BlackBerry Q5 Hands On: First Look

BlackBerry (formerly RIM), has moved on into a new territory. This premium tech vendor now makes full touch smartphones, which is not less than an achievement for QWERTY key-pad obsessed fanboys. Their Curve and Bold range is still available in the market, but the same time BlackBerry is trying hard to bring new innovations within company itself.

The BlackBerry 7 OS co-exists alongside flagship BB 10 OS. And that is a novel idea considering there are still millions of users using devices running BB 7 OS. Now BlackBerry Voice is available for free on older versions of BlackBerry. In the coming days, you could see a new variant BlackBerry Bold 9720 with upgraded OS. So yeah, things are pretty much smooth, if one talks about that BlackBerry.

What about re-invented BlackBerry? Earlier this year, BlackBerry announced much lauded BB 10 OS. This new flavor has the innocence of BB 7 OS at the same time, it is re-designed from scratch. No one has forgotten how bad BlackBerry Torch series were.

Click Here For More BlackBerry Q5 Smartphone Gallery

BlackBerry has had some loose moments, when it comes to touch screen devices. With BB 10 OS, the tech vendor has perfected the art of making Full Touch smartphones. Their flagship OS is made for new age handsets. From fluid interface to BlackBerry Hub to BBM, looks like BlackBerry wanted its core-audience to experience an updated and energized approach towards connectivity. Without decent hardware, it is simply impossible to have - The BlackBerry Experience.

Targeted at BlackBerry followers, the tech vendor announced BB Z10, the first handset powered by BB 10 OS. It supports full touch. Nonetheless, BlackBerry went ahead with yet another BB 10 OS running handset - the BlackBerry Q10, which was launched in India on June 6. The phone is a mash up of touch cum QWERTY, and it is especially targeted at high-net individuals.

Both BlackBerry Q10 and the BlackBerry Z10 are targeted at CEOs and high profile executives. It is simply impossible to sell devices, if one ignore young brigade of India i.e. Youth. Now the third handset is an amazing little monster which is high on style, but the same time retains the flamboyancy of BlackBerry.

GizBot attended the launch party of BlackBerry Q5 recently. Priced at Rs. 24,990, this notorious phone comes in three sizzling colors: Pure Red, Pure White and Black. Specially aimed at youth, BlackBerry has finally got a weapon in place. We tried to find how good or bad the BlackBerry Q5 is. Is it worthy to upgrade your current BlackBerry device? Take a look!

Click Here For More BlackBerry Q5 Smartphone Gallery

The BlackBerry Q5 seamlessly integrates the world of touch cum QWERTY. If you are looking to experience BlackBerry, and are new to platform than this device is tailor made just for you. BlackBerry Q5 packs a 3.1-inch IPS LCD touch display having resolution of 720 x 720 pixels at 329 ppi. Surely, you definitely miss large screen, but at the same time you are getting signature QWERTY key-pad. And this phone is perfect for those, who are more social in nature.

The Mono block design of BB Q5 resembles to Curve series to make youth oriented. The phone feels solid in hand; however, the rear back cover (glossy) is not up to the mark. Being priced Rs. 24,990, this flaw should be known to our readers.

The handset measures 10.8 mm in terms of thickness and weighs 120grams. The biggest strength of BlackBerry is, of course, the adorable - physical keyboard. Undoubtedly, typing on BB Q5 is far better than any touch screen phone. It is even better than BlackBerry Z10. You will find all the necessary buttons given on the right and left hand side of the phone.

That's not an issue. The front panel also includes a 2-mega pixel camera that supports 3x zoom. It can even record videos at 720p HD. The LED indicator is place above the display. Underneath the phone packs a 2180mAh Li Ion battery. As per BlackBerry, the Q5 gives up to 12.5 hours of talk time on 3G and up to 62 hours of audio playback.

Click Here For More BlackBerry Q5 Smartphone Gallery

The BlackBerry Q5 is powered by BB 10.1 OS. The company says it's a great differentiator in the platform itself. With single swipe away, users can control his /her messages. The app menu is refreshing and you can create folders for managing apps. You will notice camera and phone apps at the bottom of the both home screen and menu.

By sliding down from the top of screen is the notification bar. Another great feature of BB 10 OS called Peek let you open another app without the exit of current app you are using. While flow, is the way how BB 10 OS works.

The BlackBerry Hub is the center part of your communication. It automatically fetches new updates -be it Twitter, Facebook, BBM, SMS or calls. Instant action is yet another interesting feature. Basically, it simply turns common user's daily tasks into simple actions. For instance, by typing ‘e-mail Anuj ‘- simply tap on the screen and you will see e-mail right there with recipient address. This is automatically done and it removes 6-7 lengthy steps.

Talking about the internal specifications, the phone is powered by zippy dual-core processor( 1.2GHz) coupled with 2GB of RAM and 8GB of ROM( expandable up to 32GB). The BlackBerry also demonstrated how quick the browser is. Let's not forget that BBM built-in browser supports Flash.

In the camera department, a 5-mega pixel shooter at the back is given with LED Flash and Auto Focus. The camera is fully capable of recording 1080p Full HD videos. The time shift mode is the new facture added to make camera more personal. It actually helps to capture and save right moment. BlackBerry Story Maker is another stupendous camera feature.

Click Here For More BlackBerry Q5 Smartphone Gallery

Rest features are pretty much standard: 3G HSPA+, Wi-Fi, 3.5mm headphone jack, Bluetooth 4.0, amongst others. The BlackBerry Q5 is compatible with BlackBerry world, an app store having more than 120,000 apps. GizBot also got to know that in the coming days, one could see the coming of Instragram. You will also find tons of local content on BlackBerry World.

For those who are looking to experience FM radio , the BlackBerry Q5 does not support this feature.

All in all, BlackBerry Q5 is an honest attempt to target youth of India. The handset is priced in the mid-range segment. The build quality could be better and there is a scope of improvement, if one talks about BB 10.1 OS. Stay tuned to GizBot.