Project PDA

If you’ve been waiting to buy a smartphone until you could find one that’s not only functional and mobile, but also uber cool, then you’re wait may very well be over.

The Motorola Moto Q weighs in at just 4.1 oz and is 0.5 inches thick (half the thickness of a Treo). The device sports a 2.4-inch QVGA display that is incredibly bright.   It’s not a touchscreen, but there is a blackberry-like scroll wheel that makes navigation with only one hand possible (which is very easy and intuitive to use).

But don’t be fooled by the size of the Q; the full featured keyboard still is very easy to use and there is plenty of space between keys so typing is not a problem. The keyboard is also backlight with a blue LCD, which makes typing and navigating in the dark an easily accomplished task.

One awkward design flaw is the placement of the backspace button which is on the top right of the keyboard, next to the navigation wheel and power button. It makes correcting typos a pain, but after a little getting used to, it will turn into a minor problem – one that Motorola will hopefully get right in the next release.

For a full list of specifications, see our Moto Q specs page here. And for an introduction to competing wireless cellphone networks and technologies see our article here.

Both the Sprint and Verizon EVDO networks make for blazing fast downloads and web surfing.   EVDO speeds range from 400 to 700 Kbps, which were on par with what we experienced. Most of the TV channels worked, depending on where we were standing, buy the Bloomberg financial station consistently worked the best.

The Q comes packed with a 312 MHz processor and 64MB of RAM. For the most part, there was little lag when navigating around different applications, but once two or three of them were opened, then things slowed down considerably. Thankfully, there is a task manager utility that allows you to kill any running applications, which is highly recommended for increased performance and battery life.

Accessing email, contacts and using the calendar was a cinch and so was synching the Q up with Microsoft Outlook. And although you are able to view attachments, you can’t edit them – a weakness inherent in Microsoft Windows Mobile 5 for Smartphones.

The 1.3 MegaPixel camera is a nice addition that makes the Moto Q more fun when it’s not being used for business. The pictures we took turned out somewhat blurry, but very colorful.   Another handy application is the voice notes, which allow you to record little memos to yourself – or practice entire speeches – but unfortunately there aren’t any volume controls on playback, and in our case there was quite a bit of feedback. The playback was still decent, but hopefully this will get fixed with the next edition of the Moto Q.   Also, it would be nice if a notes application for written notes was included.

The battery life on the Moto Q has 4 hours of talk time, which has been approximately accurate in our tests. Depending on how much you surf the web and how many games you play, the battery will last you about a day and a half of normal use.   If you know you will use your phone for a lot more than talking throughout the day, then you can always upgrade to a bigger battery capacity for $59.99.

As for the carriers, Sprint seems to have the cheapest data service at $15 a month for unlimited data (vs. $40 for Verizon and $39 for cingular). Also, Sprint includes its On Demand service which gives you quick access to news, sports and financial columns among other things.

Overall the Moto Q from Motorola is by far one of the lightest and thinnest full featured smartphones available. Its fast processor and high speeds on the EVDO network along with its ability to play MP3’s and its built in camera, make it great for both business and personal use. Hopefully by the next release, Motorola will have moved the backspace button to a more convenient location and include volume controls on the voice notes application.