Review: Motorola Cliq 2
Screen
The Cliq 2's display is drastically better than the original Cliq's. It increases in size from 3.1 inches to 3.7 inches, and jumps from 320 x 480 pixels to 480 x 854. This is a typical resolution for a Motorola LCD of this size, and it looks great. It is very hard to see individual pixels, and most of the time text, graphics, images and icons look smooth and free of jagged edges. phonescoop.com appeared sharp and I was able to read the text of the articles without zooming in too much. On the brightness scale, it puts out enough light to be perfectly usable indoors. Outside, it was a bit harder to see and use, but it wasn't a total wash. Under cloudy skies, it was perfectly fine. It took the sunniest day to really obstruct usability much.
Signal
The Cliq 2 had no trouble finding and connecting to T-Mobile's network in the metro NYC region. I consistently had at least several bars of coverage registering on the handset. In terms of real-world performance, the Cliq 2 didn't drop any calls, but I had to re-dial several before they went through — even though I had 5 bars of service. Data speeds ranged all over the place. The peak speed I saw with the device was 5.1Mbps down and 1.9Mbps up (it is capable of a theoretical max of 10.1Mbps down). The average download speed was about 3.5Mbps, with the slowest coming in at 1.1Mbps. Applications from the Android Market (even those greater than 10Mb) all downloaded in a jiffy. Only once did the Cliq 2 pause a minute or two to connect a data session before I could browse.
Sound
Call quality was very good. My tests proved the Cliq 2 to offer clear audio on both ends of a call. Voices in the earpiece were sharp and free of distortion. Those with whom I spoke reported no issues on their end, either. The earpiece was plenty loud. It can probably be set at 60% most of the time. Putting it up all the way hurt my eardrum a bit, but that volume could be useful in particularly noisy environments. The speakerphone was also sufficiently loud for use at home or in a closed office. Clarity of the speakerphone calls was also excellent. Conversely, ringtones were not quite as loud as I would have liked them to be. You won't miss a call if you're in the same room as the Cliq 2, but you might if you're in another room or behind a closed door.
Battery
The original Cliq had horrendous battery life. The Cliq 2 makes major improvements in that regard. It easily lasted an entire day, even with Motorola's Blur services up and running the entire time. I didn't make too many phone calls, but used the Cliq 2 constantly for email and web surfing with music playing in the background. There was enough of a charge left over that it could last a few hours into the following morning, though most users will want to charge it every night.
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Motorola Cliq 2
