BlackBerry seems to believe that there's still a market for such devices, having released two BlackBerry 10 (BB10) handsets with physical qwerty keypads so far this year; the top-end BlackBerry Q10 and the more mid-range BlackBerry Q5.
We took a look at both devices to see whether the BlackBerry Q10 is really worth the higher price, or whether users can be just as productive using the cheaper BlackBerry Q5.
Design
The BlackBerry Q10 clearly has the more premium build quality of the two devices, featuring a unique glass-weave backplate and stainless steel trim that gives it an expensive, luxurious feel.
That's not to say the BlackBerry Q5 is a bad-looking phone. While it lacks the flashy backplate and other touches of its more expensive sibling, the handset feels sturdy despite its predominantly plastic construction.
Blackberry Q5 design vs Q10
The BlackBerry Q5 is arguably the more comfortable to hold, measuring 120x66x10.8mm compared to the BlackBerry Q10's slightly wider, but also slightly thinner, 119.6x66.8x10.4mm. We found that although there's not much difference between the two, the narrower BlackBerry Q5 was more pleasant to hold in your hand for any length of time, despite the BlackBerry Q10's soft-touch backing. The BlackBerry Q5 is a bit lighter too at 120g, with the BlackBerry Q10 tipping the scales at 139g.
However, the question that all potential users and owners will be asking is whether the Q5's keyboard experience has suffered as a result of the lower cost of that device.
Blackberry Q10 keyboard vs Q5
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the BlackBerry Q10 does offer a better keyboard, allowing for faster, more fluid typing in our experience. Although its keys are closer together than the well-spaced keys on the BlackBerry Q5, we found that this made a much simpler and more comfortable typing experience, as did the more defined, sculpted shape of the keys on the BlackBerry Q10 handset.
Screen
As you've probably already gathered from the specifications, the BlackBerry Q10 is the clear winner when it comes to colour and vibrancy, although not by much, with text and images proving just as legible on the cheaper BlackBerry Q5 handset. However, thanks to the use of Amoled technology, the BlackBerry Q10 does boast better viewing angles and greater outdoor visibility.
Blackberry Q5 screen vs Q10
We much preferred the BlackBerry Q5 display in use, however. Thanks to the repositioned BlackBerry logo on the BlackBerry Q5, which sits between the display and keyboard, there's far more room for swiping up from the bottom of the screen, one of the most frequently used gestures on the BlackBerry 10 OS. We found this is more frustrating on the BlackBerry Q10 smartphone due to the tiny gap between the screen and the physical keys.
Performance and software
Despite their differences in price, the BlackBerry Q10 and BlackBerry Q5 handsets are a fairly even match with regards to performance. The BlackBerry Q10 features a dual-core 1.5GHz processor with 2GB of RAM, while the Blackberry Q5 has a dual-core 1.2GHz processor that is also backed up by 2GB of RAM.
With both handsets running the BlackBerry 10 mobile operating system, it's difficult to discern much of a speed difference between the two phones, with the Blackberry Q5 smartphone opening apps just as quickly as – and on occasion faster than – the more expensive BlackBerry Q10 smartphone.
Thanks to the 2GB of memory, a rarity for a mid-range phone, the BlackBerry Q5 seems to handle multitasking just as well as the BlackBerry Q10, and we noticed no lag when flicking between applications.
Our only real gripe with the BlackBerry Q5's performance involved its web-browsing capabilities, something we pointed our in our full review of BlackBerry's latest phone.
However, we noticed that the same problem exists on BlackBerry's moer costly qwerty smartphone, the BlackBerry Q10, and although smaller text was easier to read on its Amoled screen, we found its 3.1in display too small to offer a decent browsing experience.
Blackberry Q10 vs Q5 browser
Both phones also suffer from BlackBerry 10's poor app selection, and both arrived preloaded with a collection of extra applications that we promptly deleted. However, both also benefit from the operating system's wealth of business-focused features, such as secure email, BlackBerry Balance and document-editing support, and these features worked smoothly on both handsets.
However, for those with their sights set on a BlackBerry 10 smartphone, there are no major differences between these two handsets regarding their operating system performance.
Camera
While the handsets are pretty evenly matched in terms of their operating system and all-round performance, there's a clear winner when it comes to cameras.
The BlackBerry Q10's 8MP rear-facing camera matches those found on the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S4 in terms of performance and image quality, with photos taken in decent lighting looking full of colour and detail, but the BlackBerry Q5's camera struggles to compete.
Blackberry Q10 camera sample
Seemingly to keep the price down, BlackBerry has downgraded the Q5's camera sensor to 5MP, which measn that it struggles to match its more expensive sibling in terms of picture quality and functionality. While images we snapped outdoors were reasonable enough to post on Facebook, images taken in artificial lighting were often dull and lacking in detail.
Blackberry Q5 camera sample
Taken using the BlackBerry Q5
However, in terms of software features such as Time Shift and BlackBerry's on-board editing tools, the two phones performed equally well due to their evenly matched processing power.
Battery and Storage
Both the BlackBerry Q10 and BlackBerry Q5 boast impressive battery life, despite the £200 difference in price between the two phones.
The BlackBerry Q10 features a 2,100mAh battery that breezed through 10 hours of heavy use, and lasted for an impressive two days when we dipped in and out of using the phone.
Blackberry Q10 Q5 battery and storage
The BlackBerry Q5, in comparison, features a beefier 2,180mAh battery, which managed to power through nine hours of heavy use, even with the phone's brightness cranked up to full.
It should be noted, however, that the Q5 has a fixed internal battery, while that of the Q10 can be replaced by sliding off the back cover.
The BlackBerry Q10 leads when it comes to storage, featuring 16GB of internal storage compared with the BlackBerry Q5's 8GB. However, if you don't mind forking out for a micro SD card, both handsets can handle an additional 32GB, making the two phones once again fairly evenly matched.
Overall
We expected the more expensive BlackBerry Q10 to put its cheaper sibling to shame in pretty much every category. However, having compared the two, we found the two smartphones fairly evenly matched, raising the question as to whether the BlackBerry Q10 is worth the extra £200.
Blackberry Q5 and Blackberry Q10
If you're looking for a premium device, we would say the Q10 does have the edge, as it is undoubtedly has the best build quality and finish between the two handsets. For those who like to take lots of photos with their phone, it could be worth the investment too, with the BlackBerry Q5's 5MP snapper failing to match the BlackBerry Q10's 8MP camera.
Aside from those considerations, however, we found that the BlackBerry Q5 does a good job for its price, matching the BlackBerry Q10 with regard to screen, performance, operating system and all-round usability.
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