Blackberry KEY2
From €645 ★★★★★ We’ve reached the stage where Apple can introduce bad features on iPhone, and companies will scramble to copy them anyway – like the awful screen ‘notch’.
So in a world of iPhone-like black slabs, the Blackberry Key2 is a real eye-catcher. Of course, I imagine millennials will stare at it as if looking at a Stone Age axe head, thinking: ‘Did people really once use these?’ It’s a shame, as it’s easily the best BlackBerry yet. The aluminium-clad device feels superbly businesslike, and the keys are 20% bigger than last year’s model, so typing is faster.
Recovering ‘CrackBerry’ addicts will find long-dormant thumb muscles reawakening, and will suddenly find themselves using correct punctuation on WhatsApp.
Like other new BlackBerry devices, it runs Android, with a few tweaks – including BlackBerry’s ‘Hub’ app, which sorts all your email, phone calls etc into one place. Basically, it feels exactly like a classic BlackBerry, just inside an app.
You can launch apps direct from the keyboard (hold down ‘F’ for Facebook, for instance), and the camera is a big upgrade over last year’s KEYONE.