[Dan Millen]

So, I got my Keyone on Sunday and been hitting it pretty hard all week. BBMobile has a lot of tuning up software wise and I hope they do it.
I'm sticking with mine but holding onto my google pixel just in case the frustrations mount!

PROS

* Awesome keyboard of course - still getting used to typing on it but it's so much more accurate than touch screen phones. I do wish they put a raised dot on the J key like there's on on the D key.
* Love the swipe up on words. Easy to add favorite slang words / deliberate mispellings into the built in dictionary. BB Keyboard is starting to get good at guessing my next words too.
* Scrolling with keyboard is damned cool. Makes one handed use very easy and I have relatively smaller hands. You get used to the top 2 lines being the capacative, and I've quickly figured out the sensitivity. It's much more sensitive than you'd think. I wish I could adjust that.
* Speaker super loud - way louder than my Pixel and just as loud as Iphone. I've experienced no audio breakup at max volume and I stream Sirius, Spotify and Tune-in radio.
* Bluetooth works great in the car and on my LG Android Watch
* Charges fast even without boost - Full charge in an hour. I generally charge mine in the car. Blown away how quickly it charges in regular charge mode.
* Battery life is not as good as advertised but still gets me about 20 hours and I'm not nervous about not charging before bedtime anymore like I was with my Pixel. I do stream a lot of music apps as mentioned above though. Minus that I'm sure I could get two days easy.

CONS - And there are many!
* Listening over bluetooth with voice responses is wonky. Sometimes works well, sometimes not. Makes it tough to respond to texts in the car.
* Keyboard scroll doesn't work with all apps! This is frustrating as hell! Doesn't work with Newton Mail or Google Inbox, but does work with news readers, web browser and gmail app.
* Little bit slow and laggy and sometimes freezes up entirely, but not a deal-breaker - I disabled all animations and disabled hub and that sped it up significantly - I can still break it especially when streaming Sirius.
* Spacebar doesn't always wake up the screen - again really frustrating, when it works it works fast, when it doesn't it's a PITA to enter the password especially in the car.
* Screen can sometimes be unresponsive to touch - I find myself having to push the virtual buttons over and over to either switch apps or hit buttons within apps.
* Picking up calls is hard. Especially when screen is unresponsive. Would prefer an on screen button rather than a swipe. Also the reply with text message doesn't seem to work on the home screen, only when it's a notification banner when you are using the phone.
* Sometimes locks up or slows down to the point of needing a restarting or killing all open apps - reboots solve this for awhile but it comes back.
* Heats up in summer sun causing massive slowdown.
* The actual call quality is sketchy. Many people complaining that I sound like Max Headroom at the bottom of the ocean. This seems to disappear for a day or two then come back. I'm on T-Mobile. A/B'ed it with my iphone that's also on T-Mobile and the iphone had no complaints. Seems like it doesn't like ATT much when I call ATT users.
* Wifi disconnects randomly and sometimes won't reconnect without a reboot. This could be a nougat thing as I've had the same problems with the Pixel XL.
* Reboots - I'm having to reboot it several times a day due to the wifi issues, locking up, and call quality. Seems to solve the problems for a couple hours and then they rear their ugly heads again.

There's so much great stuff about this phone so I can't decide whether to be frustrated or excited. I'd say I'm somewhere in the middle. As said above, I hit it pretty hard, probably harder than the average user.

I hope they can fix these issues in software updates.

And speaking of software updates the security patch is still April's - BBMobile trying to sell themselves on updating security patches and then not getting it done...

I'll keep it for awhile - I love it in theory, epecially if BBMobile can start fixing these deficiencies.

That's it for now.

[bhoqeem]

After reading this, it makes me think that for anything with physical keyboard, BB toolbelt is a must. I would certainly miss it if I have the K1, having been so used with the Classic and 9900.

Great review, nonetheless. Much appreciated!

[conite]

It seems like most of the issues are software related. Hopefully an update or two will take care of them.

[Dan Millen]

Agreed on the software related. I hope BBMobile is reading these!

[TymelRory]

Your feedback on the k1 is great. I'm not doubting you are experiencing what you've listen under "cons" since I've seen others bring up what you've mentioned. However, I've been using my k1 heavily for a week now. I don't have a home computer, so everything, and I mean EVERYTHING I do is from my k1, including my time at work since I'm in and out of the office a lot.

My question or concern is why is that? How can we have identical phones and then experience a world of a difference? My phone has not restarted, lagged, froze, hiccuped once, or over heated. I'm still new to Android (coming from iOS). But is this an android thing? I am really rooting for BlackBerry with this phone, and it bothersome to see that people are experiencing these problems.

