The cheapest OS 10 device is not enough to save BlackBerry

Aug 21, 2013 17:01 GMT  ·  By

It’s been quite a while since BlackBerry launched its first smartphone powered by the new BlackBerry 10 operating system, the Z10, and the Canadian company has finally kept its promise and brought the new platform to mid-tier markets.

With the Q10, BlackBerry tried to attract more of the conservative (or, rather, more productivity-inclined) fans of the brand who are not yet ready to give up the traditional QWERTY keyboard in favor of the full-touch experience.

BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 are both high-end smartphones, so the mid- and low-end tier markets were still missing a 10 OS device until the Q5 finally hit shelves.

Even though it copies most of BlackBerry Q10 layout and design, the Q5 is clearly meant for the mid-range market, hence the inferior build quality and the lower price.

In order to match the price, BlackBerry had to downgrade the 8-megapixel camera of the Q10 to only 5 megapixels, while the 1.5 GHz dual-core processor has been replaced with a 1.2 GHz dual-core CPU.

However, the most obvious changes have been done on the outside, as the entire chassis of the Q5 looks a lot less elegant than Q10’s. The QWERTY keyboard is also slightly inferior to its higher-tier sibling, but some of these shortcomings were necessary in order to fit a certain price range.

BlackBerry Q5 was officially announced back in May and hit shelves one month later. Currently, the smartphone is available in black, white, red, grey and pink, and can be purchased for around $450/€330 outright.

  Design

At first glance, BlackBerry Q5 strongly resembles the stylish Q10, but at a closer inspection, one will notice that things are pretty far from being so.

Although the phone is aimed at the mid-range market, it has been priced a bit higher than expected and the build quality of Q5 is not even close to what a $450 device should offer.

Even though BlackBerry Q5 is far from being a bad-looking smartphone, the cheap plastic on the back and the not-so-great QWERTY keyboard are not really on par with the price it’s been tagged with.

 

However, the Q5 is a pretty compact device and feels nice in hand. The cheap plastic that covers the back side squeaks if pressed a bit harder, but that’s no reason not to like the phone, after all, it’s not a high-end smartphone.

Unlike the Q10, BlackBerry Q5 has a more rectangular form factor, though the corners are still rounded. The front side features a 3.1-inch touchscreen display, along with the traditional QWERTY keyboard, which is simple and clean.

It has a curved design that slightly increases one’s grip on the phone and makes it feel more comfortable in hand.

Although it’s not entirely fair to compare the Q5 with the much more expensive BlackBerry Q10, the devices strongly resemble one another and those who want to purchase the former should know what they’ll be getting in comparison with the latter.

The layout of the keyboard is the same for both Q5 and Q10, but the former’s keys are protruding from the phone and have more space in between. On the negative side, they’re smaller and creaky. Also, you’ll need to press a bit harder than usual in order for them to function correctly.

Aside from these, BlackBerry Q5 is a good texting device, especially since it allows users to choose their typing method, touchscreen or QWERTY keyboard.

The right side of the phone features the Volume up and down keys along with a Pause/Mute button in between. On the left side, there’s the microUSB port along with microSIM and microSD slots. Both slots are covered by a long and rather flimsy plastic stripe.

On top of the phone, there’s a standard 3.5mm audio jack and the power on/off button, which is also used to lock/unlock the device’s screen. Between the two there’s a small microphone.

The bottom of the Q5 features a secondary microphone. The speaker grill has been cleverly placed at the bottom of the smartphone as well, so when the device rests on a plane surface, the sound won’t get muffled.

The backside of the BlackBerry Q5 houses a 5-megapixel photo snapper and a small LED flash. In the middle of the battery cover, the handset maker etched the company’s logo. Speaking of BlackBerry Q5’s battery, keep in mind that this smartphone features a non-removable battery.

 

This means the phone is made of one piece, so you won’t be able to pull out the battery or backside of the device. Many other handset makers have embraced this design layout for their products, but some customers may prefer a more common approach.

Last but not least, the Q5 packs a 2-megapixel front-facing camera which has been placed just above the touchscreen, along with the proximity sensors and ambient light.

Even though BlackBerry Q5 is not among the best-looking mid-range smartphones out there, it’s not the design that fails in the end, it’s the unexpected low build quality that drags down the desirability meter.

