BlackBerry Q5 debuts with budget buyers in mind
The phone, which looks like the keyboard-equipped Q10, will come in multiple colors and will launch in the summer.
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ORLANDO, Fla. -- BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins on Tuesday unveiled the BlackBerry Q5, a budget phone designed for emerging markets.
The phone will launch in the summer around the world, Heins said during its BlackBerry Live conference here today. The company said in a blog post that the Q5 would launch as early as July in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. There's no word on pricing yet.
Taking a cue from other handset vendors, BlackBerry will offer the device in multiple colors, including black, white, red, and pink.
BlackBerry was widely expected to unveil a low-cost device running on BlackBerry 10. The Q5 allows the company to sell a next-generation device to the emerging markets, where consumers have lower purchasing power, but the BlackBerry brand still remains strong.
The BlackBerry Q5 looks similar to the Q10, and features a physical full keyboard and a 3.1-inch touchscreen display.
It will come with the features found in BlackBerry 10.1, which comes with the Q10 now and will be available to the Z10 starting today.
