While today’s best phones are all glass touchscreens ripe for swiping, when nostalgia hits, all we want to do is get our fingers click-clacking on a BlackBerry’s tactile keyboard. Though BlackBerry discontinued its mobile line in 2016, phones with physical keyboards are making a comeback.
At Mobile World Congress 2026, CNET Mobile Managing Editor David Lumb got his hands on the Titan 2 Elite, an Android smartphone made by Chinese smartphone manufacturer Unihertz. It features a full backlit QWERTY keyboard that fits right in your pocket. On Tuesday, both the standard version and the Pro launched on Kickstarter, and have already exceeded the company’s $100,000 goal.
At the time of writing, over $2.1 million has been pledged by over 4,500 backers.
The Titan 2 Elite lets you customize its A-Z keyboard keys to create short- and long-press shortcuts that take you to different apps and assist with text editing. You can even use the keyboard to scroll and move your mouse, an upgrade from BlackBerry’s trackball. As for the red programmable side button, it can launch any app with one press.
To get your hands on an orange or black Titan 2 Elite, which is estimated to ship in June 2026, you have to pledge $396. This is discounted from the full price of $489 and is at least $403 cheaper than the iPhone 17. Shipping to the US is an extra $10.
For the Titan 2 Elite Pro, you have to pledge $486, plus shipping. Its full price is $579. The estimated delivery time is October 2026.
For both the standard and Pro phones, packages are available for couples, families (three devices), friends (five devices) and wholesale purchasers (10 devices).
The phones are currently in the process of being certified by Google, the FCC, the Conformité Européenne for EU Compliance, UK Conformity Assessed and Japan Approvals Institute for Telecommunications Equipment. These certifications are expected to be obtained by April, before trial and mass production occur in May.
The Elite vs. the Elite Pro
The Elite and Elite Pro differ only in power and storage. The standard Elite comes with a MediaTek Dimensity 7400 chip, while the Pro offers a Dimensity 8400. For storage, you get 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage with the standard, and 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage with the Pro.
Despite rising prices in the memory market caused by AI-driven demand, Unihertz decided to stick with 12GB of RAM. The company says that this is why the Titan 2 Elite costs more than previous Unihertz devices launched on Kickstarter.
Both the standard and Pro versions have a 4.03-inch AMOLED screen, a 50-megapixel rear camera, a 32-megapixel selfie camera, a 4,050-mAh battery, dual-band GPS, fingerprint and face unlocking, Bluetooth 6.0, global 5G coverage and support for two physical SIM cards and an eSIM. You can even swap one of your SIMs for a microSD card, giving you 2TB of extra storage.
Both the Elite and Elite Pro will ship with Android 16 OS, for which Unihertz will give five years of update support and security patches until 2031.