(ThyBlackMan.com) Be it the BlackBerry Priv, KEYone or their predecessors, a physical keyboard is the first thing that comes in mind when you hear “BlackBerry.” Many people find them useful as the presence of a physical keyboard is supposedly better to write emails, typing documents or simply collaborating via text. The phones are secure enough that even governments and big corporates don’t mind trusting them. The battery life of BlackBerry phones is something users can rely on, at least for a day.
Launched in 2015, the BlackBerry Priv brings a significant change in the life of a sinking company. The phone relies on Google’s Android, and also features Google Play Store instead of presenting its own 
application jungle. For its camera, BlackBerry has given the phone more competitive specs, as the main camera which is an 18MP giant, is capable of recording 4K videos and sports a Schneider-Kreuznach lens.
Soon after the launch of BlackBerry Priv, many industry analysts expected that BlackBerry will no longer bring any phones in future. The company in fact surprised everyone by openly announcing that it has given up and it will no longer manufacture phones. The decision was a part of the result of BlackBerry’s second quarter financial earnings. The company admitted that it won’t be capable of competing against rivals from Apple and Samsung. The company finally turned itself into a software and services-only company by scrapping the hardware unit.
The decision was bold, loud and very clear. Priv was still successful in some markets but its reception was also a strong signal BlackBerry ignored. Now when the BlackBerry KEYone is coming from TCL Corporation, the company that got BlackBerry’s branding rights, the point is that it is also not learning from the mistakes BlackBerry made.
One of the biggest mistakes is bringing a phone with a physical keyboard. The point here is that who really wants physical keyboard these days? Of course, BlackBerry used this feature very well in the early days, but the problem today is that mobile phone users are focused more on virtual and augmented reality. Even for texting, we are using emojis more than ever, the necessity of typing from a physical keyboard is going down day-by-day. Both the BlackBerry Priv and KEYone offer a physical keyboard, but the problem is – for how long can you ask people to rely on physical QWERTY keyboard, and as a brand, for how long can you use it as the biggest factor to pull attention of masses?
Its name alone suggests that the KEYone is a keyboard focused device. The problem with the phone is that its keyboard ruins everything. On the other hand, Priv was still successful and good-looking because you don’t have to show your keyboard all the time. The BlackBerry Priv has a slider and it so the keyboard remains hidden. The design is really eye catching and doesn’t spoil the overall look of the phone.
Becoming a keyboard phone is what making BlackBerry suffer. The recent sales report suggest that the company didn’t get the expected sales, but still the revenue is just ok. BlackBerry’s latest device needed to be a work phone because this is the reason why people started choosing BlackBerry over its rivals from Apple and Samsung. The company has built strong applications and its phones are undoubtedly a productivity boosters. The security features are reliable and can be considered as the best in class. Integration of widgets to give phones a clean interface and makes information grabbing a lot easier. But instead of innovating on the other things, the brand still remains where it was years ago.
Now owning a KEYone is more like buying cassettes and floppy disks in 2017. They look great, bring back the memories from past, but are no more useful enough, and they cannot become an inseparable part of our life. At least not today when the current generation phones are adopting huge changes and the small brands like OnePlus, Huawei and several others are bringing high end devices in a highly competitive price range.
Staff Writer; Corey Shaw
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