However, it seems that BlackBerry has already started its outsourcing operations with these two new phones. These phones are made by the Chinese company TCL and they are very similar to Alcatel Idol 4 and Idol 4S and perhaps the reason for this is TCL. So is there anything special and different in these smartphones apart from the new software and new stickers on the rear? Today we will review BlackBerry’s affordable smartphone DTech50 and try to answer all the questions.
BlackBerry DTEK50 look and design
Talking about design and build, the DTech50 looks a little different. Most of the front is made of glass and the edges are made of metal. But the rear of the phone is made of solid plastic which has a grainy texture which looks very strange. Space has been provided for the stereo speaker grill except at the top and bottom on the rim of the phone. It looks like two shapes have been merged together.
While the grip of the phone is easy, the dull gray rear panel of the BlackBerry DTEK50 reminds us of an anti-slip mat. Due to this, neither does the phone look beautiful nor does BlackBerry’s attempt to give the DTech50 a rugged look seem successful. The similarly priced BlackBerry Leap feels prettier in this regard.
There is no branding on the front of the phone and with on-screen Android navigation controls on the front, the phone looks completely plain. There is a power button on the left, which is a little difficult to get used to, while on the left below the volume buttons, BlackBerry’s program ‘convenience key’ is given. There is a 3.5 mm audio jack on the top and a micro-USB port on the bottom.
The SIM and microSD card slots are clearly placed on the rest of the rim of the phone. There is a camera and flash in one corner on the rear. While a big logo of BlackBerry is given in the middle. The battery is not removable.
Overall, we like the looks of the DTech50. We found this design to be the most common among phones made by a company famous for making smartphones with unique designs and it does not have a distinct identity of its own. Another thing that is important to mention is that the metal rim part is sharper than the rest of the phone, which makes it not convenient to hold the phone while talking. But with a light weight of 135 grams, the phone is easy to hold and use with one hand.
blackberry dtec50 specifications
Till now we have seen BlackBerry many times making phones with low-end specifications at a higher price. Both the Leap and Z3 smartphones were launched around the price of DTech50. And the specifications and features of these phones disappointed us a lot. The good thing is that this is not the case this time. BlackBerry has understood what the essential requirements should be in a smartphone and perhaps that is why the DTech50 has been given the latest specifications.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor looks a bit old but still gets the job done. This processor is seen in phones priced below Rs 15,000. The Snapdragon 617 is an octa-core processor that comes with Adreno 405 GPU and wireless communications. The phone has 3 GB RAM but only 16 GB storage is provided in the phone. Storage can be expanded up to 2 TB via microSD card.
For the first time, BlackBerry has provided a full HD display in a phone of this price. The screen is 5.2 inches and its density is 424 ppi. The phone has a 13 megapixel rear camera and 8 megapixel front camera. Both phones can record video at 1080 pixels at up to 30 frames per second.
The phone supports LTE on Indian bands. This is a single SIM phone and the phone comes with a hybrid SIM slot. Apart from this, the phone has features like Wi-Fi 802.11 ac, Bluetooth 4.2, A-GPS, NFC and FM radio.
Fingerprint sensor is not provided in DTech50 whereas DTech60 comes with fingerprint sensor. This phone has a small battery of 2610 mAh. Quick Charge 2.0 is supported but like BlackBerry Priv, you will need to purchase a charger from the market.
The biggest feature of DTech50 is that it runs on Android OS with the security features of BlackBerry. Our review unit was running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, which is not the latest version. BlackBerry claims to be the fastest to release security features by industry standards, but it’s not off to a strong start.
The DTech50’s software looks a lot like the BlackBerry Priv. But due to its price many people could not experience it. But now this software can be experienced with BlackBerry DTEK50. The good thing for Android users is that BlackBerry has tried to maintain the visual touch of its OS but the UI customization is not entirely traditional. You will get standard Android home screen, app drawer, notification shade, Settings app and Google Play Store in the phone. All navigation controls and conventions are completely standard Android based.
What we liked most about the BlackBerry Priv was its home screen widget, which can be accessed by swiping up or down on an app icon. It is the same this time also. Almost all the shortcuts in the phone work with a single touch, whether it is enabling Wi-Fi or calling a contact.
To make its Android smartphone different, BlackBerry has given many of its own software in it. The phone has BlackBerry Hub, Messenger, Search and DTech apps. These apps are not fully integrated into the launcher and hence BlackBerry Hub is provided as a separate app. But like the BB10 device, it doesn’t open with just a swipe. But BB10 has a gesture feature that opens the hub by swiping up from the bottom of the screen and then swiping to the right.
While using all the BlackBerry apps for the first time, the user will have to take many Android permissions. The BlackBerry Hub works the same way it always has.
blackberry dtec50 performance
As expected, the DTech50 performs like a mid-range smartphone. The phone has powerful components for normal work and playing games. Due to the big and sharp screen, every type of content looks good. And stereo speakers make watching videos and playing games more fun. We felt that the volume was a bit low during calls but during normal use it worked well.
The phone performed well in benchmark tests and scored well on DTech50. Apart from this, the phone did not get hot during use which is a very good thing.
The camera performance of the phone was a surprisingly good package. Photos taken in daylight come with details. Apart from this, color production is also good and especially in macro shots. Focusing happens faster. However, autofocus doesn’t work 100% every time. Photos taken in low light, however, remain of slightly lower quality.
On the other hand, battery life is a major drawback of this phone. The phone doesn’t last even a day with camera usage and video streaming over 4G. In our HD video loop test, the phone’s battery lasted only 6 hours and 57 minutes. This is very low for any phone coming in this price.
our decision
It does not matter what the price and specifications of BlackBerry’s phones launched till now have been, whether they were successful or not, but they always proved to be memorable. Some of these like BlackBerry Priv and Passport smartphones became the new identity of the company. The DTech50 has much better hardware than previous budget BlackBerrys. It seems that TCL has fitted the BlackBerry logo on one of its products. For most customers, it is nothing more than just another Android smartphone.
But it’s certainly not a useless and disappointing device like the BlackBerry Leap. In this phone you will get better performance, good screen and great camera. But these features and specifications are not enough to make it to our list of current smartphones under Rs 20,000 in the market. Especially weak battery. If someone wants to buy this phone, then perhaps some company wants to provide phones to its employees for secure data. Or those people who are old fans of BlackBerry in India and Indonesia and wish to return to the old days.