Finally a chance to go hands-on: the Hit or Miss Moment

I've been waiting for two months now to get my hands on a KEYone. Unfortunately no stock at my local BestBuy locations. Finally, here comes Sprint to the rescue.

OK, good news first: the KEYone really is at Sprint stores today. I just went down to my local store in Florence KY (Greater Cincinnati area) and put my hands on one.

Now, the better news: Oh my gosh, how good the hardware feels! Solid grip, sufficient heft, balanced enough to type on without feeling top-heavy. Great looking display, big enough to be useable even if not wide like my Passport. Excellent keyboard feel, no problems typing with thumbs using nail a bit more than skin like I do on my wife's Classic. Yes, the keys are a littler shorter and squarer than the Classic, but that poses no problem in hitting them correctly. Except for moving from BB10 to Android, I'd have no adjustment to make at all.

The bad news? There isn't any! I didn't need to play with Nougat at all. I can tell just from feel and input that this is a worthy BB successor. Now I understand CBK's enthusiasm. I'll admit I've been tempted by discounted Privs now that they're down to half the price of the KEYone. I just didn't think the KEYone would be so good to be worth double the price. OK, maybe not quite double, but so positive is my first impression today. I definitely have to figure the KEYone into my near-term future.

Do wonder how it would sell if all carriers had it in stock for people to try.... (not sure who buys in the store anymore though). And if they in fact had them available....

IMO, regardless of what we read about Amazon, a physical retail presence is needed. Speaking personally, I always want to see a display model wherever possible. Doing so led me to buy both a Passport and Classic through AT&T. I'm sure Apple and Samsung phones aren't just popular because that what folks read about and hear advertised but also what they see in person via friends and stores.

I have the privilege of living in a small town where there is a store with the phones physically in stock, although I haven't gone looking for a KeyONE because I'm on a 2 year contract for my PRIV.

I do agree that it's really good to have a physical retail presence. It's like test-driving a vehicle. You can read all the on-line banter that you want but until you get behind the wheel and poke that right pedal hard and hear the moan of that all-aluminum v8 rising ...

(Sorry, got off topic a bit there ...)

so here's my story... I finally was able to see the keyone at my local sprint store in Northridge California.. the phone was off though and would not turn on, when I turned it around the back cover was coming off , all the safety and anti theft plastics were pulling the cover off , I had a rep try to start and no luck , as we sre doing this , 4 young beautiful asian girls come and spot the device, it immediately grabs there attention! they were soooo impressed with the device and it wasn't even on .. so I started making small talk and I pulled out my beautiful PRIV and started to show them all the features! it never fails they were soooo flattered by my device and the touch capacitive keyboard. if ONLY it was available at all major carriers and if there were display and advertising then blackberry would for sure be smart phone king again. none of them even knew BlackBerry was still making such beautiful and productive smartphones

Originally Posted by dan99x99

so here's my story... I finally was able to see the keyone at my local sprint store in Northridge California.. the phone was off though and would not turn on, when I turned it around the back cover was coming off , all the safety and anti theft plastics were pulling the cover off , I had a rep try to start and no luck , as we sre doing this , 4 young beautiful asian girls come and spot the device, it immediately grabs there attention! they were soooo impressed with the device and it wasn't even on .. so I started making small talk and I pulled out my beautiful PRIV and started to show them all the features! it never fails they were soooo flattered by my device and the touch capacitive keyboard. if ONLY it was available at all major carriers and if there were display and advertising then blackberry would for sure be smart phone king again. none of them even knew BlackBerry was still making such beautiful and productive smartphones

So.. which is more beautiful? The girls or the keyone? Lol kidding

Posted via CB10

Originally Posted by Adi Marwan

So.. which is more beautiful? The girls or the keyone? Lol kidding

Posted via CB10

Hard to decide my friend lol

I have the Asian wife, now I need a larger keyboard for my fat thumbs :-)

Originally Posted by phuoc

I need a larger keyboard for my fat thumbs

Is that what she said?

Miss. Yesterday I went to my local Sprint store in Chicago's western burbs and found no KEYone there--not even a display model. Perhaps tellingly, I did see an alcaltel flip phone on display. At least the sales guy knew about the KEYone's existence, but couldn't say when the store would have product in stock.

Posted via CB10 from my 100-4 Passport SE

Originally Posted by Avenzuno

Miss. Yesterday I went to my local Sprint store in Chicago's western burbs and found no KEYone there--not even a display model. Perhaps tellingly, I did see an alcaltel flip phone on display. At least the sales guy knew about the KEYone's existence, but couldn't say when the store would have product in stock.

Posted via CB10 from my 100-4 Passport SE

https://www.meetup.com/CrackBerry-Ch...nts/241901222/

Come out! I'll be there with mine you can test drive.

No, that's no what...oh, nevermind :rolleyes:

Originally Posted by BigBadWulf

https://www.meetup.com/CrackBerry-Ch...nts/241901222/

Come out! I'll be there with mine you can test drive.

No, that's no what...oh, nevermind :rolleyes:

I saw you and the five devices at the first Chitown meetup. Unfortunately, I can't make the next one as I'm in Minnesota this week. Next time, Wulf!

Posted via CB10 from my 100-4 Passport SE