We do wonder about the wisdom of BlackBerry sometimes. The company’s ailing fortunes are a big topic of discussion right now, and just when it needs to pull something really big out of the bag it comes up with a low-end handset that fails to excite. The BlackBerry 9720 has just been officially announced, and we thought we’d take a look at the new BlackBerry 9720 vs. Q5 that runs the more up-to-date operating system.

The BlackBerry Q5 released in June and the BlackBerry 9720 (previously dubbed the Samoa) will release this month. When we initially heard about the 9720, we wondered why on earth BlackBerry would choose to launch a new mediocre smartphone running the older BB OS 7. Our opinions haven’t changed now the phone has been formally introduced, although one of the only benefits is a full QWERTY keyboard that many consumers still enjoy.

Recently we have discussed the hard time that BlackBerry is going through, amid claims that BBM is the only real asset that the company has left, so we can only scratch our heads at the choice of releasing a new phone that seems to have so little to offer. However, BlackBerry is billing the 9720 as perfect for those upgrading from a feature phone or entry-level Android or Windows Phone handset, so at least it seems to be aware of the phone’s limitations.

We’ll take a look at the key specs and features of the BlackBerry 9720 and BlackBerry Q5 that was aimed at the mass market. The BlackBerry 9720 has an 806 MHz Tavor MG1 processor, a 2.8-inch display with resolution of 480 x 360 and 214 ppi, 512MB of RAM and 512 MB of internal storage (expandable via microSD to 32GB). It also has a 5-megapixel rear camera (no secondary camera), a 1450 mAh battery, and runs BlackBerry OS 7.1.

The BlackBerry Q5 also has a QWERTY keyboard and is powered by a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 dual-core processor. It has a 3.1-inch display with resolution of 720 x 720 and 328 ppi, 2GB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage (expandable microSD to 32GB). This smartphone carries a 5-megapixel rear camera, 2-megapixel front-facing camera, has LTE connectivity, a 2180 mAh battery, and runs the new BlackBerry 10 OS, upgradable to 10.1.

As you can see, the specs of the new BlackBerry 9720 already look outdated before it’s even released. The specs look very poor when put against those of the BlackBerry Q5 but then the 9720 is aimed at emerging markets. No pricing has been announced yet for the BlackBerry 9720 but it will initially launch in Latin America, EMEA and Asia. If you want to see more about the 9720 we’ve embedded a short BlackBerry video below this story that introduces the phone. You can also see more details at the BlackBerry product page here.

When we hear more about a precise release date and pricing for the BlackBerry 9720 we’ll be sure to pass that information to our readers. We’d like to hear your thoughts on the new BlackBerry 9720. Would you even consider such a device when there are alternatives like the Q5 available? Maybe you feel this is more evidence that BlackBerry has lost its way? Perhaps you think there’s still a place in the market for this type of BlackBerry phone? Let us know with your comments.