The KEYone won't be the only new BlackBerry smartphone released this year

by Florin Troaca / Feb 28, 2017, 7:25 AM

The KEYone won't be the only new BlackBerry smartphone released this year

A couple of months back, BlackBerry announced that it would quit manufacturing phones. It entered into a license agreement with TCL, which is now BlackBerry's exclusive hardware partner, building devices while the Canadian company remains in charge of the software side.

TCL and BlackBerry already announced a new smartphone - the BlackBerry KEYone, which will be available to buy starting April, running Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box. In case you were wondering, this won't be the only BlackBerry handset to hit the market this year.

According to Cnet, TCL Communications CEO Nicolas Zibell said that there should be "up to three" new BlackBerry Android phones released in 2017. The KEYone is likely included here, so we're expecting other two handsets to arrive before the end of the year.

Reportedly, one of the upcoming phones should be a successor to the DTEK 50 and DTEK 60 (pictured above) from last year. Thus, it won't have a hardware QWERTY keyboard like the KEYone, instead sporting a large touchscreen display. It's said that TCL wants to get rid of the DTEK branding, but it's not clear what new name it's going to use for this particular upcoming handset.

Are you looking forward to seeing new, all-touch BlackBerry smartphones this year?

source: Cnet

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26 Comments

1. libra89

Posts: 2271; Member since: Apr 15, 2016

Hmm we'll see. Let's see if there's going to be any smaller phones...

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 7:32 AM 1

2. androiduser

Posts: 510; Member since: Jun 18, 2014

I don't understand why someone would want a keyboard on a f**king phone

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 8:49 AM 4

3. trojan_horse

Posts: 5868; Member since: May 06, 2016

I'll want a physical keyboard for faster character input along with the conveniency of being less likely to mistouch keystrokes, which leads to misspelling... Not to mention the conveniency of being able to use the keyboard (and thus using my phone) with wet, dirty or oily fingers, which literally means I can use it in just about any condition I find myself in.

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 9:34 AM 7

4. iLovesarcasm

Posts: 589; Member since: Oct 20, 2014

Faster typing.

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 9:49 AM 4

8. PryvateiDz

Posts: 443; Member since: Jul 31, 2011

Yes, as @Mxyzptlk said, and more accurate typing. I still get annoyed with auto-correct, and when I don't use it, I still manage to press the wrong keys. It's tedious. Just like we love to use our laptops and desktops with physical keyboards, don't see why that wouldn't translate over to smartphones. It's like human nature.

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 11:11 AM 1

5. Mxyzptlk unregistered

Faster and accurate typing. I just wouldn't spend $700 for it. Too expensive.

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 10:07 AM 4

7. Crispin_Gatieza

Posts: 3123; Member since: Jan 23, 2014

You don't have to, the KeyOne is $550. Are you still b!tching about the Priv? Let it go.

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 10:57 AM 4

12. meanestgenius

Posts: 21779; Member since: May 28, 2014

Exactly @Crispin. At $550, the KEYone is much less than the PRIV was when initially launched, which was 2 years ago.

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 11:36 AM 5

14. DoggyDangerous

Posts: 1028; Member since: Aug 28, 2015

KeyTwo with same design. Same features but sd835 in 750$. That is what I want. 799$ won't hurt me either.

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 12:08 PM 0

19. meanestgenius

I'd buy that as well.

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 4:25 PM 0

22. Mxyzptlk unregistered

It doesn't even have the latest processor lol.

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 6:25 PM 0

23. Z.....

Posts: 355; Member since: Feb 01, 2017

True. A midrange junk crap. I was hoping the E8890 or S820.....

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 7:33 PM 0

25. meanestgenius

It's not junk. It's far from it. It's not for you, and that's fine. But don't troll and call it junk when you've never even used it to know anything about how well it performs.

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 7:43 PM 0

21. Mxyzptlk unregistered

I'm not. I just don't understand why blackberry is still trying to charge a premium for their devices. Maybe I'm just overthinking it or something.

24. meanestgenius

BlackBerry is no longer in charge of the pricing of its branded smartphones. TCL is in control of that now, ever since September of last year. The $550 price is set by TCL, not BlackBerry.

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 7:41 PM 0

6. jellmoo

Posts: 2563; Member since: Oct 31, 2011

Entering data/information is a lot easier if you're data entry area and keyboard area aren't in the same space.

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 10:14 AM 0

10. SleeperOne

Posts: 370; Member since: Feb 25, 2017

Not everyone is you thank god.

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 11:20 AM 0

11. meanestgenius

Physical keyboards offer much more accurate typing than virtual keyboards partly due to muscle memory. You can also type faster on one as well. I always find it strange when people bash physical keyboards, but then go out and buy physical keyboard attachments for tablets, or buy 2-in-ones. Smartphones with physical keyboards are generally large enough now that you're not sacrificing too much screen real estate for them.

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 11:32 AM 4

9. jeroome86

Posts: 2314; Member since: Apr 12, 2012

This might be a good phone for a xp. Cut down on some of his misspellings. Lol.

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 11:18 AM 0

13. meanestgenius

From my understanding, the KEYone is the first in a series of handsets sporting the "KEY" name. No surprise to me that they'll be more with that name, whether full-touch or with a pkb.

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 11:40 AM 3

26. jc.wilcox

Posts: 10; Member since: Jul 14, 2014

mmm LOL, so as article said, TCL want to get rid of the DTEK branding, so as a joke we can say: "just call it SOFTKEYone" or a la "Torch" will be "TOUCHone". just give me the twitter of TCL to retweet this. LOL

posted on Mar 02, 2017, 9:28 AM 0

15. Rampage_Taco

Posts: 1042; Member since: Jan 17, 2017

I wouldn't mind a Phone with a Horizontal Physical Keyboard again, I like the larger keys vs. the vertical keyboard

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 1:35 PM 0

18. meanestgenius

That would be cool. Personally, I'd love to see a BlackBerry modeled after the Nokia E90, just larger. The way that you opened up the handset to use the pkb was sweet, and it didn't sacrifice any screen real estate when using the pkb. Just make it a little thinner, and (eh, why not?) make the front all-touch to appeal to that segment of smartphone population.

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 4:24 PM 0

16. PryvateiDz

I just wonder is the KeyOne the High-end model of the other Blackberry's this year. Hmm... I mean they did market it as "Premium."

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 1:51 PM 0

17. meanestgenius

Extremely doubtful. I can almost go on record as saying that there will be a BlackBerry KEY-model handset with a recent series (as in between last year and now) 8xx SoC.

posted on Feb 28, 2017, 4:17 PM 0

20. PryvateiDz

Hmmm. I wonder should I wait then. I really like the KeyOne, just not sure I want to pay $550 for it. I preferred to pay $500. I feel like if I'm gonna pay $550, might as well get the highest end of smartphones.