Everything Motorola Q

 Nice combination of software and features,  Friday, 02 May 2008

Excellent Call Quality

Given Motorola's rich history with cellphone development, there are certainly expectations of great phone call quality when it comes to their line of Q smartphones. The Moto Q 9h certainly delivers on that promise, offering excellent phone quality for a smartphone. While some smartphones suffer from low-volume earpieces and speakerphones, the Moto Q 9h is quite the opposite. If you are in a busy environment, the Moto Q 9h has enough volume boost to clearly hear your caller. Conversely, callers on the other end of the call thought my voice had great sound quality and clarity.

Experiences With Moto Q 9h Bluetooth

Other critical phone features would be Bluetooth and the Moto Q 9h supports Bluetooth 2.0 and A2DP. I paired the Moto Q 9h with several headsets (Palm Ultralight headset, Jabra JX10), speakerphones (BlueAnt) and car systems (BMW) without issue. I primarily use a Bluetooth hands-free connection in my car,prior to it being totaled, but that's a story for another time. Once the Moto Q 9h was paired, the car instantly recognized the device upon entering the car. Never did I have to reinstate the connection. Part of this can certainly be attributed to the in-car Bluetooth, but this was not the case with the iPhone which at times would lose connectivity. Call clarity through Bluetooth was top notch. As mentioned, the Moto Q 9h supports A2DP, so it will work as a music player with headsets like the Motorokr S9 Bluetooth Stereo Headphones. For the purpose of this review, I did not test the Moto Q 9h with the S9 headphones. The Motorokr S9 review was conducted with a Sprint Moto Q. That being said, I'm pretty confident the results would be similar.

Windows Standard

For me personally, usability on any Windows Mobile Smartphone is a mixed bag. The OS inherently allows you to customize in so many ways, with and without the use of third party software. One of the more popular discussion topics in our forums are Moto Q hacks. This is in stark comparison to the Apple iPhone which uses a closed operating system. Out of the box, the Windows Mobile Smartphone OS can be confusing to new users. If the Moto Q 9h is your first smartphone, you'll probably have your fair share of head scratching when navigating through the device. To access the camera application using the OS, it takes 9 clicks. Not surprising AT&T's suite of apps are on the first page upon hitting the Start button. Thankfully, Motorola has made strides in improving access to these commonly used apps. The Moto Q 9h features hard keys for Calendar, Contacts, Music, Camera and Speakerphone. In addition, there are the soft buttons for Email/Messaging and Web Access. Once you figure out these handy shortcuts, you can avoid the clicks needed to access your apps.

Missing the Scroll Wheel

Gone is the scroll wheel that can be found on the Moto Q, Moto Q 9m and Moto Q 9c. In it's place are three hard buttons (up, action, down). I found the usability of the scroll wheel to be vastly easier to use than the new buttons and this is even more apparent during one-handed operation. Personally, I'd like to see Motorola go back to the scrollwheel.

GPS on the Q 9h

From a hardware perspective, the Moto Q 9h offers a few new features not found on the older series Moto Q smartphones. The Moto Q 9h comes standard with GPS. By accessing www.google.com/gmm on the included Opera browser, I was able to easily download and install GoogleMaps for Windows Mobile Standard. After launching Google Maps, selecting the right soft button (Menu) and then option 5 sent Google looking for the GPS satellites. Although inside, pointing the Moto Q 9h outside a window was all that I needed for GoogleMaps to show my location. You also get surrounding streets and can generate a satellite view. This can prove helpful if you find yourself lost and need to generate directions. While GoogleMaps will not generate "turn by turn" voice directions, it does offer a very cool "next -6" and "previous-4" for easily following the trip route. Best of all, GoogleMaps is free and works well with the included GPS on the Moto Q 9h.

If this doesn't suffice, there is a "shortcut" on the Moto Q 9h to download TeleNav GPS Navigator. There is a 30-day free trial with this software, but expect to add $9.95 per month for this service. Yearly, that equates to $119.40, so it almost makes sense to go with Garmin or TomTom. Still, if you'd like to cut down on the amount devices you carry, TeleNav Navigator GPS on the Moto Q 9h can certainly help you achieve this.

Camera Functions

The Moto Q 9h features a 2 megapixel camera complete with a flash. The Moto Q 9h camera boasts an impressive feature set for a smartphone:

• Mode: Allows for burst photography or timed shots.
• Brightness: Set adjust 7 levels of brightness.
• Resolution: Choose from 320x240 up to 1600x1200.
• Zoom: Includes 4 zoom levels up to 8x.
• White Balance: Choose from 7 white balance settings. Includes settings for night, sunlight or cloudy days.
• Full screen: Allows you to frame your shot using the full screen.

