It's funny how people still think the keyboard is a relic, when the BlackBerry keyboard actually doubles as a track pad and fingerprint sensor AND provides tons of shortcut options to speed you up and keep your screen clutter-free. Not to mention the tactile advantage. Do these same people complain about physical keyboards on laptops and other computers? By their logic, laptop keyboards should be all touchscreen too.
Laptops are being replaced with tablets. Windows 10 is a great example of that with its tablet like use that also works on a traditional laptop. I just don't think it happened as completely because laptop keyboards are extremely useful. You can type for a very long time on them, and trying to do that on a touch screen just doesn't work out. They are great for gaming, because you can have many more options without cluttering up the screen. Generally keyboards are easier to use in cars, and places you can't focus on the keyboard so well. I know I'm slow on a touch screen, it kills my day simply because on my laptop, and when I had my sidekick phones with the keyboards, I don't look at the keys, I just type strictly by tactile feel. I can't do this with the same precision on a touch screen. It is fun thinking about all of the broken screens though.
Eric Rodrigues, speak for yourself please. I do not want screen space, or a large screen. I much rather have a physical keyboard. I am not the only one that thinks this way. I do know the majority of people want larger screens and all of that though. Or they at least want to follow the crowd.
I've watched roughly 6 unboxing videos of the KEYone and you're the only one who's shown the case BlackBerry provided you. Thanks for taking the moment to show that off. Good job on the rest of the video too for being so thorough!
Hi Erica, I have a few questions: 1. BlackBerry Passport had the best in class microphones (all 4 of them) so you would easily put a call on speaker and talk as usual from 1-2 meters away (without screaming or turning your voice up), the person on the other side would hear you like you were speaking normally (on the contrary to all other flagship phones). I suspect this isn't the case with KEYone as it was produced by TCL which I don't think will want to invest in this. Am I right? 2. How about the battery? how long will it last? 3. Quality of call (ear speaker, loud speaker, signal, microphones in both loudspeaker mode and regular etc.) 4. Can you enable "Swype" for the physical keyboard (like in BlackBerry Priv)? Is it feasible in terms of daily use? 5. Physical keyboard takes a lot of time to get used to, you won't get used to it after a single week. But you won't be able to go back to virtual keyboards after couple of months. How is the keyboard on KEYone? 6. How about keyboard shortcuts? Android is extremely cumbersome in terms of daily tasks, everything takes a lot of time. Even dialing or choosing a contact is kind of slow, especially if you do this hundreds of times a day. Is this comfortable? 7. Using the BlackBerry launcher and apps on a Samsung is quite problematic, the system sometimes creates duplicate contacts and has many bugs synching between both. Is this the case with KEYone? 8. Is this phone lag proof? Speed is an extremely important factor today and I'm afraid the SD625 can't hold up with the flagship 820,821,835. Do you feel any lag while scrolling the home screen, opening apps, emails etc.? Overall this phone looks sexy as hell but I'm a bit afraid of TCL's notorious Chinese quality. Thanks a lot.
maxi linkov No swipe gestures on the KEYone anymore. also, most of your answers are answered on Crackberry.com - their forums are full of people who've already bought their phones from Selfridge. So far, pretty solid reviews on battery/camera/keyboard shortcuts.
Also - the processor was purposely chosen to deliver solid battery life. The phone is lag free according to most users + the editors of Crackberry who've been using the phone since Mobile World Congress.
1) Please test they quickness of the keyboard shortcuts both for short press and long press setup . 2) Can you help check which app gives you the advantage of using the scrolling feature of the keyboards 3) Is the "swipe up" to complete the word effective when you are typing on the device? Thanks for taking my questions Erica!
Peace_Out thanks mate. i heard that too but still have to see it in real life. front facing camera is not great as I seen in a video. and the priv speaker was terrible
The notification LED - is it multicolour or just red and green? I still have anxiety about this after being betrayed by my HTC One 😂 Looking forward to the full review. Your videos are always unbiased and so in-depth :) keep up the amazing work!
Nice - the last Blackberry *designed* smartphone - all future models will be made by third-parties (TCL) with the Blackberry name emblazoned across the phone. Gotta love that keyboard!
Robin Persaud BlackBerry will no longer design the phones at all, this was the last in house designed BlackBerry. For the near future all new BlackBerry will be based from a TCL design with added security features, just like the DTEK50 and DTEK60.
Powered by Honda That is not correct - TCL is designing future phones in-house. BlackBerry is providing the BB Hub and other software - and allowing TCL to market phones under the BlackBerry brand.
Erica your videos are absolutely honest, straightforward, and helpful! I am currently using a Nextbit Robin and I got it after watching one of your videos a couple of months ago!
Nice video Erica. I appreciate how you went all out to get the Blackberry Keyone for review. This is the first post MWC review I've seen of the Keyone. Kudos!
Funny that you mention the S8, I was kind of expecting that. No, I haven't seen one of those live yet. I do however own both an S6 Edge+, an S7 Edge (both glass sandwiches as well) and have watched enough unboxing and review videos of the S8 to have an informed opinion of it. And I'm not only taking a swing at the Galaxy line, but all the companies who have recently figured out they want to have glass on both sides of their phones as well.
