BlackBerry KeyOne wants to make the keyboard cool again

The BlackBerry KeyOne is the first BlackBerry phone we've seen in a long time that didn't make us want to roll our eyes.

That's because in addition to the physical keyboard...

...it has a 4.5-inch screen that's large enough to use.

And more than a few tricks for power users.

The mostly metal design gives it a lift.

Some may find the soft-grip backing out of place on a high-end phone; these days all-metal designs are a sign of premium times.

The 12-megapixel camera comes with filters.

There's an 8-megapixel camera up front.

It runs Android 7.1 Nougat.

And has features like split-screen -- you can still type on the keyboard while using it.

"Dtek" is the phone's security software.

You can assign keyboard shortcuts to favorite apps.

A tab you can access from every screen gives you a snapshot of your day.

Now a closer look.

The third home screen helpfully has shortcuts you might actually want to use, like taking a note.

Each key can launch up to two apps with a long or short press.

Check out some more photos of BlackBerry's KeyOne phone.

Read on for more impressions of the BlackBerry KeyOne.