DTEK50: BlackBerry’s Sophomore Year

BlackBerry’s follow up to their first Android device, the PRIV, is the aggressively priced DTEK50. At only $299, BlackBerry has built their thinnest, most secure device to date. BlackBerry continues to put to market better and better devices while wholly shifting their focus to software.

Aimed at enterprise fleets, DTEK50 checks many of the boxes you’d want in a device while compromising in a few areas to get there. In their sophomore year on Android, BlackBerry has refined the software story with their preloaded suite of apps, and DTEK50 takes the namesake ‘DTEK’ for its first Android all touch handset. At this price, you cannot ask for much more, especially considering the security offering.

DISPLAY:

One of the highlights of the DTEK50 is how great its display is. It’s clearly one of the nicer 1080p displays out there. Its got decent viewing angles and stays visible outdoors. Colors seem to come across more true on this device in comparison to the PRIV’s OLED panel, however colors are less saturated. It’s a 5.2 in (130 mm) IPS LCD, 1920×1080 pixels, at 424 PPI. It also has an oleophobic coating which has some fingerprint resistance. While there’s no magic here to keep fingerprints off entirely, wiping the screen of grease and smudges is very effective thanks to this coating. As well the screen supports double tap to wake, and double tap to sleep which is a nice addition. It’s impressive to see just how much brighter the DTEK50 can be compared to the PRIV.

CAMERA:

DTEK50 supports Camera2 API which allows third party software deeper access into manual camera controls, but the stock camera app from BlackBerry is actually quite functional. The rear camera sports a 13MP shooter akin to the Passport, but admittedly it gets much better shots with a bit of patience, as there’s no OIS. While not impressive, it is entirely adequate at this price range and can be impressive if you delve into the many manual shooting options available. The winner here is the front-facing 8MP camera with selfie flash. Coming from the PRIV’s shoddy 2MP front-facing cam, the DTEK50 surpasses expectations as a device great for video calls. You can set the power button to launch the camera on a double tap, and even use the volume rockers as a manual camera shutter.

RECEPTION / CALL QUALITY / SOUND:

Calls across the earpiece are average. Reception has also been rather average; at certain locations, the phone dropping to HSPA+ from LTE. Over Wifi and LTE, the phone performs as a smartphone should – reliably. PRIV had adaptive audio software that’s missing here on the DTEK50, and for some reason it’s not missed. In the city, there’s consistent data coverage and WiFi aplenty. Even with the bluetooth connection in the car, DTEK50 performs as expected, juggling cellular connectivity, bluetooth streaming and GPS without a hitch. While at the beach, DTEK50 experienced a few connectivity losses on AT&T’s network, but they were temporary if not negligible.

PERFORMANCE:

The DTEK50 rocks the Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 octo-core CPU with 3GB of RAM. When compared to the hex-core CPU of the Priv, performance actually exceeds its flagship counterpart in many respects. The BlackBerry Hub as noted on Upstream 112 actually loads a second or two faster. As well, Snapchat and other intensive apps seem to background process better on the DTEK50. Overall, it’s reaffirming that BlackBerry has ironed out a lot of the performance bumps in this sophomore offering. With all this said, it’s still a mid-range device. Gaming and apps that are graphically intense will take a bit longer to load, but to be fair this is a ‘secure’ Android offering, and gaming probably isn’t at the top of your to-do list if you’re reading this review.

SOFTWARE:

BlackBerry claims to be more of a software company than a hardware one. Since the PRIV’s launch, there have been several updates to the suite of Android applications that BlackBerry has preloaded onto their devices. DTEK50 comes to the market with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box and a greatly refined BlackBerry software story with the BlackBerry Intelligent Keyboard, BlackBerry Camera, BlackBerry Hub, Password Keeper, Calendar, BBM, Launcher, Notes, Tasks, Device Search and Productivity Edge. These additives are opt-in from what is otherwise a close-to-stock Android handset. Security is the baked into the software from the bottom up.

