American journalist Mike Murphy a few weeks of testing BlackBerry Key2. We translated his review.
The year 2008 was quite different. It was a time when I tried everything new. Katy Perry kissed a girl and she liked it, the US elected its first African-American President, and many changed their “clamshell” on the first smartphones. In 2008, it is likely to have been BlackBerry.
Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, and then no one knew what would happen next. By the end of 2008, Apple sold about 10 million iPhone. It’s not much compared with between 45 and 75 million smartphones, which she now sells over the quarter. BlackBerry had 14 million users, which brought her in 2008 $ 6 billion. People dependent on their smartphones with e-mail support, which is affectionately called CrackBerries.
Research in Motion (RIM) — the company that produced the BlackBerry, was not stunned by the iPhone. The founder of RIM Mike Lazaridis revealed the iPhone to the Director General of the Jim Balsille. He was more concerned about how closely AT&T worked with Apple, something that the iPhone could mean for the business of the company. “All right — we’ll be all right,” said Balsillie.
For several years, the dominant smartphone manufacturer has lost all but 1% of the market. In 2016, RIM has ceased production of smartphones. Instead, she focused on software development and automotive services. In 2017 the company’s annual revenues amounted to about $ 1 billion.
But the world loves stories back. And now BlackBerry is back.
BlackBerry Key2: a new hope
Like Nokia, BlackBerry now uses the resources of another company (TCL) to create their phones. Unlike Nokia, which has restarted many old phones, new BlackBerry smartphones feel as meaningless as his own desperate attempt by BlackBerry to remain relevant as the market took iPhone.
In early June, at an event in new York was presented BlackBerry Key2. It is the successor to the first model of TCL, branded BlackBerry. Over the last few weeks I tested Key2, trying to figure out if there’s anything that could bring back BlackBerry’s glory, when everywhere will be heard the tiny click of the keyboard.
There seems to be no.
In fact, the first BlackBerry smartphone with a touch screen released in 2008. With the BlackBerry Storm, the company spent years trying to catch up with the iPhone. A decade later, Key2 continues the same struggle.
Key2 — is an Android smartphone with a small screen and a tiny 1.5-inch keyboard attached to the bottom. He offers nothing that there are other smartphones: it has a normal screen, its camera is bad, battery is average. Even firmware messenger BlackBerry Messenger nothing special offers. I wasn’t able to experience the messenger in 2018, because I have no friends who still use BlackBerry.
For many years people used a BlackBerry, because they thought that typing on a physical keyboard is much easier than to click on a piece of glass. Then Apple opened the App Store and began the boom of apps that changed our use of the Internet. Many have begun to buy iPhone or Android smartphones just because of the fact that they offered many applications and services.
With Key2 I can access to any app in the Google Play Store. When I was waiting for the end download applications, I was wondering why do need a physical keyboard. Ten years later, I really find it difficult to use it. The phone also has many other modern chips that have competitors: water-resistant, secure facial recognition or fast charging. This is a large angular smartphone that is bad in the hand and pocket. When you move, the corners slightly dig into the foot. Perhaps it’s the reminder of your bad life decisions that led to the purchase of a BlackBerry in 2018.
The only plus Key2 is the price $ 650. It is much cheaper than the iPhone X, S9 or Samsung Galaxy Note 8. But there are other, more powerful devices available at the same price — for example, Google Pixel 2 and 6 OnePlus.
In some kind of fantasy world where BlackBerry still dominates, but Apple has never decided to create your phone (and become the richest company in the US), its flagship smartphone in 2018 will likely be similar to Key2. This device is a mutant that nobody wants. But if there was no choice, we would love to use BlackBerry. Fortunately, today there are plenty of better phones.
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