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BlackBerry Q5 The nifty BB10 OS that provides for a fluid typing and multi-tasking experience are the key highlights of this phone that’s being offered as a less expensive alternative to the Z10 and Q10. — Hiren Mehta

wo things immediately strike non-removable battery is specifically you when you unbox the Q5 customized for the Q5’s hardware. and take it in your hands: the The updated OS, i.e. version 10.1 Tdevice seems to be missing includes features such as support for the battery, and you are not able to find PIN-to-PIN messages from the Black- the battery in the box contents either. Berry Hub, the ability to personalize The first of these is due to the Z10 and notifications by contact or account, Q10 both weighing slightly less than HDR shooting mode for tricky light- 140 grams, whereas the Q5 weighs 120 ing conditions, improved cursor grams in spite of being thicker than control, landscape support for the both and taller by a hairline than the calendar,etc. Q10. The second observation is because the Q5 doesn’t have a removable Conclusion battery. Apart from that there are If you are familiar with the BB no great features which comparable 10 OS and the price of the Z10/Q10 phones do not have at this price, was the only reason holding you back except for the BB 10.1 OS. The bundled from buying it, you should go for the earphones provided have cone-shaped Q5, especially if you type a lot and earbuds and are not very comfortable. desire to have a fluid multi-tasking Another area of cost-cutting is the experience without any lags. Other- cameras. The rear camera, although wise, there are non-BB having the same full HD video recording, which offer more storage, better digital zoom and flash capabilities as those in the Z10/Q10, cameras, quad core processors and IPS screens, all for less has a 5 megapixel sensor instead of an 8 megapixel one than Rs. 20,000. and comes with a 4-element F2.4 lens. The square screen (having an aspect ratio of 1:1) does have a good density of 329 PPI but remains a standard TFT LCD with a capacitive Price: Rs 24,990 . Likewise for the storage, there are no 16 GBs Key Specs: BlackBerry 10.1 OS, 1.2 GHz dual core processor, 3.1 inches, of built-in flash storage, only 8 GBs with the usual support 720x720p, WiFi, 4G, 3G with calling for expandable memory of upto 32 GBs. support, GPS, 8 GB internal, 32GB One of the reasons to buy the Q5 has to be the OS. expandable, 2 GB RAM, , Like the Q10, which has the same diagonal screen size of micro-SD, 2MP front, 5 MP rear camera, 120 gms 3.1” and resolution of 720x720, the OS renders itself very Pros: Brilliant OS, good battery life, well on the square screen and the gestures used for per- physical keyboard, 2 GB RAM forming different actions are recognized accurately. The Cons: Cameras, low built-in storage, Price standard TFT LCD screen, no NFC/ processor is a dual-core processor Performance micro-HDMI. running at 1.2 Ghz. Another good reason is the battery. feature Write to: [email protected] Looping a full-HD movie on a fully-charged phone at a overall for more info. fixed sound volume for an hour over Wi-Fi caused the bat- tery to drain in a little over 11 hours. It appears that the

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