Display and Camera

Just like the Q10, BlackBerry Q5 features a rather unusual 3.1-inch touchscreen. However, unlike the former, the Q5’s display is of slightly lower quality. Instead of the excellent Super AMOLED display of the BlackBerry Q10, Q5 packs an inferior IPS capacitive touchscreen display.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Q5’s display supports 720 x 720 pixels resolution and features 328 ppi (pixel density). Although the difference between the two displays is obvious even with the naked eye, I did not have any issues reading BlackBerry Q5’s touchscreen even in strong sunlight.

BlackBerry Q5’s touchscreen will get dirty pretty fast in case you have decided to start using it. It’s a fingerprint/grease magnet, so you will need to wipe it often in order to clean it up.

Aside from that, I can confirm that BlackBerry Q5 features a more than decent display with vivid colors and good enough brightness. One thing I would also like to mention is the fact the phone’s display is not protected by Corning Gorilla Glass and it doesn’t feature scratch-resistant glass either.

  

Given the fact that the Q5 is aimed at the mid-range market, BlackBerry had to downgrade some of the phone’s hardware in order to fit a certain price range. One of the parts that got downgraded is the main camera. Even though both BlackBerry Z10 and Q10 feature 8-megapixel rear cameras, the Q5 packs a slightly lower 5-megapixel photo snapper.

However, camera was never a strong point for BlackBerry, which is why we should judge the Q5 for what it really tries to be, both a personal and a business phone in a single device.

I’m pretty sure those looking to purchase a BlackBerry smartphone don’t expect too much from the camera, but they expect at least some decent results. The Q5 will not disappoint those who think that way, but BlackBerry fans with high expectations regarding the camera won’t be content with the results.

The first BlackBerry 10 device to feature a 5-megapixel camera, the Q5 fails to achieve the decent photo shooter status, but that shouldn’t surprise too much given the Canadian company’s experience in this field.

Even though the camera allows you to choose the aspect ratio (1:1, 4:3 and 16:9), there is no option that would allow you to modify the resolution. The only thing you can change that could make a difference is the Scene mode: Auto, Action, Night, Beach, Whiteboard or Snow.

Given the fact that the smartphone does not feature a dedicated camera key, there are ways to take a snapshot by tapping the touchscreen, pressing the volume or the Space key. The main issue with the BlackBerry Q5 camera is the fact that sometimes the autofocus feature fails, which results in blurry pictures. This has happened to me at least a couple of times, so getting a decent picture is a bit tricky.

 

Aside from that, it appears the processing software is not doing a good job either as pictures seem clearly oversaturated. The only way to improve them is to manually process each picture using third-party software on a PC or Mac.

The camera UI is simple and straightforward with only a few options and settings, so anyone who has previously owned a phone featuring a photo snapper will be able to navigate it very easily.

The Q5 allows users to take snapshots using one of the three available modes: Still, Video and Time shift. Although the phone’s camera does feature digital zoom, the results are way below average, so we don’t recommend using it unless absolutely necessary.

It’s no surprise that Q5 fails to achieve a higher rating on camera quality, but I’m willing to overlook this aspect given the fact that we’re talking about a BlackBerry device.

For what it’s worth, BlackBerry Q5 does capture decent videos. The 5-megapixel rear camera can shoot 1080p videos at 30fps, while the 2-megapixel front-facing camera can capture 720p video at the same frame rate per second.

Menu and Software

The Q5 is delivered with BlackBerry 10 operating system on board, but you may be prompted to update the phone’s software to newer build. You can do that via BlackBerry Link, the company’s new desktop software that allows users to synchronize their smartphones.

Unlike the Z10, which offers a full touch BlackBerry 10 experience, the Q5 allows users to use physical keys as shortcuts. BlackBerry fans will feel right at home thanks to the traditional QWERTY keyboard. Moreover, the addition of a touchscreen offers a modern choice to those who want to experience it.

  

BlackBerry 10 UI is in no way reminiscent of previous versions of the operating system, but some menus strongly resemble the old BlackBerry platform. However, you will have to dig deeper within the phone’s menu to get to it.

If I had to compare it with another mobile platform available on the market, I would say that BlackBerry 10 is a mix of most of these operating systems.

Some menu layouts, gestures and features have appeared in Android and iOS platforms as well, but BlackBerry’s engineers seem to have drawn their inspiration mostly from MeeGo. Unfortunately, MeeGo platform was “dead on arrival” as both Nokia and Samsung decided to support other mobile operating systems such as Windows Phone and Android.

