BlackBerry KEYone upgraded with extra black, RAM, and storage

Just six or so months after unveiling the KEYone, BlackBerry is refreshing its return to the smartphone world with a murdered out colour scheme and some extra grunt under the hood. 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.

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.

The KEYone Black Edition is set to go sale locally in November retailing for $899. $899 happens to the be current asking price for the regular KEYone, which could suggest an imminent cut. Unless you desperately need your BlackBerry fix (in which case we're assuming you've already bought five KEYones), it's probably worth waiting until November to either get the beefier Black Edition or potentially save on the standard model.

You can check out review of the BlackBerry KEYone here.

If you're after a BlackBerry smartphone without a physical keyboard, the company is set to unveil a touchscreen only Android device shortly. We don't know much about the phone yet, but BlackBerry has confirmed that it will go on sale in October, and will feature IP67 water-resistance and a battery that offers 26 hours of mixed use.

Alex Choros

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Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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