BlackBerry Gets Official With Security-Focused $499 DTEK60 Snapdragon 820 Flagship

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BlackBerry is no longer designing and manufacturing its own smartphones, which means that we’ll no longer see daring designs like the Priv or Passport. What this does mean, however, is that those that are still firmly in the BlackBerry smartphone camp will instead get “new” devices that are essentially recycled designs from other OEMs.

In this case, BlackBerry’s newest DTEK60 flagship is manufactured by Chinese OEM TCL and bares more than a passing resemblance to the Alcatel Idol 4S. The DTEK60 is by no means a slouch in the specs department, as it features a 5.5-inch QHD (2560 x 1440) display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor with 4GB RAM, and 32GB of internal storage. If 32GB isn’t enough for you, the microSD slot will allow you to expand storage to 2TB.

Other features include a 21MP rear camera, 8MP selfie camera, USB Type-C port (USB 2.0 speeds), rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, 3,000 mAh battery with QuickCharge 3.0 support, 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2, and NFC.

DTEK60

On the software front, the DTEK60 is running Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box. However, BlackBerry says that it’s working on an upgrade path to Android 7.0 Nougat for customers. And as you might expect, the DTEK60 comes with a full suite of BlackBerry apps including Keyboard, Hub, Launcher, Password Keeper, and Calendar. You’ll also find the full suits of core Google apps like YouTube, Hangouts, and Google Play.

For security-minded individuals and businesses, the DTEK60 features the Secure Bootloader to ward off attacks on the Android OS along with FIPS 140-2 encryption and the DTEK app to “monitor and fix privacy violations”.

“With the DTEK60, BlackBerry continues to focus on our strengths: state-of-the-art software and security solutions. When you see our logo it means security, from our class-leading enterprise software to devices secured by BlackBerry software,” said Ralph Pini, COO and GM of Mobility Solutions at BlackBerry. 

The BlackBerry DTEK60 is available to purchase right now from the ShopBlackBerry.com for $499.