Anyway, one of the many original parts of the platform and the most appreciated among BlackBerry 10 users is the Hub, the place where you can follow all your notifications, including email and social network accounts.

The layout of BlackBerry 10 is pretty simple, but may require a bit more time to get used to for those who are switching from other platforms, like Android and Windows Phone.

   

BlackBerry Q5 has four panes that contain shortcuts of the platform’s main apps and settings. These feature a grid layout and allow users to rearrange the icons as they see fit by simply pressing and holding for a few seconds. Obviously, as more applications are installed, more panes will be automatically added.

However, no matter how many panes you have, the Hub pane will always be the leftmost. In addition, another switching apps pane where all opened applications appear has been included as well, so users can “alt-tab” between them with ease.

The most important aspect of this special pane is that it’s accessible with a simple swipe up gesture on the touchscreen from anywhere within the UI. The pane can retain up to eight opened applications and they look like thumbnails.

Each application that is still running in the background can be closed by clicking on the “X” icon on the bottom right of a thumbnail.

The Hub pane is easily reachable using another gesture that reminds me of the L letter. You only need to swipe up and to the left in order to access the Hub from anywhere within the user interface. There is a much quicker approach that allows you to get to the Hub by simply swiping to the left, but only if you are currently in the first pane of the app drawer.

   

Another important gesture included in the BlackBerry 10 OS is the swipe down, which brings up the Notification bar. The latter contains various toggles like Wi-Fi connection, Profiles, Settings, Bluetooth and Alarms.

Keep in mind that some applications use this gesture to access their own Settings menu, which means you won’t be able to quickly enable/disable Wi-Fi. There’s no telling whether or not an application has this feature included unless you try it or it’s specified by the developer within its description.

The lockscreen of BlackBerry 10 OS is another strong point of the platform. There are two ways to unlock the BlackBerry Q5, using the power on/off button on top side of the phone or using the swipe up gesture.

However, I wouldn’t recommend using the gesture method as the phone can unlock by itself while it’s carried in the pocket. There have been many times when I have unknowingly sent messages on BlackBerry Messenger or opened up various applications, because the phone unlocked in my pocket.

Head over to Settings / Display / Allow Gestures when Locked and set this option to “off” in order to disable the swipe up method. There’s another option that will allow you to wake up the BlackBerry Q5 using the Power on/off button without having to go through the Lockscreen at all.

This means that the moment you press the button, you won’t be able to see the Lockscreen and any notifications that you might have received. I don’t recommend using it if you want to see how many missed calls, messages or emails you have without having to actually access the Hub.

BlackBerry made it possible for users to see missed calls, messages and emails directly on the Lockscreen and version 10.2 of the platform also shows a small preview of that message/email/call when you hold and press that notification for a few seconds.

   

For those who wish to check the time from now and then, the Lockscreen also features a nice clock that can be displayed on the touchscreen by swiping down when the phone is in the lockscreen window. This is the place where you can also easily set an Alarm or you can enable/disable Notifications for the rest of the night.

There’s another nifty feature that makes it easier to find certain things within the phone. BlackBerry 10 allows users to start searching while in the menu by simply starting to type something using the QWERTY keyboard.

Overall, the UI is well-thought-out, but there aren’t any “tooltips” to inform you that certain gestures are available to make your life easier while operating the phone.

However, it greatly helps to watch the short demo that comes embedded within the phone, and word of mouth is another powerful tool that can offer more insight on BlackBerry 10’s gestures and shortcuts.

Once you get used to these gestures and some of the most useful shortcuts, BlackBerry Q5 and Q10 prove to be really solid devices when it comes to software.

Speaking of which, BlackBerry Q5 is delivered with important applications that will save users lots of money. The smartphone packs a full Office document editor called DocsToGo, which includes Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

My BlackBerry Q5 unit allows me to create new Word and Excel documents, but I cannot make new PowerPoint presentations with DocsToGo. Q5 owners will also be able to open PDF files without having to download any third-party apps, as the phone comes with Adobe Reader out of the box.

   

The popular Google Calendar has a rival on BlackBerry 10 in the form of an organizer, which will quickly become a reliable business tool for any Q5 owner. This is the place where you can create events, set reminders, as well as change statuses during events so no one will disturb you.

