1. Max of the North's Avatar
    Am a Canadian BB supporter but am worried that BB's retail phone business is dead-in-the-water with the recent announcement of the cancellation of its agreement with its 3rd-party manufacturer. In addition, many BB services have been winding down, e.g BB World, BBM, etc.

    I am inclined to buy a BB Key2 to replace my "aging" BB Passport, but am a little nervous that I will be buying a phone with limited support.

    Looking forward to hearing people's thoughts on this.
    WArcher and leopardgirl like this.
    03-06-20 03:05 PM
  2. the_boon's Avatar
    Am a Canadian BB supporter but am worried that BB's retail phone business is dead-in-the-water with the recent announcement of the cancellation of its agreement with its 3rd-party manufacturer. In addition, many BB services have been winding down, e.g BB World, BBM, etc.

    I am inclined to buy a BB Key2 to replace my "aging" BB Passport, but am a little nervous that I will be buying a phone with limited support.

    Looking forward to hearing people's thoughts on this.
    If you managed to keep using the Passport until now, then the KEY2 should serve you for a few years to come.

    You'd be going from the Android 4.3 runtime on a SD801 processor with 3GB RAM to Android 8.1 on a SD660 processor with 6GB RAM

    Big difference!
    03-06-20 04:47 PM
  3. Grungni's Avatar
    Am a Canadian BB supporter but am worried that BB's retail phone business is dead-in-the-water with the recent announcement of the cancellation of its agreement with its 3rd-party manufacturer. In addition, many BB services have been winding down, e.g BB World, BBM, etc.

    I am inclined to buy a BB Key2 to replace my "aging" BB Passport, but am a little nervous that I will be buying a phone with limited support.

    Looking forward to hearing people's thoughts on this.
    You'll be paying top dollar for a phone with no support...

    If you can do without a pkb you'd be better placed buying a phone running Android 10 like a Google Pixel...

    Interesting article from the BBC regarding support for Android based phones:-

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51751950
    tfitzpat03 likes this.
    03-06-20 05:02 PM
  4. o4liberty's Avatar
    If you like BlackBerry then go for it I myself have always kept a blackberry as my second device I truly hope that the handset Bussiness is brought back at blackberry with updated specs.
    WArcher likes this.
    03-06-20 06:09 PM
  5. SteinwayTransitCorp's Avatar
    Am a Canadian BB supporter but am worried that BB's retail phone business is dead-in-the-water with the recent announcement of the cancellation of its agreement with its 3rd-party manufacturer. In addition, many BB services have been winding down, e.g BB World, BBM, etc.

    I am inclined to buy a BB Key2 to replace my "aging" BB Passport, but am a little nervous that I will be buying a phone with limited support.

    Looking forward to hearing people's thoughts on this.
    IT would be fine as a user of a Passport and Priv with my Key2 tossed in with a taste of Titan.
    03-07-20 10:29 AM
  6. Winnertrack's Avatar
    I just bought a Key2 dual Sim and I am fine with it. So, yes it is worth to buy a Key2.
    03-07-20 11:07 AM
  7. Winnertrack's Avatar
    I got it with a contract and did not pay anything for the device but the contract is charged with 20€ per month, so 480€ in sum.
    I am living in Germany.
    03-07-20 03:17 PM
  8. Chuck Finley69's Avatar
    What price range did you pay?

    I just looked at a new KeyOne, from ATT, $349.99, outright. Rather tempting. But, then I keep thinking I should just go with the Key2.

    I did say, after the Priv, and its rapid decline, I would not spend over $500 on a BlackBerry device. Hence, the hesitation for a Key 2.
    The AT&T KEYone is a 3/32 carrier locked model. The BE KEYone is a 4/64 factory unlocked model. I don’t believe $349 is a good price for either model. You’re simply looking at wrong phone at the wrong time...
    03-07-20 06:33 PM
  9. Troy Tiscareno's Avatar
    Am a Canadian BB supporter but am worried that BB's retail phone business is dead-in-the-water with the recent announcement of the cancellation of its agreement with its 3rd-party manufacturer. In addition, many BB services have been winding down, e.g BB World, BBM, etc.

    I am inclined to buy a BB Key2 to replace my "aging" BB Passport, but am a little nervous that I will be buying a phone with limited support.

    Looking forward to hearing people's thoughts on this.
    They Key series aren't Canadian - BB's Canadian-based smartphone business ended in 2016. The Key phones are made by TCL of China under a brand licensing agreement with BB - and TCL is behind in paying BB.

