BlackBerry announces the the Android powered DTEK50

5:28:00 PM dickwyn 0 Comments

Following last year's launch of the BlackBerry Priv, it was clear that the future of BlackBerry is Android. Building upon the Priv, today BlackBerry is announcing their second android smartphone which also gets the 'world's most secure android smartphone' tag. Officially called the BlackBerry DTEK50, the smartphone is actually a rebranded Alcatel Idol 4.

BlackBerry DTEK50 (Neon) Key Specifications

— 5.2-inch 1080P IPS LCD display

— Snapdragon 617 SoC
— 3GB RAM
— 16GB expandable memory
— 13MP f2.0 rear camera
— 8MP front camera
— Android 6.0 Marshmallow
— 2,610mAh battery
— 147 mm x 72.5 mm x 7.4 mm
— 135g

For what it's worth, the BlackBerry DTEK50 is just a regular android smartphone. It's not going to win over anyone for it's design or hardware specifications. BlackBerry is targeting the DTEK50 for people who wanted the Priv but can't afford the high price tag. The DTEK50 comes encrypted (FIPS 140-2 compliant full disk encryption) out of the box and comes with security features like rapid security patching, secure boot process, Android OS hardening and hardware root of trust.

Compared to other Android smartphones, the BlackBerry Priv is nothing too amazing, most notably is that the DTEK50 doesn't come with the hardware slide-out keyboard that the Priv inherited from BlackBerry phones. Instead, the DTEK50 relies solely on the BlackBerry Intelligent Keyboard for accurate typing.

BlackBerry is now taking pre-orders for the DTEK50 in select regions for US$ 299 (~MYR 1,200) and the device will begin shipping on August 8.