Nostalgia prompted a return to the BlackBerry Key2, and while the keyboard welcomed us, the unacceptable treatment of the software definitely didn't.
When BlackBerry shut down crucial services for its old operating system at the beginning of the year, I had a sudden nostalgic urge to take out the Android-based BlackBerry Key2 and see how it performs in 2022. After all, there isn’t much like it these days, and perhaps for all those coming from a now-dead BlackBerry Curve or a Q10 may be considering a jump over to one?
Once I’d spent a little time practicing I did get a bit quicker, and also remembered the sweet swipe gestures to instantly flick words from the suggested list onto the screen, plus other shortcuts to make life easier. I was also glad of the PopSocket I’d left on the back of the phone to make holding it more natural when typing. Using the Key2 is a tactile, pleasurable, and very personal experience.
Shocking software The BlackBerry Key2 was released in mid-2018 and it was sent out with Google’s Android 8.1 Oreo software installed. Today, three-and-a-half years after you would have paid $650 for it, the phone is still running Android 8.1 Oreo. You read that correctly. The BlackBerry Key2 has not received a single major Android software update since it was released.
To recap, the $650 Key2 is only three-and-a-half years old but still runs software originally released four-and-a-half years ago and hasn’t had a sniff of an automatic security update for coming up to two years. The treatment of this otherwise perfectly usable phone, with its desirable and well-built hardware, borders on the criminal.