BlackBerry Launches World's "Most Secure Android Smartphone"

The name is not as elegant as iPhone, Nexus, or Galaxy. But BlackBerry is promising that the DTEK50 is, in an era of myriad cyber threats, the world’s most secure Android smartphone.

Now available for preorders for a modest $300, the Marshmallow 6.0-powered device combines Android’s operating system with BlackBerry’s security, privacy and productivity features.

“DTEK50 merges the unique security and connectivity features BlackBerry is known for with the rich Android ecosystem,” said Ralph Pini, Chief Operating Officer and General Manager, Devices, BlackBerry.

In a recent survey¹ of Android smartphone users, BlackBerry found that 50 per cent believe their smartphone is only somewhat secure, and what’s more, despite data security fears, one in six Android users don’t know about Android security patches.

“You wouldn’t leave the doors of your house unlocked at night. Having a smartphone that doesn’t take your privacy seriously is the equivalent,” said David Kleidermacher, Chief Security Officer, BlackBerry.

DTEK50 encrypts all users’ information, including business critical data and personal data such as pictures, videos and contacts. Malware protection is also built-in along with back-up, wipe and restore capabilities.

Additional software provides users with visibility and control over which apps get access to personal info or device features such as the microphone or camera. BlackBerry also delivers security patches on the same day that Google publicly releases information about them, while many popular Android smartphones put the users’ private information at risk of being hacked due to slow security updates.

The DTEK50 features a 5.2-inch screen, expandable memory up to 2GB, and a 13-megapixel camera.