BlackBerry KEY2 LE Hands-On at IFA 2018 By Engadget

It's not even been three months since blackberry first launched the key to, and the company is already ready to show up a new variant. That's $200 cheaper, and it's called the BlackBerry key to Ellie, we're not being told exactly what Ellie stands for, but for that $200 difference in price you'll find physically. The differences are the Le version. It's a little smaller, it's more refined, it's thinner! It's got curvier edges that just feel so much more comfortable for someone like me with smaller hands, I'm a fan again of how much thinner this is. You also see it comes in three colors this time around. The one I'm holding is a champagne version.

Basically, another word for gold there's also this, which is named atomic, and it's a bright sort of almost Ferrari like red that you can see on the frets of the keyboard here as well and, finally, for those of us who like to play it a little safe, there's slate, which is basically a bluish black, and it blends in very well. So if this is the one that companies want to buy and give off to their employees, this is probably the option they will pick. The key to Ellie is one of the trade-offs. Is it has a smaller battery cell 3000 Loan borrow one, and so because of that BlackBerry has to incorporate some software and what they call intelligent features to improve battery life. So one of them is not really something we can demonstrate here just yet, but it is the BlackBerry key to Ellie, as well as the key to eventually will understand, like your habits, how frequently or what time do you tend to charge your phone each day say you charge it at 11 p.

m. every day, then, when it comes to that time each day over time, and it realizes you haven't charged your phone. Yet there will be a sort of notification to tell you hey, maybe it's time to plug in your phone, because you haven't, that's, you know helpful, but habits are something that we stick to. This reminding me isn't going to be super helpful. What am I think going to be helpful is a feature again that Blackberry says it's coming, but it hasn't been able to show us at least not on these versions.

Yet is a calendar based reminder system that would look at your schedule for the day and see if said, you walked out in four meetings all day, except for a window between 10:00 and 11:00 a. m. for example, and be able to tell you hey, you are running out of Jews you're only at 35 percent right now and tell you to charge it from because you won't have time the rest of the day. These features don't necessarily extend your battery life technically, but they at least help you remember to stay juiced up so that whenever you need your BlackBerry, is there and ready for you another thing that the LE doesn't have, which you'll find on the regular key too, is that these don't have the capacitive features as before now on the key to you, could swipe up and pick your favorite predict that word or so, I left and right to navigate the home screens. Now those aren't here, but I still think that the keyboard somehow is just much more comfortable over than before in part, because the keyboard is just easier to hold now, because the whole phone is thinner, but also the keys are slightly ever so slightly smaller than the regular key -.

There are still 10 percent larger than the keys on the key one they're still as evenly spaced as before and easy to depress, with satisfying click, you still find the fingerprint sensor embedded into the space bar, which is helpful, because software features that BlackBerry users have come to rely on like locker or protected apps and files require it. Another new software feature that the key to LE will have. Is this thing that BlackBerry is calling app cloning? We're not sure if that's the official name yet, but it works so far with Instagram, WhatsApp, WeChat and Facebook Messenger. It's things that you may want to run both a personal and professional profile on the same phone, but don't want to have them adjacent to each other and conflicting. Perhaps so.

For example, if you want to clone WhatsApp, you can long press it and three options at the top show up tap info clone and uninstall. So if you clone it for things like WeChat and what's up, you'll need a dual SIM device to do this, because those two apps require you to have your SIM card tied to your account. But if you just clone it to be able to see it show up there, you go the cloned version of WhatsApp next to it. What you can do with this is sign in to account side by side, which is very similar to alternative options we've seen from other brands, but what you can do here is had this version of WhatsApp say on your lockers, so you don't have access to it unless you sign in with your fingerprint. Finally, one more new software feature.

That's been added to the Ellie is how to use your or what you can do with the convenience key. Basically, in the past, using the convenience key was sort of tied to where you were at home. You could set it to do certain things. Like turn off your lambs or whatever, well there's a new option. Now you don't have to be tied to the profiles you can customize it that with one press, Google Assistant will shop and with a double click, Google sense will show up, there's also a so-called walkie-talkie mode that happens when you press and hold the convenience key, but really all that does be bring up.

Google Assistant blackberry said that this would activate Google Assistant to already be listening to you, so that you don't have to say the hot word trigger, but you know you also can do that just by pressing once so, really don't see what the difference is here in terms of what else is different you're really getting a little less RAM. You have four gigs of RAM here, a smaller battery, a three thousand William hour cell instead of a 3500 one on the regular version, as well as a Snapdragon 6:36 processor, instead of 660 on the key -. Now we don't really know how those trade-offs will affect performance just yet, but again think of the money you're saving. Aside from that, though, everything else remains. The same as it was on the regular key ? you get the same.

Full HD display you'll have the convenience key you'll have a lot of the similar software you've come to expect when this does arrive in the US. Hopefully before the end of September, it will be available. Blackberry says at a variety of retailers and carriers, and all three colors should be available depending on which provider you pick. So maybe black will only be available, let's say Best Buy, and then you'll have to go to maybe Amazon to find the atomic or champagne versions. It's not yet clear, and they don't have word yet, but stay tuned to find out more for that and all extra information coming out of Eva 2018 stay tuned to engage calm.

Source : Engadget