Earlier today at IFA in Berlin TCL announced the BlackBerry KEYone Black Edition, and it’s coming to Australia. The Black Edition is being billed as the second BlackBerry device from TCL since they took over the brand earlier this year.
The new KEYone features the same design as the original model however, as indicated by it’s name, it features an all black design with the aluminium frame being finished in a matte black finish to complement the black rubber. The change is a little more than just the colour; the Black Edition also features 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage compared to 3GB and 32GB on the original.
The full specs for the KEYone Black Edition are:
| Key Specifications: | BlackBerry KEYone Black Edition |
|---|---|
| Release date | September 2017 |
| Screen size | 4.5-inch |
| Screen technology | IPS LCD |
| Resolution | 1,680 x 1,080 |
| PPI | 434 |
| Rear camera | 12MP |
| Front camera | 8MP |
| Chipset | Snapdragon 625 |
| Core config | 4 x 1.5 GHz + 4 x 1.2 GHz |
| RAM | 4GB |
| Storage | 64GB |
| MicroSD | Yes, up to 2TB |
| Battery | 3,505 mAh |
| Battery removable | — |
| Connector | USB C |
| Headphone Port | Yes |
| Headphone Location | Top |
| Speaker Configuration | Bottom |
| NFC | Yes |
| Android OS | — |
| Vendor skin | BlackBerry |
| Dimensions | 149.09 x 72.39 x 9.39 mm |
| Colours | Black |
The BlackBerry KEYone Black Edition will sell for $899 AUD when it comes to Australia around November this year. When we reviewed the KEYone earlier in the year we found it to be a great Android Device with some unique characteristics. The all black device looks stunning and makes an already distinct phone even more desirable in my books — I’m a sucker for a nice black phone.
TCL are committed to continuing to release devices under the BlackBerry brand and the Black Edition is the next in that line up. Personally I’m hoping to see what TCL and BlackBerry can do with a full screen Android device. TCL have said that we will also see another BlackBerry device before the end of the year.
We’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for the KEYone Black Edition and will let you know more about where you can get it closer to its Australian release.
As a former Blackberry user at several previous employers and my current employer, I’d love to use one of these for work. Unfortunately, Blackberry’s failings to progress soon enough meant my current employer has switched to iPhones and I cannot see them changing to anything else in the foreseeable future.
I also have a second full screen phone for personal use, so that eliminates the one downside of this device.
Looking forward to it, it looks cool