The Motorolla Q was one of the most hyped up phones of 2006. Given the recently popularity of the RAZR, most of style-conscious America was waiting for the next revolution from Motorolla. And when the buzz started going about a possible smart-phone to match the style of the Motorolla Q, corporate America jumped on board.
I can let you know that I was one of the people who signed up to become informed when the Moto Q was being sold. It had not yet been released which carrier had rights to the phone or if it would be released with certain new features. Finally the day came in May 2006, Verizon would hold sole rights to sell the phone.
Well, I have a RAZR. I bought it the summer before, you know when it was $300 and no one else had one. It was brand new on the market and I definitely wanted it for my business. I own my own business and I thought it was worth it to get a smart phone that was only $200 with a 2 year contract from Verizon. Fine, I bought the phone online - all the retailers around me had not yet received the tangible product. (I would've had to wait the same amount of time).
When the box arrived at my apartment, I was more that pleased. The sleak design and the light-weight of the phone stunned me. It seemed even a little lighter than my RAZR. I was excited that the phone ran Windows Mobile - I had heard that it would easily sync with my powerpoint presentation, excel documents, word documents, and most important Outlook e-mails.
I had previously tested out a BlackBerry for 3 months before I bought the Q, and I had become pretty proficient with the QWERTY keyboard and the scrolling device. The Q seemed a bit of a challenge at first. The keyboard is slightly smaller and narrower than a traditional BlackBerry. The center button is also not conducive to quick selections as you have to move your fingers around a couple of times. I much preferred the BlackBerry double click on the scroll wheel - the Q does offer this feature, but to a lesser extent.
After playing around with the keys for a while, I noticed that this LCD, or display, was bright a picture perfect. It was much cleaner than a BlackBerry. I synced it pretty easily to my computer and loaded on a Windows Media File that allowed me to view it beautifully on my Q. I became torn with the Windows Mobile interface. It indeed was easy to load Windows XP files, but similarly after setting up my POP3 e-mail account, it continously gave me errors for sending messages. Eventually, I gave in an bought a Microsoft-Exchange Server e-mail address that gave me constant communication with my account and allowed me to send and receive messages remotely at all times.
And now to the BIGGEST problem with the Q. Let's talk about battery life. My BlackBerry could last 3 days with me e-mailing and calling people on it. The battery life was great. The Moto Q had a HORRIBLE battery life, barely lasting 12 hours, even when not talking or e-mailing on it. The saleswoman at Verizon even warnt me that I would be coming back for a replacement/enlarged battery as they anticipated this claim. I should've picked it up at that point in time. This makes this product very unappealing to business travelers. You cannot constantly be charging your smartphone on the road, there are simply not enough places. Also, if you forget to charge it one day, you are without your sole device of communication - leaving you in a fair amount of trouble.
By the end of my trial period with the Q, I had encountered some other errors with software. I was not able to send/receive texts or e-mails on a phone. The phone had to be replaced twice. Given the stress the phone has already caused me with the addition of many of its cons, it does not seem that the thin, sexy apperance of the phone can save it from its downfalls.
I would recommend not buying this phone to replace another smartphone in the mix. Stick with the BlackBerrys.
The world's thinnest, lightest QWERTY phone delivers a fully-loaded package of email, voice, and entertainment in one amazingly rich but thin device. ...More at GreenCells
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