What company in 2016 advertises a phone as having a touchscreen?
BlackBerry does. Now, I know it's because the Canadian mobile granddad
distinguishes between its keyboard and touch devices, but does that
really need to be on the box?
BlackBerry is this week introducing its second Android handset, the DTEK50, which is being promoted as "the world's most secure smartphone."
I've just gotten to try it out for myself and it has frankly surpassed
my expectations. If BlackBerry could just get out of its own way and
present its devices without trying to inflate pedestrian features, I
think the company might have a pretty good device on its hands.
Then again, the thing to understand with the DTEK50 is that it's
not about the device at all. This is an off-the-shelf reference design
from TCL, which you'll already have seen in the form of the Alcatel Idol 4.
The only BlackBerry difference is the replacement of the Idol's glass
back with a distinctly utilitarian rubber surface. It's highly unusual
for a phone, feeling like something you might use to scrub kitchen
surfaces with, but I guess it conveys the point about this being a
no-nonsense business phone.
BlackBerry's sales pitch with this handset is about security. The
company isn't just securing the bootloader, it's going below that layer
and cryptographically signing the chipset as well. Once you have the
DTEK50 up and running, the titular DTEK app (available only on
BlackBerry phones) lets you monitor and granularly control every app's
access to system resources and information.
BlackBerry also promises to have a zero-day delay on delivering
Google's monthly security patches. When I raised the point about
"zero-day" being a common term to refer to severe software vulnerabilities,
I was met with blank stares. This is what I mean about BlackBerry's
marketing: the company finds awful ways to communicate good things. Most
Android manufacturers struggle or simply refuse (Hello, Moto!)
to keep up with Google's monthly schedule for patches, and BlackBerry's
commitment to deliver them on the same day they become available is
laudable and a real advantage. If BlackBerry can earn people's trust, their dollars will follow
The more I learned about the DTEK50, the more I understood
BlackBerry's premise behind the phone. The hardware is spartan and basic
because it's not what matters anymore. What people want is to have a
sense of being taken care of, the notion of having someone looking out
for their mobile security and wellbeing. Many might scoff at the very
idea of trying to secure Android, but BlackBerry has given me more
reason to trust that it is indeed doing something about this issue than
any other Android OEM. Even if I never use the BlackBerry Hub, I can
appreciate the company's gradual improvements — which in the latest
version include a pinching gesture that instantly filters messages by
either unread status, flags, or markers of importance. There's
definitely maturation and improvement going on with BlackBerry's Android
software, offering at least the potential for a full-fledged,
differentiated BlackBerry experience.
Maybe I'm grasping at straws here. After all, at $299.99, the DTEK50
is cheap only by BlackBerry standards and would struggle to convince
price-sensitive Android shoppers. This year's Moto G
has the same Snapdragon 617 processor and a bigger battery inside,
while offering a larger 1080p display than the DTEK50 at a lower price.
Can the 5.2-inch DTEK50 overcome its hardware limitations with the
promise of a more attentive manufacturer that takes care of the things
that truly matter?
One thing that gives me greater confidence in BlackBerry than Moto is
that the DTEK50 feels more fluid and responsive than the G. Its camera
works faster and, on the evidence of my first few tries, doesn't appear
to be terrible. I like the simplicity of this phone's design, even if
BlackBerry's only involvement was to downgrade it with that rubbery back
cover. And I also like the clarity of the display. It just feels like a
really decent phone.
Having endured BlackBerry's painfully corporate and stilted
presentation for the DTEK50 yesterday, I was preparing my jokes about an
out-of-touch company delivering out-of-touch products. The weird thing
is that I actually like the DTEK50 and I see room for it out in the
world. If BlackBerry's promises of superior security and fast and
regular updates prove legitimate over the coming weeks and months, this
might turn out to indeed be a respectable business phone. Let's just
keep its most basic specs off the pretty box, shall we, BlackBerry?
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