BATTERY LIFE:

DTEK50 supports similar charging capabilities to the PRIV. Quick Charge 2.0 allows the device to charge up quickly, and on DTEK50 you also get the battery edge, but it only works when the screen is on, which isn’t as cool as PRIV’s ambient edge while charging. DTEK50 sports a 2,610 mAH battery which is middle of the road. Giving up some of the lightness of the device for a larger battery should have been a priority. Alas, the battery should get you about 17 hours of mixed use. In testing, this is about accurate with 3.5 hours of straight, screen-on time. As long as you’re not gaming heavily, DTEK50 should get you through a full day. As said previously, it’s easy to leave the device on a quick charger for 30 minutes and get a solid 30%+ top up on battery life.

ECOSYSTEM:

Android continues to be a wide and accessible mobile platform. Increasingly the market is making better and better cheaper phones. For $299, you can get a lot of phone. Hell, you can get an Idol 4 for $199. With BlackBerry, you’re not buying into the Android ecosystem so much as buying into BlackBerry’s. Buying DTEK50 means you’re locked in for monthly security updates and persistent quick-fixes for new exploits like QuadRooter. If BlackBerry can continue to support these devices with the release of Android N and maintain the cadence of security focused enhancements, the value proposition continues to increase. You can download BlackBerry Hub+ services from Google Play if you want the BlackBerry app experience, but the $299 you pay also pays into the support and update cycle BlackBerry offers. The ecosystem is security here.

CONVENIENCE KEY:

BlackBerry added convenience key support to the nice button on the right side of the device. Don’t mistake it for a power button; this button can be programmed to launch any app on the device or mapped to a specific task supported in the BlackBerry Launcher. Similar to assigning a shortcut to a letter on the PRIV keyboard, this convenience key supports launching apps or specific tasks such as ‘Set an Alarm’ and ‘Compose Email.’ There’s a full list of shortcuts supported by the BlackBerry Launcher. Setting it for a frequently used game or an app like the BlackBerry Hub can also increase productivity. You could even set this key to lock the phone in a pinch.

MISCELLANEOUS:

There are some very minor and subtle differences between the version of Android Marshmallow on the PRIV and the version on the DTEK50. On the DTEK50, some features such as Picture Password and Ambient Battery Edge are not currently supported. When you long press the power button, the menu for Lock, Power and Restart is different (read: more refined) than PRIVs software. Also, you can manually edit the notifications pane and add modules  like NFC, Hotpost and Sound without having to deep dive into developer options. Lastly the notification tray on PRIV says ‘Clear All’ while the DTEK50 simply has a clear all button. DTEK50 has a Maxx WAVES Audio application, an FM radio unlike the Priv.

DUAL SPEAKERS:

In the frame separate from the display panel are laser drilled speakers grills which sit at the top and bottom of the device. These dual-sided speakers were developed in collaboration with JBL. MaxxAudio is a suite of advanced audio enhancement tools from Waves that is preloaded to the device to complement the arrangement with finer controls over the audio experience on this device. The dual-sided system means that, regardless of which way you set the phone down, you’ll hear the same volume level, whether face up or face down. It’s a nice touch, and the speakers themselves sound great. Plugging into the audio-jack, there’s a more noticeable enhancement in the audio quality.

DTEK DEVICE MONITORING:

DTEK50 comes preloaded with an app called DTEK from which it derived its name. DTEK detects security threats at multiple layers on the device. It allows you to monitor specific applications against device permissions. Now, Android Marshmallow already asks the users as permissions are accessed, but being able to monitor that decision once it’s made puts the user in more control over their privacy. At the chip level, DTEK validates that the devices hardware hasn’t been tampered with and that you’re running a genuine version of BlackBerry’s secure Android distribution. DTEK came to form with the Marshmallow update because it can now turn off and on permissions right from the app, giving users the ability to act on the information DTEK supplies.