BlackBerry KEYone pre-orders go live in Canada

May 18, 2017

9:39 AM EDT

TCL Communications, the company now leading most of the charge for BlackBerry devices globally, stated the KEYone is seeing a great deal of interest and that the company is taking a “patient approach” to its sales forecasting.

The KEYone brings back the physical QWERTY keyboard that loyal BlackBerry users adore, which we praised in our review. As previously reported, Canadians can pre-order the device starting today at Rogers, with Bell, Bell MTS, SaskTel, and Telus slated to go live with pre-orders at a later time.

The KEYone can cost anywhere between $0 and $200 depending on the two-year plan consumers go with. Rogers has listed the no-term contract price at $679.99, while Bell and Bell MTS is selling the KEYone for $699.99.

The KEYone will officially launch in Canada on May 31st.

Comments

xBURK
Sweet. Thanks for the update.
bigshynepo
Pre-ordering Now.
Actionable Conclusion
Fantastic news for the two dozen people that may bother ordering this.
- Syaz
  Just over two dozen. I’m number 26.
- Actionable Conclusion
  Yeah. All the makings of another Blackberry success story here. lmao!
- Syaz
  My sentiment exactly.
  The best part it, it will be a TCL success or failure story more than a BlackBerry story.
- Actionable Conclusion
  Lol…Of course you’d say that, even though the BB logo is on this thing. All to happy to take credit should it moderately succeed but blame failure entirely on TCL.
  Fact is this is nothing more than a lame attempt to remain in the hardware business if only by proxy
- Syaz
  Please watch your fallacies! I did mention that it would affect both, but more so TCL. To say “blame failure entirely on TCL” is an overextension of what I stated.
- Actionable Conclusion
  Why would it affect TCL? It has a reputation worth practically nothing in the developed markets and seems to like producing for distressed brands. Be it Alcatel or Blackberry.
  The point is that BB already has a reputation in the cellar and they are going to wear the flop more so than TCL because of all the hype and expectation of royalties they hope to pull in here.
- Rev0lver
  Incorrect yet again old friend
- Rev0lver
  I disagree with you 100% friend.
- Actionable Conclusion
  Who cares?
- Rev0lver
  I’m just noting that you are factually incorrect in your statement friend.
- Actionable Conclusion
  And I’ve said before that you’re ‘factually’ clueless and clearly have nothing intelligent to say about the subject at hand.
- Rev0lver
  I’m sorry but you are wrong yet again sir.
- Rev0lver
  Your analysis of the subject matter is completely incorrect sir.
Nil
….. and nobody cares
- Syaz
  Hi Nobody!
Felix
I don’t understand the need to make fun of blackberry… I’m gonna guess the same people make fun of nickleback. If you don’t want to buy it don’t…
- Actionable Conclusion
  Nickleback is nowhere near as bad as Blackberry. And that’s saying something.
- Rev0lver
  Nickelback has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide making them the 11th most successful musical group in history.
- Actionable Conclusion
  lol…Uh, you’ve just proven my point. They’ve sold more albums that BB has sold phones the past several years combined. Thanks for confirming it Sherlock.
- Rev0lver
  Sorry. Wrong yet again friend. Sorry.
- kirfer
  That’s a pretty low bar you’ve set there!
jellmoo
At the end of the day, the question is: Do you want a phone with a physical keyboard?
If the answer is NO, then this is clearly not the phone for you.
If the answer is YES, then this phone is perfect for your needs.
If the answer is MAYBE, then prioritize what you want (battery vs performance, style vs practicality, media vs productivity, etc…) and decide accordingly.
This seems like a great device. Just one that’s clearly niche, and not a solution on the same scale as things like an iPhone or S8.
- Beautiful Blessings
  A wise comment, by Alan.
- ToniCipriani ✓pǝᴉɟᴉɹǝʌ
  The maybe is in your decision tree actually should be a no. Battery wise, Moto Z Play beats it, and can be extended with the MotoMod. On top of that BlackBerry hasn’t proven itself that its software is worth the money (that’s why they are charging so much more than others with the same spec, in addition to the keyboard) aside from security updates. They have not updated any of their existing phones to 7.x, nor announced any plan to. Chances are next year the KEYone will be stuck with updates.
