Motorola Q Review by PC Magazine

[Kris Kumar]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1967188,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1967188,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div><i>"It's the Q, the Motorola Q. The RAZR-thin Motorola Q is the coolest smartphone in America. It's a terrific voice phone, a dandy music player, and a swell e-mail machine. Just be warned: Expensive service plans mean it isn't as cheap as it appears. The Q is an unusually wide (2.5 inches), very flat (0.5 inches thick) 4-ounce slab with a bright 320-by-240 screen and a raised, angled QWERTY keyboard. There's a scroll wheel and button on the side, just like those on BlackBerry devices, and a five-way cursor pad above the keyboard, like the ones on Palm Treo handhelds. You can use both sets of keys for navigation, making the Q unusually convenient to use with one hand. A miniSD card slot sits on the edge opposite from the scroll wheel."</i><br /><br /> <img src="http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Kris-May06-MotoQ.jpg" alt="User submitted image" title="User submitted image"/> <br /><br />Sascha Segan over at PC Magazine is very impressed with the Moto Q in spite of some of the issues he encountered. The thing that I was happy to read was - <i>"For voice quality, the Q is the best Verizon smartphone I've tested."</i> :) Am I the only one annoyed by the fact that the push e-mail or MSFP is not available at this time on the Q in spite of the delayed launch? :?

[Pete Paxton]

To be honest, I'm not sure what all the hype is about with this phone. I'm glad it's getting good reviews and all but what is it really offering that other phones don't? Is it because it's from Verizon? I wouldn't trade my the Q plus $$$ (well, it depends how much) :wink: for my SDA (gotta have my wifi). Since I have my BT keyboard, I can care less about the thumb board. An then after all that it doesn't even ship with the update for true push mail? How is this phone really any better than the 2125, 8125, MDA, 700w, or the SDA. I honestly think it's a good phone and people will like it. I just don't see what all the hype is about.

[edgar]

CNET has a good writeup as well, giving it an eight out of ten

It's cons

1> NO BLUETOOTH WIRELESS MODEM CAPABILITY! WHAT THE HECK!?
2> Face Juice smudging of the screen is apparent (well, ok, they didn't say "face juice")
3> No Wi-Fi
4> No cameraless version
5> No analog roaming - uhhh WHO CARES, thats all but dead already.

They call it a "sexy little package" - perfect for Jerry!

-Edgar

[seaflipper]

CNET has a good writeup as well, giving it an eight out of ten

It's cons

1> NO BLUETOOTH WIRELESS MODEM CAPABILITY! WHAT THE HECK!?
2> Face Juice smudging of the screen is apparent (well, ok, they didn't say "face juice")
3> No Wi-Fi
4> No cameraless version
5> No analog roaming - uhhh WHO CARES, thats all but dead already.


Just a few points on these comments

1) Apparently Verizon will be supporting DUN with this via BT or USB cable shortly, along with the update for AUK2 &amp; push email. I have confirmed with Verizon PR that an upgrade for the device is planned for release ASAP, much like the 700w.

2) I have yet to have a phone that DOESN'T show off my lovely face juice :-)

4) Verizon hasn't denied a cameraless version, the Q is apparently just the first of many in a family of "Q-ish" products

[seaflipper]

To be honest, I'm not sure what all the hype is about with this phone. I'm glad it's getting good reviews and all but what is it really offering that other phones don't? Is it because it's from Verizon? I wouldn't trade my the Q plus $$$ (well, it depends how much) :wink: for my SDA (gotta have my wifi). Since I have my BT keyboard, I can care less about the thumb board. An then after all that it doesn't even ship with the update for true push mail? How is this phone really any better than the 2125, 8125, MDA, 700w, or the SDA. I honestly think it's a good phone and people will like it. I just don't see what all the hype is about.

I just don't think you can underestimate the allure of the builtin thumb board. In reality, the BT keyboards are nicer and easier to use than the builtin keyboards, but you still have to stop and get it out and turn it on and then connect to your SDA. The fact is that that the market for that type of hassle is very very limited.

I see more and more women carrying Treo's these days. I see more and more people of ALL ages carrying Treo's these days. Email on the go and google on the go is in high demand, I totally see how the "sex appeal" of the Q along with it's feature set is totally driving the hype - despite the fact that it doesn't have Wi-Fi or offer significantly newer features over the other current crop of WM Smartphones.

