Facts on the Motorola Q

by Matt Julington
Voice quality on the Q drew praise from reviewers.

Voice quality on the Q drew praise from reviewers.

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Ultrathin and sporting a crystal-clear display, the Motorola Q made a big splash in the burgeoning smartphone market when it debuted in 2006. The Q, with its angled QWERTY keyboard, took on business-oriented rivals such as the BlackBerry devices, but was aimed at a broader audience. A torrent of new smartphone competitors emerged in subsequent years as the Q underwent several revisions.

Features and Details

Perhaps the most striking features of the Q were its slim, 0.45-inch body and 2.5-inch screen. The 320-by-240-pixel display drew widespread praise from reviewers, with the website CNET, for example, calling it a "sight to behold.'' Also drawing praise were the cell phone's broad QWERTY keyboard, which offered enough space between the keys to provide a good, if compressed, typing experience. Equipped with Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone Edition, the Q had a 312 MHz Intel processor, 64MB of RAM and 128MB of flash memory. Users could snap pictures with a 1.3-megapixel camera. Windows Media Player Mobile provided playback of video and music. The Q included a mini-USB port and a microSD card slot, as well as a headphone jack. The phone's slab-like body was 4.6 inches long by 2.5 inches wide. Reviewers found battery life to be about 5.5 hours of continuous talk time.

Connectivity

The Q offered EVDO wireless support, which enabled it to achieve download speeds of 400 Kbps to 700 Kbps on the Verizon Wireless network. This made for speedy data delivery and fast downloads on POP3 and IMAP4 email accounts. The phone did not offer built-in Wi-Fi access, but did provide stereo Bluetooth, a welcome feature for music enthusiasts.

Operation

The Q did not include a touch screen but offered a click wheel for scrolling. Users also got around with a five-way navigational control and six menu navigation buttons. The keyboard was dimly illuminated. "The New York Times" lamented the large number of steps required to perform some common tasks, such as saving a photo.

Later Models

The phone underwent a makeover in 2007 with the arrival of the Motorola Q 9. The updated model featured the Windows Mobile 6 operating system and a curvier, slightly heavier body that was also a bit thicker at 0.6 inches. Motorola added an auto backlight adjustment feature and a redesigned keyboard with wider keys. The release of the Moto Q 11 in 2008 saw the addition of Wi-Fi to the phone and a camera upgrade to 3 megapixels.

About the Author

Matt Julington began writing professionally in 1980 with work appearing in daily newspapers such as the "Pottsville Republican" and the "Doylestown Daily Intelligencer" in Pennsylvania. He has extensive experience in building computers and is well versed in Windows operating systems. Julington has a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from The Pennsylvania State University.

Photo Credits

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