Hands-on with Silent Circle Blackphone 2: in pictures

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  • Blackphone 2: An Android phone with a privacy twist

    Blackphone 2: An Android phone with a privacy twist

    Silent Circle's second-generation smartphone, the Blackphone 2, runs like any other Android phone -- with a twist. It's bolstered with a security center that helps users lock down their devices to prevent hackers from gaining access to their sensitive data.

    Photo by: ZDNet/CBS Interactive

    Caption by: Zack Whittaker

  • A phablet-sized phone for the privacy-minded

    A phablet-sized phone for the privacy-minded

    The phone has curved corners and lightly textured edges, making it easy to hold, despite being on the larger size. It's about the same size as a iPhone 6 Plus, which can be too big for some people's hands.

    Photo by: ZDNet/CBS Interactive

    Caption by: Zack Whittaker

  • A 13-megapixel rear camera, with flash

    A 13-megapixel rear camera, with flash

    The 13-megapixel camera is fair in general testing. The phone itself has all the trimmings of a modern smartphone, but has a software core designed at strengthening a user's privacy.

    Photo by: ZDNet/CBS Interactive

    Caption by: Zack Whittaker

  • Thin, light, but bulky

    Thin, light, but bulky

    Blackphone 2 is 7.9mm thin, slightly thicker than an iPhone 6 Plus, which is size-for-size almost identical. It comes with a standard 3.5mm headphone jack for watching and listening to music and video content.

    Photo by: ZDNet/CBS Interactive

    Caption by: Zack Whittaker

  • Battery lasts about a working day

    Battery lasts about a working day

    The phone comes with Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0, which the company says can charge the battery to about 60 percent from zero in as little as half-an-hour. In field testing, the phone made good on this promise, give or take a few percentage points.

    Photo by: ZDNet/CBS Interactive

    Caption by: Zack Whittaker

  • Blackphone's glossy back has its flaws

    Blackphone's glossy back has its flaws

    The Blackphone 2 is as haunting to look at as its name might suggest, donning a back-to-front glossy, glass-like black finish. But be careful of fingerprints: the phone can get grubby quickly.

    Photo by: ZDNet/CBS Interactive

    Caption by: Zack Whittaker

  • Volume fared poorly in real-world testing

    Volume fared poorly in real-world testing

    It's worth noting that the device's modestly-sized back-facing loudspeaker was difficult to hear when out and about on the streets of London. Even in quiet spaces, listening to music was difficult at times, because of the position of the speaker and its limited maximum volume.

    Photo by: ZDNet/CBS Interactive

    Caption by: Zack Whittaker

  • Sharp, vivid 5.5-inches high definition display

    Sharp, vivid 5.5-inches high definition display

    The Blackphone 2 boasts a crisp and sharp high-definition display, making 1080p videos look stunning and perfectly rendered. The smartphone has 32GB internal encrypted memory for documents and files, but a 128GB expandable card slot for music and videos.

    Photo by: ZDNet/CBS Interactive

    Caption by: Zack Whittaker

  • Encryption, by default

    Encryption, by default

    It isn't just what you see that's keeping your data secure; it's also what you don't see. Blackphone 2 has its memory encrypted from the very first time to turn it on, making it almost impossible to descramble its contents without the correct passcode.

    Photo by: ZDNet/CBS Interactive

    Caption by: Zack Whittaker

  • GSM and LTE bands, around the world

    GSM and LTE bands, around the world

    The Blackphone 2 runs on most GSM networks, and has support for many LTE bands, making this one of the most secure world phones on the market today, working in both the US, Europe, and further afield.

    Photo by: ZDNet/CBS Interactive

    Caption by: Zack Whittaker

  • Connectivity: Wi-Fi through to Bluetooth

    Connectivity: Wi-Fi through to Bluetooth

    Wi-Fi connects on 802.11 a/b/g/n and the newer ac bands, and the phone also lands with Bluetooth 4.0 (low energy), which helps to save battery.

    Photo by: ZDNet/CBS Interactive

    Caption by: Zack Whittaker

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Sharp, vivid 5.5-inches high definition display

The Blackphone 2 boasts a crisp and sharp high-definition display, making 1080p videos look stunning and perfectly rendered. The smartphone has 32GB internal encrypted memory for documents and files, but a 128GB expandable card slot for music and videos.

Caption by: Zack Whittaker

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Related Topics:

Security TV Data Management CXO Data Centers

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