Motorola Q Black Phone (Verizon Wireless, Phone Only, No Service)

Motorola Q Black Phone (Verizon Wireless, Phone Only, No Service) Features

Additional Motorola Q Black Phone (Verizon Wireless, Phone Only, No Service) Information

Based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone platform, the Q picks up the best features from Microsoft's Smartphone edition of Windows Mobile while still offering a lot of PDA-like capability and screen real estate on its 65k color, 320x240 pixel display.

In terms of hardware features, the Q's right side 3-way scroll wheel and dedicated back buttons take center stage. These give the Q user fast BlackBerry-like scrolling with the ability to select an item or return to the prior screen--all with the user's thumb. Of course you can still do these same things the traditional way by using the 5-way direction pad and the back button that sits to its right. There's also a dedicated home key as well as the red and green call control keys.

The Q's QWERTY keyboard is a bit stiff, but otherwise designed well. The dark keys serve double duty as the numeric keypad when the Option key (found left of the Z key) is used. The Option key can be locked on, as can the shift key on the opposite side of the keyboard. Along the bottom of the keyboard you'll find dedicated buttons for email, the 1.3-megapixel camera, and a dual-use key for the speaker-independent voice dialing system and speakerphone.

When it comes to hot features, though, the Q's EV-DO 3G data capability tops the list. When used in an EV-DO coverage area, the Q user can expect to get wireless data rates that approach those enjoyed by home DSL users. When there is no EV-DO coverage available, the Q will fall back to the slower 1xRTT data network (roughly comparable to a 56Kbps modem). The Q can also connect to a desktop PC with a USB or Bluetooth connection. Bluetooth can also be used with mono and stereo headsets, as well as other devices like keyboards.

While WiFi wireless access would have been a welcomed feature, it would have only led to even more strain on the already overtaxed battery. The standard capacity battery is capable of a respectable 5.5 hours of continuous talk time, but realistically will only provide a day of solid use, especially if the Q user takes advantage of the BlackBerry-like push email support. The push system can keep your Q lock step in sync with your corporate or home email inbox without any user intervention required. On top of email synchronization, it can also be used to synchronize the Q's contacts, calendar entries, tasks and other items with your home or office copy of Microsoft Outlook. It is somewhat eerie how you can enter a new contact or appointment on the Q and have it show up moments later in Outlook--or the other way around.

One of the great things about owning a smartphone is the ability to add 3rd party developed applications to the device. Since Windows Mobile 5.0 is quite popular, there are plenty such applications available both freely and for purchase. The Q has about 50MB of RAM for running applications, and a similar amount for storing data and the applications themselves. If you need more storage space, you can easily add a gigabyte or two by inserting a miniSD memory card into the Q's slot, located on the left edge of the device.

The Motorola Q packs a lot of capability into a device that is only a half inch thick and weighs 4.3 ounces--considerably less than the competition. It comes highly recommended.

Pros:
One-handed use Thin and light EV-DO data

Cons:
Short standby battery life Stiff keyboard keys

--Reviewed by Michael Oryl, editor in chief of www.MobileBurn.com

What Customers Say About Motorola Q Black Phone (Verizon Wireless, Phone Only, No Service):

The battery life on this phone, even the extended battery is horrible. Cannot download ringtones, wall papers, etc.

Pay extra and get a Blackberry. Not user friendly at all.

Very limited on what features it had. Would not recommend this phone.

Was very excited to get this phone and quickly disappointed. This phone spent more time on the charger then on my belt.

Thankfully verizon offered me an early out.

Hoffman In this age of wonderful communication, is 10 miles asking too much. SOMEBODY CALL ME. I live 10 miles out in the county, but let's get real here. If I could afford to get out of a 2 year contract, I would. I am with Verizon Wireless and they DO have a good support line, but it seems that all the support in the world isn't going to get this lemon to work. I never spent a more worthless $100 on a cell phone. I can NEVER get on the Internet, constantly says that it I BUSY.

I bought it with the super size battery, but it STILL has a problem holding a charge. C. BOO HOO. SMARTPHONE - my shoe. Get this - if I am in town, AT LEAST the phone part works, but where I live, I have to step out doors to make a phone call.

