Available in the US and other markets since earlier this week, the BlackBerry DTEK60 is a high-end smartphone that costs less than your typical high-end handset from major companies. The DTEK60 is priced at $499 unlocked, and offers quite a lot for that kind of money, including an aluminum and glass body, a 5.5-inch Quad HD screen, a Snapdragon 820 CPU, 4 GB of RAM, and so on.

In a video interview, BlackBerry COO Marty Beard said that the company's "very proud" of the DTEK60, and that the handset can go head to head __with other 5.5-inch phones like the iPhone 7 Plus and Google Pixel XL. In fact, Marty Beard argues that the DTEK60 has some advantages. Besides being about $200 cheaper, the BlackBerry DTEK60 is a bit smaller and thinner than the iPhone 7 Plus and Pixel XL, and, thanks to BlackBerry's software (integrated into Android), it's also an "incredibly secure phone." Moreover, Mr. Beard says the DTEK60 has better battery life than the iPhone 7 Plus, being able to offer up to a day and half of use on a single charge.

We haven't tested the BlackBerry DTEK60 yet, so we can't say if it can indeed stand next to the iPhone 7 Plus and Google Pixel XL. But this does seem to be a worthy alternative to these Apple and Google devices, especially if you want to save a few hundred bucks.

You can check out a detailed specs comparison between the BlackBerry DTEK60, iPhone 7 Plus, and Google Pixel XL below. You could also chime in in the comments section to let us know what you think about this new BlackBerry smartphone - which will certainly not be the last BlackBerry-branded handset.

BlackBerry DTEK60 vs Apple iPhone 7 Plus vs Google Pixel XL

BlackBerry DTEK60

Apple iPhone 7 Plus

Google Pixel XL

Design
OS	Android (6.0)	iOS (10.x)	Android (7.1)
Dimensions	6.06 x 2.97 x 0.28 inches (153.9 x 75.4 x 7 mm)	6.23 x 3.07 x 0.29 inches (158.2 x 77.9 x 7.3 mm)	6.09 x 2.98 x 0.34 inches (154.72 x 75.74 x 8.6 mm)
Weight	5.82 oz (165 g) the average is 5.2 oz (149 g)	6.63 oz (188 g) the average is 5.2 oz (149 g)	5.93 oz (168 g) the average is 5.2 oz (149 g)
Materials	Main body: glass; Accents: glass	Main body: aluminum	Main body: aluminum; Accents: glass
Features	Fingerprint (touch)	Fingerprint (touch)	Fingerprint (touch)
Rugged		Water, Dust resistant	Splash, Dust resistant
IP certified		IP 67	IP 53

Display
Physical size	5.5 inches	5.5 inches	5.5 inches
Resolution	1440 x 2560 pixels	1080 x 1920 pixels	1440 x 2560 pixels
Pixel density Pixel density - The pixel density of a display represents the number of pixels over an area of one inch. It’s measured in “pixels per inch”, or ppi. The higher the number, the more detailed and good-looking the display is.	534 ppi	401 ppi	534 ppi
Technology Technology - There are two main screen technologies currently used in phones and tablets: LCD and AMOLED. The former usually features a light source and liquid crystals, while the latter is based on organic light-emitting diodes. Newer LCD variations like IPS-LCD and Super-LCD allow for very accurate color reproduction and very wide viewing angles, where no significant image quality loss is observed. Current AMOLED screens differ in such a way that they can exhibit much more saturated colors (sometimes too much) and incredibly high contrast levels, which is due to black color being completely black in AMOLED displays.		IPS LCD	AMOLED
Screen-to-body ratio	71.82 %	67.58 %	71.22 %
Colors	16 777 216	16 777 216	16 777 216
Peak brightness		625 cd/m2 (nit)