    The K2 is coming up on 2 years old, but security patches have already ended (for ALL BB-branded devices) and there will be no further BB-branded smartphones, so, really, the decision is: is a PKB phone super important to you - because the K2 is likely to be the last high-quality PKB phone from a major company - or can you live with an all-touch phone. If a PKB is important to you, can you live without security patches? Given that you're still using a Passport, which hasn't been updated in years, it seems that you can, but if you can't, then you need to move on to another brand.
    John Albert likes this.
    03-08-20 02:52 PM
  10. bh7171's Avatar
    BlackBerry Black Edition KeyOne with 4/64, BlackBerry K2 LE with 4/64 or a BlackBerry K2 with 6/64 or 6/128 operate and work very well as of today and will for years to come. Keep your applications updated and you will be PERFECTLY fine. There are over a billion Android users using devices on Android 6 or lower. In fact most Android tablets are on KitKat 4.4 and do things people use their tablets for 7 years later just fine. (I have a Samsung Tab Pro 10 that streams Netflix and Amazon Prime material beautifully). All the Key devices listed are on Oreo 8.1. a very stable Android OS. (My Samsung S9 just updated to Android 10 and outside of "Google" navigation swiping and Samsung UI 2.0 changes I see zero difference as a user. (Samsung already had dark mode and much of the Android 10 stuff in their 9.0 and One UI 1.0) I use my BlackBerry Black KeyOne with zero issues.
    the_boon and Gtrxuone like this.
    03-08-20 04:03 PM
  11. Max of the North's Avatar
    I appreciate all the replies. Let's assume that I make the plunge (which I'm not convinced I will do) . . . should I pay about $875 Canadian for the Key2 or go with the lesser Key2 LE for +$500. Which has better value?
    03-09-20 12:39 AM
  12. Chuck Finley69's Avatar
    I appreciate all the replies. Let's assume that I make the plunge (which I'm not convinced I will do) . . . should I pay about $875 Canadian for the Key2 or go with the lesser Key2 LE for +$500. Which has better value?
    Since both devices are no longer getting security updates and seem to be extremely marked up by third parties with possible warranty issues, NEITHER?!?
    John Albert, pgg101 and tfitzpat03 like this.
    03-09-20 07:45 AM
  13. the_boon's Avatar
    Since both devices are no longer getting security updates and seem to be extremely marked up by third parties with possible warranty issues, NEITHER?!?
    Security updates aside, he was talking about the hardware itself.

    Is the LE at $500 better than the KEY2 at $825 ?

    Well it depends if he values the extra specs of the KEY2 and the bigger, capacitive keyboard.

    If not, then obviously he should get an LE.

    There are other things aside from security updates when considering a device...like having a device that's actually enjoyable to use lol
    In the slab world, everything looks just as boring and the same as the next thing, so then sure might as well stay on updated hardware.

    That said, the above mentioned prices aren't great.
    Gtrxuone likes this.
    03-09-20 09:17 AM
  14. Max of the North's Avatar
    Again, thanks for the responses. The two dogs in my head have been actively fighting while reading comments here and on other threads - particularly those threads outlining the seeming demise of Blackberry mobility. The dogs are still fighting . . .
    03-10-20 08:39 PM
  15. Critical Observer's Avatar
    Have had mine in use for 5 days now and must say I'm really happy I got one before it's too late. It's a wicked nice unit, can't fault it for anything (except android) so far.
    03-11-20 11:04 AM
  16. japsuki's Avatar
    I've a Key2 and for me, the only reason I still use a BlackBerry is the physical keyboard. Switching to Android from the BB OS took a bit of getting used to, but it was manageable for me. I tried the touchscreen for a few months, though, with the release of DTEK then, but I'm just a physical keyboard kinda guy.
    I'm gonna milk this phone until it's unuseable, and hopefully by then, a decent phone with a physical keyboard (not that Titan? one though) would make its way to the market.
    03-12-20 07:35 AM
  17. bb10adopter111's Avatar
    The AT&T KEYone Is patched through November 2019.

    If you choose to use a phone that is no longer receiving security updates, you should accept all responsibility for security on your device. That means paying attention to known vulnerabilities and being extra careful of the apps you install and use.

    I am committed to using my AT&T KEYone for as long as possible. So far. I have seen no published vulnerabilities I cannot easily mitigate myself with simple best practices.

    Z10 = BB10 + VKB > iOS + Android
    03-12-20 07:44 AM
  18. the_boon's Avatar
    I've a Key2 and for me, the only reason I still use a BlackBerry is the physical keyboard. Switching to Android from the BB OS took a bit of getting used to, but it was manageable for me. I tried the touchscreen for a few months, though, with the release of DTEK then, but I'm just a physical keyboard kinda guy.
    I'm gonna milk this phone until it's unuseable, and hopefully by then, a decent phone with a physical keyboard (not that Titan? one though) would make its way to the market.
    I just got another KEY2 after having been on an LE for a while, and I can definitely notice the difference in performance between the two.

    The KEY2 is definitely more future proof.

    That said, even a KEYone Black Edition can be serviceable these days if you don't need to do intensive tasks.

