CES 2018 is underway and along with great
innovations, there are also new versions of well-known devices. We told you
about the arrival of Blackberry Motion in the US, as Keyone gets a Bronze
version. We already reviewed the original unit, then had a hands-on with the
Black option. Now brace for a quick hands-on glance of the BlackBerry Keyone
Bronze Edition.
Changes to the Keyone are purely aesthetic, the
hardware stays the same, so no need to go over the benchmarks and complex data
once again. The parts that used to be in silver or black color, now have a
bronze hue. The new version might look like the old one at some images, but we
assure you, it's quite different in person. Because of the physical keyboard
and the new color, the Keyone still has a unique vibe and will keep standing
out among other 2017 smartphones.
The bronze version will arrive in the EU, Middle
East, and Asia. TCL Communications, the parent company of BlackBerry, told us
that the Keyone has proven itself successful in these regions, and the company
is giving the new color choice to its growing user base. Surprisingly for the
manufacturer, the phone was a success in Germany and its BYOD environment.
The BlackBerry Keyone has been on the shelves for 9
months now. TCL said that the most successful markets were the UK, parts of
EMEA, and Canada, but the last one is not getting the Bronze version, for now.
TCL also revealed some numbers about the user base of the Keyone - about 50% of
the customers are enterprise users, most of them switching from iPhone solely
because of the physical keyboard.
