Motorola Q9 Review
The latest in the Motorola Q line of smartphones – formerly known as the RAZR smartphone – is the Q9, available in GSM and CDMA versions both, and offered by three major wireless carriers under the following names:
- Verizon Motorola Q9m
- AT&T Motorola Q9h
- Sprint Motorola Q9c
Resembling the RIM BlackBerry in look and feel, the Motorola Q9c is a mere 0.4” thick and weighs in at a solid (but not bulky) 4.8 oz.
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 MINT ALLTEL WIRELESS MOTOROLA Q9C EVDO MP3 PDA PHONE Q9  US $64.95
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 MOTOROLA VERIZON WIRELESS Q9M GPS MP3 Q9 PDA CELL PHONE US $74.95
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 MINT SPRINT MOTOROLA Q9C GPS CAMERA SMART CELL PHONE Q9 US $69.95
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 3 X CELL PHONE SCREEN PROTECTOR MOTOROLA Q9 Q9C Q9H Q9M US $3.28
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One vast improvement of the new Q over the old one is the keyboard, with larger, raised and domed rectangular keys with decent grip and helpful click replacing the slippery and overly-small ovular keys of the previous model. The cursor pad, hang-up, and phone-call buttons above the keyboard have also been generously increased in size. Users of the previous Motorola Q model will also appreciate that the scroll wheel remains conveniently positioned on the right side of the device.
The new Q also features an ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts for easiest readability whether you’re indoors or out. Connectivity and voice quality is on par with Motorola’s exceptional reputation for continually increasing superiority in both these areas,
The fantastic speaker on the phone makes both speaker phone calling and music playback an utter joy, with a welcome loudness and clarity found, surprisingly, in far too few smartphones on the market. The music features of the smartphone are even given their own home screen, instantly accessible via a dedicated button. Verizon customers will also appreciate the included V-Cast capability in their Motorola Q9m, while Sprint Motorola Q9c customers will enjoy access to Sprint TV.
On the subject of video, however, unfortunately video playback leaves a little still to be desired, with a low frame-rate and occasional fluttering and choppiness. And while we’re on the subject of complaints, we might as well take this opportunity to also point out that the keypad response time felt a little lagging and some applications (like the .PDF reader) often felt like they took a bit too long to load. Also, the built0-in digital camera (1.3 megapixels in the Verizon and Sprint models, 2.0 megapixels in AT&T’s) is unspectacularly average.
The Motorola Q9 runs on Windows Mobile 6, but improves on some of the reported flaws of the OS (such as those found in some HTC smartphones) by replacing many of Microsoft’s “lesser” applications with better third-party apps, such as the DataViz DocumentsToGo package replacing the standard Pocket Office mobile version of Microsoft Office.
The battery in the Motorola Q9 offers an interesting trade-off – you get extended battery life (with reportedly 5-6+ hours of talk time) but in exchange you have to contend with a larger, bulkier, and heavier battery that even sticks out in some models (such as the Sprint Q9c).
Overall, the new Motorola Q9 is a great improvement over the previous model, but still not quite as fantastic as its primary competitior, the RIM BlackBerry 8830.
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