GregJ22 I'm not the biggest fan of glass designs either but the way some of the colors like on the silver S7 looks is actually quite beautiful and how the front and back are curved looks cool too
LeGoogle Chrome well I haven't seen either of my phones in their natural state for a long time because I'm afraid to take them out of their protective casings! It's the ultimate form of planned obsolescence, small sealed batteries (yes yes the S7 edge is quite beefy at 3600 mAh) and glass hugging almost the whole phone. I hear Samsung and LG are now planning to give the top and bottom parts of their phones wrapping edges as well. Funny how the top dollar gives you the most brittle stuff. But now I'm getting carried away from the purely aesthetical discussion we had. Good day, Sir.
O'ez Shaikh due to the phones odd squareish screen shape when watching UA-cam videos there's gonna be black bars at the top and bottom of the video but other that that UA-cam will work like it will on any other phone.
I know its not really a "consumer phone" as its geared towards business, but how does it run games with its funky aspect ratio? Fire Emblem Heroes and Love Live are my two benchmarks for vertical/horizontal gaming. I would be very curious how those two run.
Hey Tech Nerd!! Very nice video. Your unboxing and running commentary make the video more lively! Keep it up. I love your videos not only because they are really good, but also because they are nicely detailed.
Ms. Griffin, thank you for your continuous honest reviews of new BlackBerry devices (Passport, Priv, KeyOne). I enjoy your material. This phone is something special. I know it will feel similar to the Passport Silver Edition (its basically the same phone just molded differently + android). Can't wait to get my hands on this, TCL is failing with their launch :-/.
Hi Erica! please test out the following: 1. quality of the speaker and volume output 2. learning curve for the keyboard 3. quality of pictures and camera (front and back) overall 4. speakerphone quality 5. call quality through earpiece and reception 6. battery life after 4+ email accounts have been linked to the device for some time 7. video playback quality in landscape when watching UA-cam, etc. 8. overall performance when multitasking 9. How the device handles light to moderate gaming 10. usefulness of keyboard shortcuts 11. maybe a durability/drop test 12. usefulness of the productivity tab it would be awesome if you could cover all of this in your full review! I love how detailed you are with your review units. thanks!
Great unboxing of the phone, Erica. Too many people simply disregard Blackberry since it's an easy target, so it's great to see someone who sees beyond this.
Always enjoy your coverage of phones. You're always very thorough (even annotating already created videos with updates)! I can't agree with you about physical keyboards not being popular anymore, but I get what you mean. I've been following you for awhile, but I also wanted to say thank you for coverage of "tech conventions". I love your vids on that because I seldom can go myself. My one question is how is the sound with only one speaker?
Scott, I can't answer for certain, but I would assume the answer is no. Most games these days assume that phones don't have physical keyboards. This means there just might not be any sort of functionality written into your game of choice. But... I could be wrong, and there might be a way.
N Scott Nsignasiak when it comes to games on the play store I doubt any of them will let you play using the keyboards buttons as the keyboard wasnt ment for gaming although the track pad might work for gaming as the track pad mimics the touch screen so there's no need for the devoloperes to add in surport for that. Anyway if you want to play games using the keyboard you can play emulators (emulators are apps that let you play classic games like NES, GBA or even PS1) on it as those will allow you to map buttons to keyboard keys.
N Scott Nsignasiak bb phones are not built with the intention of using a full screen as its more for business like microsoft word documents, etc. So no it will not be comfortable to play games
Great video! I have been loving your unboxings and reviews of the latest mobile devices as well as the exciting commentaries. I'm looking forward to the video review of the Blackberry KeyOne! Keep up the good work!
Hi Erica need some help my name is Aman raja and I'm visually impaired I currently use an iPhone 6s Plus and even though I'm happy with it I'm due to upgrade and want to know if any of the android phones have good accessibility settings love your vids
Aman Raja andriod phones are considered highly customizable so even if the settings arnt there you can usually find an app that will do that you want as apps on andriod have fewer restriction on what there allowed to do than apple devices. Though I don't think it's nessasery as looking at the setting on my andriod I can see plenty of assessibily settings, these include stuff like text to speech or simply making the font bigger and I'm not even on the latest andriod version (I'm on andriod marshmallow atm, one step down for the latest version which is andriod nougat) anyway if you wanted to know if andriod has a particular setting your after I can look though my setting again and let you know if andriod has it or not.
Aman Raja I imagine you mean visually impaired. if that's the case, I'd stick to what you know. getting used to a new os is already tough, let alone if youre visually impaired. there are options, such as the Google talk back app, but I'd stick to the iPhone.
It's amazing how polarizing the BlackBerry brand is in general. Anything not in the mainstream is looked at with negativity. This really showcases the herd mentality.
Hey Erica! Excellent hands-on video of the Blackberry KEYone. Eagerly waiting for the full thorough review of the most intriguing phone of the year! Really like the style of your videos and lack of rambling ;)
One question I'd like to ask is after using the device, would you recommend it to someone who uses their phone heavily as a multi media device? Also does the blackberry ios work well in conjunction with the Android apps?
