BlackBerry Q5

BLACKBERRY Q5 REVIEW

This is probably the most important smartphone that BlackBerry will launch in 2013, BlackBerry Q5. The BlackBerry Q5 is only the third BB10 handset to make it to market, and the first to target a more affordable price point. A replacement of sorts to the BlackBerry Curve range, the Q5 is the mid-market sibling to the touchscreen BlackBerry Z10 and the fellow QWERTY BlackBerry Q10. The BlackBerry Q5 has 3.1-inch, 720 x 720 display and the island-style keyboard, saved from jostling for space with the speaker, 2-megapixel front-facing camera and LED light at the top of the unit. The square display means that consuming video content is a choice between heavy letter boxing or blowing the picture up and panning-and-scanning (with your finger) like the VHS tapes of yore. Flip the phone over and you'll see a plain back dominated by the "seven flying D's" symbol, set between the camera / LED flash and the removable FCC sticker. Internals-wise, the Q5 is packing 8GB of storage, of which 4.3GB is usable out of the box, so we'd suggest grabbing a microSD card (up to 64GB) if you're planning to use this as your primary media player. The Q5 is pitched as the more affordable BlackBerry. It sports the latest software, a good screen and that all-important physical Qwerty keyboard. It's hardly for the budget-minded. The Q5 is a more affordable option to those not opting for the higher priced BlackBerry Z10 or BlackBerry Q10 and arguably could have (or should have) been released along with the others or even as the first BlackBerry 10 device. The price of the Q5 is currently around $429USD so even though it's the least expensive BB10 device currently available.

SPECIFICATION & FEATURES

DISPLAY & SCREEN

Type:	IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen
Colors:	16M colors
Touchscreen:	Multi-touch
Size:	3.1 inches
Resolution:	720 x 720 pixels
Pixel density:	329 ppi
Features:	Light sensor, Proximity sensor

BODY & DESIGN

Device type:	Smart phone
Dimensions:	(4.72 x 2.60 x 0.43 inches) / (120 x 66 x 10.8 mm )
Weight:	(120 g) / (4.23 oz)
Keys and Input Methods:	QWERTY

GENERAL TECHNOLOGY

2G Network:	GSM 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz - all versions
3G Network:	HSDPA 800 MHz, 850 MHz, 1700 MHz, 1900 MHz, 2100 MHz - SQR100-1 HSDPA 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1900 MHz, 2100 MHz - SQR100-2, SQR100-3
4G Network:	LTE 700 MHz, 850 MHz, 1700 MHz, 1900 MHz, 2100 MHz - SQR100-1 LTE 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2600 MHz - SQR100-2
Data:	LTE Cat3 Downlink 100 Mbit/s, LTE Cat3/4 Uplink 50 Mbit/s, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s, UMTS, EDGE, GPRS
Positioning:	GPS, A-GPS
SIM:	Micro-SIM
Announced:	15 May 2013
Released:	June 2013, Available

HARDWARE & MEMORY

Processor:	Dual core, 1200 MHz
Graphics processor:	Yes
System memory:	2048 MB RAM
Built-in storage:	8 GB storage
Card slot:	microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC up to 64 GB

MULTIMEDIA & SOUND

Alert types:	Vibration, MP3 ringtones
Loudspeaker:	Yes
Headphone:	Yes
3.5mm jack:	Yes
Music player: Filter by: Features:	Yes Album, Artist, Playlists Album art cover, Background playback
Radio:	No

CAMERA

Camera:	Photo & Video
Primary Camera quality:	5 megapixels, 2592х1944 pixels
Flash:	LED flash
Aperture size:	F2.4
Features:	Auto focus, Digital image stabilization, Geo-tagging, touch focus
Video:	1920x1080 (1080p HD) (30 fps)
Features:	Digital image stabilization, Video calling
Primary camera:	Yes (5 megapixels), autofocus
Secondary camera:	Yes (2 megapixels), 720p

CONNECTIVITY

WLAN:	Wi-Fi 802.11 (b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot)
Bluetooth:	Yes (v4.0 with A2DP, LE)
USB:	Yes (microUSB v2.0)
Connector:	Micro-USB
Features:	Mass storage device, USB charging
NFC:	Yes (market dependent)
GPRS:	Yes
EDGE:	Yes
Speed:	DC-HSPA+, 42 Mbps; HSDPA; LTE, Cat3, 50 Mbps UL, 100 Mbps DL
Other:	DLNA, Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync

INTERNET

Built-in Online services support:

YouTube (upload)

FEATURES

OS:	BlackBerry 10 OS, upgradable to v10.1
Chipset:	Qualcomm Snapdragon 4
CPU:	Dual-core 1.2 GHz
GPU:	Yes
Sensors:	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, proximity, compass
Messaging:	SMS, MMS, Email, Push Email, IM, BBM 6
Browser:	HTML5
Phone Book:	Yes
Charging:	Charger
Call Records:	Yes
SMS:	Yes
MMS:	Yes
E-Mail:	Yes
Instant Messaging:	Yes
Predictive text input:	Yes, T9 input
Voice message:	Yes
Voice dialing:	Yes
Voice commands:	Yes
Voice recording:	Yes
Radio:	No
GPS:	Yes, with A-GPS support
Accessibility features:	TTY/TDD
Java:	Yes, MIDP 2.1
Colors:	Black, White, Red, Gray, Pink
Others:	--SNS integration --BlackBerry maps --Organizer --Document viewer --Photo viewer --MP3/WMA/WAV/eAAC+ player --Xvid/MP4/WMV/MKV/H.263/H.264 player --Voice memo/dial --Predictive text input

BATTERY

Battery Type:	Non-removable Li-Ion battery
Capacity:	2180 mAh battery (BL-4YW)
Stand-by time:	Up to 336 hours (3G), 14.0 days
Talk time:	Up to 12.50 hours (3G)
Wireless charging:	No