There are several filters that will allow you to see the organizer by various criteria, such as Day, Week, Month, People and Agenda.

BlackBerry Q5 comes with a customized Weather app that gets all its information directly from AccuWeather. BlackBerry World is your portal to third-party apps, music, TV shows and movies. Although it’s still far behind other app stores, such as Google Play Store, App Store and Windows Phone Store, BlackBerry, users will have access to some of the most popular applications.

At the time of writing, there are more than 100,000 apps available for download via BlackBerry World, and a big chunk of them are ported directly from Android.

Social networking is deeply integrated within BlackBerry 10 and Q5 is no exception. There are dedicated Facebook and Twitter applications pre-installed on the smartphone and all notifications from all social accounts will appear in the Hub. Other apps such as Foursquare and LinkedIn are pre-loaded on the BlackBerry Q5 as well.

Organizing folders and files within BlackBerry Q5 is very easy thanks to the integrated File Manager. You can switch between internal and external memory with a simple gesture, but you won’t be able to change the structure of the folders inside the internal memory.

   

However, you can create new folders, delete or rename them as long as they’re on the external memory. You can also archive multiple folders that contain files.

Once you get used to swiping up and down, left and right, you will pretty much love everything about BlackBerry 10. It’s so addictive that you will probably try to use the same gestures on Android, iOS or Windows Phone devices for quite some time.

Communication

BlackBerry Q5 is an all-rounder when it comes to communication. If there’s a strong reason that anyone would want to buy a BlackBerry 10 device, it’s the Hub, the place where all your communication methods converge.

You own various social networking accounts (Twitter, Facebook) or multiple email accounts? BlackBerry 10 has all covered thanks to the newly introduced Hub. This is where all the messages you receive are grouped together for an easier management.

Obviously, some may not like it this way, but this is definitely one of BlackBerry 10’s most solid points in its attempt to regain some of the marketplace it has lost in the last couple of years.

     Before I got the chance to experience the true power of the Hub, I thought it would be too cluttered to like it, but after using it, I can confirm this is one of the best business tools available on the market.

Every message that goes directly into the Hub is tagged with a specific icon depending on where it came from. You can have BBM messages, SMS, emails, notifications from multiple social networking accounts, including Twitter and Facebook, as well as missed calls.

You can reply to any message right within the BlackBerry Hub, which is another nifty feature. Search works perfectly as well when you need to find a specific message.

You might feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of messages in the BlackBerry Hub in the first few days, but you can filter it by service for a much better view. You can also filter messages in the Hub by folders, so you will be able to check the Inbox, Outbox or any other folders in particular.

With the yet unreleased OS 10.2, users will be able to choose a specific color for each account. This color will then optionally be used to mark hub entries for messages or notifications from that account with a thin line on the left side.

  Deleting a message or an email in the list is easy, as you only need to press and hold your finger on that particular message and a contextual menu will pop up. Depending on what you click, you get different options like Delete, Call back, Reply, Forward and so on.

But one of the most important features of BlackBerry Q5 is texting. The smartphone offers both methods, so you can either use the touchscreen or the physical QWERTY keyboard to input text.

It will take some time for those who are switching from a full touch device to get used to the BlackBerry Q5’s QWERTY keyboard, but the virtual keypad is awesome. You can choose your preferred language and enable text prediction before composing messages.

The messaging area has been embedded within the BlackBerry Hub, so there’s no need to open another application. Simply head over to the Hub, click on the “three dots” icon, choose Compose from the contextual menu and then Text Messages.

In case you’re not already in the Hub, the Text Message shortcut in the app drawer will allow you to start texting an SMS much faster.

BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) was one of the most popular instant messaging applications for a long time, but since the Canadian company’s market shrank to almost negligible numbers, this powerful weapon has become rusty and obsolete.

Fortunately, with the launch of BlackBerry 10, the handset maker has released a much better version of BBM with new features and improvements.

     One of these new features is called BBM Video and, as the name suggests, it allows BlackBerry users to make video calls using BlackBerry Messenger. Obviously, you can use this feature over Wi-Fi, just like voice chat or text messaging.

Since BlackBerry announced that BBM would arrive on Android and iOS platform as well, these features won’t be limited to BlackBerry 10 platform anymore.