Colin Loughe This is an Android phone so therefore it will work with any Android app or with any media content from the video play store or any music streaming service. Is it good for playing media...... maybe not as good as an all touch screen device but it will certainly have no trouble doing it. This phone is aimed more at email,social media and generally anything to do with typing as it's main feature obviously is the keyboard. something like a samsung is more suited to watching video content and UA-cam. The Keyone has more of a business focus to it for productivity with the hub,security and keyboard.
Hi, here are some questions: 1- does it support LTE? 2- can we disable the capacitive keys? 3- what are the shortcuts that can be assigned for the keyboards keys? 4- what is the different between the short press and long press? 5- do you feel comfortable with using the physical keyboard.
FCWENNEKERS i dont think so as blackberry keyboards are usually amazing, you WILL feel extremely cramed and bizarre at first but after some months you will type like a breeze and get used to it even if you have big fingers as i think ALL the keys on the keyboard are raised a bit.
Yes, you do get used to typing on the keyboard. I can type very fast on it. Almost as fast as on touch screens, sometimes. But the slow speed of the phone is a big big issue! My BB K1 is 3 weeks old now and it's slowing down. :(
4 Things Erica. 1. Front facing camera (specially in low light) 2. Is the speaker loud enough producing quality sound? 3. Can font be changed in this phone? 4. Why do you think this is not amoled display? Will the LCD be power drainer for this device? Thank you Erica! Big fan here.
Erica, just a few of questions come to mind: 1. If you start typing from the home screen does it go automatically into search (like the BB Classic) ? 2. Can you do a comparison of the Hub on Android Key1 vs the Hub on BB10 ? 3. Can you show us a size comparison between an iPhone 6 or 7 and the Key1 ? 4. Can you use the touch keyboard to jump the cursor in the body of the text (similar to using force touch on the iPhone keyboard) ? Many thanks !
Hi Erica. As a current BlackBerry user myself, I'd like to get your thoughts on the BlackBerry Hub. I feel it doesn't get the recognition it deserves. Just remember that you can fully customize it to your liking.
As a corporate user of BB's since the company began, I really, really hope BB does reasonably well with this device. The company made many obvious strategic and tactical errors in the past in retrospect, yet at their peak, BB not only was a dominant force in the mobile market, but they're products were quite well designed and engineered. I MISS my physical keyboard. Swiftkey is quite nice, but I still feel I can type faster and more accurately on BB-style physical boards. Looking forward to the EG in-depth review! cheers!
Should have shown how the case works for the phone Erica! Three questions: 1. Does the case have wake up and sleep function like the old BB holsters? 2. How is the keyboard? As good as the classical BB bold? 3. Do you think that the usage of older snapdragon chipset will be a concern for an above average user who doesn't game?
One of the best unboxing videos I have seen so far for the BlackBerry KEYone! By the way, I like the way you film stuff. The question I have for you is about performance. I want to know how snappy it is as compared to the other flagship phones out right now? I know it is rocking the Snapdragon 625 that is geared towards battery life and I wonder if that was a mistake? Break it down for us, Erica! Thanks again for filming stuff for us!
A very nice, quick and concise unboxing! This phone looks really strange, the Priv looks better but this phone looks like it has better materials. Looking forward to the full review later :)
This phones makes me feel like Blackberry is coming back! I can not wait to play with that beast. Great Video. Please make a review after you played with it. 👍🏾👍🏾
I am a long time BB fan and this may be what I have been waiting for. PLEASE note when you do your review if you think the snapdragon 625 will detract in any way from the Android experience. Thanks so much.
I must admit I have went through a few unboxing videos on the new Blackberry Keyone and pretty much everybody has a "wait, what?" reaction when they first open up the box and see paper black stuff, that's quite funny. I have been looking forward to see what it looks like for quite a while ever since it was called Mercury, which I believe would have been a great name aswell. Question time. -Do you think that it's weight will have a down side from what you have experiences with it? - Regarding the convenience key, does it have any other use? e.g- when you take a photo/record a video. -Does the blackberry hub interact well with the others apps? Would you use the hub on a different phone if available ? -I would like to know more about the front "selfie" cam and the battery life. Thank you for creating this. Still using the bold! A lot of people have been claiming that BB might hope nostalgia will kick in and make them buy this...I would say this is like 50/50 since they did try to give something to fans and also something to compete with others. Heck nostalgia would be the new nokia 3310. Hehe! Looking forward to your next video!
Great video and quick overview of the phone. It definitely looks interesting and I might give it a try. Can't wait for your full review! Cheers from the Balkans
I don't really have questions per se', just things I'd like you to review: -Camera (features/modes, camera quality, video quality, front-facing camera quality) -Battery life
Hi Erica. Thanks for making this video, the KEYone looks great, but I'm wondering how some older apps, like pre Holo design, handle the unique aspect ratio. IIRC a lot of apps had to be updated to support the S8/S8+'s ratio.
I love your in-depth reviews. It's cool that you bother to ask for questions so you know what to review :) I would really like to know about the software. How good are the built-in apps? I know you can always use other ones but it usually does not always work as well with the rest of the ecosystem.
