bb Q5 review

 

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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.

 

DISPLAY

 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.

Camera
 The Q5 comes with a 5-megapixel primary camera with a four-element, f/2.4 lens, plus 1080p video capture and the Scalado-powered Time Shift feature to help you correct errors in group photography. Before we talk specifics, however, it's worth mentioning two quirks in BB10's camera software that may blindside new users. First up, rather than tapping to focus, you've gotta drag around the targeting reticule in order to focus your images before pressing the screen (or the volume down button) to take the snap. Secondly, users can choose one of three aspect ratios for their images -- 1:1 is a square picture, which is equal to the Q5's screen with a relatively narrow focus. The 4:3 option crops off the lower quarter of the image and zooms out a little further, and 16:9, which heavily letterboxes the image, zooms out a fair way to give you a far greater depth of field. 

 The camera app is surprisingly powerful compared to Windows Phone and iOS 6, which will make you miss the absent first-party Instagram client that little bit less. There's a choice of creative photo filters, which you can add after the fact, adding sepia tinges -- there's even a high-contrast Whiteboard mode to preserve your dry-erase marker scrawls in preparation for next week's TPS report. Styles offer users the ability to add creative borders to their images and there's also a good set of editing tools including cropping, rotation, red-eye reduction and flipping. As the Q5 ships with BB 10.1, you have the ability to take HDR images, although it's important to keep the handset perfectly still when taking them, as it was pretty easy to create ghosted images if you're not careful. On the downside, there's no macro or panorama mode, which disappoints anyone who is looking to use this as a device that'll capture those special moments no matter the circumstance.

N34,500