BlackBerry Key2 LE Goes Official At $399

There had been some reports over the past couple of months suggesting that TCL Mobile, the company that makes BlackBerry-branded smartphones now, could launch a more affordable version of the BlackBerry Key2. The handset has officially been launched by the company today at IFA 2018 as the BlackBerry Key2 LE. It’s going to be priced at $399.

The design itself is quite similar to that of the BlackBerry Key2. What the company has done to trim the price tag is made changes to the core specifications. Instead of the BlackBerry Key2’s Snapdragon 660 processor, this handset has the Snapdragon 636. It also has 4GB of RAM instead of 6GB while the 3,500mAh battery has been replaced with a 3,000mAh battery.

Other than that, the device features a 4.5 inch 1620×1080 IPS LCD display with Gorilla Glass, up to 64GB of storage with microSD card support, a 13 + 5 megapixel rear and 8 megapixel front camera. It ships with Android 8.1 Oreo.

Many of BlackBerry’s software features will complement Android OS on this device. There’s also support for Google Pay and Google Lens. TCL will release the BlackBerry Key2 LE in September. It’s going to cost $399 in the United States for the 32GB version. The one with 64GB of internal storage is going to cost $449. Three colors will be available, namely Slate, Champagne, and Atomic.