BlackBerry KEY2 with QWERTY keypad launched in India

After being announced for international markets last month, BlackBerry has taken the wraps off the KEY2 in India. Optiemus Infracom is manufacturing the BlackBerry KEY2 for Indian customers locally at its facility at Noida, thereby supporting the ‘Make-in-India’ initiative. Featuring Android 8.1 Oreo, BlackBerry claims that the KEY2 is a powerful smartphone built for people who demand a more private, more secure, and safer experience and along with enhanced productivity.

A key feature of the BlackBerry KEY2 is the incorporation of Speed Key, this is a shortcut that allows you to instantly access apps, contacts and functions that are most used from anywhere in the device. Apart from this, it is the first time BlackBerry has used a rear dual-camera setup with a smartphone.

The BlackBerry KEY2 is built with a Series 7 aluminium frame and features a textured diamond grip back panel that is intended for grip and comfort. The device comes with a 4.5-inch FHD display with a resolution of 1680 x 1080 and an aspect ratio of 3:2. The IPS display has a pixel density of 443ppi. The screen has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 that offers durability. The handset is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset with four Kryo 260 cores clocked at 2.2GHz and four clocked at 1.8GHz. It is paired with 6GB of RAM and comes with 64GB of onboard storage that can be expanded to 256GB by using a microSD card.

As far as the cameras go, the BlackBerry KEY2 comes loaded with two 12MP rear cameras with 2x optical zoom along with a Dual Tone LED flash. The rear cameras support phase detection autofocus (PDAF) and can capture 4K video recordings at 60fps. BlackBerry claims that the cameras can capture clear pictures in both high light and low light environments with improvement in auto white balance, faster autofocus and improved image stabilization. The brand has added an 8MP fixed focus front camera for capturing selfies. The front camera supports HD recording at 30fps. BlackBerry KEY2 also integrates Google Lens, so now you can more quickly search and get more information on things like book reviews by capturing a picture of the book’s cover, etc.

As far as the software is concerned, BlackBery has used Android 8.1 Oreo here along with its own launcher on top and it features BlackBerery Hub. This feature has the ability to manage multiple email accounts without switching between apps, with support for Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Exchange accounts and other email providers.

BlackBerry has added a 3500mAh battery here and it supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging technology.

BlackBerry KEY2 will be available at Amazon.in starting July 31 at a price of Rs 42,990. It comes with a Reliance Jio cashback offer of Rs. 4,450 and cash back offer of 5 per cent on EMI transactions using an ICICI credit or debit card. 

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