Hi Erica! 1. Drop Test 😈 2. Does landscape youtube (or video of any kind) looks good enough? 3. Does the physical keyboard help or hinder in gaming (say, asphalt 8)? 4. Any heating issues while using camera or gaming? 5. Is the screen resolution good enough to handle minor spreadsheet work?
I am curious whether the keyboard is comfortable enough? The design quite sleek but it looks like it out of date. The unboxing looks awesome though!! It's satisfying to see all the feature like this. Keep making awesome video! 💕
new subscriber here! I really appreciate all the effort you put into your videos and I really like your commentary, it's funny! also I like that you put the specs on the screen as you talk about em. helps me keep up! 👍👍👍
Have had the keyone for a few days now. love it. seems unfinished eg. the keyboard is missing some features that are on the priv (swipe down for symbols and numbers). the speed of the fingerprint scanner and power to lock key has really helped avoid pocket dials which has made shortpress keyboard shortcuts more practical. all of my longpress speed dial shortcuts have had text or emails shortcuts programmed to the same key, texts and emails work better for shortpress than speed dial because you don't want to 'pocket dial' people accidentally. Never really used keyboard shortcuts to launch apps, but I do now. mainly just apps that don't fit on the homescreen. am really loving this phone now. the nougat split screen feature is absolute gold with the qwerty. Hope you can get a similar experience out of it like I am. n is a hotkey shortcut for nfc payments. not sure what android pay is like regarding fingerprint scanners, but I need to change banks to use android pay instead of my banks app.
Hey Erica I always enjoy your videos and your view on different products. The phone also looks beautiful! If it was not because my phone is still going strong I would actually consider it. This is too bad that blackberry couldn't get their name out to compete with the big ones. Look forward to your review on this.
It's funny how people still think the keyboard is a relic, when the BlackBerry keyboard actually doubles as a track pad and fingerprint sensor AND provides tons of shortcut options to speed you up and keep your screen clutter-free. Not to mention the tactile advantage.
Do these same people complain about physical keyboards on laptops and other computers? By their logic, laptop keyboards should be all touchscreen too.
Laptops are being replaced with tablets. Windows 10 is a great example of that with its tablet like use that also works on a traditional laptop.
I just don't think it happened as completely because laptop keyboards are extremely useful. You can type for a very long time on them, and trying to do that on a touch screen just doesn't work out. They are great for gaming, because you can have many more options without cluttering up the screen.
Generally keyboards are easier to use in cars, and places you can't focus on the keyboard so well.
I know I'm slow on a touch screen, it kills my day simply because on my laptop, and when I had my sidekick phones with the keyboards, I don't look at the keys, I just type strictly by tactile feel. I can't do this with the same precision on a touch screen. It is fun thinking about all of the broken screens though.
Brandon Gray people want more screen space on there phone not a physical keyboard . blackberries current sales prove that
Eric Rodrigues, speak for yourself please.
I do not want screen space, or a large screen. I much rather have a physical keyboard.
I am not the only one that thinks this way.
I do know the majority of people want larger screens and all of that though. Or they at least want to follow the crowd.
snoopdogie187 *most people
Brandon Gray keyboards in computers should become haptic like apples homebutton and trackpads so u can choose your key travel
Whoa! I haven't seen a blackberry in forever.
Mere where were you when the blackberry priv came out
Mere Well, they're mostly a software company now, but glad to see they're still afloat and not bought by another company yet
David -flamingsword1 Well, this one, and the future global BlackBerry devices, will be made by TCL Communication
BlackBerry's actually doing a decent job as a software-only company... don't think it completely turned things around, but getting there.
Aurelian Yeah, they're becoming a pretty nice software security company so far
I've watched roughly 6 unboxing videos of the KEYone and you're the only one who's shown the case BlackBerry provided you. Thanks for taking the moment to show that off. Good job on the rest of the video too for being so thorough!
Hi Erica, I have a few questions:
1. BlackBerry Passport had the best in class microphones (all 4 of them) so you would easily put a call on speaker and talk as usual from 1-2 meters away (without screaming or turning your voice up), the person on the other side would hear you like you were speaking normally (on the contrary to all other flagship phones). I suspect this isn't the case with KEYone as it was produced by TCL which I don't think will want to invest in this. Am I right?
2. How about the battery? how long will it last?
3. Quality of call (ear speaker, loud speaker, signal, microphones in both loudspeaker mode and regular etc.)
4. Can you enable "Swype" for the physical keyboard (like in BlackBerry Priv)? Is it feasible in terms of daily use?
5. Physical keyboard takes a lot of time to get used to, you won't get used to it after a single week. But you won't be able to go back to virtual keyboards after couple of months. How is the keyboard on KEYone?
6. How about keyboard shortcuts? Android is extremely cumbersome in terms of daily tasks, everything takes a lot of time. Even dialing or choosing a contact is kind of slow, especially if you do this hundreds of times a day. Is this comfortable?
7. Using the BlackBerry launcher and apps on a Samsung is quite problematic, the system sometimes creates duplicate contacts and has many bugs synching between both. Is this the case with KEYone?
8. Is this phone lag proof? Speed is an extremely important factor today and I'm afraid the SD625 can't hold up with the flagship 820,821,835. Do you feel any lag while scrolling the home screen, opening apps, emails etc.?
