BlackBerry KEYone Review - Battery life and verdict Review
Battery life and verdict
A return to form for BlackBerry? Sort of
Sections
- Page 1 BlackBerry KEYone Review
- Page 2 Software and Performance Review
- Page 3 Camera Review
- Page 4 Battery life and verdict Review
BlackBerry KEYone – Battery life
Battery life is one area that the KEYone excels at. Powered by a hefty 3505mAh cell, the KEYone has one of the longest-lasting batteries around.
With regular use the KEYone easily lasted two, if not two and a half, days from a single charge. Regular use entailed making and taking a few calls, regularly messaging people on WhatsApp, constantly checking my email and social media feeds, watching a few videos on YouTube and listening to music on the way to and from work.
The KEYone also dealt with demanding process, such as video streaming and gaming, very well. Watching video with the screen set to 70% brightness the phone lost an average of 7-9% of its charge per hour, which is excellent. Most phones lose at least 10-15% of their charge when faced with the same test.
Gaming slashed around 10-18% off the KEYone’s battery life every hour, which again is above average. Competing handsets, such as the Huawei P10 and OnePlus 3T, lose as much as 25% of their battery per hour gaming.
Should I buy the BlackBerry KEYone?
If you’re an old-school BlackBerry fan looking to relive your glory days when physical keyboards on a phone were all the rage, or a power-business user only concerned about productivity, the KEYone is a solid choice. It offers a robust set of security and productivity features that make it great for document editing, and it has one of the best battery lives around, which will be a blessing for those regularly stuck on long-haul flights.
For regular folks there are better options, however. The Snapdragon 625 CPU means the phone feels overpriced and doesn’t match the performance of cheaper handsets like the OnePlus 3T. I’m also not convinced younger buyers who’ve been raised on touchscreens will find the addition of a physical keyboard remotely helpful – even I struggled to use the keyboard initially, despite having used BlackBerry phones throughout most of my teenage years.
Verdict
Great for hardcore BlackBerry fans and power-users. Mediocre for everyone else.
How we test phones
We test every mobile phone we review thoroughly. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly and we use the phone as our main device over the review period. We’ll always tell you what we find and we never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Trusted Score
Score in detail
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Performance 6
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Camera 8
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Design 7
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Battery Life 9
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Value 6
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Software 9
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Screen Quality 7
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