    Who knows when a half decent keyboard device will come in the future, might want to stock up on a few KEY2's and LE's till then.
    03-12-20 08:01 AM
  19. Dunt Dunt Dunt's Avatar
    Again, thanks for the responses. The two dogs in my head have been actively fighting while reading comments here and on other threads - particularly those threads outlining the seeming demise of Blackberry mobility. The dogs are still fighting . . .
    Seeming demise?

    Sorry but BBMo (TCL) is done - they have laid that out. Even if BlackBerry found another "partner" (long shot) they won't be updating or patching TCL's phones. KEY2 is what it is.

    Personally I wouldn't buy an overpriced two year old phone that was midgrade back at lauch, and that is running a two (soon to be three) year old version of Android and won't see any more security patches. But then I'm not a huge PKB fan either.


    Three years ago, most everyone here taught people were crazy using Android without patches.... BlackBerry Android was the only way to go. Now that they have no choice they have lowered their view of patches... can get buy without them if you are careful.

    Kinda like you could take a cruise right now if you were careful... odds are you are right, but then why risk it.
    03-13-20 07:46 AM
  20. Domas Skorupskas's Avatar
    Well, I agree with most here saying that if PKB is essential for you, go for it. It seems that it is the best high quality option.

    I did not like the price either. Thus went with second hand unit.
    03-13-20 09:38 AM
  21. bb10adopter111's Avatar
    Seeming demise?

    Sorry but BBMo (TCL) is done - they have laid that out. Even if BlackBerry found another "partner" (long shot) they won't be updating or patching TCL's phones. KEY2 is what it is.

    Personally I wouldn't buy an overpriced two year old phone that was midgrade back at lauch, and that is running a two (soon to be three) year old version of Android and won't see any more security patches. But then I'm not a huge PKB fan either.


    Three years ago, most everyone here taught people were crazy using Android without patches.... BlackBerry Android was the only way to go. Now that they have no choice they have lowered their view of patches... can get buy without them if you are careful.

    Kinda like you could take a cruise right now if you were careful... odds are you are right, but then why risk it.
    Your math is way off. The likelihood of a well managed Android phone with two year old OS patches but recently patched apps being compromised through an OS vulnerability is thousands of times lower than the likelihood of being exposed to the novel Corona virus in the hospitality industry.

    Z10 = BB10 + VKB > iOS + Android
    03-13-20 10:43 AM
  22. SeeBeeEss's Avatar
    For the most part, buying a Key2 is putting off the inevitable - you can learn to use and like a VKB device now (with OS updates, security patches, etc.) or you can learn to use and like a VKB device in a year or two. Ask yourself how much is it worth to you to put off the inevitable for a while. You obviously did it with your Passport, so maybe the cost/benefit would work for you more so than for another individual. I personally wouldn't buy one now at the prices they are going for with limited to zero support, but I did a year ago when it had already been clear for some time that the future of PKB phones was tenuous at best. I was also one of those diehards that hung on to my Passport for a long time after the BB OS was history.

    There will probably never be a viable market again for a quality PKB device (the Titan ain't it) as the numbers of us dinosaurs who prefer it are just too small in today's world - although, hey, the vinyl records that I and others believed were finished many years ago came back, so anything is possible.
    Last edited by SeeBeeEss; 03-13-20 at 12:11 PM.
    03-13-20 11:20 AM
  23. the_boon's Avatar
    For the most part, buying a Key2 is putting off the enevitable - you can learn to use and like a VKB device now (with OS updates, security patches, etc.) or you can learn to use and like a VKB device in a year or two. Ask yourself how much is it worth to you to put off the enevitable for a while. You obviously did it with your Passport, so maybe the cost/benefit would work for you more so than for another individual. I personally wouldn't buy one now at the prices they are going for with limited to zero support, but I did a year ago when it had already been clear for some time that the future of PKB phones was tenuous at best. I was also one of those diehards that hung on to my Passport for a long time after the BB OS was history.

    There will probably never be a viable market again for a quality PKB devise (the Titan ain't it) as the numbers of us dinosaurs who prefer it are just too small in today's world - although, hey, the vinyl records that I and others believed were finished many years ago came back, so anything is possible.
    I still hold hope for a PKB device/attachment some time in the future.

    To me, it's not "inevitable" that we PKB holdouts will be obligated to resort to glass at some point.
    03-13-20 11:34 AM
  24. SeeBeeEss's Avatar
    I still hold hope for a PKB device/attachment some time in the future.

    To me, it's not "inevitable" that we PKB holdouts will be obligated to resort to glass at some point.
    Yikes. Thanks for pointing out my Friday morning spelling mistake - and I hope that you are right and I am wrong about the "inevitability" of PKB devices becoming a part of history's dustbin.
    03-13-20 11:49 AM
  25. roba5263's Avatar
    So I have been using the same 64GB SD card since 2014...I have it backed up via desktop and google backup. Is it time for a new card? My very new Key2 doesn't seem to be getting the battery life that it should be. Can an old card cause a battery drain?
    03-13-20 11:59 AM
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