Epitaph for a Blackberry KeyOne Smartphone
It was the first Blackberry phone that ran Android, and could take advantage of all the Android apps.
The KeyOne had two features that are disappearing from even premium phones today -- a headphone jack and removable microSD storage.
The headphone jack I could possibly live without, although it meant that I could charge the phone AND listen to music on headphones without needing USB-C headphones and a USB-C splitter dongle. Yes, I have Bluetooth earpieces -- they last about 8 hours in normal use, and have to be recharged. Not as convenient as regular plug-in headphones.
But no removable storage? Criminal. If you buy a phone with 128GB built-in storage, your needs change, and you need 256, 512 or 1 TB, you can't just swap out for a new card, you have to buy a whole new phone! Either that, or be religious about backing up photos, video and screenshots, which I've always been.
The thing I loved, loved, loved about the KeyOne and almost every other Blackberry: A PHYSICAL KEYBOARD! Those individual keys made it a breeze to type, and the few times I've had to use someone's iPhone or Android with touchscreen keys, it was like swimming through Jell-O.
But the late Steve Jobs said he'd get people used to not having a physical keyboard, and amazingly, he did. Not that I'll be getting a iPhone. Any phone that starts at $800 and goes up to $1,600 better be able to create lasting world peace, and make me young and handsome again in the process.
So, after seven years of faithful KeyOne service (fifteen overall with four other Blackberrys), the hunt for an Android phone began. I was looking at the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE, at $600, but then I kept seeing the A15 5G for a third of that price. Unlike the more expensive S24 FE and many other even more expensive premium phones, the A15 has removable micro SD storage AND a headphone jack. It doesn't have as many settings in its camera app as the S24 does (or my KeyOne did, or my Blackberry Classic from ten years ago -- progress, lol), but I can work around that. I always had mid-range cameras and phones, and somehow managed to take kick-ass photographs. So, we'll see.
Epitaph for a Blackberry KeyOne Smartphone
It was the first Blackberry phone that ran Android, and could take advantage of all the Android apps.
The KeyOne had two features that are disappearing from even premium phones today -- a headphone jack and removable microSD storage.
The headphone jack I could possibly live without, although it meant that I could charge the phone AND listen to music on headphones without needing USB-C headphones and a USB-C splitter dongle. Yes, I have Bluetooth earpieces -- they last about 8 hours in normal use, and have to be recharged. Not as convenient as regular plug-in headphones.
But no removable storage? Criminal. If you buy a phone with 128GB built-in storage, your needs change, and you need 256, 512 or 1 TB, you can't just swap out for a new card, you have to buy a whole new phone! Either that, or be religious about backing up photos, video and screenshots, which I've always been.
The thing I loved, loved, loved about the KeyOne and almost every other Blackberry: A PHYSICAL KEYBOARD! Those individual keys made it a breeze to type, and the few times I've had to use someone's iPhone or Android with touchscreen keys, it was like swimming through Jell-O.
But the late Steve Jobs said he'd get people used to not having a physical keyboard, and amazingly, he did. Not that I'll be getting a iPhone. Any phone that starts at $800 and goes up to $1,600 better be able to create lasting world peace, and make me young and handsome again in the process.
So, after seven years of faithful KeyOne service (fifteen overall with four other Blackberrys), the hunt for an Android phone began. I was looking at the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE, at $600, but then I kept seeing the A15 5G for a third of that price. Unlike the more expensive S24 FE and many other even more expensive premium phones, the A15 has removable micro SD storage AND a headphone jack. It doesn't have as many settings in its camera app as the S24 does (or my KeyOne did, or my Blackberry Classic from ten years ago -- progress, lol), but I can work around that. I always had mid-range cameras and phones, and somehow managed to take kick-ass photographs. So, we'll see.