BlackBerry DTEK60 hands-on, first impressions

Last month, BlackBerry announced their latest Android smartphone and follow up to the DTEK50 – the DTEK60. Its hardware is built by TCL but the Android software is hardened by BlackBerry themselves. Check out our first impressions below.

Right off the bat, the DTEK60 looks similar to the DTEK50 on the front and sides, at least. On the front is the 5.5-inch display with Quad HD resolution which translates to 534ppi. Its an AMOLED screen which gives off vibrant colors and deep blacks. Above it is the 8MP front camera, sensors, and the loudspeaker/earpiece. Since uses on-screen navigation buttons so the bottom bezel doesn’t house any capacitive keys. Located further below is another loudspeaker.

To the right, we have the metallic volume rocker and the convenience key for quick shortcuts. Like with the DTEK50, this will confuse first-time users and mistake it for the power/lock button. It even looks similar to the power/lock button on older Sony Xperia devices.

Looking at the left, here we’ll find the power/lock button, and the tray for the SIM and microSD card in a hybrid setup.

At the top are the headset jack, microphone, and a couple of antenna bands. Down at the bottom are the USB-C port and another microphone.

Flip it on its back and you will be greeted by the glass back, along with the protruding 21MP camera, LED flash, fingerprint scanner, and the BlackBerry logo. Also found here are two more speaker grilles located at the top and bottom. Just opposite the front-facing loudspeakers. Speaker quality is good and gives off a stereo feel. The front and back are not equally-sounding though as most of the audio is channeled to the front.

On the hand, the DTEK60 feels very premium thanks to its metal frame and glass front and back. The beveled edges on the frame add grip as well as an attractive sheen when light hits it from a certain angle. We also admire how thin it is at 7mm and light at 165g.

Under the hood, we have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 CPU, 4GB RAM, 3,000mAh battery, and Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. The OS has been tweaked by BlackBerry but still simple enough to use. There’s the addition of the BlackBerry Hub which consolidates all your messages from multiple apps in one inbox, and the productivity tab which is always accessible on the right side edge which shows you a summary of calendar events and tasks. There’s also the DTEK app which provides you an update on the health of the security of your device.

As for the benchmarks, take a look at the benchmark scores below:

* AnTuTu – 125,574
* Quadrant Standard – 43,505
* Vellamo – 3,617 (Multicore), 3,504 (Metal), 5,944 (Chrome)
* 3D Mark – 2,290 (Sling Shot ES 3.1)
* PC Mark – 4,766 (Work 2.0)

We also did our video loop test to determine its battery performance using a full HD video on loop with the device in Airplane mode with headset plugged in at 50% brightness and volume. The result is around 19 hours of playback which is good.

So far we’re liking the BlackBerry DTEK60, and to be honest we like it better than the BlackBerry-made PRIV. Although it looks similar to the DTEK50, it is more premium and powerful. It’s slim, has a great display, performs well, and is one of the most secure Android smartphones in the market. The only downside is that it’s not officially offered in the market yet, but can be had through local online sellers like Widget City for Php25,500USD 435INR 36,837EUR 414CNY 3,165. See listing here.

BlackBerry DTEK60 specs:
5.5-inch QHD AMOLED display, 534ppi
2.15GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 quad-core CPU
Adreno 530 GPU
4GB RAM
32GB storage
up to 2TB via microSD
21MP PDAF rear camera w/ LED flash
4K video recording
8MP front camera
4G LTE
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth 4.2 LE, EDR
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou
NFC
Fingerprint scanner
USB Type-C
Gyroscope
Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
3,000mAh battery w/ Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0
153.9 x 75.4 x 7mm
165g