Telephony is as seamless as the rest of the phone’s UI. BlackBerry Q5 features search as you type, so you don’t need to get into Contacts or Dial pad in order to call someone. Instead, simply start typing a number and if it’s in the Phonebook, it will be displayed on the screen.

As you type the number, you will notice that besides the 0 key, the rest are typed as letters, but the phone recognizes the numbers and will display the correct contact on the screen. However, if you want to call someone that’s not in your contact list, you must use the included Dial pad, which can be accessed by tapping the “phone” icon in the bottom left corner of the touchscreen.

     Even though it’s been tagged as mid-range smartphone, BlackBerry Q5 offers all connectivity features included in a high-end device. This means that users will be able to browse the Internet at blazing fast data speeds, including DC-HSPA+ (42Mbps) and LTE.

Other connectivity features integrated within the BlackBerry Q5 hardware include: NFC (Near Field Communication), Wi-Fi b/g/n, microUSB, Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP and Low Energy, as well as quad-band EDGE and 3G.

Connectivity with a PC can be easily done via BlackBerry Link. You can connect the phone to the PC in storage mode and it will be recognized by the computer as an additional drive. Once you disconnect it and set your smartphone on the same Wi-Fi network as the computer, you will be able to manage your storage without having to connect the phone via an USB cable.

I did not encounter any issues with BlackBerry Link, but I did notice that there are some connectivity problems when it’s run on Windows Phone 8.1. I believe Microsoft is to blame for these small issues, but I’m sure they will be fixed pretty soon.

     BlackBerry Q5 comes with a WebKit-based browser that fully supports Adobe Flash for animated websites. It features a simple UI and is extremely fast when it comes to loading Internet pages.

It also features tabbed browsing and pinch-to-zoom. For those who wish to minimize mobile data costs, the browser features a Reader that removes all graphics from a webpage, but keeps the text. Most of these features can be accessed using a single key on the QWERTY keyboard or via the browser’s contextual menus.

Last but not least, the smartphone comes pre-installed with BlackBerry Maps, a navigation service provided by TomTom. Unfortunately, the application’s database is nowhere near Google’s Maps service, so if you’re not living in the US or UK, you’re better off not using it at all.

However, if you find yourself in one of these two countries or any other place included in the BlackBerry Maps, you should know that the voice-guided navigation feature requires Internet connection.

     Last but not least, BlackBerry Q5’s in-call sound and signal reception are more than decent. Depending on your mobile operator, you could even experience the quality of HD Voice. Ringtones are also loud enough, thus users will miss less calls.

Processor and Memory

With the Q5, the Canadian company wants to bring the new features of the BlackBerry 10 to mid-end markets, but that doesn’t mean the hardware that powers the smartphone has been downgraded too much in comparison with BlackBerry Q10 and Z10.

BlackBerry Q5 is powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 processor, as well as 2GB of RAM. This should be enough to offer a decent enough multimedia experience even for the most demanding mobile platforms out there, so you won’t have any problems related to this part.

I did experience some stuttering while typing messages, but that was before upgrading the phone’s OS to version 10.1.0.4181. Once the update was finished, there were no lags while texting. There’s one more issue that I’d like to highlight: while the phone is really snappy in the UI, it might occasionally freeze.

   I only got this problem twice and after it froze, it rebooted itself after 30 seconds and everything went back to normal. Hopefully, this isn’t something that happens frequently. Other than that, BlackBerry Q5 is a quite fast device when navigating the Internet, listening to the music, texting or simply browsing through its menus.

Storage should not be an issue for BlackBerry Q5 users as long as they purchase a microSD memory card. The smartphone comes with 8GB of internal memory, but only 4.1GB are user-free. Luckily, it supports microSD memory cards up to 32GB, so this shouldn’t be an issue.

Multimedia

Music and video players are important aspects of a smartphone and BlackBerry has done its homework this time and provided users with more than decent solutions.

Even though both multimedia players are pretty basic and don’t feature any advanced settings, they are at least on par with some of the high-end smartphones available on the market when it comes to quality of image and sound.

First of all, the integrated video player can run various file formats, including H.264, XviD and DivX. These are some of the most popular video formats, along with MKV, which is not supported by the Q5, so it’s a great addition to the multimedia department. There is no subtitle support either.

