Sprint, having passed on the opportunity to carry the BlackBerry Z10, has announced the availability of the BlackBerry Q10. The QWERTY phone will be on sale from August 30, when it’ll cost you $200 provided you sign at the bottom of a two-year contract. The release comes just over two months after the Q10 hit AT&T, where it has the same price tag.
A quick check of AT&T’s site reveals the Q10’s price hasn’t altered, however as the network has dropped the price of the touchscreen Z10 to $100, it’s perhaps only a matter of time before the Q10 is also reduced. It’s worth checking too, as the phone’s arrival on Sprint could prompt it to do so. But it’s not AT&T that Sprint needs to watch, as T-Mobile doesn’t charge anything up front at all for the BlackBerry Q10, and instead adds $25 per month to your tariff for the phone. It’s tough to argue with that.
So, if you’re heart’s set on a BlackBerry Q10, what do you get? The physical QWERTY keyboard should be the number one reason for buying the phone, as it’s a rarity in the smartphone world. It’s paired to a 3.1-inch touchscreen which has a 720 x 720 pixel resolution, plus the phone has an 8-megapixel camera on the rear. It’s powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, has 2GB of RAM, plus 16GB of internal storage memory.
Sprint may be a little late bringing out the Q10, but it’s not going to make the same mistake twice, as it’s said to have already signed up for the next touchscreen BlackBerry, the BlackBerry A10/Z30/Aristo. If previous rumors turn out to be correct, Sprint could have the phone ready for sale in November. In the meantime, get ready for the Q10’s arrival on August 30.
