The BlackBerry DTEK60, no matter how the weird the name might sound, happens to be the second Android-powered BlackBerry smartphone released this year.
Made in partnership with Chinese OEM TCL, the BlackBerry DTEK60 is a smooth, slim and beautifully curved smartphone that comes with all the best security features from BlackBerry – but what does it mean for the Canadian company as far as the smartphone world is concerned?
BlackBerry’s first attempt in the Android ecosystem was a flagship BlackBerry Priv. It carried all the latest hardware, software as well as features back then. It also featured a unique design that saw BlackBerry preserve its iconic physical QWERTY keyboard, but with a new design for the phone. Apparently, the Priv has failed to impress, most probably due to its high price tag.
For a company like BlackBerry, which is looking to re-establish its brand after years of successful business with its own BB10 and now unable to compete with powerhouses such as Android, options are limited. It is said that when you go to Rome, do what the Romans do. Well, BlackBerry came to Android, but it did not conform to the Android norm – affordability.
What has made Android a name is the availability of many phones that are priced affordably, even for those with high-end specs from the likes of OnePlus, Huawei, LeEco and Xiaomi, among others. In order to compete with these companies, BlackBerry had to come in with an equally affordable phone that boasts similarly high-end specs and features and the DTEK60 meets this description perfectly.
Priced at $499, the BlackBerry DTEK60 is in a perfect position to compete with any other major name in the industry as well as other unknown OEMs from China and other parts of the world. As mentioned earlier, you get a very beautiful and minimalist design alongside a fingerprint scanner and a great camera, among other specs and features.
There is Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box alongside a Snapdragon 820 SoC that is paired with a massive RAM of 4GB and 32GB of expandable storage. The BlackBerry DTEK60 packs a huge 21MP snapper on the back with everything you can possibly think of in a smartphone camera, but there is no OIS. The front snapper holds a decent 8MP sensor that should be enough for selfies and video calls.
The screen of the handset is similarly impressive. You get a decent 5.5-inch AMOLED panel with QHD resolution – similar to the likes of Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, HTC 10, LG G5 and Google Pixel XL, just to name but a few. The battery unit stands at 3000mAh, but you get support for fast charging from Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 technology.
If you thought this is everything about the BlackBerry DTEK60, well, think again. BlackBerry is known for its high priority on security and privacy matters. Well, the Canadian company has baked every aspect of its smartphone security into the DTEK60, meaning you won’t see cases like recent times where it was reported that cheap Chinese phones are sending back personal user data to servers in the Asian country after every 72 hours.
As mentioned earlier, the BlackBerry DTEK60 has a price tag of just $499, which makes it one of the most affordable flagships in the current market, only beaten by the likes of LeEco Le Pro 3 and OnePlus 3T, among others. But according to BlackBerry, this phone is the best you can get when security and privacy are high on your list. When the preinstalled features are coupled with monthly Android security patches, the company believes that the DTEK60 will be the most impenetrable Android phone on the planet.
Do you think the BlackBerry DTEK60 will take BB back to its glory days? Share your views with us.
I’ve been using the phone for a little over two weeks. I’ve used phones from every ecosystem and vendor. I’m happy to say that right now BlackBerry has the best phone on the market
You forgot to mention ‘productivity’ Blackberry is known for it’s Security, Privacy and Productivity. Dtek60 is the only all touch phablet on the market that has a universal inbox (hub), the hub integrates up to about a dozen communication and social media related apps into one, complete with custom views and widgets that give access to those custom views. On top of that it has a customizable shortcut launcher that allows users to perform tasks within apps after only a single touch and the best in class virtual keyboard.
In reality you can compare it to other flaghsips and the differences are negligible. But when you acknowledge the features this device has that others don’t you’ll realise the dtek 60 is in a class of its own. holding out on the next qwerty personally. hotkey navigation can’t be matched