BlackBerry’s Country Manager for the Philippines Kristian Salvo led the unveiling of the latest smartphone to hit Philippine shores, the BlackBerry Q5.
Salvo formally announced the availability of the Q5 for a retail price of PHP 18,690 beginning Saturday, August 24th.
“The BlackBerry Q5 smartphone offers a great experience to customers who want to have the power of BlackBerry 10 with a QWERTY keyboard in a stylish youthful design, making it easy for them to have fun and stay socially connected with those that matter most to them,” said Salvo.
BlackBerry marks the arrival of the BB10.1-loaded Q5 in the country with a special offer under their Swap, Switch and Win campaign. Customers can swap any working or non-working mobile phone and purchase the Q5 for PHP 18,690 less PHP 2,000 plus the trade-in value of the swapped mobile phone.
Meet the BlackBerry Q5!
At the unveiling, we had the chance to see the Q5 in the flesh.
The design of the Q5 doesn’t stray radically from the signature BlackBerry QWERTY business phone look.
Upfront, you can see the classic BlackBerry QWERTY keyboard and the 3.1-inch 720 x 720 pixel IPS LCD screen, which lets you interact with its fresh BlackBerry 10.1 OS.
The keys are spaced out, unlike the ones found on the Q10. Below the device, you’ll find the speakers, while on top are the power/lock button and the 3.5mm audio jack.
The right side is where you’ll find the volume rocker and a button in the middle that launches voice search. On the opposite flank is a microUSB port, located just above hidden SIM and microSD slots.
It isn’t as slim as we thought it would be, but the good news is that it’s light and has just the right height to fit snugly in the palm.
While it lacks the premium feel and design of the higher-end Q10, the Q5 is still quite a looker with its all-black, solid exterior, and we sure do hope its performance does justice to its good looks. We’ll clue you in on how the Q5 fares once we spend more time with it. Stay tuned.