Motorola Q
Phone Scoop Review
Jun 5, 2006 by Eric Lin
In Depth review of the highly-anticipated Motorola Q, the first EVDO Windows Mobile Smartphone and slimmest smartphone to date. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
VZW finially got it right
As my title states VZW finally got a phone right. The Q is a fantastic smartphone. Everything works as advertised. The feel of the phone is solid and the screen is ultrasharp and clear. Oh and it sounds great too. Also the RF has been the best I've seen in a smartphone/pda. I upgraded from the E815 and I feel the RF is very comparable to it
The only gripes I have are the known limitations of the windows mobile platform such as not being able to end programs with out going to taskmanager, & the slight lag sometimes when things are processing in the background.
I would recommend this phone any one who is looking for a phone(first) and pda/ppc(second)
the WM5 software on the phone works very well but with the lack of a document editor like pocket office, there are other data first products that can fit some people's needs better.
GREAT!!!
Let me put a stop to this insanity. If you have read some of my other reviews you know I am a huge tech fan/geek and when something new comes out I NEED it. So now I own a Q..I am coming from the 700w and before that I had the i730(not so good).First off,I am writing this review on my laptop in Barnes and Noble right now USING USB DUN...soooo it does work! Go to http://junefabrics.com/pdanet/index.php and you can download a program to do this.Plug your phone in and it works! It could not be more simple.
Now onto the rest of the phone. This thing is SMALL really SMALL and not the least bit acward at all.Very thin and lite! Buttons are fantasicly placed and easy to press.I looked at many of the online pictures but they do the phone no justice...this thing is really small.
I began to play with the Q immediatly you can tell you are not dealing with Windows Mobile but rather Windows Mobile FOR SMARTPHONE. It is certainly less robust of an operating system then that of the 700w. You get the feeling you are using a phone operating system as oposed to a full CPU like that of the 700w's. HOWEVER, I USE my phones to the fullest and do multiple tasks at a time, including HIGH use of email and internet, I see NO LIMITATIONS from this operating system at all other then the fact that it does not come with Office Mobile installed on it although you can still view word and PDF documents, in order to edit them you need to buy additional software...fine with me.
Voice quality is NOT and issue AT ALL. If you play with the phone a bit and set up your profiles you can adjust things accourding to your situation...i.e. meeting, night, silent and normal modes. This solves that problem.
The EVDO takes the place of WIFI and is very fast. Heck, I am using it now it its great.
All in all the phone rocks. If there is a down side it would be that it lags a bit...Things like this drive me nuts but for me with the Q is not a huge deal because it is so minuet of a lag.
GET THIS PHONE!
I might finally be satisfied...really
I have been a fan of this phone ever since I saw pics of it on the net darn near a year ago. So basically it was a no -brainer that I was gonna purchase it when it came out. Currently I was using a treo700w and the phone was ok. I dont having phones that have a new model come out while I have it and once the 700p came out I knew I had to toss the 700w. This Q is amazing. The call quality is clear as can be expected and the keypad is very very user friendly. The screen is beautiful and the phone itself is very comfy to handle. Internet access is wonderful to attain I never dropped a signal or call with this bad boy and would recommend it for darn near anyone. Myself I am a tech geek like most on here so when a new pda/smartphone comes to the market I am all over it and I feel I didnt make a mistake on this baby.
Not enough for the money
If you are looking for a sprint phone with PDA features i would look elsewhere. The first problem with this phone is that in order to get the mail in rebate you have to pay for the $25 data pack, the problem with this is you are paying an extra $10 for features that aren't compatible with this phone. Also there are many little glitches you get with the phone. On a once a day basis i have to pull the battery out because it will freeze on a web page or it will not dial out. The battery life of this phone is horrible and if you have one bar left you better get it to a charger. The phone isn't all bad though it does have windows media player and the sound output from the phone is very good. And it also is stereo bluetooth capable.But if you were to ask me i would say look somewhere else. Something more along the lines of a Treo or Balckberry.
To buy or not to buy...
In my transition back into the sprint world after a brief sabbatical, I reluctantly decided that because of budget and size concerns I would give the Q a try. First impressions - the phone gets a bad rap unnecessarily. It is actually a pretty good phone. (Could be because of low expectations)
Pros-
Intuitive; more so than other Windows devices
Keyboard; Well spaced keys
Bluetooth; Shines compared to Palm's BT
Size; forget it's in my pocket, and it's a PDA??
Sync; Email setup a snap, reliable sync, Goodlink an absolute joy, mult accounts supported
On Demand; great app and free on Sprint w/web
Reliability; Missed a lot less calls than with my treo or PPC/XV6700. Never had a delay on text msgs.
Signal; Dropped 4 calls in 3 months. Not bad
Cons-
Battery; Just saying it stinks isn't enough. I go through 2-3 batteries in a day and that is not an exaggeration.
Attachments; View only, no ability to modify files out of the box on windows?