Overall this phone looks sexy as hell but I'm a bit afraid of TCL's notorious Chinese quality. Thanks a lot.
What's "swype"?
You just made the right questions....
These are LEGIT questions!
maxi linkov No swipe gestures on the KEYone anymore. also, most of your answers are answered on Crackberry.com - their forums are full of people who've already bought their phones from Selfridge. So far, pretty solid reviews on battery/camera/keyboard shortcuts.
Also - the processor was purposely chosen to deliver solid battery life. The phone is lag free according to most users + the editors of Crackberry who've been using the phone since Mobile World Congress.
I like it how you actually mention this phone being released specifically in Canada.
1) Please test they quickness of the keyboard shortcuts both for short press and long press setup .
2) Can you help check which app gives you the advantage of using the scrolling feature of the keyboards
3) Is the "swipe up" to complete the word effective when you are typing on the device?
Thanks for taking my questions Erica!
😂😂 once more for that BYEEE.. in the end!! 😂😂😂
Erica,
When I need a first person perspective on a device you're my go to gal! This review of the KEYone is no different. Thanks!
I love all of your unboxing videos Erica!
please give your opinions on camera and speaker. thanks
Thuan Ton camera hardware is same as Pixel so should hold up well!
Peace_Out thanks mate. i heard that too but still have to see it in real life. front facing camera is not great as I seen in a video. and the priv speaker was terrible
There are very few people who can make an unboxing interesting and you're one of them. Love your attention to details. Keep up the good work. 👍
Could you test split screen (using two apps at the same time) in your full review please
The notification LED - is it multicolour or just red and green? I still have anxiety about this after being betrayed by my HTC One 😂
Looking forward to the full review. Your videos are always unbiased and so in-depth :) keep up the amazing work!
Ethan Samama It's multicolor.
Nice - the last Blackberry *designed* smartphone - all future models will be made by third-parties (TCL) with the Blackberry name emblazoned across the phone. Gotta love that keyboard!
Robin Persaud BlackBerry will no longer design the phones at all, this was the last in house designed BlackBerry. For the near future all new BlackBerry will be based from a TCL design with added security features, just like the DTEK50 and DTEK60.
Peace_Out Yes, I know (that's what I said).
Powered by Honda That is not correct - TCL is designing future phones in-house. BlackBerry is providing the BB Hub and other software - and allowing TCL to market phones under the BlackBerry brand.
Robin Persaud comment was in reply to Powered By Honda sorry.
Peace_Out -- Okay, no worries!
Erica your videos are absolutely honest, straightforward, and helpful! I am currently using a Nextbit Robin and I got it after watching one of your videos a couple of months ago!
Nice video Erica. I appreciate how you went all out to get the Blackberry Keyone for review. This is the first post MWC review I've seen of the Keyone. Kudos!
Wow that's a Great looking phone. Modern glass sandwiches look completely dull and uninspired compared to this.
GregJ22 have you ever actually seen a Galaxy S8
Funny that you mention the S8, I was kind of expecting that. No, I haven't seen one of those live yet. I do however own both an S6 Edge+, an S7 Edge (both glass sandwiches as well) and have watched enough unboxing and review videos of the S8 to have an informed opinion of it. And I'm not only taking a swing at the Galaxy line, but all the companies who have recently figured out they want to have glass on both sides of their phones as well.
GregJ22 I'm not the biggest fan of glass designs either but the way some of the colors like on the silver S7 looks is actually quite beautiful and how the front and back are curved looks cool too
LeGoogle Chrome well I haven't seen either of my phones in their natural state for a long time because I'm afraid to take them out of their protective casings! It's the ultimate form of planned obsolescence, small sealed batteries (yes yes the S7 edge is quite beefy at 3600 mAh) and glass hugging almost the whole phone. I hear Samsung and LG are now planning to give the top and bottom parts of their phones wrapping edges as well. Funny how the top dollar gives you the most brittle stuff. But now I'm getting carried away from the purely aesthetical discussion we had. Good day, Sir.
I think plastic is boring
I'm going to get one soon.CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HOW DOES YOU TUBE WORK ON THIS SCREEN.👍👍👍😊
O'ez Shaikh that's the only issue
Videos will be cropped
Otherwise this is a top notch phone
O'ez Shaikh due to the phones odd squareish screen shape when watching UA-cam videos there's gonna be black bars at the top and bottom of the video but other that that UA-cam will work like it will on any other phone.
I'm buying it for the form factor.
Can't wait enough to get mine.
That "Byeee!" you do at the end of your videos... it's cute how quaint you are with yourself.
I'm eager to see your review, especially your experience with the keyboard.
(And keep up the good work with this channel!)
Phone looks great! Keyboard! Blackberry security! Android! Headphone jack! Strong battery! Wow! Christmas is coming early!
I know its not really a "consumer phone" as its geared towards business, but how does it run games with its funky aspect ratio? Fire Emblem Heroes and Love Live are my two benchmarks for vertical/horizontal gaming. I would be very curious how those two run.
Hey Tech Nerd!! Very nice video. Your unboxing and running commentary make the video more lively! Keep it up. I love your videos not only because they are really good, but also because they are nicely detailed.