The camera also allows for has a mode that allows for video recording. All photos and videos are neatly managed appropriately enough in the Pictures and Videos app. In addition to displaying your pictures and videos, you can also select a Slide Show. The left soft button allows for easy sending via email or MMS, as it jets you into the Messaging section of the Q. There is also an option to set a photo as your homescreen background. Nifty and very easy to get acquainted with the multi-media portion of the Q 9h.

Q 9h Every Bit As Rockin' As Q 9m

Although it's not billed as the "music" Q (we'll leave that to the Verizon Moto Q 9m), the Moto Q 9h is every bit as capable when it comes to mobile music. Within Windows Mobile Device Center, an option to add music allowed me to transfer music to the Moto Q 9h from Windows Media Player. Transfer 30 or so songs took a few minutes or so. Included with the Moto Q 9h was a 3.5mm audio adapter which I considered a very useful bonus. Like so many, I have more than a few of those "white headphones" floating around my home. The included adapter means you can use your favorite headphones for listening to music. Sound quality was exceptional, but volume was lacking. I appreciated the quality of audio, but felt the Moto Q 9h could benefit from a volume boost when it comes to music. This is in surprising contrast to the phone itself, which has great volume levels. The Moto Q 9h features a dedicated hard button allowing for quick access to music. While listening to music, I was able to check email, check my calendar and more. The net here is that you can be productive while rocking out to My Chemical Romance or your favorite band.

Impressive Software Bundle

The most impressive changes from its predecessors comes in the software department. The Moto Q 9h comes with Outlook Mobile. Setting up email accounts is easy enough and is a great performer for those with multiple email accounts. Using the 5-way navigator, you can switch between accounts by simply pressing left or right. Despite being a 3G device, I found myself in EDGE areas all too often. Accessing my email was slower than using the more accessible EvDO of Sprint and Verizon Wireless. For corporate users, the Moto Q 9h supports both Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes. There is also an icon to "Get Good" for those who are looking for support of the GOOD Mobile Messaging service.

The Moto Q 9h supports both SMS and MMS. The quick address tip is somewhat cumbersome, requiring you press the "return key" and select a contact from the list. Ideally, it would be easier to type the name of your contact and have the device autofill the contact name. The Moto Q 9h does not support threaded text messaging that produces a "chat style" conversation from your messages, but thankfully there are third party apps such as Extreme Text to offer this feature.

Coming over from the Palm Treo is a familiar multi-client Instant Messaging application. IM supports AIM, Yahoo and Windows Live Messenger. Setup was a breeze and you can be concurrently logged in on all three clients.

As with previous releases, "Tasks" is lacking requiring something along the lines of Power Tasks (see review). Calculator offers basic functions and has neat new look to the app.

New to the Q 9h

One of the most significant applications included on the Moto Q 9h is Documents To Go. This includes:

• PDF To Go
• Sheet To Go (Excel)
• Slideshot To Go (PowerPoint)
• Word To Go
• Zip To Go

With the Documents To Go suite, you can create or read Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. Despite not being a Microsoft product, Docs To Go excels at Office documents. Menus within the program also make it easy to email documents. The included PDF To Go and Zip To Go help provide mobile professionals with all the tools they need to access critical documents while on the go.

Multiple Browsers

Previous Moto Q smartphones shipped with Internet Explorer standard. The Moto Q 9h also includes IE, but the default browser is now Opera. The applications are vastly different in the way you access pages. Both pale in comparison to Safari on the iPhone, which has left most mobile browsers in the dust. While both performed well with the "mobile web", there are still a wealth of sites not optimized for mobile devices. As such, both IE and Opera tend to struggle with extensive download times and at times poor rendering. Opera outperformed IE and a welcome addition to the Q. In general, IE7 and improved web browsing cannot come quick enough to Windows Mobile.

Notes Not Really Notes

The Moto Q 9h features a program called Notes. It's actually the same thing as Voice Notes. Not only is this a bit confusing, but it's redundant. A true memo pad feature is missing on the Moto Q. Again, third party developers have filled the gap (see Smartphone Notes).

Personalize My Q

For most Q users, personalizing their device is a priority. Nestled in "My Stuff" is a new folder called Personalize My Q. There are several mini-apps that allow you to set everything from homescreen layout and background to the ringtones on your Q. There are a few good choices, but I'd recommend visiting the Q Home Screens and Wallpapers forum. There are a tremendous amount of homescreen customizations that not only affect the look, but also impact the usability of the device. "Personalize My Q" is certainly a step in the right direction, making it easy for new Q owners to personalize their device.

