BlackBerry Q30 Dream Concept

As a continuation of yesterday’s dream concept for the Z30, I present the Q30 dream concept.


I am a physical keyboard type of guy, but with the Q10, the device left me frustrated. It gave me a glimpse of how much potential a BlackBerry 10 device with physical keyboard could have. How it could enhances productivity and efficiency. Software wise as it is, it left me disappointed. BlackBerry could have had a real workhorse here, but dropped the ball. I am not just talking about speed dial on home screen and basic shortcuts, like ‘A’ to lock the phone, ‘Q’ to switch to vibrate mode. I am talking about the ability to program any key to do anything with a long press on the home screen.

• Launching apps


• Toggle settings like Wifi, bluetooth, etc


• Create new note, calendar entry, tasks, etc


• Link to contact


• Browser bookmark


• Basically anything at all if possible, perhaps even open the api so developers can make use of it.

Hopefully BlackBerry is still thinking about this, or in the process of implementing this. Hopefully BlackBerry will not do a “BB10 for PlayBook” again, saying it just wasn’t feasible to continue making keyboard devices, and optimising BB10 for keyboard devices. Sigh.

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With my rant over, I shall dive straight in.

The design is pretty much using the same language as the Z30 concept for more consistency across range (something I wished BlackBerry did with the Z10 and Q10 but didn’t).

Front:

The top part of the device will be using the same curved glass around the sides to make it easier to use gestures, while allowing the display to be closer to the edge of the device (or at least, looks to be closer to the edge).

The screen is a 3.5” AMOLED display.

The keyboard has the same iconic BlackBerry design, with frets separating the keyboard and the glass screen. The frets will nicely round off to the side with the same curve as the glass screen. The chin will be matte plastic, like most Bold series device previously. The side will have the same curve as the glass screen as well.

Back:

The back will feature the same sculpted design as the previous Z30. Yes, a flat back might look simpler, but it certainly doesn’t feel as nice to hold. Some manufacturers in the pursuit of thinness make the device feel extremely uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time.

The thicker top and bottom back, is actually inspired partly by the sculpted design of the Moto X, and partly the Torch 9860. The 9860 was a joy to hold in the hand, also it was particularly nice to hold in landscape mode. Something I had hoped to achieve with my previous Z30 concept too.

Size:

Personally, I don’t mind big screens, but I am not a huge fan of huge phones. I like phones I can feel comfortable using with one hand, and to be able to type one handed on a physical keyboard device, the device can’t be too wide. Since the Q10 has a 1:1 aspect ratio, it is impossible to make a bigger screen without increasing the width too much.

My concept is a millimetre or so wider and taller than the Q10, almost imperceptible perhaps. This allows for a display size of 3.5”. Obviously since it is shorter than the Z30, there needs to be somewhere to squeeze in all the components, thus the device will naturally be thicker than the Z30. Oh, and it will be the same width as the Z30 concept.

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In terms of specs, I guess the rumoured Z30 would be perfectly fine by me, BUT, I do want a bigger battery, Since the Z30 is rumoured to have around 2800mah, I want at least 3000mah on the Q30. I don’t mind it being non removable. Find a way to squeeze that in and I’ll be happy.

And… I guess that’s about it.

This being my dream concept and all, I still won’t buy it unless BlackBerry put in more work into BB10 for physical keyboard devices. I see a huge potential in devices like these to be hugely productive and efficient.