BlackBerry Q10 costs £580, arrives 'end of April'

The BlackBerry Q10 costs £580 and is on sale today. The first BlackBerry 10 phone with a Qwerty keyboard is available to order from most of the major networks via Carphone Warehouse, and could be in your hands by the end of the month. Meanwhile, Phones 4U is undercutting Carphone Warehouse by £30, selling the Q10 for £550 (see update below).

The Q10 is available on phone contracts from O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone, or 4G network EE. Three and Virgin Media are yet to confirm whether they'll sell the Q10.  

Prices start at £36 per month for a two-year deal from Orange with 1GB of data, and if you're new to Orange, free Bluetooth Mini stereo speakers worth £80.

The Q10 sports a 3.1-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen above the signature clicky keyboard. Inside there's a dual-core 1.5GHz processor with 2GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel camera, and 16GB of storage for music, movies and photos.

You can get super-fast 4G LTE data speeds on EE right now, but in theory you should also be able to use the Q10 as a 4G phone when the other networks launch their 4G services later this year. Check with your network of choice before buying, just to be on the safe side. 

The Q10 is the second phone to be powered by the new BlackBerry 10 software, following the BlackBerry Z10. The Z10 boasts a touchscreen and no keyboard, making the Q10 the cutting-edge option for old-school BlackBerry fans who prefer the satisfying click of keys when emailing and texting.

BlackBerry is reported to have plans for more keyboard-sporting phones, with a rumoured cheaper BlackBerry R10 also in line to offer a physical keyboard later in the year. The Canadian company needs a hit: the Z10 is making money but sales are way down as Android eats up the market.

There isn't a precise release date for the Q10 yet: even if you place your order today, Carphone Warehouse just says you'll get your phone at the "end of April".

Will you join the queue for the Q10, or is a Qwerty Blackberry hopelessly outdated even with the latest software? Is BB10 any cop or has Android finished BlackBerry? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.

Update: Phones 4U is also selling the Q10, and giving away a free PlayBook to boot. The first 300 people to order get a 64GB PlayBook tablet to play with, as well as saving £30 on Carphone Warehouse's £580 SIM-free price for the Q10.