Camera
Camera	21 megapixels	12 megapixels	12.3 megapixels
Flash	Dual LED	Quad LED	Dual LED
Aperture size Aperture size - The aperture of a camera is the opening through which light travels before it reaches the camera sensor. The smaller the number is, the bigger this opening is, allowing for more light to pass.	F2.0	F1.8	F2.0
Camera sensor size		1/2.6"
Pixel size			1.55 μm
Optical zoom		2.0 x
Hardware Features	Autofocus	Sapphire crystal lens cover, Optical image stabilization, Autofocus, Back-illuminated sensor (BSI)	Autofocus
Software Features	Touch to focus, Face detection, Self-timer, Digital zoom, Geo tagging	RAW image capture, Touch to focus, Face detection, Self-timer, Digital zoom, Geo tagging	Digital image stabilization, Digital zoom, Geo tagging
Camcorder	3840x2160 (4K) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (1080p HD), 1280x720 (720p HD) (120 fps)	3840x2160 (4K) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (1080p HD) (120 fps), 1280x720 (720p HD) (240 fps)	3840x2160 (4K) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (1080p HD) (120 fps), 1280x720 (720p HD) (240 fps)
Features	Digital image stabilization, Video calling, Video sharing	Optical image stabilization, Time-lapse video, Continuous autofocus, Video calling, Video sharing	Video calling, Video sharing
Front-facing camera	8 megapixels	7 megapixels	8 megapixels
Video capture	1920x1080 (1080p HD) (30 fps)	1920x1080 (1080p HD)	1920x1080 (1080p HD) (30 fps)

Hardware
System chip System chip - Most modern handsets use an advanced chip that includes many of the device’s hardware modules like the processor, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and sometimes even the wireless radio. This field shows what particular system chip (or System-on-a-Chip) is used in the phone.	Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 MSM8996	Apple A10 Fusion	Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 MSM8996 Pro
Processor Processor - The processor is the main computing component of a phone and is a major factor when it comes to the overall speed of the device. Some more powerful smartphones use dual-core and quad-core processors designed to deliver greater performance.	Quad-core, 2150 MHz, Kryo, 64-bit	Quad-core, 2340 MHz, 64-bit	Quad-core, 2150 MHz, Kryo, 64-bit
Graphics processor	Adreno 530	Yes	Adreno 530
System memory System memory - System memory, or RAM memory is the type of memory that the device uses to temporarily store data from the OS or currently-running apps. The more RAM available to the device, the better the performance will be when multiple or heavier programs are running.	4 GB RAM / LPDDR4	3 GB RAM / LPDDR4	4 GB RAM / LPDDR4
Built-in storage	32 GB	256 GB	128 GB
Storage expansion	microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC

Battery
Capacity	3000 mAh	2900 mAh	3450 mAh
Fast Charge	Yes		Yes
Talk time	26.00 hours the average is 15 h (874 min)		32.00 hours the average is 15 h (874 min)
Stand-by time	14.0 days (336 hours) the average is 15 days (365 h)		21.8 days (522 hours) the average is 15 days (365 h)
Talk time (3G)		21.00 hours the average is 17 h (1012 min)
Stand-by time (3G)		16.0 days (384 hours) the average is 21 days (506 h)
Internet use
3G		13 hours
LTE		13 hours	14 hours
Wi-Fi		15 hours	14 hours
Music playback	88.00 hours	60.00 hours	130.00 hours
Video playback	17.00 hours	12.00 hours	14.00 hours

Cellular
CDMA CDMA - Code Division Multiple Access. A technique of multiplexing, also called spread spectrum, in which analog signals are converted into digital form for transmission. For each communication channel, the signals are encoded in a sequence known to the transmitter and the receiver for that channel. The foremost application is digital cellular phone technology from QUALCOMM that operates in the 800MHz band and 1.9GHz PCS band. CDMA phones are noted for their excellent call quality and long battery life.			800, 1900 MHz
GSM	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz	850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
UMTS	850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz	850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900 MHz	850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz
LTE (FDD)	Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 19, 20, 28	Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30	Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 20, 25, 26
LTE (TDD)	Bands 38, 40, 41	Bands 38, 39, 40, 41	Bands 41
Data	LTE-A Cat 6 (300/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA	LTE-A Cat 12 (600/100 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s	LTE-A Cat 11 (600/75 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA, UMTS

Shopping information
MSRP price	€ 579 / $ 499	$ 969	$ 869