Business ready

The LE is a solid performer. But its small screen makes it less than ideal for multimedia use and gaming

The BlackBerry Key2 LE is almost identical in design to its older sibling, the Key2. But it uses a different breed of processor, has less RAM and storage, a different dual-camera and smaller battery. This brings the price down by ~13,000 to ~29,990. It’s as if the company will not have you give up on the QWERTY keyboard. No matter your budget.

Like the Key 2, the LE is light with a soft textured back, which makes it easy to hold the phone while using the keyboard. But it trades off the Key2’s rectangular aluminium chassis for a polycarbonate frame, which might not look as premium but doesn’t lower the phone’s overall appeal. A 4.5-inch fullHD touchscreen along with the keyboard makes up the phone’s front. But the keys on the LE’s keyboard are smaller than those on the Key2, which is a major design letdown and makes typing on the LE more challenging.

The phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage — expandable to up to 256 GB. The Android Oreo 8.1 custom-tuned by BlackBerry features the BlackBerry Hub, a unified messaging inbox that brings together emails, texts and messages from different apps at one place. Your data should be safer, too, with the BlackBerry DTEK app that enables you to manage app permissions.

The LE is a solid performer. But its small screen and unconventional aspect ratio makes it less than ideal for multimedia use and gaming. However, the phone shows no lags while running multiple apps and responds well to touch and keyboard inputs.

The LE has a dual camera, but instead of the Key2’s set-up of a 12- megapixel (MP) primary lens and a 12MP telephoto lens, it has a regular 13MP shooter paired with a 5MP depth-sensing lens. The front has an 8 MP selfie camera with an f/2.0 aperture. The LE is not meant for great photos, but does a satisfactory job in good light.

The LE is fitted with a smaller 3000 mAh battery to bring down the price. But the small screen makes the phone more power-efficient and keeps it going for almost a day. The Qualcomm quickcharge technology takes about two hours to take the battery from 0 to 100.

The BlackBerry Key2 LE is an affordable version of the company’s well-equipped Key2. And it’s better than just good enough for day-to-day business use.