- jellmoo
  I disagree. I’ll wait for the GSMarena review of the KeyONE to see battery results, but I’m thinking that the two results will be pretty similar. Your comment about the software is pretty subjective, and your assumption to the reason for the price is conjecture. The point about Android updates is fair, but the prime motivator for a BB handset is security, not speed of Android upgrades.
  Again, it comes down to what you want. There are reasons to go for the Z Play, just as there are reasons to go for the KeyONE. Each person will need to determine which handset best meets their needs.
- ToniCipriani ✓pǝᴉɟᴉɹǝʌ
  >The point about Android updates is fair, but the prime motivator for a BB handset is security, not speed of Android upgrades.
  And upgrading the Android version IS part of security, you can’t separate the two. Quite often some security fixes are only available on the newer versions.
- jellmoo
  You aren’t wrong, but most fixes are delivered via the security patches. Most exploits don’t require a patch at the version level, of course it sucks when it does. This is absolutely something that BB needs to be better at, no doubt.
  (And oddly enough, it’s something Motorola isn’t great at anymore, despite them formerly being a superstar in this regard)
- ToniCipriani ✓pǝᴉɟᴉɹǝʌ
  Oh yeah, Motorola actually came out and said they will NOT deliver it on a regular basis, more so quarterly.
  My point is, coming out to say they suck is better than charging you money for it as a selling point then staying silent.
Omar
If they released it in March I would have bought one. Sorry BB, my money went elsewhere. But the reviews on this thing are almost overwhelmingly good. Nice screen, amazing battery, excellent build quality, Pixel camera, and a useful keyboard that isn’t just for typing. Maybe if it goes on sale I’ll buy one, just to support the company and use as a school device. There’s aren’t too many Canadian OEMs out there.
- Actionable Conclusion
  Well I don’t think you’ll have to wait too long for a sale. I guesstimate by August long weekend or Labour day they’ll be a ‘Chen style special’ offered by TCL as they look to unload excess inventory.
- bigshynepo
  Comments from you almost every hour of the day here.
  For someone who hates on Blackberry, you’re probably giving this article more hits than the rest of us.
  Is this the most you can contribute to society?
  How do you expect to become a success sitting around making disqus comments all day about products you hate?
  Do you hear how worthless that sounds?
  Isn’t your life worth more than this?
  Surely you must want to achieve more than “mobilesyrup troll’?
  Or maybe not?
- Actionable Conclusion
  What’s it to you personally if I comment here? Seems that it bothers you if someone posting ain’t singing this company’s praises.
- Rev0lver
  Incorrect yet again hobre.
J-Ro
I got this email too. Great design for getting things done. All the reviews say the same, it feels great in hand, last 2 days on one charge and is great for communication. All the reasons I want one
Do Do
If I don’t hear anything negative it this summer I’ll probably buy one but it unfortunately won’t be my daily driver. I just like the idea of the keyboard, long battery life and android. If it had a replaceable battery it would almost be guaranteed that I would buy.
pianoman1975
Where is the Bell Mobility Release? I called this morning and they don’t know anything about it. On the site, just Rogers is available? What’s with that?
- jellmoo
  The KeyONE is on the Bell site in the devices section.
- J-Ro
  $0 on a two year. Not bad
Stephen_81
I’m number 157 on the PreOrder front, I love that they are giving the option to buy outright via preorder, to upgrade my business plan I’d go $80/mo more. I want the device, but not for $1920
- Beautiful Blessings
  Soon, Stephen, you will possess the Mother Of All Spacebars; an exciting time, is it not?
Plazmic Flame
Would have been nice to pre-order from TELUS… pretty darn crappy if you ask me. Also, how stupid is it that TELUS is only offering the KEYone to business users?! TELUS, you get an L for that…