[progguy]

It seems like most of the issues are software related. Hopefully an update or two will take care of them.

I dont think So, its exactly the same problems than the Priv. This review convince me to stop buying BlackBerry phones on Android.

[conite]

I dont think So, its exactly the same problems than the Priv. This review convince me to stop buying BlackBerry phones on Android.

DTEKs are rock solid. 808 SoC was a mess.

[slagman5]

I don't know, I've never had an issue with the touchscreen being unresponsive. I use double tap to wake and sleep since I don't want to use the fingerprint sensor and it has worked 100% of the time so far. I've made plenty of calls with it and my wife says I sound fine and she sounds fine as well, no drop in call quality from what I've been used to on BB... I've had tons of apps open in the bg before and never had it to where it's noticeably slow or laggy. I'm not going to say "it has no lag" because that's untrue for ANY phone...

[slagman5]

Your feedback on the k1 is great. I'm not doubting you are experiencing what you've listen under "cons" since I've seen others bring up what you've mentioned. However, I've been using my k1 heavily for a week now. I don't have a home computer, so everything, and I mean EVERYTHING I do is from my k1, including my time at work since I'm in and out of the office a lot.

My question or concern is why is that? How can we have identical phones and then experience a world of a difference? My phone has not restarted, lagged, froze, hiccuped once, or over heated. I'm still new to Android (coming from iOS). But is this an android thing? I am really rooting for BlackBerry with this phone, and it bothersome to see that people are experiencing these problems.

Exactly, I can second your experience...

[yashin74]

These things happen to all phones. I am a longtime android user and now I have a iPhone 7+ and that too suffers screen freeze surprisingly often, I found it way laggier than my old android

[mikeydodds]

You missed qwerty navigation and programmable shortcuts as pros.

The main reason I still use qwerty BlackBerry's and can't stand all touches.

I don't have the problems you have for some reason.

[Cong Tuan Nguyen]

Do you have the latest software update? I believe there's a small update that fix most of the lagging issues that you mentioned.

I believe the battery life you're experiencing is also related to the messy software you have

[DJBS4LIFE]

Do you have the latest software update? I believe there's a small update that fix most of the lagging issues that you mentioned.

I believe the battery life you're experiencing is also related to the messy software you have

That's a lot of cons and sucks you are experiencing those. I haven't had any issue for a week now with my KEYone...

[stlabrat]

many of those issues appear to be software hardware integration issues. Google (pixel) control both but still has problem (according to your post), not mention BB (no control or limited control on software)... As for App issues, what I can say? it just reinforced OPEN source is really bad...(wish BB got full control of both hardware and software like before... App issue and re-boot might be minimized... Look like Google still not perfect their integration scheme...a lot to learn from Apple ... (since BB is no longer in the game).

[Carlito27]

what apps do you have? custom launcher?

[qwerty4ever]

Do let allow other people to influence your perception of the BlackBerry KEYone. There are plenty of shills and trolls in the CrackBerry forums of late. The same situation every launch.

I have been using my BlackBerry KEYone since May 31st with only a minor annoyance. The screen does not alway wake-up after a double tap. It is likely my fingers not the smartphone hardware or software.

Try a BlackBerry KEYone for yourself at a retail or carrier store. You will probably leave with one in hand. Enjoy!

[Alain_A]

Try a BlackBerry KEYone for yourself at a retail or carrier store. You will probably leave with one in hand. Enjoy!

If it is available...Lol

[kbfynn]

Also have not had any issues with mine. Only have it for a week now.

[europolska00]

So, I got my Keyone on Sunday and been hitting it pretty hard all week. BBMobile has a lot of tuning up software wise and I hope they do it.
I'm sticking with mine but holding onto my google pixel just in case the frustrations mount!

PROS

* Awesome keyboard of course - still getting used to typing on it but it's so much more accurate than touch screen phones. I do wish they put a raised dot on the J key like there's on on the D key.
* Love the swipe up on words. Easy to add favorite slang words / deliberate mispellings into the built in dictionary. BB Keyboard is starting to get good at guessing my next words too.
* Scrolling with keyboard is damned cool. Makes one handed use very easy and I have relatively smaller hands. You get used to the top 2 lines being the capacative, and I've quickly figured out the sensitivity. It's much more sensitive than you'd think. I wish I could adjust that.
* Speaker super loud - way louder than my Pixel and just as loud as Iphone. I've experienced no audio breakup at max volume and I stream Sirius, Spotify and Tune-in radio.
* Bluetooth works great in the car and on my LG Android Watch
* Charges fast even without boost - Full charge in an hour. I generally charge mine in the car. Blown away how quickly it charges in regular charge mode.
* Battery life is not as good as advertised but still gets me about 20 hours and I'm not nervous about not charging before bedtime anymore like I was with my Pixel. I do stream a lot of music apps as mentioned above though. Minus that I'm sure I could get two days easy.

