BlackBerry Evolve, Evolve X India launch today: Expected features, price

BlackBerry, a Canadian smartphone brand licensed to India-based Optiemus Infracom, is launching the BlackBerry Evolve and BlackBerry Evolve X in India on Thursday i.e. August 2. Unlike the recently launched touch and type design-based smartphone, the BlackBerry Key2, both the Evolve and Evolve X would feature a touchscreen design. The company has been touting the devices to be the most secure Android smartphones, hinting at a possible update for DTEK security suite that has been an integral security software on BlackBerry smartphones.

Before the launch, the company has shared a video teaser on its social media platforms that provides a glimpse of one of the upcoming devices. However, it is certain that both the smartphones would feature same form factor and design language, and the changed would be mostly in terms of specifications. In the teaser, the phone’s metallic chassis with chamfered edges is shown, along with an all touchscreen design on the front and a six-lens camera module on the back. One of the upcoming phones is also expected to sport dual rear camera set-up. The camera module is shown along with infrared blaster, which is used for phase detection autofocus.

The teaser also shows that the backside of the phones would feature soft texture design, similar to Key2 smartphone. However, the camera module is placed in the centre, along with fingerprint sensor and BlackBerry logo. Considering the fact that BlackBerry devices are more software-centric than hardware, the phones are expected to get midrange specifications. However, the phones are expected to feature a 4,000 mAh battery and boot Google Android 8.1 operating system, customised by BlackBerry. The phones would get the company’s DTEK security suite, which provided granular control over every app and the background services they use. The phones would also get BlackBerry touch keyboard, instead of Google keyboard, that provides company’s physical keyboard utilities such as keyword suggestions, swipe to type, short handwriting, etc.

While there is no official confirmation on the phone's pricing, the BlackBerry Evolve is expected to price in sub-Rs 45,000 and the Evolve X is expected to get sub-Rs 40,000 price tag.