The BlackBerry KEYone launched in the United States back in May, and the device opened to massive sales in the market. People seemed to appreciate what the innovative design of the handset, with the physical QWERTY Keypad along with a touchscreen. The KEYone essentially melded the old with new, as it still housed the signature keypad from Blackberry.
However, the company has been quite intelligent in designing the handset. The smartphone comes with a fingerprint scanner embedded in the space bar button in the keypad, and each of the keys can be mapped to provide quick access to certain apps.
Seeing its popularity, Best Buy has decided to sell a Verizon-optimized unlocked variant of the BlackBerry KEYone.
Best Buy to retail Verizon-optimized BlackBerry KEYone
Best Buy is looking to perhaps capitalize on the BlackBerry KEYone’s popularity and so has decided to sell the Verizon network-optimized variant of the device. However, one important thing to remember is that the device which will be on offer at the retailer will be a CDMA unlocked device.
The sale of this KEYone has not yet started on Best Buy but will do so soon. The CDMA variant sports the same price tag as the GSM one which is $549. After the first handset starts shipping, this particular Verizon-optimized mobile phone would be available in the Best Buy brick and mortar store as well.
CDMA carrier Sprint has also revealed plans of offering a similar deal. It said that it would sell the CDMA version of the handset, but it will be locked to the network.
Specs of the BlackBerry KEYone
The smartphone comes with a 4.5-inch IPS touchscreen with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protective covering. It is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 625 chipset and 3 GB of RAM.
The KEYone can store 32 GB internally, and storage capacity can be expanded further through a microSD card up to a maximum of 2 TB.
The handset is equipped with a 12-megapixel rear camera with a powerful image sensor and wide aperture lens that captures sharp, crisp photos in any light with natural color and clarity. The phone includes an 8-megapixel front camera with fixed focus, flash, and 84-degree wide angle lens.
The smartphone comes with a 3,505mAh battery in tow which supports Quick Charging 3.0. The device can get 50 percent charge in just around 36 minutes.
The handset runs on the Android 7.1 Nougat and can be customized to allow quick access to 52 different programs and apps through the keypad. This causes ease in navigation and also lets users access functions much faster than on ordinary smartphones.
