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Blackphone 2 – The Cool Android

April 15, 2016

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Silent Circle introduces its latest product, the Blackphone 2, featuring private communications

Many are concerned about NSA backdoors and elite hackers able to infiltrate your personal email, this promises to be the most secure Android smartphone available. Phil Zimmermann, known for “Pretty Good Privacy” (PGP) encryption, along with co-founder, former Navy Seal Team Six sniper Mike Janke, created Silent Circle technology. Initially, Google did not support the first software build. Silent OS, renamed from first edition PrivatOS, is an enhanced version of Lollipop Android 5.1.1 mobile operating system.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is currently locked in a court battle with Apple decrypting its OS. Sadly, working with an Android smartphone would have been much easier. Even while Google introduced encryption in 2011, it was not added in settings until 2014. A source reports 10 percent of the world’s 1 billion Android phones are encrypted as compared to 95 percent of all iPhones. As exploits and vulnerabilities are found daily, the public believes privacy is a grave concern. Unless you are with the military or government, cellular network calls are not secure.

Blackphone 2 specifications include LTE and Worldwide 3G/HSPA+ connectivity, 1.7GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor, 5.5″ Full HD Gorilla® Glass display, 3GB RAM & 32GB internal storage and much more. Silent Circle has secured this latest handset all the way down to the chip level. Other additions are the Security Center icon, the Silent Store and Silent Phone apps. And for the first time, Google’s own services, and also the Google Play app store.

While SilentOS may seem similar to Android’s, the obvious difference is the row of Silent Circle icons. Also introduced is Spaces, a key feature that lets users create four different profile versions. Each Blackphone includes a one year subscription to the Silent Circle network, with 100 minutes of encrypted audio and video calls and in network texts. In comparison, iPhones or Android calls are not automatically encrypted by the carriers or manufacturers.

Blackphone 2 owners will by default also get encrypted text messages. The OS also disables automatic signal detection outside trusted WiFi hotspots. Users can also send and receive encrypted documents, and delete their messages from another user’s phone. There’s one potentially deal-breaking element missing: encrypted email. Yet for everyone else, the auto-destructing messages are pretty amazing.