BlackBerry's Q5 will be available at Vodacom World, the Vodacom online store and at participating outlets from tomorrow (Thursday, 27 June).
The device will be available on Vodacom's Smart Small contract for R289 per month and includes unlimited BBM text, valued at R19 per month for 24 months.
The Smart Small plan includes 75 minutes of anytime minutes, 75MB of data, 150 anytime SMSes, 200MB new promotional mobile data and 200 anytime promotional SMSes.
The Q5 is also available on prepaid for R4 999 - pricing may vary at stores.
A new Curve
The BlackBerry Q5 is positioned to be what the Curve was to BlackBerry 7 OS and has been designed for emerging markets. The Q5 is a mid-range touch-screen qwerty keyboard handset, similar to the hybrid, high-end Q10, but with a few key differences. The Q10 features a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, but has the same amount of RAM as the Q5.
The Q5 has a slightly bigger battery than the Q10 (2180 mAH), but it is a non-removable one - a first for BlackBerry. It uses a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, has 2GB of RAM and 8GB of memory, which can be expanded via a micro SD slot. Unlike the Q10, the Q5 does not have an HDMI port.
The 3.1-inch screen display features a resolution of 720 x 720 (LCD screen) at 329 pixels per inch. The rear-facing camera is a 5MP camera with auto focus and 5x digital zoom, as well as 1080p HD video recording and an LED flash. The front-facing camera is a 2MP camera with 3x digital zoom and 720p HD video recording.
Other features include assisted, autonomous and simultaneous GPS, Bluetooth 4.0 and, on some models, NFC and LTE. The Q5 will ship with BlackBerry 10.1, the company's latest operating system.
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