BlackBerry Q5 Announced – A BlackBerry 10 device for the masses

The recent reinvention of BlackBerry with the new BB 10 OS and dropping the Research In Motion name suddenly made BlackBerry a much more viable choice in the sea of smartphones available today. Two high end devices were launched, the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10. While not particularly high end by specs, the devices were priced on the higher side. The older range of BlackBerry devices including the Curve were quite affordable and thus were quite successful. The newer Z10 and Q10 are quite expensive and that’s probably why they haven’t sold that well. The BlackBerry Q5 is a new budget handset that should bridge that gap, here’s what we know!

Must Read: BlackBerry Z10 vs Nokia Lumia 920 – Specs and features comparison

BlackBerry Q5 Announcement

The BlackBerry Q5 was leaked a while ago as the R10, a QWERTY device similar to the Q10. Sporting a plastic body, it was pretty much understood that this won’t be in the same league as the Z10 and Q10. Now we know that the naming convention is probably “Z” for touchscreen phones and “Q” for QWERTY based handsets. So the Q5 is going to be BlackBerry’s bread and butter device in emerging markets like India.

Unfortunately though, exact specs haven’t been revealed yet. Considering it’s running BlackBerry 10.1 OS, they shouldn’t be too basic, but definitely not the same as the Z10 and Q10. For now, we know that the phone will come with a plastic body and a 3.1 inch TFT LCD touchscreen with a resolution of 720 x 720, same as the Q10. There’s no mention of 4G LTE, so that should keep costs down as well. It’s touted to have all the software features including multitasking, BlackBerry hub, Time Shift and the like as well. However, there is expandable memory support.

Update: The specs of BlackBerry Q5 are as follows:

• SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus MSM8630
• CPU: 1.2 GHz dual-core Krait
• GPU: Adreno 305
• RAM: 2 GB RAM
• Storage: 8 GB, expandable upto 32 GB via MicroSD slot
• Screen: 3.1 inches TFT LCD IPS screen, 720 x 720 px (328 ppi)
• Camera:5 MP rear facing camera, 2 MP front facing camera
• Connectivity: Bluetooth v4.0, NFC, Wi-Fi, MicroUSB 2.0 slot
• Battery: 2100 mAh

Quite unlike BlackBerry phones old and new, the BlackBerry Q5 will come in multiple colors, namely black, red, pink and white. Lumia effect perhaps? This should make it easier to market to younger audiences and not just the usual business professionals customer base. The BlackBerry Q5 will be available in Asia, South America and other emerging markets by July. Stay tuned for more updates and specs of the BlackBerry Q5, meanwhile, your thoughts?