- Actionable Conclusion
  If they are only offering it to ‘business users’ then the takeaway from that is that few consumers will want this and they are correct. It’s also a way of managing inventory and not having to acquire too much of the hardware lest it end up collecting dust in their warehouse which there is a strong chance it will.
- Rev0lver
  The facts don’t support your statement. This company has great leadership.
- Actionable Conclusion
  You have no idea or concept of business so I think we should give your simpleton comments a pass.
- Rev0lver
  No need for personal attacks old buddy. This is a well managed company. This is supported by the facts. Sorry.
Pingback: Pre-orders for BlackBerry Keyone are now live in Canada - IT AND US()
Pingback: הזמנות מראש עבור BlackBerry Keyone עכשיו גר בקנדה - mylab.co.il()
Pingback: Pre-orders for BlackBerry Keyone are now live in Canada - News Now()
Pingback: Latest News Updates | Telugu News | Online News | devine | all devine | Entertainment News | Gossips | latest telugu news | telugu gossips | telugu | latest news updates()
Pingback: Pre-orders for BlackBerry Keyone at the moment are dwell in Canada | PhoneTechSpecs.com()
Pingback: Pre-orders for BlackBerry Keyone are now live in Canada | Gadgetbingo()
Pingback: Pre-orders for BlackBerry Keyone are now live in Canada - News Buzz()
schmo
Ordered mine yesterday, seems Rogers is the first to get them. Bell and Telus is not yet offering them
- Actionable Conclusion
  Because Bell and Telus know full well how this will turn out and it ain’t gonna be good.
  Rogers has always been the first to shill for BBRY so its no surprise.
- schmo
  You know you may be right. On the other hand I’ve been a BlackBerry user all my life, so do I abandon them them just because everyone getting a samsung or Iphone. All of the girls are getting Iphones and the geeks are getting high end Samsung. Do I care? Not a bit. I don’t buy a specific phone just because my friends have one, I do not follow the sheep. But thanks for your feedback
- Actionable Conclusion
  Well put it this way. The major carriers will no doubt be stocking limited amounts of these devices because they know the demand may not necessarily meet excess inventory. It’s just good business really. No need to take a loss or write down hardware that may not in all likelihood sell all that well.
- schmo
  Bell and Telus and even Rogers may be getting volume kickbacks from apple, samsung and others, that is why they are advertising these products. Even the staff wants to sell you something else when you inquire about BlackBerry. Even their adds on the Web may mention blackberry, but when you click on it they show a samsung on the first page. Crooked marketing.
- Rev0lver
  Incorrect old friend.
Pingback: Pre-orders for BlackBerry Keyone are now live in Canada()
Pingback: Pre-orders for BlackBerry Keyone are now live in Canada – Ngapdet.Com()
Pingback: Pre-orders for BlackBerry Keyone are now live in Canada – kasa()
Dan man
spec wise i think the dtek60 is better no? and the priv is comparable who is this targeting exactly? im just curious what is drawing people towards this phone.
- Actionable Conclusion
  Well I’m no Blackberry fan but looking at the KEYOne I’d say the quality far surpasses that of the PRIV which was really a POS. The DTEK’s weren’t that far behind so while I remain dubious of the success of this new device, it does appear to have a premium build quality over past iterations.
- schmo
  This phone is for blackberry users that love the keyboard but need a little bit of android to get a few apps. TD bank is discontinuing BB10 app support in June. WhatsApp the same. It’s not meant to woo the 250 million Iphone users or die hard Samsung users. It’s to satisfy the needs of the BlackBerry users or the ones that left BlackBerry due to lack of apps. This is the best phone BlackBerry produced and this is my next phone
Skeletor
Launch date Feb 25 lol

Canada’s average internet speeds break 60Mbps mark in newest Speedtest Global Index

Here are all the changes to Canadian carrier rate plans this week [September 18 – 24]

BlackBerry KEYone is available unlocked at Walmart and Staples stores in Canada

Approximately 100,000 Canadians affected by Equifax breach