BlackBerry KEY2 LE

NOT YOUR FATHER’S BLACKBERRY.

THERE WAS A time when BlackBerrys were the “it” phone among celebrities and business people – but those days are long behind us. The newest BlackBerry KEY2 LE is an interesting fusion of old meets new, and in a sea of similar-looking smartphones, it’s sure to raise a few eyebrows. The question is: does its main redeeming feature – the built-in QWERTY keyboard – make it worth considering amongst some seriously strong competition?

The software keyboards on the latest smartphones are exceptional, with additional features like swipe gestures and integrated emoji and GIF keyboards. Handily, these also disappear when you don’t need them, giving you more screen space for watching videos and flicking through web pages and social media feeds.

The four-row QWERTY keyboard at the bottom of the KEY2 LE, on the other hand, makes you sacrifice on screen space permanently (it has a 4.5-inch display, compared with the 6.1inch screen on the similarly tall iPhone XR). But we don’t think it’s a good trade-off. Not only are the buttons smaller than what you’d be used to on a software keyboard – so you’re regularly mashing keys together – but it takes twice as long to type anything, especially when entering numbers or symbols.

The BlackBerry KEY2 LE has other noteworthy features, including the BlackBerry Hub+ Inbox (unifies all of your email, SMS, social media, and messaging services), speed key (lets you launch apps quickly through the keyboard), and industry-leading enterprise security functions. But unless you’re dealing in state secrets, the poor experience offered by the keyboard coupled with pokey performance and an older version of Android means there probably isn’t enough here to recommend the BlackBerry over the other worthy contenders.