BlackBerry Brings DTEK50 & DTEK60 Android Smartphones for Rs. 21,990 and Rs. 46,990; Will These Smartphones Help Revive its Market Share in India?

Earlier this year, BlackBerry had announced the launch of three new Android smartphones, codenamed DTEK series. Soon after, BlackBerry announced that it will exit the hardware business and focus primarily on software.

BlackBerry launched the DTEK50 and DTEK60 smartphones this year, and both of them have arrived at the Indian shores. Priced at Rs. 21,990 and Rs. 46,990, the smartphones are said to be very safe and secure. The DTEK software app is the inspiration behind the name, and the phones have security features otherwise not present in Android phones these days.

Let’s take a look at the key specifications –

Blackberry DTEK50

• 5.2’’ IPS LCD scratch-resistant full-HD display, 441 ppi
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor coupled with 3GB RAM and 16GB ROM, microSD card storage slot supporting upto 256GB
• 13MP primary autofocus camera and an 8MP front-facing camera
• Android 6.0 Marshmallow out-of-the-box
• 2,610 mAh battery with Quick Charge 2.0

Blackberry DTEK60

• 5.5’’ AMOLED scratch-resistant 2K display, 534 ppi
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor coupled with 4GB RAM and 32GB ROM, microSD card storage slot supporting upto 256GB
• 21MP primary autofocus camera and an 8MP front-facing camera
• Android 6.0 Marshmallow out-of-the-box
• 3,000 mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0
• Fingerprint sensor
• USB Type-C

It can be clearly seen that DTEK50 gets some cost-cutting features like a lack of USB Type-C port, lack of Quick Charge 3.0 support and fingerprint sensor, mid-range Snapdragon SoC and a smaller battery. DTEK60 seems a tad under equipped as well, considering smartphones at that price come with bigger specs.

The smartphones are priced at $299 and $499 in the US, which makes the price difference huge in India, and quite unfair to be honest.

Does BlackBerry still have a chance at making it in India?

Android shipments captured 87.5% of the market, while the miscellaneous brands captured only 0.5% of the shipments. This goes to show the decline of smartphone makers like BlackBerry etc. that took too long to adopt this OS.

Furthermore, now that BlackBerry has finally adopted Android OS, it fails to realise that the smartphones are overpriced, and to get back in the game it needs to make sure that the prices are in competition with other smartphone makers.

The specs DTEK50 carries can actually be seen in Moto G4 that is priced at nearly Rs. 13,000, while the specs DTEK60 carries can be found in a OnePlus Two, an older generation OnePlus flagship that still holds strong. These phones are priced at nearly half the price of BlackBerry phones.

It’s a shame that the company is not able to realise this simple fact and continues to fool the customers. Now that the company has exited the hardware business, it must look around for cheaper models to put its software in. The decline of BlackBerry started when while it aged, Android and iOS sped far ahead.

The only good thing DTEK50 and DTEK60 come with is the software. It is purported to be extremely safe, has good security measures and converted BlackBerry users will definitely like this feature.

The devices will start selling by the first week of December, but the sales will be extremely low and the company might roll back these products. If you’re a BlackBerry user and miss the security features, then these phones are perfect for you.

Source: BlackBerry