Product review: Blackberry Key2

Author: Iloka Benneth and Vicky Ong
Date: 1st October 2018

Introduction

Founded in 1984, Blackberry maintains operations in 27 countries with it is headquarter in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (Blackberry Inc., n.d). In the countries where it doesn’t have direct operations, its products are still available through importers that bring them into these markets. Over the years, the company has extensively invested in innovation with 23% of its revenue in 2017 pumped towards research and development programs and it owns over 37,500 patents across the world with over 18 major developed centers in 7 countries. Blackberry it’s guided by its vision of connecting the world, in which the people and their data are safe (Blackberry Inc., n.d).

Over the years, the company has introduce numerous mobile devices into the market and this research aims to critically review one of such products. The chosen product is Blackberry Key2. In this report, a review of the product will be presented, followed by highlighting of issues related to the product and recommendation for handling these issues. Finally, conclusive summary of findings is also offered in this report.

Product review: Blackberry Key2

The Blackberry Key2 is termed a phone designed for business oriented people. In 2018, having a phone with hardware keyboard is considered somewhat unimaginable but that is not the case for Blackberry products, as such the actual reason why the company exists. The company is once again betting that it trademark keyboard will be the major reason why it’s dwindling core of dedicated users will never leave their products for other smart phone products (Dolcourt, 2018).

In the Key2, there is a lingering of the nostalgia of previous Blackberry products. The Blackberry Key2 does not function on the fastest processor, have the best of camera, or having top notch features. Instead, the company choose to equip it with the latest security updates for Androids, a plethora of Blackberry apps that are all geared towards making (and ensuring that) the Key1 is secured to the highest standards, and a keyboard that doubles in the form of a track-pad. Putting a cure AR cartoon on your head will not be possible with the Key2 instead, what the company expects is that you bang out huge volume of emails (Dolcourt, 2018).

For the business users, another thing that they will find appeal is the price which is presently set at $649 for the unlocked model of 64GB with works with either AT&T or T-Mobile for American consumers. Basically, all the features that are found in the key are designed for business, but what remains clear is that the smartphones of nowadays are more than just business tools that are designed around emails and texts – instead, they need to be like computers designed for the pockets, and computers are used for numerous other things besides just work (Dolcourt, 2018).

Some of the features that are retained in the Key2 include the critical Blackberry traits that completes the overall beauty of the phone: the white fonts and black keys, an aluminum frame, the power button and volume rocker with a customizable convenience key below, and also a textured rubber back that comes complete with the Blackberry logo (Dolcourt, 2018).

The phone features a 52-key keyboard, which features the most common keys and it also has a spacebar that also function as the fingerprint reader (with good accuracy) as well as a camera shutter. In the Key2, there is also a new key that is labelled “sym” and it is called the speed key; which serves as a shortcut between apps when pressed alongside a letter (Chokkattu, 2018).

For software, majority of the Android 81. Oreo Core features are intact, and it also comes with some Blackberry twists to the features which include: a red asterisk that is obtainable in the original Blackberry OS and used for notification, an app launcher that comes with an optional dark node, and the famous Blackberry messenger (although only a few would see that as a must have integration in the present era of Whatsapp and other chat software available) (Chokkattu, 2018).

The phone also comes with a number of security-focused applications which include: DTEK, the overall central security gauge in the Key2 where the users can access permission for other apps and permission settings. This feature is very useful when the user is not sure about the overall security and privacy setting in their phones. If the user is feeling watched, the Key2 is capable of tackling visual hacking concerns with its privacy shade app. The user can actually set a custom view of the information that are visible on the screen, while putting the rest in a grayed-out setting that makes it nearly impossible to see information that the phone owners considered sensitive. Other applications that can be seen in the Blackberry suit include: the hub (here emails, slack, texts, and other messages are grouped), a permission locker, file explorer, FM radio, redactor, information locker, and search button. As this phone is for work, it can easily be said that the Key2 will not be its best use for amusement apps (Chokkattu, 2018).

Still on the plus side, the Key2 still retained the other features of Blackberry standby which is long battery life. For an Oreo device, it is actually quite impressive to see it with such a long batter life. There is an app that know when the Key2 is being charged, which also remind the users to charge the phone within a specific period of time. This app is more useful when the user travels a lot or does seem to miss heir charging occasional due to travelling within then zones that they cannot find charging resources (Chokkattu, 2018).

