Motorola Q Black cell phone, specs, user reviews, images, user manual, and more...

User rating

3.5 Read reviews - Add review

The Q Smartphone available in black combines RAZR styling with a BlackBerry-like form. Key features include Windows Mobile 5, a QWERTY keyboard, EV-DO high-speed data, Bluetooth (with stereo), and a megapixel camera. It also comes equipped with a side scroll wheel, a miniSD memory card slot, and a full-duplex speakerphone.

Motorola launched their Q smartphone amidst a flurry of hype proclaiming it the world's thinnest, lightest, and most stylish handset to feature a full QWERTY keyboard. Still a hair's-breadth skinnier than the new Samsung Blackjack, the Q is amongst the chicest handsets to offer the full productivity of the Windows Mobile platform ... at least until Motorola's forthcoming q9 debuts later this year.

The Q is now available for use on Sprint's CDMA network with high-speed EV-DO data services. Early adopters of the Q on Verizon complained about middling processor speeds that led to unbearable hang times when multitasking and/or switching between applications. Has Motorola found a sweet spot between style and performance with this latest Q, or is it still a case of a piece of good-looking hardware that doesn't have the juice to run the software that's installed on it?

I spent a few weeks with the Q for Sprint to find out. The answer says as much about the state of the US cellular marketplace as it does about the handset itself. If you want the price and customer service advantages that come with a carrier supported handset, the Q for Sprint is a decent choice for a Windows Mobile smartphone. However, if you're willing to go outside the box (and can use a GSM network like Cingular or T-Mobile), there are other WinMob devices that offer more in the performance department without sacrificing too much style.
Motorola really did a bang-up job on the Q's industrial design. The housing is finished a grey plastic that's at once pleasantly forgiving to the touch and 'grippy' enough to stay put in your hand without the need for cramp-inducing application of force. While a bit wider than the Samsung Blackjack (its primary competitor in the fashionable smartphone arena), that extra space affords a much more comfortable keypad layout. Just about my only complaint with the Q's design lay in the somewhat sharp lower corners - the bottom right corner had a tendency to jab into the flesh on my right hand thumb pad when I used the phone one-handed.

Measuring 117 x 64 x 11.5 mm and weight a scant 115 g, the Q certainly lives up to all of the "thin and light" hype. The device fit comfortably into pants and jacket pockets, and really made me rethink my aversion to carrying around a long, wide phone: the Q's remarkably thin profile helped me to forget the large footprint that's part and parcel of any smartphone.

A 2.4" screen sits just below a blue Motorola logo - flanked by earpiece speakers - on the front of the device. Below the display sits a two-row array of buttons featuring two softkeys, call, call end/power, Home shortcut, and backspace keys as well as a five-way directional pad. These buttons are plenty large for easy access, and the D-pad is raised a few millimeters above the other flush-mounted buttons for convenience. I do question Motorola's decision to place the backspace key here as opposed to at on the top right corner QWERTY keypad below; I found myself annoyed at having to hunt for it when composing an email or SMS message.

The QWERTY layout that occupies the lower third of the front panel features small oval shaped buttons that are mounted diagonally, which makes the keys feel a bit larger than they are and results in easy typing relative to the narrow overall width of the handset. While the Q's keyboard isn't as roomy as those found on full-sized Blackberry devices, it's head and shoulders easier to use than the cramped buttons on the Blackjack. Keys are finished in black with white labels save for the ten buttons which double as the phone's dialing pad. Dedicated shortcut keys for Email, Camera, and Speakerphone are a great touch here, though I did wish the keyboard featured a backlight as found on Verizon's version of the Q.

A scrollwheel and back-button combination on the right panel of the Q allows for one-handed access to many functions, a la Blackberry devices. The controls are easy to use, though the thick plastic ridge that frames them seems a bit overdone to me. A standard mini-USB jack - which is used with the included AC adapter as well as for data connectivity - and a rubber-capped slot for mini SD memory cards adorn the Q's left panel. The rear panel of the Q is largely taken up by the battery cover (an optional extended life battery adds just a hair of thickness to the device), with the camera assembly at the top and dual speaker grills at the bottom of the panel.