CONS - And there are many!
* Listening over bluetooth with voice responses is wonky. Sometimes works well, sometimes not. Makes it tough to respond to texts in the car.
* Keyboard scroll doesn't work with all apps! This is frustrating as hell! Doesn't work with Newton Mail or Google Inbox, but does work with news readers, web browser and gmail app.
* Little bit slow and laggy and sometimes freezes up entirely, but not a deal-breaker - I disabled all animations and disabled hub and that sped it up significantly - I can still break it especially when streaming Sirius.
* Spacebar doesn't always wake up the screen - again really frustrating, when it works it works fast, when it doesn't it's a PITA to enter the password especially in the car.
* Screen can sometimes be unresponsive to touch - I find myself having to push the virtual buttons over and over to either switch apps or hit buttons within apps.
* Picking up calls is hard. Especially when screen is unresponsive. Would prefer an on screen button rather than a swipe. Also the reply with text message doesn't seem to work on the home screen, only when it's a notification banner when you are using the phone.
* Sometimes locks up or slows down to the point of needing a restarting or killing all open apps - reboots solve this for awhile but it comes back.
* Heats up in summer sun causing massive slowdown.
* The actual call quality is sketchy. Many people complaining that I sound like Max Headroom at the bottom of the ocean. This seems to disappear for a day or two then come back. I'm on T-Mobile. A/B'ed it with my iphone that's also on T-Mobile and the iphone had no complaints. Seems like it doesn't like ATT much when I call ATT users.
* Wifi disconnects randomly and sometimes won't reconnect without a reboot. This could be a nougat thing as I've had the same problems with the Pixel XL.
* Reboots - I'm having to reboot it several times a day due to the wifi issues, locking up, and call quality. Seems to solve the problems for a couple hours and then they rear their ugly heads again.

There's so much great stuff about this phone so I can't decide whether to be frustrated or excited. I'd say I'm somewhere in the middle. As said above, I hit it pretty hard, probably harder than the average user.

I hope they can fix these issues in software updates.

And speaking of software updates the security patch is still April's - BBMobile trying to sell themselves on updating security patches and then not getting it done...

I'll keep it for awhile - I love it in theory, epecially if BBMobile can start fixing these deficiencies.

That's it for now.

I have a completely different experience with the speaker. It starts to breakup at about 75% volume. And quite. Quite than an iPhone 7 by a big margine. I'd say the I phone is 50% louder.

This is a number because I'm also a big SiriusXm and Spotify user.

[khlover520]

Most software related issues can be solved by switching to Nova launcher. Ever since I switched to Nova launcher, KEYone has BLAZING fast. Seriously, I have my Hub and Productivity Tab running fully loaded, and no lag whatsoever. With the BlackBerry launcher, running Hub and Productivity Tab caused annoying lags which I just couldn't handle. Nova launcher is a must, although you do lose keyboard shortcut option as well as widget preview, but with Nova launcher you can customize gestures to launch any app you want.

[world traveler and former ceo]

Exactly, I can second your experience...

This.

Posted via CB10

[anon(9742832)]

It seems like most of the issues are software related. Hopefully an update or two will take care of them.

No chance, they are out buying boxes of rubber bands.....lol

[Dan Millen]

Says Android 7.1.1 with security patch level as April 5, 2017. I check the update app daily and it says I'm fully updated.

I use the following apps frequently:
Newton for mail (give you the read receipt)
Google calendar - disabled the hub calendar and all it's various apps as I'm not on a corporate server
Mightytext - forwards texts to my computer and lets me text and reply from computer
Facebook and FB Messenger
Twitter
Instagram
Pocketcasts - set to only update via wifi
Feedme newsreader - set to only update manually
Dropbox
Google Drive
Google Keep
Google Fit
Google Inbox
Google now (convenience key launches it)
Evernote with widget on a dedicated screen
Spotify
Tunein radio
SiriusXM
Android wear always running in the background for LG Urbane watch
Amazon kindle
Chrome for browsing.
Jet Audio for music playing

I neglected to mention, I do have 4600 contacts and growing so I'm sure that's a memory hog.

Since I disabled animations it's sped up significantly though it does overheat in the sun and slows it down.

I guess everyone's experience is different, and as said previously - I hit it really hard. But I'm still loving it.

[Dan Millen]

RE: Nova launcher

Don't you lose the ability to use the keyboard to launch shortcuts and apps? I'm loving that feature tremendously and willing to put up with whatever lags I get with BB Launcher.

[Alain_A]

Look at keyboard browser from Alain Granger