One of my most trusted tech reviewers and beautiful to boot. Thank you for all of your insight and opinion on new tech. Keep up the great work.
This makes me miss my blackberry curve lol
Ms. Griffin, thank you for your continuous honest reviews of new BlackBerry devices (Passport, Priv, KeyOne). I enjoy your material. This phone is something special. I know it will feel similar to the Passport Silver Edition (its basically the same phone just molded differently + android). Can't wait to get my hands on this, TCL is failing with their launch :-/.
it is not he same phone...different CPU,GPU, Camera, keyboard...
First BB screws up by putting in a year old processor and then TCL fails with the lunch. Horrible !!
Hahaha. You're reaction to the shredded black stuff was hilarious! I'd've been surprised, too.
been waiting for erica to receive this! shes one of the most honest review when it comes to keyboard phones in my opinion
It's like phone for left-handed people with the power and volume buttons reversed...
i just need blackberry priv v2
garry nelson a top spec priv 2.. take my money
garry nelson they should've kept that design
garry nelson Blackberry PrivOne
I like how you put little notes on the bottom left. Its simple but a nice touch. Keep up the great videos!
Hi Erica! please test out the following:
1. quality of the speaker and volume output
2. learning curve for the keyboard
3. quality of pictures and camera (front and back) overall
4. speakerphone quality
5. call quality through earpiece and reception
6. battery life after 4+ email accounts have been linked to the device for some time
7. video playback quality in landscape when watching UA-cam, etc.
8. overall performance when multitasking
9. How the device handles light to moderate gaming
10. usefulness of keyboard shortcuts
11. maybe a durability/drop test
12. usefulness of the productivity tab
it would be awesome if you could cover all of this in your full review! I love how detailed you are with your review units. thanks!
how does netflix or youtube look ?
Karl Richardson great question
Thanks for the great video, Erica. My only question, for you to answer after a few days of use is, do you like it?
Caid Johnson Good question.
NateFreestyle lol
NateFreestyle it rhymes dang lol
Great unboxing of the phone, Erica. Too many people simply disregard Blackberry since it's an easy target, so it's great to see someone who sees beyond this.
Always enjoy your coverage of phones. You're always very thorough (even annotating already created videos with updates)! I can't agree with you about physical keyboards not being popular anymore, but I get what you mean. I've been following you for awhile, but I also wanted to say thank you for coverage of "tech conventions". I love your vids on that because I seldom can go myself.
My one question is how is the sound with only one speaker?
you simply deserve many more subscribers. 😍😍😍❤❤
Can you use the physical keyboard to play games with keyboard support? Example Minecraft
Scott, I can't answer for certain, but I would assume the answer is no. Most games these days assume that phones don't have physical keyboards. This means there just might not be any sort of functionality written into your game of choice.
But... I could be wrong, and there might be a way.
Yeah that is true. It is always a possibility that an app will come along and use this feature.
N Scott Nsignasiak when it comes to games on the play store I doubt any of them will let you play using the keyboards buttons as the keyboard wasnt ment for gaming although the track pad might work for gaming as the track pad mimics the touch screen so there's no need for the devoloperes to add in surport for that. Anyway if you want to play games using the keyboard you can play emulators (emulators are apps that let you play classic games like NES, GBA or even PS1) on it as those will allow you to map buttons to keyboard keys.
N Scott Nsignasiak bb phones are not built with the intention of using a full screen as its more for business like microsoft word documents, etc. So no it will not be comfortable to play games
Would probably be uncomfortable with these buttons though.
Great video! I have been loving your unboxings and reviews of the latest mobile devices as well as the exciting commentaries. I'm looking forward to the video review of the Blackberry KeyOne! Keep up the good work!
I thought I'd never see the day a BlackBerry phone appealed to me. What a time to live in!
Hi Erica need some help my name is Aman raja and I'm visually impaired I currently use an iPhone 6s Plus and even though I'm happy with it I'm due to upgrade and want to know if any of the android phones have good accessibility settings love your vids
Aman Raja hi, most Android phones have good accessibility settings and you can download helpful apps from the Play Store :)
Aman Raja andriod phones are considered highly customizable so even if the settings arnt there you can usually find an app that will do that you want as apps on andriod have fewer restriction on what there allowed to do than apple devices. Though I don't think it's nessasery as looking at the setting on my andriod I can see plenty of assessibily settings, these include stuff like text to speech or simply making the font bigger and I'm not even on the latest andriod version (I'm on andriod marshmallow atm, one step down for the latest version which is andriod nougat) anyway if you wanted to know if andriod has a particular setting your after I can look though my setting again and let you know if andriod has it or not.
Ciaran Hurdwell thank you really appreciate it
Ibrahim Farooq thank you appreciate the advice
Aman Raja I imagine you mean visually impaired. if that's the case, I'd stick to what you know. getting used to a new os is already tough, let alone if youre visually impaired. there are options, such as the Google talk back app, but I'd stick to the iPhone.
Snapchat, hows it look on this?
It's amazing how polarizing the BlackBerry brand is in general. Anything not in the mainstream is looked at with negativity. This really showcases the herd mentality.
