This is probably the most important smartphone that BlackBerry will launch in 2013. You see, the Z10 and Q10 were designed for diehards, gadget lovers and those who desired a like-for-like replacement for their aging Bolds. Unfortunately for CEO Thorsten Heins, those people were never the total sum of RIM's (now BlackBerry's) customer base. After all, it was the budget-conscious crowd that embraced BBM to the point where London's 2011 civil unrest was nicknamed the "BlackBerry riots," not to mention the company's popularity in the developing world. Given that the business most recently posted an $84 million quarterly lossand has only managed to ship 2.7 million BB10 devices, it'll be these customers, then, who the company will need to win back in order to keep its head above water. Unlike its struggling rivals, however, BlackBerry does have one thing its rivals do not: a pedigree in QWERTY keyboards that offer a real alternative to the legion of Android and Windows Phone touchscreens out there.
That's where the Q5 comes in -- a portrait QWERTY handset with a 3.1-inch display described as "youthful" and "fun," designed for markets outside of the US, with a variety of color options. But is that enough to tempt back the text addicts of Latin America and the disenfranchised voters of London? It's available for £320 ($490) off-contract in the UK, or free on plans from £21 ($32) per month, but is it enough of a handset to justify its mid-tier price? Can this form factor work in a world where even the cheapest phones can offer 4-inch, pixel-rich displays and broader app support? Is this the handset that BlackBerry needs, or the one it deserves? We could tell you at the top here, but that'd kinda negate the point of the following 2,613 words.
HARDWARE
Despite being part of BlackBerry's "Q" range of handsets, the Q5 bears little resemblance to the Q10 it's meant to sit beside. While the layout and button placement are the same, this really doesn't feel like a BlackBerry handset at all. On paper, the phone has nearly identical dimensions to its bigger brother, being only 0.8mm narrower and 0.45mm thicker. But in reality that difference is palpable. Despite being designed as an upgrade to the mid-range Curve models in the company's product range, the Q5 feels rounded, hefty compared to the Curve 9320.
Diehards will be surprised to see that the company has ditched the removable battery and glass-weave backing, opting instead for a matte plastic chassis. Users will now have to access the micro-SIM and microSD card slots via a flap that runs down the left-hand side, next to the micro-USB port. Up top, you've got a 3.5mm headphone jack nestled next to the display / power button. On the right is the three-way volume / mute rocker, which also doubles as the voice control and camera shutter switches. Meanwhile, the speaker runs along the bottom lip.
BlackBerry Q5

Dimensions 120mm x 66mm x 10.8mm (4.72 x 2.59 x 0.42 in)
Weight 4.2 oz. (120 grams)
Screen size 3.1 inches
Resolution 720 x 720 (329 ppi)
Screen type IPS LCD
Battery 2,180mAh
Internal storage 8GB

External storage microSD (up to 64GB)

Rear camera 5 MP AF f/2.4

Forward camera 2 MP

Video capture 1080p (rear) 720p (forward)

NFC Yes

Radios GSM (850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900)
HSPA+ (DC 42 Mbps) 1, 2, 4, 5/6 (850 / 1900 / 1700 / 2100)
LTE (100 / 50 Mbps) band 2, 4, 5, 17 (700 / 850 / 1700 / 1900)

Bluetooth 4.0 (LE)
SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon S4
CPU 1.2GHz dual-core
RAM 2GB
WiFi 802.11b/g/n
Wireless charging No
Operating system BlackBerry 10.1
Details correct as of July 2013
The BlackBerry logo sits between the 3.1-inch, 720 x 720 display and the island-style keyboard, saved from jostling for space with the speaker, 2-megapixel front-facing camera and LED light at the top of the unit. The square display means that consuming video content is a choice between heavy letter boxing or blowing the picture up and panning-and-scanning (with your finger) like the VHS tapes of yore. Flip the phone over and you'll see a plain back dominated by the "seven flying D's" symbol, set between the camera / LED flash and the removable FCC sticker. Internals-wise, the Q5 is packing 8GB of storage, of which 4.3GB is usable out of the box, so we'd suggest grabbing a microSD card (up to 64GB) if you're planning to use this as your primary media player.
KEYBOARD

Now we come to the keyboard, without doubt the single most important feature this phone has to offer. Our fingers may have lost their strength thanks to the softening effect of touchscreen devices, but we were excited to spend some time using a physical input device we could feel. Unfortunately, it looks as if this feature was the one where the company was most eager to differentiate the Q5 from its higher-priced sibling.
Swap out "Bold" for "Q10" and "Curve" for "Q5" and you've got exactly the same setup here.
Back in the day, BlackBerry's top-end Bold line had a sumptuous, confluent keyboard, while the budget range of Curve handsets had an island-style QWERTY layout that was nowhere near as comfortable to use. Swap out "Bold" for "Q10" and "Curve" for "Q5" and you've got exactly the same setup here. The membrane beneath the unit is sufficiently weak that when pushing down the F key, the G and R keys move along in sympathy. Now, while this problem doesn't create any accidental entries, these little flaws don't fill you with confidence in the hardware. In fact, we can only imagine how bad the materials will deteriorate at the tail end of a two-year deal. Furthermore, as the keys are nearly flush with the chassis, there's a limited amount of travel, but what little there is feels mushy and imprecise despite a mechanical click that lets you know you've landed. We should add, however, that we did put the Q5 in the hands of a BBM-addicted tween, who felt that the phone's keyboard was an improvement over the 9320, but they were the only one in our usual sample group who expressed anything other than annoyance at the keyboard's build.
This may be a little redundant in the modern age, but the tweaked fonts and subtler keying means that the numerical keypad (which sits inside the keys) has become very easy to miss. We're not sure if we'd like to see a return to the two-tone stylings of the Curve 8520, or the differently colored letters of the Bold 9650, but it does feel as if we're not expected to make any phone calls at all with this device.
DISPLAY
We'll admit, it's been a very long time since we fixed our eyes on a 3.1-inch IPS LCD display for any meaningful period of time. Sadly, it's hard not to feel as if this is a regressive step, even if we can understand that it is the only way to accommodate the keyboard without adopting a slider mechanism. Unfortunately, the trade-off here is that everything's a little too cramped, with a claustrophobic environment that means even if you kick the font size down to 5pt, you'll only be able to see four or five emails per screen -- not to mention only being able to see one Facebook post at a time.
On the upside, the Q5 at least makes the best of its 720 x 720 screen, with a pixel density of 329 ppi to prove it's not the size, but the quality that counts. One thing we can't fault this phone for is the strength of its backlighting, which made things clearly readable in the harsh noonday sun even at half power. Then there are the strong viewing angles and the better color temperature compared to the Q10, so while we were wary of watching movies on this thing, it turned out to be a rather enjoyable experience nonetheless.

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