Cameras on Blackberry has never been remarkable and this feature was also part of the Key2. It does have all the modern specs and features one would expect in 2018 which include 12-megapizel camera at the back that is supported by Google lens image search, 4k video recording, and a portrait mode. The camera app can be controlled in full manually, thus it could be a bit more fun for the user to fiddle with the camera settings (Chokkattu, 2018).

Issues with the product

Although the features are generally iconic and signature of the Blackberry brands, there are a number of features that are not within the long standing requirement of 2018 designs, and such include the long, unbalanced design. For the venerated bold series of the phone, one could easily notice that the phones were practically ergonomic and easy to cup with the hands in order to start typing. However, this is no long the case with the Key2 and the need for the keyboard ton be used for a long-time does become a chore, simply because is hard for users to balance the phone while typing at the same time (Etienne, 2018).

Another feature of this product include a gesture support that is based on swiping design – but these gesture supports are normally inaccurate and it is difficult to say which key is recognize until the actual words appear on the screen – for scrolling, text selection, and clearing a field of text. These features does seem out of the everyday use of the phone and it has nothing to do with other features such as swiping in order to type on a virtual keyboard (Etienne, 2018).

Another vital question that users will likely ask is whether the phone actually feels like a Blackberry and unfortunately, the answer is No. it does not feel like a Blackberry. However, they keyboard for the Key2 is not all that bad as it is clicky and has raised keys with kind of a tactile response. In any case, becoming proficient in with this keyboard will definitely take some time when compared with the keyboard on the Bold series that were by far easier to pick up and type efficiently (Etienne, 2018).

From the phone, it can be seen that in order to make room for the keyboard, the display screen was made smaller. This meant that only a square of 3.2 inches is used as the screen and this is no fun in 2018 notwithstanding the fact that the contrasts are decent and the resolution is sharp. This is because the phone won’t be able to adopt well when it comes to full screen apps and it is limited when it comes to viewable content. This is because the cramp nature means that it won’t be too effective especially when it comes to feeds from Instagram, and it is also too limiting when it comes to playing reality games as well as awkward to watch YouTube videos with the keyboard being oriented in a landscape mode. Basically, none of these issues work having a keyboard in the long-run and it does clearly show how much of the product’s functionality that is stripped away (Etienne, 2018).

The central issue with the Key2 is that while the software inherent in the phone are built to address modern-day privacy issues, in general, it dos feel outdated when compared with other Android and Mac Smartphones available. It could be argued that it is almost like an old Blackberry as it is either the software features available are useful to the user or they could be just getting in the way of the user.

Recommendations

Overall, the issues with the phone are centered on the design, one that does not depict what is considered a modern day standards. Most people are not likely to be impressed with having to carry a keyboard phone on their pockets as it eliminates the convenience and ease of use that other screen-touch android phones have. For the users, they are also seeking to be entertained while working because “all work and no play does make jack a dull boy”. However, the central focus on the Key2 is not on work and it could eventually be considered either boring or incomplete by the users. Although it is understandable to say that the company knew all these and still ignored it in order to differentiate their products, such differentiation doesn’t not guarantee sustainable sales and performance because it does not incorporate the necessary features that users want in modern day Android phones.

Therefore, the recommendation is that the company should look to remodel the phone. The remodeling should be user-centric, designed in line with what the users want in order to ensure that it can be able to create sustainable competitive advantage. In order to better understand the changes that the users want, the company can conduct research among the current users of Key2 as such will shade light on features that are considered necessary by the users. The findings from this research will then be used to remodel the phone.

Conclusions

In conclusion, it has been shown that while some products might look good, a critical analysis will help the company to understand whether or not it satisfies the needs of the consumers. This is the case with Key2 above where it has been discovered that the phone was designed for business people while neglecting the demands of modern day consumers. Thus, in order to ensure that the product is sustainable, it was recommended that it be remodeled in line with the demands of the consumers.

References

Blackberry Inc. (n.d.). About us. Retrieved from: https://www.blackberry.com/us/en/company [Retrieved on: 20^th September 2018].

Chokkattu, J. (2018). BlackBerry Key2 review. Retrieved from: https://www.digitaltrends.com/cell-phone-reviews/blackberry-key2-review/ [Retrieved on: 20^th September 2018].

Dolcourt, J. (2018). BlackBerry Key2 review: Strictly for keyboard die-hards. Retrieved from: https://www.cnet.com/reviews/blackberry-key2-review/ [Retrieved on: 20^th September 2018].

Etienne, S. (2017). Blackberry Key2 Review: A Keyboard With A Phone. Retrieved from: https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/27/17504714/blackberry-key2-review-smartphone-android [Retrieved on: 20^th September 2018].