Check out our review of the BlackBerry Q10 phone.
The BlackBerry Q10 was announced alongside the BlackBerry Z10 at the end of January, but we’ve been made to wait a little longer for the QWERTY BlackBerry 10 phone than its touchscreen sister. Although an unlocked model appeared as an early pre-order through an online retailer in the UK near the end of last month, its official arrival with carriers has had to wait until now.
A tweet from the BlackBerry UK Twitter account heralded the news, saying, “News alert! BlackBerry Q10 now available to pre-order at Carphone Warehouse on O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Three and TalkMobile.” No mention was made of Vodafone, but the Q10 is also for sale through the network.
The cheapest way to get a Q10 is with Orange, where the phone is available for free with a two-year contract costing £36 ($55) per month. This includes 1GB of data, unlimited texts and 600 minutes. If you want 4G LTE, EE will charge £41 ($62) per month for two-years, with 1GB of data and a free BlackBerry Q10.
If you’d prefer to go the unlocked, contract free route, then you’ll need £580 ($880) inside you wallet, which is even higher than the price we saw in March. Surprisingly, this is £100 more than Carphone Warehouse charges for the BlackBerry Z10, despite the two phones only being separated by the presence of a physical keyboard. Monthly contracts for the Z10 are also a little cheaper, as they start at £32 ($48) per month.
So, when will eager Q10 buyers get the phone in their hands? No exact date has been given, although in bold text on Carphone’s pre-order page, it says the expected delivery date will be before the end of April. This fits with previous estimates for the Q10’s international launch, and as for the U.S. release, sometime in April or May is still likely.
