too small for people with larger fingers.) Choose a DTEK (50 or 60) if you don't care about/want a keyboard, or you find higher-performance hardware to outweigh the benefit of the keyboard.

The BlackBerry KeyOne is an EXCELLENT phone; however, if you're in the United States, make sure you get a United States unit. You'd think that would be pretty straightforward, but I apparently received the Indian variant. It does work fine, but it has a few pretty significant annoyances that are built-in based on the Indian market. For example, Google Assistant simply isn't supported, so you get that trendy grayed-out look for all related features. Oh, and my personal favorite: the phone make sure you're never, ever lonely, since any time you press the home key three times in a row (say, accidentally in your pocket every day) it automatically dials 911 for an impromptu and awkward conversation with a local dispatcher who has much better things to do.

Bought since my old keyone would no longer hold a charge. Since the moment I turned it on it has been defective. Constantly freezing or powering off. Used for 4 days and had so many issues it will no longer turn on no matter what I try. I love my keyone but this is seriously making me never want to purchase another one. And all the research I’ve done to try and find answers makes me lean more towards the dreaded iPhone. Will be returning if/when I can clear my information off. Very disappointing

I am quite Happy and Satisfied with my BlackBerry Black Edition. I am writing this Review after a week's use of my BB. PROS: 1. Battery: It has Fantastic Battery Life. I am a Normal User of Phone and for me, the Battery last for almost 30 hours. 2. Keyboard: Typing is Fun. But it will take around 1 week to get used to it. Not for Big fingers. 3. Convenience Key: Very useful for daily-quick Tasks. 4. Fingerprint Sensor: Works like a Charm. 5. Blackberry Hub: One Place to Manage all Accounts. 6. Camera: Not the Best. But still Very Good. 7. Productivity Tab: Just two words - 'Very Productive'. 8. Design and Build Quality: I Love the Design and the Build is Sturdy. Feels Professional. CONS: 1. Earphones that come with it are not that great. Seems to be Okay. 2. The scarcity of cases. Very few options for Cases. 3. Not suitable for Gaming. But anyways BB's were never famous for Gaming. 4. Landscape Mode typing is inconvenient. But who needs Landscape Mode on this device. 5. Screen ratio little bit odd for some Videos.

Update, after a month of daily use: - Dropping my rating to three stars. It's not the hardware, it's the software. - BlackBerry Passport power users: you *will* miss BB10. - Android has stunning issues and omissions (like a lack of default, OS-level control of the sounds/volume/notifications! You have to use wonky, inconsistent third-party apps to do things BB10 had from the factory) - The keyboard really IS too small for my large fingers. Using the phone every day is not helping, it's only making me miss my Passport more. If I could type accurately on such a tiny little physical space, I wouldn't be so against touchscreens in the first place. I could just get a Note or an iPhone. This device needs to be 20% wider! - Note to TCL: Please make a larger model! The whole premise of BlackBerry and the physical keyboard is productivity. Leave the dainty small snapchatting phones to Apple and the gaming to Samsung. Place productivity above all else ("Tools, not toys!") and you will have a customer base. Original review: To start, I should declare myself a bit of a loyalist. I transitioned to this phone this week, after three years with a BlackBerry Passport -- by far the best phone I have ever owned. My remarks will probably be most useful to those considering a similar trade up. Most of the weakness of this phone are inherited, directly or indirectly, from its operating system. Android is powerful, and indeed enjoys a broad ecosystem of apps -- but it is still a clunky, intensely frustrating experience for me, even though I'm very familiar with it through my Kindle Fire and my Android based Sony Bravia smart TV. In no iteration is it devoid of bugs, or anywhere near as bug free as BB10 was. Alas, BB10 simply arrived too late to hold any market share, so to move forward one must either accept Android, or switch to iOS. As a handset, the KeyOne Black Edition was probably the best of my options. I sorely miss the square aspect ratio, hefty weight, and wider keyboard of the Passport, all of which made it ideally suited to productivity tasks, and rapid typing with zero autocorrect. Yes it was big, but that is exactly why I loved it. The KeyOne is very similar in size to an iPhone X, if that provides a point of reference. The keyboard is not as instantly usable as the Passport's was to me three years ago, as I have big, clumsy fingers. However, it feels a lot like my old BlackBerry Curve, and I do welcome the return of the shift and alt keys, which are extremely useful. Overall I would have preferred a slightly larger and heavier device, but I recognize this one needs to be all things for all people, and some folks insist on a phone that can slip into a tight pair of jeans or a purse. It looks sophisticated and worth its price. The reports of acceptable battery life are legit. Under heavy use, with lots of app installations during my first week with the phone, I am still making it through a full day with 50% of my battery to spare. Solid work from TCL here. Likewise, while the general specs are roughly a match for mid-level Android phones, the extra gigabyte of RAM is a good idea and I feel it (and the additional storage) are worth the mere $50 step from the regular KeyOne to the Black Edition. The camera is great, and can be further augmented through apps if you are so inclined. Every single gripe I might have would also be true for any other Android device. And yes, I have many of them. But none are BlackBerry or TCL's fault. The BlackBerry Hub survives and even improves over BB10's already very effective design. I easily set up multiple email accounts, color coded them, added social media accounts, etc. Alas, after four days I discovered there is no native sound profile app on Android -- one must use third party apps for that, which took hours of trial, error, and configuration for a feature BB10 had fully integrated and out of the box. Overall, though, this is a solid device. It sounds as if KeyOnes have sold well, which raises my hopes that we'll have new models to eventually continue the line. If, like me, you find pure-touchscreen devices deeply infuriating (after two years with a Kindle Fire I still can't stand even doing simple Google searches, because my touchscreen typing accuracy has never improved), you will appreciate this phone. Tactile keyboards are NOT antiquated -- otherwise why do our computers and laptops still have them? You can't say that's purely for nostalgia, or solely to placate a narrow sliver of backwards consumers. It's because when real productivity and accuracy is needed, only a real keyboard provides it. I don't use my phone solely to snapchat with my neice or tweet about my cat. I do serious writing and heavy email, often with many abbreviations and technical terms. For such things, this phone may be among the best out there.