BlackBerry Q5 Review

Introduction:

Earlier this year, the BlackBerry Q10 and the BlackBerry Z10 launched in hopes of bringing the company back on its feet. These phones were fresh, fast, and sleek, but also kind of expensive at the same time. Now, a third BlackBerry 10 OS smartphone has been released and it is meant to be a solution for those who can't afford the company's two other devices. Known as the BlackBerry Q5, it is a mid-range device combining the speed and fluidity of BB10 with the convenience of having a hardware QWERTY keyboard. Specs include a dual-core processor, 3.1-inch high-resolution display, 5MP camera, 8GB of storage and a battery of decent size. So without further ado, it is time to see what the BlackBerry Q5 has to impress us!

In the box:

• Wall charger
• microUSB cable
• Stereo earphones with built-in microphone
• Warranty information and other papers

Design:

Yup, it is a BlackBerry alright, sporting a form factor that die-hard fans of the brand will instantly recognize. Just like the pricier BlackBerry Q10, the BlackBerry Q5 packs a 3.1-inch screen with a 1:1 aspect ratio, with a portrait-style QWERTY keyboard situated underneath it. The handset feels neither too big nor too small and it is compact enough to slide into pretty much any pocket. The rounded corners and sides are a welcome design feature as they make the BlackBerry Q5 fits very nicely in the palm. We find the handset comfortable to operate with a single hand since any button or area of the touchscreen is easily reachable, and two-handed usage while typing feels just as natural.


But there are several things we aren't quite thrilled by. One of them is how cheap the BlackBerry Q5 looks and feels with its squeaky plastic body. Sure, it should be durable enough to withstand the tests of time, but the appearance of the device is rather bland and uninspiring. At least there are multiple color options available, including not only black and white, but also red and pink. Another minor imperfection we're bothered by is the amount of finger smudge accumulating on the smartphone's matte plastic surface. We're testing the black BlackBerry Q5 version and we can confirm that finger traces stick to its body quite easily.



BlackBerry has chosen to place the lock key on the Q5's top side, which we find a suitable location as it is easy to reach regardless of which hand the handset is being used with. The volume rocker, positioned on the right side of the device, is raised, with clicky, easy to feel buttons.

We have to admit that the BlackBerry Q5's backlit hardware keyboard is pretty well made, with its raised, clicky, well spaced-out buttons. The slight tilt of the keys' surface makes them even easier to feel and press. If texting or writing emails are your top uses for a smartphone, then the Q5 won't disappoint.



Display:

Having a hardware BlackBerry-esque keyboard has its drawbacks, and one of them is that there's not much room left of the handset's front side. That's why the BlackBerry Q5 comes with a smallish 3.1-inch IPS LCD touchscreen with an odd aspect ratio of 1:1. Of course, the UI of the BlackBerry 10 platform has been optimized to work on a display with such proportions, but activities like watching photos and video, or browsing the web cannot be enjoyed to their fullest.

On the bright side of things, the resolution of the BlackBerry Q5 screen is 720 by 720 pixels (329ppi), which is why everything on it, from graphics and photos to small text in web pages, looks sharp and detailed. The color representation is neutral, which is actually a good thing as all hues are as saturated as they should be.

Using the BlackBerry Q5 outdoors can be challenging if there's too much sunlight. The screen is definitely bright enough, but its highly reflective surface has a negative impact on its visibility. Furthermore, fingerprints build up on the touchscreen's surface rather quickly.



Interface:

Even if you've used a BlackBerry before, the new BlackBerry 10 user interface will surely get you confused. That's because the BlackBerry Q5 doesn't have a home key, a back button, an optical trackpad, or anything like that. Instead, navigating through the interface is done through gestures, which aren't the most convenient ones imaginable, at least in this case. You can learn more about them in our BlackBerry Z10 review. Thankfully, there's a tutorial explaining how these gestures work during the smartphone's first boot. Long story short, the learning curve can be steep and mastering the controls on your BlackBerry Q5 will most likely take a while.



Messaging:

The BlackBerry Hub is where most text-based communication is done on a BlackBerry Q5. The solution integrates your email, text messaging, call history, and notifications, but also brings your social networking under the same roof. It is a pretty well-made solution that will be liked by socially active buyers.



Processor and memory:

BlackBerry has done a great job at making sure that BB10 runs fluidly even on run-of-the-mill hardware from 2012. The BlackBerry Q5, for example, may have “just” a dual-core Snapdragon S4 chip clocked at 1.2GHz, but the little piece of silicon has absolutely no troubles with handling any task thrown at it. Multitasking is snappy as well, which comes as no surprise since there are 2GB of RAM on board the device. Overall, we did not encounter any lags or slowdowns during our testing.

