BlackBerry KEYone's Success Depends On The Marketability Of The Phone's Physical Keyboard

The BlackBerry KEYone has launched recently, and it sports a traditional physical QWERTY keyboard affixed to the Android phone. The device will be appealing to long-time BlackBerry fans who were longing for a physical keyboard.

Now that BlackBerry has turned to Android, its new phone is sure to intrigue people who were looking for a phone that is a pleasure to type with and also wanted Android functionality. The BlackBerry KEYone is a joint venture ever since TCL came under a licensing agreement with BlackBerry Limited, and according to Alphr, the phone is a solid phone and serves as a positive direction where BlackBerry is heading.

The KEYone looks like a classic candy-bar BlackBerry. The phone also packs a decent amount of powerful hardware as well. The KEYone comes with a 4.5-inch Gorilla Glass 4 display, an 8MP front facing camera, a 12MP primary shooter, a fingerprint scanner hidden into the space-bar of the keyboard and also BlackBerry's security protection.

The phone has a Qualcomm SnapDragon 625 SoC with an Octa-Core processor, which means it is fast enough to carry out very intensive tasks. The phone also has Adreno 506, which means it can play the latest games without any visible lag.

The BlackBerry KEYone is a multitasker as it comes with an impressive 3GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage. It has all the bells and whistles of a top of the line android phone and gets an FM radio.

According to Tellus Venture Associates, BlackBerry's new phone might only create a stir in the markets, and it will not be dethroning the iPhone 7 or the Galaxy S8 from sales charts anytime soon. What might motivate the people to buy it is BlackBerry's security features along with a good feeling of a physical keyboard.

The BlackBerry KEYone is a well-built phone and has decent amounts of metal and plastics on it that make it grippy. The phone is built like a tool and is built to perform tasks. Tod Hasleton for CNBC mentioned that TCL did a very good job in keeping things familiar, as the phone felt like a BlackBerry.

Anyone who wants to own a BlackBerry KEYone might do so at a price of $549. This price bracket might be off-putting to some customers, as this is the price they pay for the addition of a physical keyboard. For customers who don't really care about a physical keyboard might not go with this phone and buy other alternatives.