BlackBerry's murdered out take on the KEYone is now available in Australia through JB Hi-Fi, retailing for $899. Dubbed the KEYone Black Edition, the ever-so-slightly upgraded smartphone touts an all-black paint job, and increases RAM and storage from 3GB and 32GB to 4GB and 64GB respectively.
$899 was also the asking price for the original KEYone - now retrospectively referred to as the KEYone Silver - when it launched back in July. BlackBerry says all local KEYone Silver stock is now sold out though, so there won't be any discounts on the original model.
The KEYone was BlackBerry's first new smartphone since TCL Communication acquired the rights to the BlackBerry name. Blending Android, a 4.5-inch touchscreen display, and a classic BlackBerry keyboard, the KEYone is essentially a much more modern take on the BlackBerries of old. While BlackBerry itself isn't manufacturing the smartphones, it still builds the software. The KEYone runs a customised version of Android with a number of enhanced security features.
Key specifications for the KEYone Black Edition include a 4.5-inch 1620x1080 display, a Snapdragon 625 processor, 64GB of expandable storage, 4GB of RAM, a 3,505mAh battery with quick-charging, a 12MP rear-facing camera, an 8MP selfie shooter, and an operating system based on Android Nougat 7.1.
You can check out review of the BlackBerry KEYone here.
If you're after a BlackBerry smartphone without a physical keyboard, the company recently unveiled the Motion - a touchscreen only handset. The Motion trades in a physical keyboard for a more traditional 5.5-inch touchscreen, IP67 water-resistance, and a 4,000mAh batter said to last up to 32 hours. Local pricing and availability for the Motion has yet to be confirmed, but we'd be surprised if it was any cheaper than $600 based on how much it costs overseas.
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Alex Choros
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