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A stitched image depicting what are said to be the front and back panels of TCL’s upcoming BlackBerry KEY2 LE appeared online earlier today, having been shared by Android Police. The photograph seen above shows a device that’s largely indistinguishable from the regular BlackBerry KEY2 launched earlier this spring but is expected to be released as a more affordable alternative to its sibling, with specs that are much closer to those of the 2017 BlackBerry KEYone than its 2018 follow-up.
The device is hence rumored to feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 636, 4GB of RAM, and a 4.5-inch LCD panel with a resolution of 1,620 by 1,080 pixels amounting to a blocky aspect ratio of 3:2. Two variants offering a choice between 32GB and 64GB of flash memory are expected to be on the cards, with both being powered by a 3,000mAh battery and offering a dual-camera setup using a 13-megapixel sensor and a 5-megapixel one. For added context, the original BlackBerry KEY2 uses the newer Snapdragon 660 chip, 6GB of RAM, 64GB of storage space, a 3,500maH cell, and two 12-megapixel cameras on its back. Both devices have the same screen and house an identical QWERTY/Z keyboard whose space bar doubles as a fingerprint reader, though the KEY2 LE is understood to be slightly smaller than the handset that preceded it, measuring 150.25 x 71.8 x 8.35mm in size as opposed to 151.4 x 71.8 x 8.5mm. Likewise, the upcoming Android device should tip the scales at 156g, thus being 12g lighter than the KEY2.
It’s still unclear when TCL may end up launching its next BlackBerry-branded smartphone but combined with the new sighting, one previous leak suggested that whenever that happens, the company will offer at least two color options to consumers, one of which will have a bright red frame. Given the hardware differences between the two models and the fact that the KEY2 starts at approximately $650, depending on the market, this lightweight take on the same keyboard-equipped Android formula may have a price tag that will hover around the $500 mark.