Beautiful disappointment

Earl Cotzee

These are the only words I can think of to describe the Blackberry Key 2: a beautiful disappointment.

The reason for this is that the latest device by TCL Corporation, who have licensed the Blackberry name and software from its parent company, simply can’t compete with the range of devices in its price range, despite looking amazing and tickling all those nostalgic emotions for us former Crackberry addicts.

Before going into the reasons not to buy the phone, let’s first look at what they managed to get right.

First, there is obviously the keyboard. Though many of us would scoff at the idea of a physical keyboard, there are some who appreciate that kind of thing.

Blackberry, of course, have always been the masters of getting these to work, and the Key 2 is no exception. There is just something satisfying about the tactile feedback provided by the set of QWERTY chiclets. Along with that, the Key also manages to pack more than 50 customisable options into those keys.

Second, it offers that incredible security Blackberry has always been renowned for, combined with the convenience of Android. That is where it ended for me. After two days of using the Key 2 as my sole device, I switched to having it as a secondary phone, alongside my Samsung Note. Two days later, I removed my SIM card, and put it back in its box.

Why? Well, the idea and feel of the keyboard was great at first, but it wore thin very quickly.

I realised that it simply couldn’t keep up with the convenience of a Swype keyboard, and having a full set of numbers and special characters readily available on my screen, without the need to programme them, or use the shift key.

The Blackberry also lacks in power, and while the company sells itself as a business device, they missed a step by going with the dated Snapdragon 660 chipset.