     The music player doesn’t come with any equalizers, but I was happy to find that sound quality is above average when using high-quality headphones. I strongly recommend changing the earphones that come within the sales package, simply because they’re not on par with the audio chip inside the phone.

As mentioned earlier, the music player is pretty basic with media controls placed at the bottom, such as Previous, Play/Pause and Next. You can also filter the music on the phone or shuffle the playlist you’re listening to.

BlackBerry fans that have been used to getting mediocre or under-par multimedia experience from their devices will be surprised to know the Q5 is a big step forward.

     Battery

The Q5 drains energy from a rather high-end Li-Ion 2180 mAh battery, which is rated by the manufacturer for up to 336 hours in standby mode or up to 12.5 hours of talk time.

In real life, BlackBerry Q5’s battery depleted after around 4 days of average use. That means Wi-Fi enabled all the time, around 10 minutes of calls and Internet browsing every day, 10-15 emails daily, and a few pictures.

I would say this is pretty solid for a smartphone that comes with a touchscreen even though it’s only 3.1 inches in size. It looks like BlackBerry found a way to make its batteries more efficient and this will definitely make Q5 owners happy given the fact that its battery cannot be pulled out.

Unlike BlackBerry Q10, the Q5 features a non-removable battery, so heavy smartphone users should dismiss the idea of purchasing a replacement battery just in case. The good news is that BlackBerry Q5 features a high autonomy battery, so you won’t need to carry around your charger every day.

Sales Package

BlackBerry Q5 handset Compact charger USB cable Stereo earphones


The Good

The fact that BlackBerry managed to bring its new mobile platform to a lower price range is commendable and the Q5 is the perfect choice for those who can’t afford the more expensive BlackBerry Q10.

I very much enjoyed everything that BlackBerry Q5 has to offer, including the options that it lets you choose while taking advantage of its features.

The QWERTY keyboard/touchscreen combo is the right evolution for BlackBerry ecosystem, as it offers a broader range of choices.

As a mid-range smartphone, BlackBerry Q5 fairs extremely well. It features a very good battery, a more than decent display and solid QWERTY keyboard.

BlackBerry made huge improvements to the multimedia aspect of its products, so when you own one of its new devices you won’t be limited to certain video formats or low quality music sound.

Overall, I think BlackBerry did a nice job with the Q5 and offered strong alternative to its fans who cannot afford the more expensive Z10 and Q10 high-end smartphones.

The Bad

Even though I’m happy with what BlackBerry Q5 has to offer overall, I still think the smartphone has been priced a bit higher than it should. Mainly the build quality of the phone is much to be desired, but aside from there are only a few things that do not work well.

The 5-megapixel camera still needs to be improved, as well as the clunky QWERTY keyboard. The latter is indeed solid but it shouldn’t be sub-par with that of the Q10’s. I think BlackBerry fans that will go for the Q5 deserve the same level of respect when it comes to keyboard, as those who own much more expensive BlackBerry 10 devices.

Before purchasing the BlackBerry Q5 you should know the handset maker did not add a Radio FM feature, so if you can’t live without that, then avoid this device.

Software-wise, you will have an easy time finding the most popular applications in the BlackBerry World, but the number of third-party apps is still far behind Android and iOS.

I feel like I should mention this for those switching from these particular platforms, as they won’t find the same level of freedom and personalization within the BlackBerry 10 OS.

Conclusion

The Q5 is the answer to BlackBerry fans’ prayers for a cheaper 10 OS device. Even though some may not be content with the build quality of the smartphone, for the time being, this is the cheapest BlackBerry 10 handset that you can buy.

I do like the BlackBerry Q5, as it feels good in your hand. However, I still think it’s a bit overpriced for what it has to offer. Obviously, it’s all about the platform under the hood, but if you are going to ask around $450 for it I expect it to be wrapped in a very nice shell.

Just like the Q10, BlackBerry Q5 is the spiritual successor of the traditional BlackBerry smartphones that brought glory to the Canadian company a couple of years ago.

Those who’ve been waiting for more than a year to be able to purchase a smartphone that brings back some of the traditional traits of BlackBerry, like the QWERTY keyboard, will not be disappointed if they choose the Q5 as their main smartphone.

Our Rating

looks 3
build 1
speed 4
battery 4
calls 4
camera 1
video 2
apps 2
screen 3
signal4

final rating 3

Photo Gallery (103 Images)

BlackBerry Q5
+100more