Chip Chick Staff
Did this year’s new BlackBerry KEYOne get your attention? It got ours — while the phone wasn’t perfect, the physical keyboard felt great and was stocked with some genuinely useful features. If you’ve been on the fence about getting one for yourself, good news — starting September 1, you’ll be able to try before you buy. That’s when the KEYOne will arrive in AT&T stores in a new all-black model.
Dubbed Space Black, the new color does give the KEYOne a bit more of a sleek, professional look — exactly the niche the KEYOne is supposed to fill. While we remained unconvinced that the KEYOne’s security features represented a huge leap forward from what stock Android is capable of (especially once the Android 8.0 Oreo update drops), we did like the physical keyboard for hammering out emails — if you can get used to using one again. Otherwise, we thought the KEYOne was a respectable midrange device suitable as a dependable work phone.
The Space Black BlackBerry KEYOne will arrive in AT&T stores on September 1, where you’ll be able to buy it on an AT&T Next installment payment plan for $16.67 over 30 months. That’s a really long time to be paying for what still is a midrange device in terms of hardware, and you’ll also have to bank on BlackBerry delivering consistent updates. You do have the option to upgrade to a new smartphone after two years with AT&T Next, but that’s still a long ways from now. It all depends on how much you like that physical keyboard!
