After weeks of leaks and endless rumours, the BlackBerry Mercury – now officially known as BlackBerry KEYOne has dropped ahead of the Mobile World Congress gathering in Barcelona.
Merging the old with the new, the phone retains BlackBerry’s iconic physical QWERTY keyboard, building it around a stunning touchscreen display and a set of specs capable of rivalling the iPhone 7.
Although a device that marks a new era for BlackBerry phones, the KEYOne will continue to grab attention for the same reason as its predecessors – that physical keyboard.
More than just a collection of keys, the Smart Keyboard responds to touch gestures, with flick typing support available alongside trackpad style gestures that make navigating web pages and emails a simple process.
As well as letting you speed up your email replies and work-based typing sessions, the phone’s keyboard can also let you jump straight into certain tasks, allowing users to programme up to 52 customisable shortcuts.
These include process quickening shortcuts including pressing ‘I’ to open your inbox, or ‘M’ to access maps.
These QWERTY keys aren’t the phone’s only input method either, with a 4.5-inch 3:2 display sat above the physical controls.
This panel offers all the usual touch skills and visual delights thanks to a 1620 x 1080 pixel resolution.
Where the KEYOne doesn’t match up to the likes of Samsung Galaxy S7 and iPhone 7, however, is raw power, with the mid-range Snapdragon 625 processor running the show instead of the top of the line 835.
This is partnered with a huge 3505mAh battery that’s enhanced by Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 abilities that will allow the phone to go from flat to 50 per cent charge in just 36 minutes.
The phone isn’t just packed with a mass of high-end components either, it looks great too.
Combining an anodised aluminium frame with a soft touch back, the BlackBerry KEYOne oozes the company’s traditional class in a form that will look as comfortable in the boardroom as it will on a night out.
Although bearing the BlackBerry name, the new phone has actually been pieced together by third party manufacturer TCL as the first device of a partnership between the two companies.
“Impressively designed to be distinctly different, the BlackBerry KEYOne reimagines how we communicate by offering unmatched productivity and the world’s most secure Android smartphone experience,” said Nicolas Zibell, CEO for TCL Communication.
“We’re humbled to play such an important role in the future of BlackBerry smartphones, which have been so iconic in our industry, and we’re eager to prove to the BlackBerry community that their excitement around this new BlackBerry smartphone is something they can be proud of as well.”
Finishing off the phone’s impressive specs sheet, the latest BlackBerry smartphone runs a 12-megapixel camera on the rear using the Sony IMX378 camera sensor – that’s the same snapper fitted within the brilliant Google Pixel.
The phone will go on sale in April, with prices confirmed to be “at or under £499.”
BlackBerry isn’t the only former smartphone giant to be getting back into the smartphone race this week either.
Tomorrow, February 26, Nokia is expected to make a grand return, with the heavily tipped Nokia P1 widely expected to make an appearance alongside a reworking of the classic Nokia 3310.
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