BlackBerry Motion

£399 inc VAT from fave.co/2jgqcpM

BlackBerry continues to morph into its true second phase in 2017. The KeyOne was a minor success in tech circles, with people enjoying the classic aesthetic, physical keyboard and up to date Android experience. The Motion continues that revival as part of BlackBerry Mobile’s licensing deal with TCL. The former markets, the latter manufactures. On this evidence, it is doing a pretty great job.

The Motion is a solid, austere slab of smartphone at an affordable price point, but when you look at the

specifications, there are high-end options out there for less than £100 more.

Design

BlackBerry is remembered for its mid-2000s heyday when handsets like the Bold 9900 were strictly business looking and felt close to indestructible. The Motion is going to pick up scratches, dents and maybe a smashed screen like any other phone might, but it does feel solid with its aluminium frame, a nice addition at the price point.

Unlike the DTEK50 and DTEK60, TCL and BB Mobile’s other all-touchscreen BlackBerry phones, the Motion feels premium. It is slightly larger than the KeyOne and boasts a 5.5in display.

The bottom bezel is a tad chunky but houses capacitive navigation buttons that you can’t swap over as they are backlit, specific symbols. A physical button integrates a fingerprint sensor and an unsubtle bit of BlackBerry branding. The top bezel is slimmer with camera and LED notification light if you long for the retro BlackBerry vibe.

BlackBerry’s mappable convenience key is now on the right edge next to the power button, while you’ll also find a headphone jack (hooray), downward facing speaker and camera with flash. The back also has a Kevlar-esque texture that is less pronounced than on the KeyOne, but is still a great addition for grip and also doesn’t show fingerprints like so many other phones do. It charges via USB-C and has an attractive textured detail to the metallic silver bumper. We also like how the phone curves over at the top rather than