BlackBerry rebrands Chinese smartphone, creates the $299 BlackBerry DTEK50

As the first-ever Android phone from BlackBerry, the BlackBerry Priv was an interesting experiment. BlackBerry tried to go super-premium with a $700 phone, but the design, build quality, and specs couldn't back up the price tag. Now, BlackBerry is back with its second Android smartphone, the BlackBerry DTEK50. Rather than worry about the design and build quality itself, BlackBerry has taken the TCL Alcatel Idol 4 and given it a new back plate. The result is a $299 "BlackBerry" that features Alcatel's hardware and Blackberry's software.

The specs are nearly identical to an Alcatel Idol 4. The DTEK50 has a 5.2-inch, 1080p display (424 PPI), an eight-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon 617 (four 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53s and four 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53), 3GB of RAM, 16GB of storage with an SD card, and a 2,610 mAh battery. The rear camera has a 13MP sensor with a dual-LED flash, while the front sports an 8MP sensor. The USB port makes the device seem a tad dated: it still has a MicroUSB port instead of the newer, reversible USB Type C port. The one spec difference we see between the Alcatel Idol 4 and the DTEK50 is that the Idol 4 is clocked a little higher: 1.7GHz versus 1.5GHz.

The device has no keyboard—it's just your regular cheap slab phone with dual front-facing speakers. The rear has a new back piece with the all-important BlackBerry logo and almost looks like it's made out of rubber. The Idol 4 did ship with an extra side hardware button, which BlackBerry has turned into its trademark programmable "convenience" key. Other than that, the "Blackberryness" is going to come in the software and security side. Blackberry is promising a secure boot process with a hardware root of trust and "rapid" security patching.

This phone was previously rumored as the "BlackBerry Hamburg" and is one of two midrange phones we're expecting BlackBerry to release this year. The other one, codenamed "Rome," has a fixed keyboard on the front of the device. Since it's only 7.4mm thick, BlackBerry is calling this "The World's thinnest BlackBerry."

The DTEK50 runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow and is available for preorder today in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands for $299 USD ($429 CDN, €339, and £275). Shipping starts the week of August 8.