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BlackBerry KEY2 photo leaks, complete with physical keyboard

We get our first look at an alleged BlackBerry KEY2 today. The physical keyboard lives!
By
May 1, 2018

One of 2017’s unexpected success stories was the BlackBerry KEYone, an Android phone with a physical keyboard. Android Authority gave it a score of 8.4 out of 10, and stores quickly sold out of the device when it was released.

Since then, we saw the BlackBerry KEYone Black Edition and leaked renders of something called the BlackBerry Athena. Now we have some images that appear to be of a BlackBerry KEY2 that surfaced on Chinese microblogging site Weibo, via Android Central. Is the Athena actually the KEY2?

As one would expect, the BlackBerry KEY2 has a physical keyboard, just like its predecessor. The keyboard is a little different with a matte finish and a new button that does…something. The space bar still doubles as a fingerprint sensor, but the keys themselves appear to be a bit larger and have a flatter look.

blackberry key2 leak

Of course, this unit clearly is labeled as “NOT FOR SALE” at the bottom, which could mean that it’s merely a prototype and that some or none of the design features we see will make it to the final product.

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Another photo was shared to Weibo, via Gizmo China, that appears to be a shot taken by the BlackBerry KEY2, complete with a watermark of the device’s logo. If we’re to believe that the watermark is the real logo for the device, it looks like the BlackBerry KEY2 will use the numeral “2” rather than spell out the word like the BlackBerry KEYone.

However, the watermark could be a forgery; there’s no way to be sure.

What do you think? Did you buy the BlackBerry KEYone and are looking to upgrade? Or do you not see the point of having a physical keyboard anymore? Let us know in the comments!

NEXT: Here are the best BlackBerry phones