The entry-level BlackBerry Q5 made a big splash at BlackBerry Live 2013, and they were showing them off in a wide range of colors. The red model is taking front and center, of course, but there's also white, black, and pink versions ready to go.
So, what do you lose from the Q10 in order to slash the pricetag? No HDMI out, non-removable battery, a drop down to 5 megapixel camera from 8, 8 GB of storage instead of 16, and LCD rather than AMOLED display. We haven't heard much about processor speed, but in my cursory fiddling with it, I had a hard time spotting any lags. The overall feel of the device is very smooth and slick - fairly plasticky compared to the Q10, but the rear curve was very comfortable for typing. As for the new keyboard style, I adopted to it relatively quickly. The keys definitely sit lower here than on the Q10, but that's hardly a bad thing.
It sounds like the Q5 is hitting emerging markets before North America, which is entirely sensible, though it's hard not to be jealous of such a wide array of colors. I wouldn't mind being able to pick up a red Q10 at some point... So, what do you guys think? Will this cement BlackBerry's presence in places like Indonesia and India where cost is a deciding factor for handsets?
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BlackBerry Q5 photo gallery
Let's take a good long look at this new BB10 device...
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