BlackBerry Q5: A low-priced BlackBerry for emerging markets

After weeks of rumours and leaked images, we’ve had our first look at the BlackBerry Q5 (not the R10, as many expected it to be called). It shares many of the esthetics of its more sophisticated sibling, the BlackBerry Q10, but wraps it in a brightly-coloured plastic package.

Designed for emerging markets in areas of Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, the Q5 is designed to make BlackBerry’s new operating system, BB10, affordable and accessible to more people. It’s the third phone to be unveiled in the BB10 lineup, potentially just one of six coming this year, if BlackBerry CMO Frank Boulben’s earlier announcement does come to fruition.

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One of the biggest differences you’ll notice between the Q5 and the Q10 is the design of the buttons on the keyboard — while the Q10 has buttons that sit flush with one another, the Q5 sports isolated buttons, like the BlackBerry Curve did. The keyboard will support Action shortcuts, which let you type to perform certain tasks on the phone faster.

The BlackBerry Q5 comes with many of the features that other BB10 devices do, including BlackBerry Hub, access to BlackBerry World, the ability to host video chats or share your screen with BBM Video and Screen Share, and adjust photos to get the perfect shot with Time Shift and Story Maker. You can read about all these features in more detail on the BlackBerry blog.

In addition to markets previously untapped overseas, the colourful phone (available in black, white, red and pink) is also predicted to win back some of the youth market. Many teens have been big users of BBM, and as Tech Radar reports, so a bright and more affordable phone will likely appeal to that crowd more than the Z10 or Q10 does.

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There’s no word when this device will be coming to Canada, although Mobile Syrup rightly suggests that it would be a good fit at one of Canada’s ‘budget’ mobile service providers like Koodo, Wind, Fido, Virgin or Videotron. And while this device is being touted as more of a mid-range device, we haven’t heard yet what the price will be.

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