Photos show possible successor BlackBerry KEYone smartphone

Photos have appeared that may show the successor to the BlackBerry KEYone smartphone from the Chinese smartphone maker TCL. The device would be named BlackBerry Key2 and include a matte physical keyboard.

The image first appeared on the BlackBerry fansite Crackberry forum, and then a Weibo user posted next to it a photo allegedly taken with the phone, featuring the logo called Key2.

Compared to the KEYone that appeared last year, the keyboard is slightly different. The keys are matte and no longer glossy. In addition, there is a nine-dot button next to the sym key, to the right of the space bar. The space bar could contain the fingerprint scanner, just like with the KEYone.

There have not been many rumors about the device before, although the Chinese approval authority Tenaa recently approved a smartphone codenamed BlackBerry Athena. The Athena appears to be the same device as the Key2.

TCL has not yet announced anything about a possible successor for the KEYone. That phone appeared in the Benelux last summer. TCL has a license to the BlackBerry brand name. The Canadian company of the same name provides software for the devices, but is no longer responsible for the production and design of the telephones.