BlackBerry Q5 marks the return of QWERTY,priced at Rs 24,990

BlackBerry Q5 aims to cash in on demand for physical keypads in a touch-screen dominated world.

BlackBerry Q5: Touchscreens are everywhere,but there is a demand for smartphones with physical keypads. While virtual keyboards are excellent,physical keyboards give you that extra degree of control over what you type. That extra control matters especially in India,where people often type words from different languages in the same sentence.

Despite this,one often wonders whether phones with physical keypads can deliver a comparable,if not better,experience in an age of predictive text and improving dictation software? BlackBerry has launched two phones to answer that question. While the Q10 costs Rs 44,990,the Q5 is slightly more affordable at Rs 24,990.

Build and Design

The Q5 makes a good first impression with its excellent 3.1-inch touchscreen,well-spaced keys,and reasonably lightweight frame (120 grams). BlackBerry has cut some corners with the build the phone body is made of plastic. It is almost the same size as the 4.2-inch touchscreen Z10 and fits well in the palm. But the excellent rubberised back panels found on the Z10 and Q10 are missing here. The Q5’s plastic back panel and keys add to the phone’s lack of a premium feel.

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BB10 relies on fluid transitions when switching from one home screen to another or when switching between apps. The Q5’s smooth touchscreen complements the OS very well. It is important to note that the BlackBerry logo is well-placed between the keypad and the screen. This creates space for the swipe up gesture,which lets you exit apps in BB10.

Software

When we reviewed the BlackBerry Z10 a few months ago,we had mentioned the lack of apps on the platform. The situation has improved quite a bit,as most popular apps are now available. However,some of these apps feel like they are bad ports of their Android versions. The native apps,those built from ground up for BB10,are excellent. Popular Google apps such as YouTube are not available on BlackBerry World. The pre-installed YouTube app is actually a bookmark. It opens the browser and takes you to m.youtube.com. The phone features integration with cloud storage services Box and Dropbox,and both work very well.

The most important feature is BlackBerry Hub. It links all your email,social networking accounts and text messages to show you notifications in one place. The standard red notification light is just above the screen. It blinks every time there is a notification. Although this is a nice feature,it is very distracting when you are playing a game or typing a long email.

Performance

The Q5 does not look great on the spec-sheet,with just 8 GB internal memory and a 5 MP camera. However,there were no problems with the device’s performance. Its front and rear cameras are decent. There were no lags or freezes while using the phone,even when switching between two games. Call quality and reception were excellent. The display is very good for reading,but it is small for videos.

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The storage space is a problem as a mere 4 GB is available to users. The phone supports up to 64 GB of expandable storage,via a microSD card. The keypad is very good and touchscreen users should have no trouble adapting. The Z10’s virtual keypad had excellent predictive text. Users could swipe upwards on the keypad to type words. That feature is sorely missed on the Q5. The review unit also did not have a good dictionary installed,so common words had to be added to the phone’s dictionary.

While better phones are available in this price range,if a physical keypad is a must,the Q5 will not disappoint. BB10 is a very good OS and apart from the relative lack of apps,those switching from other platforms should have no major complaints with the Q5. Further,if the Q5’s hardware seems limiting,then the Q10 is a decent alternative,even though it is expensive.