Notebookcheck Logo

BlackBerry KEYone shipments delayed until May

The KEYone marks a radical departure from current smartphone trends with its physical keyboard. (Source: BlackBerry)
The KEYone marks a radical departure from current smartphone trends with its physical keyboard. (Source: BlackBerry)
BlackBerry's new smartphone was scheduled to ship in early April. However, it has been delayed by a month, placing it directly in the crosshairs of another upcoming release: the Samsung Galaxy S8.

Late last February, BlackBerry lifted the veil on its new KEYone smartphone (until then referred to as "Mercury"). Along with the name change, the company also announced that the device would begin shipping in April. Now, the latest BlackBerry earnings call reveals that shipments have been delayed until May, possibly later.

According to Android Central, this means that the KEYone's launch date will also shift, possibly to late April, which will put it in direct competition with that month's other big release: the Samsung Galaxy S8. Of course, simultaneous launches might not negatively affect the success of BlackBerry's device. After all, the two handsets cater to very different types of customers; nowhere is this more evident than in the KEYone's most striking characteristic—its physical keyboard. This decidedly-retro feature is clearly at odds with Samsung's offering, which employs a very modern design throughout.

Although the KEYone employs a very unconventional exterior, inside things are more familiar. The Android Nougat-powered handset sports mid-range specs, such as a Snapdragon 625 processor, a 4.5-inch 3:2 display with a 1620x1080 resolution, 3 GB of RAM, and 32 GB of internal storage. The KEYone features a 5-megapixel front camera, but the bigger star is its 12-megapixel rear camera which supports 4K recording and HDR, and uses the same sensor found in the Google Pixel's excellent camera. 

The revised launch date was not accompanied by a change in price. The BlackBerry KEYone should still cost $549. You can pre-register to be notified when the phone is available here.

Source(s)

static version load dynamic
Loading Comments
Comment on this article
Please share our article, every link counts!
John Garcia, 2017-03-31 (Update: 2017-03-31)