I have been fairly happy with it thus far and have looked past the occasional reset to have an all-in-one device that fits my needs. This is a very low profile phone that is not bulky like the UT Starcomm 6700 or a Treo 700. The Pearl has been solid, but I can type much easier and faster with fewer mistakes on the Q. Given the fact that my Razr had been quite reliable and very durable, I reasoned that going to a Q would be a serious upgrade. LIon batteries do have a relatively short life span and will eventually lose capacity.My work phone is a BlackBerry Pearl (I also had a BlackBerry World Edition) and both have their pros and cons. This has been a wonderful device for typed communication; the full QWERTY keyboard has a positive feel and you will be able to type quickly with fewer mistakes.

It will also work as a GPS with installed software (I recommend CoPilot 7 with Bluetooth antenna) and has the ability to be a solid performer. I was toting a cell phone and a Dell Axim PDA and honestly it was getting old.The Q performs pretty well overall and my experience after eight months of use has been more favorable than negative.THE GOOD:Nice rubber-like coating makes for a sure grip.Nice bright color screen.Great reception-better than my BlackBerry Pearl.Clear sound, on speaker or direct to ear.Ringer volume is good.Very easy to type; keys give good response and are easy to hit.Backlighted keyboard.Windows Mobile 5.Very good pictures for a cellular phone.Video can be very good also in good light.Bluetooth allows OBEX (Object Exchange) functionality.Standard USB device connection & charging.OEM clip works well. Bluetooth will also take the battery down quicker. Even my old BlackBerry's full QWERTY keyboard couldn't compare to the Q. Case recommended.Accepts up to 2GB microSD card.Low profile (thin) device.THE BAD:Battery life is not the greatest.Phone has shut itself off without warning, but infrequently.I purchased the extended battery (1640 mAh vs 1100 mAh for the one that comes with the unit) along with a new battery door to accommodate the thicker battery (often sold together). After owning a Motorola Razr V3c for two years on the Verizon network I was ready to upgrade to a SmartPhone and I had my eyes on a Q for a while.

The original 1100 mAh battery had a very short life span, but where I work there is very poor cellular reception, so the phone is always working to find a signal and the battery drains quicker than normal. The Q has a better keyboard and the keys are raised far enough above the surface of the device to give a better tactile response than the BlackBerry.BOTTOM LINE:This is a feature-packed phone that will play your mp3s, take decent pictures and video, store all of your appointments and contacts and still serve as a phone.

Pretty good hands free voice recongizion for dialing.Negatives: 1. So hey Motorola, next time please swap the "'" and the "," so the comma is on the same button as the period.Overall, it's been a great phone. Positives:I love its user interface and sleek design. AWESOME. Battery life. Welcome to the 'smartphone' world. I am sure an aftermarket batter would hold it's charge longer. That's the price to pay for such a large screen, blue tooth, and the cell service.

The "," and "." and "'" buttons throw me. When they gave me an extra free one I figured this might be an issue. Plus I think there are some powersaving settings you can config that will help this. This next item is very nit-picky but hey, maybe someone from Motorola will read this. It is more intuitive for me to have a comma and a period share the same button than a period and apostrophe.

I just haven't taken the time to investigate that piece. This is less of a problem if I let it charge up in the car on the way to work or at my desk. I've had a couple PDAs and of course cell phones so what was especially sweet was when I first got it sync'd up with Outlook and ALL my contacts with their phone numbers were immediately available for quick dialing. 2 months and still get it wrong more than I would like to admit. This is great because when I am on my laptop and I create a calendar appointment, it automatically is enterred in my phone's calendar (no wires required). Thin, light, sturdy, and dependable. I have it on all day, checking 3 mailboxes every 15 minutes and I get a little more than 1 day per battery.

Mine has been very stable. :-)I regularly text message as well as manage 3 different emailboxes including one that syncs with a hosted Exchange Server (service provided by AppRiver). So I pretty much keep on battery in the charger and swap them out when I need to. I've even dropped it a few times. No freeze ups. I've had my Q for about 2 months now. Likewise, when I respond to an email from my phone, it is in my sent folder when I get on my laptop.I just starting using motorolla's Blue Tooth T700.

2.

It's not:-It is more difficult to type on the Q-The battery life (please see other reviews which will really go into depth on this) is terrible-Sometimes the syncing software (I am pretty good with computers) works and sometimes it doesn't. The Q looks like it might be a Blackberry replacement. This may be a Vista issue as I am running Vista.