BlackBerry Q5 review

Battery life

The BlackBerry Q5 comes equipped with a 2180mAh battery, but unlike in the Z10 and Q10 you can't remove this from the phone.

This will annoy those who are on their handsets all day and need a back-up battery just in case it runs out before end of play - and in the case of the Q5 this could well happen.

Its saving grace is that the battery is actually bigger than both its BlackBerry 10-toting counterparts, although only by 80mAh when compared to the BlackBerry Q10.

We found that with a full day's heavy usage including many emails, text messages, social media updates, mapping and camera action, the BlackBerry Q5 was limping its way to the charger by around 7pm.

If you're slightly less intense with your usage then you'll be able to eke out a whole day on the BlackBerry Q5, and perhaps even see out some of the next day too before reaching for a power source.

One of the issues we have with the Q5, and with BlackBerry 10 in general, is the lack of an auto-brightness setting, which can be detrimental to battery life if you forget to turn your screen down when you move to darker areas.

When you compare the BlackBerry Q5 to rivals in terms of battery life then it's pretty much on par with the day's usage we've come to expect from smartphones these days, but if you're an email hound or love gaming on the go then don't expect the Q5 to make it to bedtime.

Connectivity

As we've already mentioned in this review, the BlackBerry Q5 comes not only 3G enabled, but also 4G enabled, giving you access to the super-fast network's speeds, providing they're available in your area and with your network provider.

There are other smartphone staples onboard the BlackBerry Q5 as well, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS, plus the Canadian firm has also stuffed the contactless NFC technology inside this handset.

Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections can be quickly toggled in the pull-down quick settings bar, accessed when viewing the home screen or app list pages on the BlackBerry Q5, but we'd have liked to have seen NFC and GPS also feature here - there is space after all.

You can also use your BlackBerry Q5 as a mobile hotspot, enabling other devices such as tablets and laptops to share your phone's internet connection - although be warned that this runs down the battery and eats into your data allowance.

Down the left side of the BlackBerry Q5 are a couple more connectivity-related trinkets in the form of the microSD slot - perfect for complementing the 4GB of usable internal storage - and a micro USB port.

The USB port is used for charging the Q5 as well as hooking it up to a computer - although you're forced to install the BlackBerry Link software on your machine first before gaining access to the contents of the handset.

Simple drag and drop between folders becomes available after the software is installed, but it's all a bit of a hassle.

What you'll notice on the Q5 is that it's missing the micro HDMI port that adorns both the Q10 and Z10, with BlackBerry deciding this phone isn't worthy of the physical TV hook-up connection.

Don't despair just yet, though, as the BlackBerry Q5 does support DLNA streaming, enabling you to wirelessly stream content to other enabled devices such as TVs, computers and games consoles.

You can share music, photos and videos from the Q5 to other DLNA-enabled devices, and it's easy to do. Just navigate to the media you want to stick on the big screen, hit the Play On option in the menu and then select the device on your wireless network you want to link up with.