The Q is going to bring the Smartphone OS to many more people than ever before. I think that the hype surrounding the MPX220 was similar, but then the device fell flat with bugs etc. Hopefully Moto has learned their lessons from that and the reason for the delays this time are that they worked out most of the bugs!

[Pete Paxton]

Please understand that I think the Q is a great phone. Lots of features. I just don't necessarily see it as being better than what's already out there. I had a BB with a qwerty thumboard and it was fine but I like having my SDA with the BT keyboard MUCH better. I think whether or not it's a hassle is up to the individual user. It's not a hassle at all for me. Typing on a thumb board is actually more of a hassle for me. There is just so much hype surrounding this phone and that's the part I don't quite get.

[seaflipper]

Please understand that I think the Q is a great phone. Lots of features. I just don't necessarily see it as being better than what's already out there. I had a BB with a qwerty thumboard and it was fine but I like having my SDA with the BT keyboard MUCH better. I think whether or not it's a hassle is up to the individual user. It's not a hassle at all for me. Typing on a thumb board is actually more of a hassle for me. There is just so much hype surrounding this phone and that's the part I don't quite get.

I hear what you are saying - I was just trying to explain what all the hype is about, which is what you asked about :lol:

[Pete Paxton]

I wonder if some of the hype of because of the marketing. "it's coming" "it's delayed" "it's coming, I think" "ooops, it's delayed again." Now that it's here ( and has good reviews) I think it's created quite a buzz. I think if audiovox just came out with this phone yesterday and no one had heard of it before, I don't think we'd be as wow-ed. But it's Verizon and Moto that we're talking about. I might just be weird though-I never really understood the whole ipod craze either :lol:

[Kris Kumar]

The hype - I would say is because of the form factor - the size, the keyboard, landscape screen, the scroll-wheel and now to some extent the price.

Blackberry form factor is known to be bulky, chunky, clunky...Moto has redefined the form factor.

Now that Moto has provided the hardware, it needs to be seen if software can live up to the expectations of the world.

[Kris Kumar]

The Q is going to bring the Smartphone OS to many more people than ever before.

seaflipper, it seems like Ed (our buddy Ed Zander, CEO of Moto) agrees with you - Motorola exec sees high sales for Moto Q (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060524/ap_on_hi_te/motorola_q) - "Motorola estimates 750,000 sales of the Q in the first 90 days, 1.5 million in the succeeding 90 days and 3 million the three months after that."

[Pete Paxton]

But I still say that if a not so well known company recently released this without a ton of prior knowledge of it coming out, there would not be nearly the hype. Like I said, it's a good device but I don't think it blows everything else out of the water the way the hype seems to me. This is just all my opinion though. If I didn't love my SDA so much - and - if I was with Verizon, I would highly consider the Q.

[Wireless]

CNET has a good writeup as well, giving it an eight out of ten

It's cons

1> NO BLUETOOTH WIRELESS MODEM CAPABILITY! WHAT THE HECK!?
2> Face Juice smudging of the screen is apparent (well, ok, they didn't say "face juice")
3> No Wi-Fi
4> No cameraless version
5> No analog roaming - uhhh WHO CARES, thats all but dead already.


Just a few points on these comments

1) Apparently Verizon will be supporting DUN with this via BT or USB cable shortly, along with the update for AUK2 &amp; push email. I have confirmed with Verizon PR that an upgrade for the device is planned for release ASAP, much like the 700w.

2) I have yet to have a phone that DOESN'T show off my lovely face juice :-)

4) Verizon hasn't denied a cameraless version, the Q is apparently just the first of many in a family of "Q-ish" products

I can only address these comments with one reference point, the Motorola V710. People are still awaiting the Bluetooth update to enable DUN and OBEX file transfer. (It is not coming just a quip) I would only say, that do not believe ANYTHING Verizon says about Bluetooth until you see it done and implemented. They made statement after statement that a Patch was forthcoming, (Not just Rep rap) This is why they lost the loss suit about the V710. If the device will not work for your needs AS IT IS BEING SOLD, wait. VERIZON has a severe problem with allowing people access to their phones by Bluetooth, and are still fighting to limit it. Why in the world, would a phone like the Q, ship with a crippled Bluetooth version? Think about it. It certainly wasn't because it was "rushed" to market! LOL