Keyed up: the upcoming first-gen 5G BlackBerry's looks are predicted in new renders

BlackBerry may have fallen from grace as the business-class phone brand over the years; nevertheless, various OEMs have seen enough residual worth in this name to keep it going into the 2000s. The latest of these is OnwardMobility, a start-up headed by ex-Microsoft and Zynga executive Peter Franklin. The firm has announced a partnership with Foxconn in order to produce what might launch as the Key3, which it now aims to debut "as soon as possible".

This upcoming device is touted to have "premium" cameras in addition to 5G connectivity and that apparently all-important physical keyboard. This news has inspired Concept Creator (or Jermaine Smit) to generate high-quality renders of how these plans might come together.

They depict a device that is indeed a slight throwback, not only in its keyboard (which, frankly, looks always-on rather than made of individual keys) but in its rear camera array. They are arranged down the middle of the phone, in a manner OEMs everywhere seem to have abandoned completely in 2021.

The overall effect, then, is of a black-and-gold feature-phone variation on a OnePlus 8 Pro - except, of course, that it has the evergreen double-B logo on the back, not to mention the obligatory flat top and bottom edges.

On that note, the renders ditch the unusual "passport" proportions of the Key2, although the display is still devoid of a "normal" aspect ratio thanks to the need to split the front panel for its extra function.

Concept Creator has provided these renders in image and video formats, and has published them via LetsGoDigital. However, it may still be some time before the partners get to see how accurate the projections are.

The BlackBerry Key2 is available on Amazon