Blackberry KEYone is Getting an Oreo Beta a Month Before Android P Releases
  • Posted byby Kellen

Blackberry KEYone is Getting an Oreo Beta a Month Before Android P Releases

The Blackberry KEYone, a phone that you should have passed on because it’s not 2005 anymore, was released in May of last year in the US. A couple of months later, Google released Android Oreo to Nexus and Pixel devices. In the months after Oreo dropped, dozens of other phones from real phonemakers that know what they are doing, updated to Oreo. We ripped some for being slower than others. Blackberry’s KEYone still doesn’t have it. And today, the company embarrassed itself further by announcing an Oreo beta will soon be available. A BETA.

That’s embarrassing for a couple of reasons. The first and most important is the fact that Android P is coming in a month – stable Android P. That means Google will update its Pixel line in a month to stable Android P, followed by companies like Essential, Nokia, and OnePlus, before LG and Samsung get to it. I don’t know if Blackberry promised 2 years of major OS updates to the KEYone, but I would doubt that Android P will ever come to it.

This is also embarrassing because Blackberry just released the KEY2 and it’s running Android Oreo. So Blackberry knows how to implement Oreo on hardware that it has put together with its keyboard and other Blackberry software tweaks, yet the KEYone is only ready for a beta. Talk about not taking major software updates seriously.

Don’t buy the Blackberry KEY2, folks, even if tech journos and YouTubers keep telling you it’s weirdly their favorite phone. They did the same with the KEYone and look where we are.

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Kellen

It’s not often that you get to merge personal passions into a professional life, but that’s what Kellen did when he launched Droid Life in 2009. After working years of unsatisfying jobs in the medical and property management fields, he took a risk to try and create an online community while playing with the coolest gadgets on the planet each day, a risk that has turned out to be incredibly rewarding. Outside of Droid Life, Kellen is your typical Portlander who drinks way too much good beer, complains often about the Trail Blazers, and can be found out on the streets for a run, rain or shine.

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37 Comments

  • I can’t believe I came here to read this hate speech nonsense. Bashing on BB is so yesterday.

    I’m going to have to blocklist this site via the hosts file so that I don’t end up here by accident in the future

  • Of course it isn’t 2005. Because auto correct hell is everywhere as is slow typing speeds because OMG we can’t have a real keyboard on a flagahfl phone…that would make it 3mm thicker, snd we can’t have that.

  • Blackberry phones are only BlackBerry in name you dumb arse. They have nothing to do with the OS, or the hardware, only the BlackBerry suite of ass kicking apps, and enterprise mobile Management and Security, which Apple and Google can learn from. BlackBerry is dead and buried, and everybody knows it except for you, so you bash it as if it’s mainstream. Pshhh, you need a slap

  • My wife’s Moto z just updated to Oreo last week. I’m to lazy to find out if it was her not updating it for a while or if Moto took that long to update it.

  • The LG V10 didn’t even get nougat, and that was a flagship.

    The aesthetic on that blackberry screen reminds me of Android 2.whatever, so anyone should be surprised it was even released with anything higher than ice cream sandwich.

  • Normally I wouldn’t even bother to comment on the poor quality of journalism in this post… as it’s straight trolling for attention. But this is really pathetic, didn’t some from BlackBerry steal your woman? I’ve never read such a petty childish and factually incorrect article in my life. I know we are in the era of fake news but this is really gutter tabloid journalism.

    As they say don’t let the facts get in the way of your story…

  • For every one person here that complains that their phone isn’t getting updated quick enough there are 10’s of 1000’s who have the same phone that don’t know a damn thing about updates. They don’t care about getting a new update unless it’s going to give them a much wanted new feature or fix a bug. And these days we don’t have a bunch of new things happening to phone design like we did a few years ago. And if you think that BB made this phone with the people on sites like this one in mind, you’re mistaken. To many people these days want it all and want it now and they have no idea what the level of work it takes to make a product like this and to SUPPORT a product like this. And with Cell Phones there is no 1 phone that will ever be everything to everybody. So if you think that BB gives a damn what a few people on tech sites think, well, you’re not their target market and they really don’t worry about those that have to be on the bleeding edge of technology.

    • actually if you want a phone that is secure and gets updates all the time that is why most companies have went to iPhones. Show me a android OEM that is updating 5 generation old phones

  • Kellen’s physical keyboard poll blew up in his face, so he’s moved the goalposts.

    There’s plenty to bash about BB without behaving like a child.

  • I’m glad someone finally called it out!
    Blackberry hasn’t been keen on updates and it psses me off that my Priv never got anything beyond MM!
    I have become a “Never Blackberry” guy!
    Over-priced piece of garbbage!

  • Better late than never. Thankfully the never-ending battery life, lucid screen, and glorious keyboard made this the phone to beat last year. In fact, several tech sites had it as their phone of the year.

    KeyTwo is finally on sale in the US. Be sure to give it a try.

  • My wife LOVES her KeyONE and it’s been a great phone for her, not she she really cares about OS updates, and BB has stayed on top of security patches at least. Just glad she’s finally gonna get an Android update before it becomes time to upgrade to the Key2

    • What’s the point? Why not just buy the KeyTwo now and get it over with? That way you kill two birds with one stone. ????????

    • Samsung is slow with updates (just like LG), but at least they keep their promises. They really need to step up their game though! One of the many reasons I’d never buy a Samsung or an LG.

    • Jared sounds bought and paid for on that post. Trying to defend the indefensible….. Amd the random Jab at Samsung when the S8 has been updated for a while now…. How does he have the balls to compare that to the KeyOne getting a BETA….A BETA Not even the final update. We’re almost in August

  • It has been pretty weird seeing the tech journos freak out about be Key2. I mean give me a break. They’ll be the only ones buying it.

      • Its biggest sin is the ridiculous price. What is TCL thinking? Well, they’re clearly not and it’s a phone for people who are stuck living in the past. HMD Global is doing the world right with their handling of Nokia.

      • You’re level of disdain is a bit odd, too. Don’t you think? “because it’s not 2005 anymore” 🙂

      • Just as odd is your seemingly endless obsession to bash it every chance you get. Even worse is you mocking and/or belittling anyone who might like it. Get over yourself already.
        It’s reminiscent of an old white southern preacher that talks sh*t about homosexuality then gets caught in the park having gay sex.
        Makes one wonder if you’re not actually typing these hate speech articles on a BlackBerry. ;-P

        I personally would not buy one mainly because, in my opinion, they are currently priced too high. However, if I still did the kind of “data input intensive” work that I did a couple of years ago I would definitely consider it. Or if I was one of those that wasted my days blogging, Instagraming, Twittering, Facebooking, etc I would go with that physical keyboard.

        Now if BB would have released the Key2 with a slide out keyboard like my OG Droid had, I would own one at some point no question.
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        (Just fyi: I do not receive response emails or read replies so don’t bother)
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