Rogers BlackBerry KEYone to receive Android Oreo beginning June 28th; U.S. models could get it soon

This Thursday will mark a historic event for the BlackBerry KEYone. On June 28th, the phone will receive its first update to Android Oreo in North America. According to a chart posted by Canadian carrier Rogers, not only will the KEYone start to receive Android 8.0 in four days, the update will also allow the handset to support Wi-Fi calling. This could be good news for KEYone owners south of the border, because updates scheduled for Rogers often coincide with updates for the same device on U.S. carriers, and for unlocked models as well.

The BlackBerry KEYone launched last year with Android 7.1 installed, and the update to Android 8.0 Oreo will be the first time that the phone has received a new build of Android to run on. It should be noted that the upcoming BlackBerry Key2, set to launch in Canada on July 6th and in the U.S. a week later, will come out of the box with Android 8.1 pre-installed.

The new features found in Android 8.0 include Picture-in-Picture, which allows users to watch a video while still interacting with an app running in the background. Notification dots appear on home screen app icons to alert users to unread notifications, and the Settings menu has been cut down in size. The ugly, blob-like emoji are replaced with circular ones, and notifications can be snoozed.

With the KEY2 arriving soon, we have seen some deals on its predecessor. The KEYone is still a serviceable handset, and for those who find the $649 price tag for the sequel to be too high for what is essentially a mid-range device, the KEYone might be a more affordable alternative. 

source: Rogers