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
q is horrible.
i have had my q since January. and it is the worst thing i have ever bought.
pros:
its cute.
it takes a beating. I've dropped mine several times and it is just fine.
cons:
the camera is horrible.
windows mobile is very VERY slow and sometimes freezes when accessing the internet.
the phone just shuts off sometimes for no reason.
battery life is bad.
keypad is a little crowded.
not worth the 400.00 i paid for it.
oh and also the sound on it is horrible.
over all i would NOT buy this phone again. or recommend it to anyone.
Eh.
So I hope this review is more than me hating on Alltel, but I passionately dislike Alltel.
The Moto Q is...eh. Nothing spectacular. But I'll credit it with what it does have.
Pros:
very slim
keyboard is pretty nice to text with
durable: I've dropped so many times.
speaker for music player is very good.
Cons:
Motorola phones have consistently proven to be bad choices for me; they're generally just bad.
battery life is not good...i would use it minimally throughout the day, and it would be dead by the end of the day.
not much memory...definitely need a memory card.
there are a lot more cons...
Like I said, I dislike Alltel, enough to pay the cancellation fee and switch to Verizon, but that's beside the point. The Q is a terrible substitute for a Blackberry...and it is a smartphone, so that plan will greatly increase your monthly bill...the Alltel workers didn't explain that.
Oh, and Alltel doesn't have the silver Q, only the black. I don't know how verizon Q's are compared to this older version. Overall, get a Blackberry.
Mot((Q))rola TEXTING
The Q Is an interesting phone, it sort of has a mind of its own. I use my phone mostly for texting, and calling, and pictures, the texting on this phone is awful. When you get a text the whole screen doesn't come up and say like "ONE NEW TEXT" VIEW NOW VIEW LATER, it just comes in and puts a little number down in the corner like this "Text Messages (1)" then you must go hit message and open it, and then texting back is a chore too, any message over 160 letters it breaks into two texts so on long texts it will come in on friends phones as 2 or i will get three from someone then have to piece them together. Which can be very confusing. Occasionally when you would start typing it would just be in all caps, you would hit the shift button and it wouldn't listen so you would try to backspace, nope no backspacing today, so then you have to back out of the whole text and start over, it happened probably 5 times a day at least.
the phone has an AWFUL camera. AWFUL, although the flashlight feature is very cool and handy, and one of my favorite things on the phone was how you could set applications as speed dials, So you press and hold 5 then the calendar comes up. It was nifty, but the phone had a very slow operating speed. That was another annoying thing, with frequent freezes, and lags. Call quality on this phone was exceptionally good, and I hardly ever lost a call. BATTERY LIFE, was one of the worst I had seen on a phone, if I charged it all night every night took it off the charger and used by 10 at night it would be powering down, and thats with maybe 200 texts and 10 calls a day. I need a phone that can handle that. So I eventually went back to my enV and then went and got a voyager which I am very happy with. IF YOU ARE A TEXT-A-HOLIC THIS PHONE IS NOT FOR YOU. If you are someone who has alot of time on their hands and likes complicated steps to do things, but like small phones, and you have small fingers, its for you.
Basic PDA For Anyone
The phone is small, lightweight (even came with 2 different batteries to allow you to choose weight vs talk time), and above all they are very affordable (especially when compared to most other PDAs on the market). Very easy to use and compatible with a ton of applications (Windows Mobile 5 which currently has a lot more support than WM6). Since it is Windows based it is also very simple to setup with your existing email servers and sync with your computer. Signal quality is great in the Toronto area. I'm hard pressed to see why people would pay so much more for competitors units which lack so many of the basic functions included on this unit. My only negative is that if it ever does lock up you need to remove the battery in order to get unit to reboot, and the belt clip they ship with unit is very cheap (plastic) so you probably will need to purchase an aftermarket accessory (especially if using the larger battery).
GRRR
I totally did not like this phone! I got it because I wanted an UPGRADE from my Samsung Blade (that I had for 2 years and LOVED), but this was a TOTAL downgrade! The internet was WAY faster on my Blade...and I browse the net a lot from my phone!
Pros:
Full keypad
Cons:
Bulky
Can't send pictures directly to another phone, has to go through an email address.
Crashed on me a lot
Froze up all the time
Deleted my text messages without ME deleting them
The scroll bar on the side is trying to be like the BB, but it was unsuccessful
Overall, I couldn't stand it. I felt like I was carrying a flat box around all the time, too wide...
I don't understand the complaints
I can only judge the US Cellular service, and that has been great. I have had this phone for a month without a single weak connection or dropped call. Great phone.
As a PDA it is not bad. It is the lightweight version of Windows Mobile, but it seems to work well enough. It synchs my contacts and calendar with Outlook. I wish in synched with ACT!, but the lightweight version of Windows Mobile doesn't (the Blackjack has the same problem).
I did add Smartphone Notes, HiCALC calculator, and a Backgammon game.
I do frequently use Task Manager to Kill all the programs. I miss the Switcher application I had with my Dell Axim. Therefore, I am able to use the phone quit a bit everyday on a single charge. I do have to charge it every night (that doesn't bother me). If I forget to charge it at night, it is not a problem because it came with two batteries from US Cellular.
My only complaint is that it is a little awkward to lock the keys.
I am very happy with the phone. I especially love the size and form factor. It just fits in my shirt pocket perfectly.
Not that Bad
After reading these reviews I was hesitant to buy this phone mostly because of the complaints of poor battery time. But after my 700WX recently went for a swim I needed a new pda. Having been very unhappy with a previous Mogul, not going to pay 650.00 for a new Treo and limited by Sprint, I was left with the Q.
I use bluetooth for the car, push email for wireless sync with exchange and talk at least 3000 minutes per month and the phone lasts me the entire day. Bluetooth works very well with the car, much better than the Treo. Reception is better than either the Treo or the Mogul, even without the huge Treo stub sticking out and the bulk of both.
The operating system does lag a little. Not as slow as the Mogul but not as lightning fast as the Treo. The lag is most noticeable when making a call. Once you hit send the phone hangs for several seconds before it connects and starts dialing.
Having had the Mogul, Treo and now the Q by default, I like the Q the best. Easiest to carry, better reception, decent camera and the battery will last the day.
Great Phone, Good Service, Way to go Moto
After having the Moto Q for a little over a month now, i truly love this phone. Well, it's not really a phone, more like art.
Call quality is good, signal is great, the phone is easy to use, but i must say it has taken a little time to adjust, i switched from using a blackberry 8703e..
The camera on this thing is good, but could be better, but that is the case with all phones with cameras. I purchased an extended battery for it, so the battery life isn't really an issue for me.
Overall, this is a great little phone, and Alltel is a great service provider. I glad that I selected this phone.
light and handy
Great little phone, Connects to car's bluetooth system without fail, never have to take it out of pocket to make or receive calls, syncs up to my laptop to keep all my contacts, pictures and calender up to date. Can't go wrong with a Q.
