SHOULD I BUY THE BLACKBERRY Q5?

SHOULD I BUY THE BLACKBERRY Q5?

 

Smartphone makers believe in trickle-down economics. They build their portfolios top to bottom, looking to get as much bang out of the flagship as they can and, after the hype around it has settled, they bring out the more affordable packages to keep the cash rolling in. The big question - always - is how much of the flagship specs will trickle down the ranks.

Having delivered the latest BlackBerry 10 OS in a classic messenger form factor, a midrange package combining touchscreen with the iconic hardware keyboard was next on the Canadians' to-do list. The Q10 came at a price not a lot of people can afford, so the Q5 promises to deliver the same experience without sweeping the fluff out of your pocket.

BlackBerry Q5 official photos

At first glance, the Q5 has all the important checkboxes ticked. You get a dual-core Krait chipset, a 3.1" display of the same 720 x 720 pixel resolution and a four-row QWERTY keyboard for that serious texting and emailing.

Key features

·         Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, tri/quad-band UMTS/HSPA, 100 Mbps LTE

·         3.1" 16M-color 720p (720 x 720 pixels) IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen

·         Four-row hardware QWERTY keyboard

·         Dual-core 1.2 GHz Krait, 2GB RAM, Adreno 225

·         BlackBerry 10.1 OS; Office document editor

·         BlackBerry Hub is a unified inbox of all your communication and social networking accounts

·         BBM with video chat and screen sharing

·         5 MP auto-focus camera with face detection and Time Shift; LED flash

·         Full HD (1080p) video recording at 30fps; 720p on the front-facing camera

·         2MP front facing camera

·         16GB of storage, microSD card slot; Dropbox and Box.NET integration

·         Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot; Wi-Fi sync

·         Bluetooth 4.0

·         NFC

·         standard microUSB port, microHDMI

·         3.5mm audio jack

·         GPS receiver with A-GPS

Main disadvantages

·         BlackBerry World is still missing key apps

·         Screen size is somewhat small by today's standards and the 1:1 aspect is awkward for video watching

·         QWERTY keyboard could be better

·         BlackBerry Maps may be even worse than Apple Maps

·         No FM radio

The screen is no longer AMOLED, the camera has been downgraded from 8MP to 5MP and the CPU has been downclocked by 300 MHz. These are things, which sure make the Q10 the more desirable package, but not the kind that will dramatically change the user experience. It looks like the BlackBerry Q5 is much closer to the BlackBerry Q10 than its name suggests.
BlackBerry Q5 at ours

That, and the more affordable price tag, may actually help the Q5 convince more users than its bigger and more advanced sibling. We are about to see how much of that potential translates in real-life performance. Join us on the next page, where the Q5 gets unboxed and handled.

There's also a cheapish looking headset and some leaflets in the package. A microSD card is missing but the 8GB of internal memory should be enough as a start.

Design, build quality and handling

The smartphone certainly lacks the sophistication of the Q10 and even though the plastic used is of decent quality, it's nowhere near as solid or good looking as on the Q10. Cost-cutting was obviously not limited to the internals - the build and finish were affected too.

Like all things BlackBerry, the styling of the Q5 is respectful of tradition. The spaced-out QWERTY keyboard takes after the Curves, as opposed to the tightly-packed, molded keys of the Bold series - and the Q10. It's a cleaner, simpler design but not as good looking. Quite unexpected for a BlackBerry handset, the back gives slightly in when pressed harder, producing mild squeaks mostly around the shared SIM/microSD slot. The flap covering the slot feels a bit flimsy itself.

Then again, it would be unfair to the BlackBerry Q5 to only compare it to a clearly premium device like the Q10, which is also one of the handsomest smartphones around. In more general terms, the Q5 is average looking at the very least and certainly not a smartphone you'd be embarrassed to be seen with.

The Q5 held in hand

The phone's back is nicely curved for comfortable handling. The finish is as good as immune against fingerprints and provides for a great, secure grip. It is a well-built device overall, except for the card slot flap.

QWERTY keyboard

The BlackBerry Q5 QWERTY keyboard uses the same four-row layout as the one on the BlackBerry Q10, but has the typical Curve styling, with slightly smaller but better spaced keys.

The keys themselves aren't as pleasant to press on the BlackBerry Q5. They're sitting a little too low and have a rather short stroke. They're almost flat too, compared to the sculpted buttons on the Q10, which takes away some of the tactility and, in turn, the speed and/or accuracy of typing. The company has chosen to stick with the traditional numpad layout at one of the sides of the keyboard.

The keyboard is decent but not perfect

The Q5 has more screen bezel at the bottom - the BlackBerry logo is between the keyboard and the display, rather than on top near the earpiece. That's one thing that works better than on the Q10. When swiping up from the bottom of the screen, the Q10 doesn't provide a comfortable starting point, while the Q5 does.

The best thing about the BlackBerry Q5 keyboard is that, just like on the Q10, it works with the touchscreen, rather than being at odds with it. With plenty of shortcuts available, most of which should be familiar to experienced BlackBerry users, the keyboard can seriously speed up getting around the interface.

Instant Actions makes the right kind of difference too, letting you launch apps and perform tasks using search as you type interface. But we'll look at that in more detail in the software part of this review - for now we'll just say that the Q5 is a fine texting device, even if slightly worse than the Q10.

Controls

Now let's explore the rest of the BlackBerry Q5 controls. Above the screen, we find the traditional status LED, proximity sensor and the earpiece. The front facing camera on the Q5 is a 2MP unit that can do 720p video.

The earpiece is flanked by the front-facing camera and some sensors

The right side of the BlackBerry Q5 features the volume controls, with a small pause/mute button squeezed in between. The convenience key, a token of the old days, is gone along with the trackpad and call buttons.

The three key combo on the right

The left side of the handset is where the two slots, for SIM and microSD cards, are located. Those are hidden under a small plastic flap which isn't really perfectly designed as it got stuck a couple of times under the back panel and we had to push hard against the back of the BlackBerry Q5 to release it. The other element of interest on the left is the microUSB port, which is left exposed.

The microUSB port is joined by a couple of port on the left

The 3.5mm audio port and the power/lock key are at the top of the BlackBerry Q5, flanking the secondary microphone.

The power key, the secondary microphone and the audio jack sit on top

The bottom houses the loudspeaker grille and the mouthpiece. It's an unusual position for a speaker but one that makes sure you doesn't get muffled when the phone's resting on its back. Not sure about pockets though.

The primary microphone and the loudspeaker

The 5 megapixel camera lens and a LED flash are the main attraction at the back. We like the fact that all the mandatory labels such as the FCC ID are printed on a sticker than you can remove, so it doesn't spoil the looks of the back.

The 5MP camera lens and the LED flash are the stars backstage

Unfortunately, the back panel of the BlackBerry Q5 is non-removable, meaning you don't get access to the 2,180 mAh battery.

 

The good news is the BlackBerry Q5 scored a very nice 55-hour endurance rating in our real-life battery test. The small screen and the energy-efficient chipset must be getting the credit for the solid performance.