Overall, I found the Q's design very pleasing. The font used to label the alphanumeric keys is pleasing to the eye, and the overall layout of the controls and QWERTY board is as roomy and easy to use as one could expect on a device that packs this many buttons into such a small space. As mentioned, the lower right corner of the phone pressed uncomfortably into the fleshy part at the bottom of my thumb pad during one-handed use, but aside from that I liked the design of the Q.

Our fancy algorithm says this stuff is related...

Comments
Reviews

Write your own Motorola Q Black review

Overall, great.

Pros: Great touchscreen interface, smooth sliding, keyboard is easy to use. Great call quality as well.

Cons: Recording sound seemed to be a little off. Otherwise, nothing wrong.

Summary: I absolutely love this phone. The touchscreen works very well and is easy to adjust to (coming from a regular push button phone). The keyboard has a good layout and is easy to use. Overall, I would definitely recommend this phone!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

Was this review helpful or not helpful for you?

Quickfire Phone

Pros: Easy to handle, great sound, easy to learn and use

Cons: Choice of ringtones and finding accessories for the phone

Summary: This is my first touch screen phone and I love it. It's easy to use and operate. The keyboard is very easy to use and I really enjoy the touch screen. The camera is great and I used the video yesterday to record AQHA show and it was very clear. A great purchase.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

Was this review helpful or not helpful for you?

AT&T quickfire

Pros: Feels nice in hand, good weight, great touchscreen, smooth slide, great apps, good call quality

Cons: Slightly slow UI, little bit bulky

Summary: Very nice phone, the colors are great, nice clear screen, bright good quality screen, still has the same problem as the sidekick though its too bulky. Other than that its a great phone and a good buy.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful

Was this review helpful or not helpful for you?

Spoiled by my Blackberry

Pros: Keyboard works for me; screen is clear and easy to read (when it's lit); size is convenient; seems pretty tough; recharges quickly

Cons: software lacks a lot; microphone is all but useless for voice dialing; back-light time-out options

Summary: I can't quite remember now why I didn't replace my stolen Blackberry with another one, but the Q seemed a good idea at the time. Honestly, it's very serviceable, very good-looking, fits nicely into my hands, pocket, side of purse and I've found the keyboard easy to use. initial synchronization with my Outlook contacts was quick and straightforward. Initial setup of Bluetooth was difficult due to poor instructions on finding the "Discover Me" mode on the Q. Although microphone is adequate for speakerphone purposes, it is totally inadequate for voice dialing and I'm still trying to find out if I can use some sort of voice tag for each contact to mitigate that. So far, no luck. Up until now, Blackberry was the only cell phone/PDA I had used and if something happens to this one, I'll probably go back. Seems sturdy enough. I've dropped it once or twice without ill effect and carry it around in my purse without a cover. also, there needs to be a longer-time choice between "never" and "60 seconds" for back-light time-out. Finally, Microsoft needs to take some basic lessons from RIM as to PDA software.

3 out of 7 people found this review helpful

Was this review helpful or not helpful for you?

Not so great

Pros: good keyboard (when keys don't stick), extended battery, easy Bluetooth sync, pictures

Cons: everything....keys stick, delays in all applications, difficult navigation of everything, text message organization, just a lot.

Summary: Hopefully I just received a random broken phone, but this phone was horrible. Turned it back in within 20 days. Everything froze, the h and m keys don't work on text, bluetooth connection would just drop, no direct camera key, email set up was impossible, backlight was never the same each time (no matter what setting you have it on), missed calls like crazy, horrible static during calls. Good thing was the battery (extended) lasts forever. Good speakerphone (just not on receiving end of convo).

15 out of 26 people found this review helpful

Was this review helpful or not helpful for you?

All Motorola Q Black user reviews

Motorola Q Black Cell Phone

Our fancy algorithm says this stuff is related...

Add a comment

Overall, great.

Quickfire Phone

AT&T quickfire

Spoiled by my Blackberry

Not so great

Buying choices

Cell phones... Find it all here