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Hands-on with BlackBerry's Q5 (pictures)

We go hands-on with the newly unveiled BlackBerry Q5 smartphone.

Brian Bennett
Brian Bennett is a former senior writer for the home and outdoor section at CNET.
Brian Bennett
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1 of 6 Brian Bennett/CNET

A full QWERTY for less

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The new BlackBerry Q5 offers a real physical keyboard, but not one that's quite as refined as the BlackBerry Q10's.
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2 of 6 Brian Bennett/CNET

Sorry, but it's kind of thick

Sadly, when viewed from its edge, the BlackBerry Q5 is pretty thick. Perhaps it's the plastic construction, but it looks and feels chunkier than the BlackBerry Q10.
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3 of 6 Brian Bennett/CNET

Beefy speakers on the bottom

One thing I noticed on the bottom lip of the BlackBerry Q5 is a row of speakers. Judging from their size, they could produce a good amount of volume for speakerphone and music.
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4 of 6 Brian Bennett/CNET

No glass fiber here

The BlackBerry Q5 forgoes the fancy glass fiber of the Q10 in favor of plastic.
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5 of 6 Brian Bennett/CNET

Power on top

On the top edge of the BlackBerry Q5 sits its power button. There's 3.5mm headphone jack here as well.
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6 of 6 Brian Bennett/CNET

Flip that flap

The left side of the BlackBerry Q5 has a Micro-USB port, plus a flap that hides slots for Micro-SIM and microSD cards.

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