The BlackBerry Key2 is officially arriving on June 7

BlackBerry Key2

We've heard rumors and speculation about a new BlackBerry-branded phone called the Key2 and now it's (just about) official – BlackBerry Mobile (now owned by TCL) has sent out invitations to a special launch event in New York on June 7, and mentions the Key2 by name.

The phone will be the follow-up to last year's BlackBerry KeyOne, which impressed us with its keyboard-led design and software security but which was something of a letdown in terms of the performance under the hood and all the other stuff a modern phone is supposed to handle these days – like music and movies.

If you've got a hankering for BlackBerry phones of yesteryear though, the Key2 launch should definitely be worth looking out for. The tagline on the invitation is "an icon reborn", so that sure sounds like BlackBerry's classic approach updated for the world in 2018.

Classic BlackBerry

BlackBerry phones have been threatening to mount a comeback for several years now – remember the 2014 BlackBerry Classic? With BlackBerry devices now under the TCL umbrella, let's hope they can get it just a little bit more right this time around.

Based on what we've heard so far, we're expecting a dual-lens camera on the back of the device, and of course a proper keyboard that you can mash your digits into. We're hoping that there's enough oomph under the hood too, so it can keep up with demanding tasks.

We're now less than a month away from that launch date, so we should start to hear more rumors and leaks drip through in the days ahead, but we'll also bring you all the official news as it's announced from New York. In a year that's been dominated by top-quality phones, BlackBerry Mobile has its work cut out to keep up.

Via Android Police

David Nield
Freelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.