If you're into gaming, then we have both good and bad news. The good news is that the BlackBerry Q5 is definitely powerful enough to run even flashy 3D games. The bad news, however, is that some titles were listed as incompatible with the Q5.

The 8GB of storage available on the BlackBerry Q5 are anything but plentiful. They will run out pretty soon, especially if you're into taking photos and video, or if you like to carry lots of music on your device. Thankfully, there's a microSD slot supporting cards of up to 64GB.

Web Browser and connectivity:

We have mixed feelings about the BlackBerry Q5 and its web browser. On one hand, the stock browser app is very fast and runs fluidly even while rendering heavy web pages. There's support for all essential stuff, such as multiple tabs, YouTube videos, there's even a quick way of accessing bookmarks and web history by pressing a keyboard button. However, the tiny, square screen on the BlackBerry Q5 makes surfing the web quite frustrating. You may still look up things on Wikipedia or search Google for the lyrics of your latest favorite song, of course, but overall, the experience is underwhelming.


The BlackBerry Q5 sure has what it takes to keep its owner connected to the web, such as support for 3G at up to 42Mbps and the even faster 4G LTE connectivity. In addition, you get all the basics, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and NFC.

Camera:

There are two ways of launching the camera app on the BlackBerry Q5. One of them is by selecting it from the home screen, of course. The other involves holding down the camera shortcut located on the lock screen. That's an odd solution in our opinion since the fact that this shortcut needs to be held down for several seconds defies the purpose of having it there at all.

The BlackBerry 10 camera UI is one of the most basic ones we've seen recently, giving you little in terms of camera settings control. You can only pick a camera mode, such as Burst, HDR, or toggle the image stabilizer on or off, and that's pretty much it. The only advanced camera feature is called Time Shift, allowing you to replace the face of a person within a photo that you've just captured. You know, in case someone blinks.

Photos taken with the BlackBerry Q5 and its 5MP auto-focus camera look mediocre at best. They lack fine detail and colors in them are often awkwardly exaggerated. Indoor photos look even worse, lacking in contrast and sometimes out of focus in scenes that are too dark. Videos, taken at a maximum resolution of 1080p, look okay in broad daylight, but the smartphone's low-light footage is way too noisy.



BlackBerry Q5 Sample Video:



BlackBerry Q5 Indoor Sample Video:



Multimedia:

The music player on the BlackBerry Q5 is basic, but it definitely works! It has support for album art and will list your audio collection by album, artist name, or genre. Controlling the playback is done with the press of a volume button, which causes a multimedia widget to appear no matter what screen you are on. But while the built-in loudspeaker sounds great, the stock earphones are of low quality.


With its small, square screen, the BlackBerry Q5 is definitely not suitable for watching movies. Sure, you're free to watch YouTube's latest selection of lolcat clips, but watching videos for prolonged periods of time is far from a pleasant experience.



Call Quality:

Phone calls made using the BlackBerry Q5 are of quality well above the average. Its earpiece sounds clear and natural and does not need to have its volume set up to the maximum to be audible. The microphone works good as well, delivering natural voice tones on the other side of the line.

Battery Life:

There's a 2180mAh battery packed inside the BlackBerry Q5, which is actually pretty good for a phone that's marketed as a mid-ranger. On a single charge, the handset should provide over 12h of continuous talk time. Stand-by time is listed as 14 days, which is okay.

Conclusion:

While the BlackBerry Q5 isn't necessarily a bad phone, we can't imagine seeing it fly off the shelves. That's because it targets a very specific demographic, namely people who aren't yet ready to give up on the hardware keyboard, and/or folks who haven't yet made the switch from BBM to an alternative mobile messaging app. And the number of people belonging to either or both of these groups are slowly decreasing.

But as we said, the BlackBerry Q5 isn't a bad device as it is fast and responsive, with a good hardware keyboard that is ideal for heavy text-based communication. The trade-offs associated with sticking to the traditional BlackBerry form factor, however, cannot be ignored. Among them is the 3.1-inch screen, which is pretty small by today's standards, spoiling the fun of every-day things like surfing the web, playing games, or watching video. The camera is also of below average quality, so don't expect to capture any masterpieces with the BlackBerry Q5.

Nevertheless, folks who absolutely must have a hardware keyboard should be happy with a BlackBerry Q5. Chances are they won't be able to find a better alternative anyway, other than the pricier BlackBerry Q10. Those who don't need one, on the other hand, better look elsewhere. The HTC Windows Phone 8X and the Nokia Lumia 720, for example, are both good, compact phones that also runs a platform as fluid and responsive as BB10. If you prefer Android, the Sony Xperia SP or HTC First would be great alternatives as they offer larger screens for richer multimedia experience, without being much bigger physically than the Q5.