Hey Erica! Excellent hands-on video of the Blackberry KEYone. Eagerly waiting for the full thorough review of the most intriguing phone of the year! Really like the style of your videos and lack of rambling ;)
y isn't anyone else's battery that
big
Leo Foster smaller cpu and more efficient screen are the new trend
Leo Foster look how fat the phone is lol... S8 plus had close to the same battery size
true s8 had a pretty similar battery but the keyone screen is small plus the power saving qualcomm chip that tey are using.
Does this have MHL support?
I really liked the video, love your humour 😁
Hey Erica! I love how thorough your unboxings are. Keep it up
This phone is Sexy Masterpiece
and
are you doing its Giveaway????
Khushpreet Sandhu Crackberry is doing a give away for 3 keyones on their site if you wanna check it out.
Khushpreet Sandhu she prolly likes the phone so she won't do a giveaway lol
One question I'd like to ask is after using the device, would you recommend it to someone who uses their phone heavily as a multi media device? Also does the blackberry ios work well in conjunction with the Android apps?
Colin Loughe it runs Android OS just like Samsung, LG, Pixel, HTC etc so it will work with any Android app.
Colin Loughe it's a android phone smh
Colin Loughe This is an Android phone so therefore it will work with any Android app or with any media content from the video play store or any music streaming service. Is it good for playing media...... maybe not as good as an all touch screen device but it will certainly have no trouble doing it. This phone is aimed more at email,social media and generally anything to do with typing as it's main feature obviously is the keyboard. something like a samsung is more suited to watching video content and UA-cam. The Keyone has more of a business focus to it for productivity with the hub,security and keyboard.
Blackberry ios? 😂
Colin Loughe 😂😂. That is actualy funny..... Blackberry ios 😂😂
Thanks for another great unboxing Erica! Would you consider doing a drop test video on it later?
Big fan of your channel :)
Hi, here are some questions:
1- does it support LTE?
2- can we disable the capacitive keys?
3- what are the shortcuts that can be assigned for the keyboards keys?
4- what is the different between the short press and long press?
5- do you feel comfortable with using the physical keyboard.
Will it work on all United States carriers?
Cinqué Barlow yes it will.
Cinqué Barlow Yes. U.S Carrier support coming shortly. You will also be able to purchase unlocked version.
are the speakers good?
Excited to see this review! Great job on the video and opening up questions to us!
Got to give props to Blackberry for keeping it real.
Do you need really tiny fingers for this phone?
FCWENNEKERS i dont think so as blackberry keyboards are usually amazing, you WILL feel extremely cramed and bizarre at first but after some months you will type like a breeze and get used to it even if you have big fingers as i think ALL the keys on the keyboard are raised a bit.
Aha, thanks!
Yes, you do get used to typing on the keyboard. I can type very fast on it. Almost as fast as on touch screens, sometimes. But the slow speed of the phone is a big big issue! My BB K1 is 3 weeks old now and it's slowing down. :(
How well does Snapchat work on it?
probably like it does on all Android devices ... like sh1t.
I want this just because no one else does and its unique for the time period.. and it just looks really nice and sturdy
This phone looks so well-built. I couldn't even put a case on it!
I really love the look of this phone! I might have to get this! Awesome unboxing Erica!
I love your videos, specially the vocab and subtle captions on the bottom to clear things up
4 Things Erica.
1. Front facing camera (specially in low light)
2. Is the speaker loud enough producing quality sound?
3. Can font be changed in this phone?
4. Why do you think this is not amoled display? Will the LCD be power drainer for this device?
Thank you Erica! Big fan here.
Gotta love the blackberry's nostalgic feeling! good video!
Best part is when you cutely say Byeeee.. 👍
Erica, just a few of questions come to mind: 1. If you start typing from the home screen does it go automatically into search (like the BB Classic) ? 2. Can you do a comparison of the Hub on Android Key1 vs the Hub on BB10 ? 3. Can you show us a size comparison between an iPhone 6 or 7 and the Key1 ? 4. Can you use the touch keyboard to jump the cursor in the body of the text (similar to using force touch on the iPhone keyboard) ? Many thanks !
Would like a after-a-week of usage review. I am most keen on the default UI and user experience aspect. Thank you Erica!
Hi Erica. As a current BlackBerry user myself, I'd like to get your thoughts on the BlackBerry Hub. I feel it doesn't get the recognition it deserves. Just remember that you can fully customize it to your liking.
Which is more accessible or handy, the blackberry keyone or the galaxy s8?
As a corporate user of BB's since the company began, I really, really hope BB does reasonably well with this device. The company made many obvious strategic and tactical errors in the past in retrospect, yet at their peak, BB not only was a dominant force in the mobile market, but they're products were quite well designed and engineered.
I MISS my physical keyboard. Swiftkey is quite nice, but I still feel I can type faster and more accurately on BB-style physical boards.
Looking forward to the EG in-depth review!
cheers!
Should have shown how the case works for the phone Erica!
