Blackberry’s second Android phone, the delightfully named DTEK50 has finally reached Australian shores, if only in an unofficial capacity. While Blackberry Australia still hasn’t announced local availability, grey-importer BBStore has listed the EMEA/APAC version on their website for $599.50
We’re new to this Blackberry world, but BBStore is apparently based out of Sydney and sells Australian, or at least internationally unlocked stock.
The Blackberry DTEK50 was announced 3 weeks ago, with two models and it’s the Australian model with international LTE bands they’re listing. With the exception of Vodafone’s refarmed 850MHz (Band 5) the phone looks set to be compatible with most Australian LTE networks (it has all the 3G Bands you want), including the Band 3 service available across Vodafone, Telstra and Optus, and the 700MHz (Band 28) frequency used by Optus and Telstra.
4G LTE Frequencies:
- FD-LTE: 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 20, 28A
- TD-LTE: 38, 40, 41
The rest of the hardware reads like your typical mid-range phone, with a Snapdragon 617 SoC, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, but it’s the software side of things that Blackberry is relying on to sell their new Android based phones. The Blackberry DTEK50 has their DTEK security software as well as the vaunted Blackberry Hub
Full Specs for the DTEK50 include:
Specifications table not found: blackberry-neon.
If you’re not willing to wait for an official announcement of the Blackberry DTEK50 in Australia, then this is a good option to check out. Head over to BBStore.com.au and check it out.
My Priv has been very good, it’s hard to get excited about midrange devices but it should be a solid phone once the prices dip a bit.
I wouldn’t mind trying out a BlackBerry phone. eGlobal have the DTEK50 for $433 plus freight costs which is a bit easier to stomach.
BlackBerry have a great reputation with updating the Priv every month with Google’s security patches too.
My only concerns are the weaker SoC and camera. If Ausdroid get a review unit I’ll be looking at the camera and performance sections carefully ?
Clove UK and Unlocked Mobiles UK are both official retailers and ship to Aus, for around AUD$430 express shipped – the same model that BBStore are importing and selling.