BlackBerry KEYone Gallery

Is a BlackBerry not made by BlackBerry still, well, a BlackBerry? That's the question TCL is forcing us to ask ourselves with the KEYone. It looks like something from the-company-formerly-known-as-RIM, with its tiny QWERTY keyboard and beefy style, but it's actually made by the company also responsible for Alcatel phones in recent years, under a licensing agreement.

Perhaps it doesn't matter, in the end. The KEYone may have a silly name – we prefer the original BlackBerry Mercury codename, frankly – but its physical keys will be catnip to anybody not yet used to typing on a display. Understandably it's a cramped affair, though the fingerprint biometrics built into the spacebar is a nice touch, as is the ability to swipe around the keys as you would an optical trackpad of old.

Meanwhile, within Android 7.1 Nougat the KEYone makes its play for the security-minded. There's a hardened kernel, processor-level signing for secure boot, and DTEK by BlackBerry to flag up any potentially privacy-flouting apps in the background. Really, though, this is all about catering to those for whom the demise of the Bold and similar was a true moment of mourning. It's a niche segment, sure, but a vocal one.

KEYone Camera Gallery