Processor; Not sure if it's just Sprint and Verizon, but the processor is SLOW. Frequently freezes up with a 5-10 second lag after pushing buttons
Conclusion; Don't buy it unless you are a first time PDA user wanting more productivity but NOT a full featured PDA. The Q is a great PHONE, but is more like the Diet Smartphone. If you just talk and want a calendar you will be happy. If you talk a lot, don't waste your time. As pleasantly surprised as I have been by the phone, I can't take the slow processor and the battery any more. Just ordered a Mogul, and I'll post a review after a few days.
I'm Happy with the Black Q
Yea, battery life could be a little longer, but overall I am very happy with the Black Q. I have had my phone for over two months.
Never had to reboot, never had it crash. In all fairness, I have only added one third party software (Onios ToDo List). Email is pushed to the Q and I use ActiveSync with Outlook. Call quality is excellent and the reception is better than on my previous phones. I have been a Verizon customer for many years. If I had it to do over again, I would still go with Verizon and the Black Q.
so far just OKAY
Well I've only had the phones for a few days but....Coming from the Palm based Treo, I find this phone extremely difficult to navigate through. Never noticed how much i actually used the touchscreen on the Treo until now.
Pros
-Screen is very clear
-Volume is loud
-Speakerphone is great
-Great voice command feature
-Great camera and flash
Cons
-Battery dies quickly
-Have to "kill" all programs constantly so that the battery life lasts a little longer
-Birthdates entered into contacts do not appear automatically on the calendar.
-No Notes or Memos option for easily jotting things down while on the run.
Happiness Fading Fast
Upon purchase of the Q in December, I was quite impressed with the form factor and the additional features that this phone would provide beyond my existing cumbersome mess of LG phone, iPAQ, and a laptop. As I began to use the Q, I found the menues and keystrokes to be cumbersome in comparison to my LG. However, as with anything new, I tried to learn and change. It has been just over a month now and I am ok with the new routines. What has really been bothering me is the battery, it is frustrating, disappointing, and really, unacceptable. Upon purchase of the Q, I did purchase the extended life battery. I found it almost humorous last weekend when, after charging all night, I made a single ten minute call during the day and by the following morning, there was no power. It had shut itself off. This morning, while leaving to work, I unplugged the phone from the charger and it had shut itself off. I am working now while my phone sits in the car. It is locked up (third time) and will not take a charge (second occurance). I have replaced the phone, extended battery, and charger each once already.
I was just at a tradeshow where I had my Q charging on the tabletop. A Treo owner noticed it and asked how I liked it. My response was that it would be ok if you could actually unplug it from the charger to use it. . .
I have a difficult time justifying an appliance designed to allow for enhanced efficiency that actually requires a greater chunk of my time to maintain it.
Q Battery Life - Quite Terrible!
I was excited to start using the Motorola Q having just sold my third Pocket PC and wanting to combine my phone and organizer. The Q is not a true Pocket PC, lacking the stylus and other Pocket PC operations, but has most of the applications needed for mobile organization. The Smartphone OS was relatively intuitive and found navigation to be user friendly.
The primary problem with the Q is what I would call nothing short of horrible battery life. I should have been suspicious when Verizon was offering half price extended life batteries, which is a MUST if you plan to use this phone. With no internet use, no Bluetooth headset use, and relative limited phone use, I would be lucky to get a full days use out of the battery. With the standard battery, on a few occasions, I would have to charge it twice during the day. The extended battery would last until mid day the next day, but not past that. The phone definitely had to be charged everyday. My Pocket PC's would give me 3 or 4 days before charging, so I was surprised at this.
I know this is not an isolated case. I later spoke with an associate who unfortunately went beyond his Verizon return date and resolved himself to leaving the phone in the charging cradle and using his bluetooth headset to answer it. Motorola seems to have designed a great mobile phone that struggles to be mobile. Form has replaced function at Motorola and the worlds thinnest smartphone has to be converted to the thickest to make it usable.
If you plan to buy this phone, go ahead and get all of the accessories with it. Car charger, extra batteries, etc.
I would have rated this phone a 4 (good phone, not perfect) if it were not for the battery life.
PRO'S:
- Great traditional Motorola sound quality
- Great form factor
- Good OS - Thanks Microsoft
- Good reception
CON'S:
- Battery life so poor it can't be trusted for regular use
it's pretty good.
I've had the phone for about two months now. I use it to make calls, browse online, text, and email from 3 accounts everyday.
It does everything i need it to and the phone is easy to use.
Pros:
LOUD! this phone is very clear and can be made loud. the speaker phone is also good.
Keyboard, eh, you'll have to get used it for the first few days where you'll stumble and accidentally hit another key, but it's better than most smarthphones.
Voice Dial, i love it. i use it everyday to make calls especially since i drive a lot, u use my Motorola HS850.
Cons:
There's only two things i dislike about this phone.
1. Battery... i'm waiting until the extended battery goes on sale again.
Motorola has a habit of making shitty battery life. I've owned 6 different motorola phones this year so far.. i should know.
2. the software on the phone. it's horrible. WM5 does not have a program kill button built into it, you have to go into the task manager to kill programs every time. At times, the phone can be pretty damn slow.
So, like i do with every motorola, i've hacked it to death to change the entire layout and speed it up.
The phone does everything i need, the camera is also good and i love how you can use the flash as a flash light. :p
