BlackBerry Q5 Red, White, Black,

Too little, too late could end up being BlackBerry’s epitaph.
You may be forgiven for not noticing that the Waterloo-based company’s latest phone, the Q5, goes on sale for Canadians on Tuesday. The release is surely overshadowed by Monday’s news that the once mighty smartphone maker is seeking a buyer or a strategic partnership.
Despite the ill-timing, and the verdict now in on the company’s struggling comeback efforts, the Q5 was considered one of the company’s most important releases, as this is a mid-priced phone that was expected to be targeted at emerging markets where the company’s products still have a stronghold.
While phone companies have long played a game of bigger, faster, stronger one-upmanship, the modest, pared-down Q5 is actually on trend, as smaller and cheaper phones are rumoured as the next wave coming from manufacturers. Apple is believed to be launching a cheaper version of the iPhone as early as next month.
While it looks similar to an iPod Classic-like brick, the plastic-feeling Q5 is extremely light in the hand, with a square 3.1-inch display (720 x 720 resolution) and a spaced-out QWERTY keyboard. For those familiar with the older BlackBerry family, the Q5 feels reminiscent of the Curve. This is meant to be a cheaper phone, and the hardware makes it feel that way.
The best thing about the Q5 is the improvements that now come with all phones based on the BB10 operating system. Despite their failed comeback, the Z10 and Q10 phones released earlier this year have actually put the Canadian company close to par with the iPhone and Androids on many levels — though the glaring lack of apps is still the primary weakness.
BB10 has a lightning-fast browser, much better multimedia abilities than previous BlackBerrys, and the one-stop messaging hub for email, texting, BBM and social media are all reasons to like this
But despite the fine base software, the Q5 is a lower-end product and as such, the cameras (5
The dedicated QWERTY keyboard is, of course, the reason to go BlackBerry, and the Q5’s spaced-out keys are almost flush with the phone. They work fine, but do not feel as good to type on as the flagship Q10 model. This looks like one of the decisions to make a clear point of differentiation between the two models.

In some ways, the disconnect with this phone is the cheap-feeling hardware housing the pretty good BB10 software. But similar to the company itself, it is hard to see just who the ideal buyer might be. Perhaps it is younger people, or those emerging international markets, although this mid-priced phone (approximately $350 without a contract) still feels a little high for a budget product.
One of the other complaints that I have been hearing from many people is that, while they would like to upgrade to a new BlackBerry product for work, most company I.T. departments have moved on, and don’t want to invest in the servers to support the new BB10 software.
megapixels on the back, 2 megapixels on the front) work well but aren’t as powerful as other top-of-line phones. (By comparison, the iPhone 5’s rear camera is 8 megapixels.)
phone. It also handles multitasking between apps very well, with its Flow feature.