BlackBerry KEYone battery life test result really hits it out of the park

The BlackBerry KEYone is a phone with a keyboard in 2017. And while that was pretty much the standard 10 years ago, in 2017, it's the only such phone.

But that's okay: it's meant to be that way. The KEYone has a 4.5-inch display with a 3:2 aspect ratio, and a laser focus on productivity and email, while doing all the things modern Android phones do. The phone is not exactly beautiful, but it's practical, it's meant to get things done.

One key aspect of a practical phone, however, is clearly its ability to deliver great battery life. Does the BlackBerry KEYone live up to expectations of great battery life?

Well, thanks for asking, because this exactly what we wondered ourselves and what we have tested.

The KEYone battery lasts nearly 50% as long as the one on iPhones and Galaxies

And we have some great news for you: the 3,505 mAh battery on the BlackBerry KEYone does indeed last. It's not the only factor that contributes to great battery longevity: the KEYone runs on the Snapdragon 625, a mid-range chip that is the first one in this class of chips to be made on 14nm manufacturing, ensuring modern power efficiency.

In our daily experience, the BlackBerry KEYone lasted a full two days between charges on most occasions. Sure, if you are a heavy user you might want to juice it up before day two, but if you are more of an average user, you will get those two days. Our tests confirm that: the KEYone scored an impressive 12 hours and nearly a half. This is almost a 50% improvement in battery life over popular flagships like the Apple iPhone 7 and Samsung's Galaxy S8.

Another aspect of the battery experience are recharge times: how much time does it take to juice up the battery on the KEYone? It took us slightly less than two hours to get from 0 on the battery meter to a full 100%. This is not the fastest around, but not too far out. It's okay. And it's definitely better than no quick charging at all, as we still see on devices like the Apple iPhone.

So there you have, the BlackBerry KEYone is indeed a great productivity phone with outstanding battery life. It should be available for some $550 in the United States sometime this month.