Three questions:
1. Does the case have wake up and sleep function like the old BB holsters?
2. How is the keyboard? As good as the classical BB bold?
3. Do you think that the usage of older snapdragon chipset will be a concern for an above average user who doesn't game?
One of the best unboxing videos I have seen so far for the BlackBerry KEYone! By the way, I like the way you film stuff. The question I have for you is about performance. I want to know how snappy it is as compared to the other flagship phones out right now? I know it is rocking the Snapdragon 625 that is geared towards battery life and I wonder if that was a mistake? Break it down for us, Erica! Thanks again for filming stuff for us!
Leaving this here as a bookmark... BRB for the full review!
A very nice, quick and concise unboxing! This phone looks really strange, the Priv looks better but this phone looks like it has better materials. Looking forward to the full review later :)
Seeing a Blackberry Phone makes me miss my old Palm Pre.
Just a few questions for the review...
1) uneven keyboard lighting?
2) does the device get hot during use?
3) speaker quality?
Its refreshing to see a physical keyboard on smartphone again. 😀
This phones makes me feel like Blackberry is coming back!
I can not wait to play with that beast.
Great Video. Please make a review after you played with it. 👍🏾👍🏾
Blackberry build quality is stunning.
I am a long time BB fan and this may be what I have been waiting for. PLEASE note when you do your review if you think the snapdragon 625 will detract in any way from the Android experience. Thanks so much.
I must admit I have went through a few unboxing videos on the new Blackberry Keyone and pretty much everybody has a "wait, what?" reaction when they first open up the box and see paper black stuff, that's quite funny. I have been looking forward to see what it looks like for quite a while ever since it was called Mercury, which I believe would have been a great name aswell. Question time.
-Do you think that it's weight will have a down side from what you have experiences with it?
- Regarding the convenience key, does it have any other use? e.g- when you take a photo/record a video.
-Does the blackberry hub interact well with the others apps? Would you use the hub on a different phone if available ?
-I would like to know more about the front "selfie" cam and the battery life.
Thank you for creating this. Still using the bold! A lot of people have been claiming that BB might hope nostalgia will kick in and make them buy this...I would say this is like 50/50 since they did try to give something to fans and also something to compete with others. Heck nostalgia would be the new nokia 3310. Hehe!
Looking forward to your next video!
Great video and quick overview of the phone. It definitely looks interesting and I might give it a try. Can't wait for your full review! Cheers from the Balkans
Been waiting for this video! Keep it up ! Really enjoy your videos !
great video
keyone looks pretty good would consider to buy it asap it launches.
Finally.... A truly compelling Blackberry! I would actually buy this. Hope it comes to T-mobile
Sweet phone I love how it blends the keyboard with the touch screen 😍😘
I don't really have questions per se', just things I'd like you to review:
-Camera (features/modes, camera quality, video quality, front-facing camera quality)
-Battery life
Thanks for the unboxing video... great job. Looking forward to your full review
Hi Erica. Thanks for making this video, the KEYone looks great, but I'm wondering how some older apps, like pre Holo design, handle the unique aspect ratio. IIRC a lot of apps had to be updated to support the S8/S8+'s ratio.
I love your in-depth reviews. It's cool that you bother to ask for questions so you know what to review :)
I would really like to know about the software. How good are the built-in apps? I know you can always use other ones but it usually does not always work as well with the rest of the ecosystem.
Hi Erica!
1. Drop Test 😈
2. Does landscape youtube (or video of any kind) looks good enough?
3. Does the physical keyboard help or hinder in gaming (say, asphalt 8)?
4. Any heating issues while using camera or gaming?
5. Is the screen resolution good enough to handle minor spreadsheet work?
I am curious whether the keyboard is comfortable enough? The design quite sleek but it looks like it out of date. The unboxing looks awesome though!! It's satisfying to see all the feature like this. Keep making awesome video! 💕
Love the video. In depth as always. Keep it up!
new subscriber here! I really appreciate all the effort you put into your videos and I really like your commentary, it's funny! also I like that you put the specs on the screen as you talk about em. helps me keep up! 👍👍👍
All I need to pull the trigger on this one is the battery life. Please try and test the battery life if possible. Also, love your videos, keep it up!
Have had the keyone for a few days now. love it. seems unfinished eg. the keyboard is missing some features that are on the priv (swipe down for symbols and numbers). the speed of the fingerprint scanner and power to lock key has really helped avoid pocket dials which has made shortpress keyboard shortcuts more practical. all of my longpress speed dial shortcuts have had text or emails shortcuts programmed to the same key, texts and emails work better for shortpress than speed dial because you don't want to 'pocket dial' people accidentally. Never really used keyboard shortcuts to launch apps, but I do now. mainly just apps that don't fit on the homescreen. am really loving this phone now. the nougat split screen feature is absolute gold with the qwerty. Hope you can get a similar experience out of it like I am. n is a hotkey shortcut for nfc payments. not sure what android pay is like regarding fingerprint scanners, but I need to change banks to use android pay instead of my banks app.
You made the unboxing much more interesting!
just found your channel from skb. I like that you are doing different phones and have a little more variety to your videos. onelove
A good looking phone with a nice concept. Inclusion of USB Type C with earphones does make a big difference
Hey Erica I always enjoy your videos and your view on different products. The phone also looks beautiful! If it was not because my phone is still going strong I would actually consider it. This is too bad that blackberry couldn't get their name out to compete with the big ones. Look forward to your review on this.