BlackBerry announces second Android touchscreen handset
Not content with its dwindling fortunes, BlackBerry has announced a brand new, mid-range Android smartphone, the DTEK50. The company is touting the catchy-named DTEK50 as ‘the world’s most secure Android phone’. That claim is sort of a wild one given the open source, vulnerable nature of the Android platform, but BlackBerry promises the phone will let users be more aware of when their privacy could be at risk. Here’s the latest on the BlackBerry DTEK50, with DTEK50 release date, DTEK50 UK price and DTEK50 specs.
This is a good idea for a modern smartphone, but unfortunately leading with such promises isn’t that sexy for consumers to read about – even though privacy is taken very seriously by millions of people all over the world. Sometimes, if it hasn’t got an Apple stamped on it, people just don’t want to know.
We’re not the first publication to point out the similarities in design to the Alcatel Idol 4, which goes to show someone’s supply chains are crossing over somewhere.
BlackBerry DTEK50 release date: When is the BlackBerry DTEK50 coming out?
You can pre-order the BlackBerry DTEK50 now from the company’s official web store.Click here to view.
The site, for UK users, currently says the DTEK50 will ship the week of 8 August 2016, so it won’t be too long at all until you get yours in the post.
BlackBerry DTEK50 price: How much will the BlackBerry DTEK50 cost?
The BlackBerry DTEK50 will cost £275 in the UK. This puts the DTEK50 firmly in the basket marked ‘mid range’, but when we get our hands on one we’ll confirm whether or not it performs well.
This price, until 8 August, gets you a free BlackBerry Mobile Power Pack worth £54.99, which is pretty good.
The pricing reflects the premium leanings of theBlackBerry PRIV, the expensive, high-end Android BlackBerry released last year. So, it makes sense that the DTEK50 assumes the role of second in command in BlackBerry’s Android range so as to cater for a different set of potential customers.
BlackBerry DTEK50 specs
BlackBerry has gone all out with its marketing for the DTEK50, touting it as a very secure smartphone. The details released with it are a tad confusing (read: boring), and it will no doubt appeal to some, but certainly not all.
The headline hardware specs for the DTEK50 are its 5.2in full HD display, support for microSD cards up to 2TB, an 8Mp front facing camera and a rear-facing 13Mp camera. So far, so normal.
These are the features that BlackBerry has listed that make up the security side of the DTEK50:
As you can see, this will not mean an awful lot to the average consumer (nor to us in some instances) but if you’re here then you’re interested in the phone, so you should rest assured that BlackBerry will be doing everything it can to avoid privacy concerns and security breaches from malicious sources.
We’ll have more information on the DTEK50 soon, as well as a full review in the coming weeks.
Author: Henry Burrell, Contributor
Previously Tech Advisor’s Phones Editor, Henry covers and reviews every smartphone worth knowing about. He spends a lot of time moving between different handsets and shouting at WhatsApp to support multiple devices at once.
