TCL Communication has introduced a toned-down version of the BlackBerry KEY2 at IFA 2018, called BlackBerry KEY 2 LE. The all-new touch and type physical QWERTY keypad smartphone from BlackBerry is a cheaper version of the flagship model, which will retail at a starting price of $399 (approximately Rs 28,000).
 
The company says BlackBerry KEY2 LE is a “more accessible” version of the original BlackBerry KEY2 which was launched three months ago. It comes with Snapdragon 636, revamped physical keyboard, slimmer design and new color options.
 
The BlackBerry KEY2 LE will cost $399 (approximately Rs 28,000) for the 32GB model, or $449 (approximately Rs 31,500) for the 64GB model. The Key2 LE will be available next month. It comes in three colors options – Atomic (red), Champagne (gold / beige), and Slate (black). There is no word on India launch date yet.
 
The new BlackBerry KEY2 LE packs the same security features as other BlackBerry smartphones. It gets company’s own BlackBerry Secure Android OS on top of Android 8.1 Oreo out-of-the-box. Then there will be DTEK security suite and BlackBerry’s Privacy Shade apps pre-installed as well. The fingerprint sensor is embedded on the physical qwerty keypad’s Space Bar.
 
It features a 4.5-inch IPS touch display with 1620×1080 pixel resolution along with improved physical QWERTY keypad on the front. Inside, the BlackBerry KEY2 LE is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 636 processor coupled with Adreno 509 GPU and 4GB of RAM. The device comes in two storage options of 32GB or 64GB. It also supports additional expandable storage of 256GB via microSD card.
 
In terms of camera, the BlackBerry KEY2 LE gets a dual rear camera setup with 13-megapixel + 5-megapixel lens and dual-tone LED flash. The primary 13-megapixel lens gets f/2.2 aperture and the 5-megapixel secondary lens comes with f/2.4 aperture. It supports 4K videos at 30fps and includes Private Capture mode. Upfront, the handset gets an 8-megapixel fixed focus camera with selfie flash.
 
BlackBerry claims that the 3,000mAh battery on the KEY2 LE is good to deliver up to 22.5 hours standby time, and it uses USB Type-C charging. Other connectivity options on the phone include USB OTG support, Bluetooth 5.0 LE, NFC, GPS, GLONASS, and FM Radio.