Packing More Than Just a Smartphone

Priced at $199 (after rebates with 2-year contract), the Moto Q 9h offers a nice combination of accessories and software. More and more manufacturers offer less in the way of accessories, but Motorola has taken the opposite approach. In particular, the inclusion of a spare extended battery w/ cover, 3.5mm audio adapter allowing for use of standard headphones and miniUSB charging adapter allowing for use of existing chargers, the company allows you to really get the most from your Moto Q 9h. I found the abondonment of the scrollwheel odd and certainly hope to see it return in future devices. The Moto Q 9h scores on style points, taking cues from the popular RAZR. The device is still a bit too wide for true one-handed use and the Q 9h can feel "heavy" when using the extended battery. The software bundle is a major upgrade from past devices. Docs To Go and the IM app are carryovers from the Palm Treo. Both are great applications and a welcome addition. In general, there are a few shortcomings as a result of Windows Mobile, notably the Tasks and lack of a true Notes program.

 Facade Is Nice Addition To Moto Q,  Friday, 02 May 2008

Depending on the model of Moto Q you own or more specifically the wireless provider, the standard home screen will differ. Of course, you have an opportunity to customize your home screen. In fact, one of the more active sections of our Motorola Q forums is the home screen section where there are literally hundreds of custom home screens available for download. However, there are limitations the amount of information that can be displayed on your Moto Q. Facade by SBSH Software also allows for the use of custom home screens, but specifically it helps bring critical information to your home screen through a variety of customizable options.

Keeping You Organized

If you have a busy calendar, the Moto Q can no doubt keep track of all of your appointments. However, it can be tiresome to have to exit your home screen to view your upcoming appointments. Using the AT&T Home screen that comes standard on the Moto Q 9h, I can only view one appointment at a time. A quick trip the Home Screen Settings in Personalize My Q doesn't offer the opportunity to display more appointments. Luckily, there are third party applications to help out and this where Facade steps in. Facade is called a home screen plug-in. It doesn't replace your Home Screen settings, but rather tweaks it to bring critical information to the forefront. When you activate Facade, it activates one of the Facade-friendly Home Screen backgrounds that come with the application and then it goes to work. Immediately, I was able to see up to 3 of my appointments on the Home Screen. More importantly, I could scroll right on the 5-way navigator to select to view my other appointments. By pressing the center button, Facade also allowed a number of options directly related to specific appointment such as View Details, Open Tasks, Open Calendar, Mark Complete, Delete. In comparison, selecting an appointment without Facade just directs you to the calendar application.

Task management is identical in the way appointments work using Facade. You cannot show both tasks and appointments on your home screen. However, you can navigate to your list of Tasks quite easily, all from the home screen. The same contextual menu options are available.

Power Tools

Facade also brings a shortcut to the Home Screen for Power Management (Settings > More > Power Management). This allows you to set a variety of options that affect battery life including Backlight Timer, Display Timeout and provides you with quick information on how much battery life is left on your Moto Q. There is also an icon to shut down your Q. While these could prove useful, it would be nice to have the ability to customize what applications appear.

Coexisting With Default Settings

If there is any potential downside to Facade it's the fact that it uses valuable memory resources. Using the Moto Q 9h, I did not see this an issue. I did find switching back to my standard home screen to be quite a chore. Initially, it appeared that by switching back to the AT&T Default would suffice. However, over time it seems to produce an odd mixture of the AT&T background with Facade. If you are going to use Facade, you'll want to select one of the Facade friendly layouts. Luckily, you are not limited to the few supplied themes, as many home screen designers are producing Facade compatible themes.

Conclusion

For those who use their Moto Q to manage their day to day appointments and tasks, Facade is a great addition. The home screen plug-in provides for easier access to your daily appointments and tasks. Visually, the included home screen backgrounds are very well done and a vast improvement over the stock options provided by your wireless carrier.

Facade retails for $14.95 and is available as a free trial.

 Solid effort works well with Moto Q,  Wednesday, 22 August 2007

I recently had the opportunity to trial the Motorola S9 Stereo headphones.

Motorola's S9 headphones are in a sense a convergence accessory. Many smartphone owners will use a Bluetooth headset and then opt for wired headphones. Motorola's S9 headphones allow you to take calls and listen to your favorite music - using one headset.

If you listen to music on your iPod or MP3 player then you more than likely are using a wired headset. I take my music with me to the gym and I cannot count the number of times my wired headset has been completely yanked from my ears. While iPods do not currently support Bluetooth devices, the Moto Q supports Bluetooth and A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile). Simply put, A2DP allows you to listen to stereo music and calls via Bluetooth headphones. For my testing, I took my Sprint Moto Q coupled with the Motorola S2 headphones. (Note: The Motorola S9 headphones support iPod players equipped with the TEN Technology naviPlay Bluetooth Stereo Adapter for iPod .)

Being a Mac user primarily, my first task was to get my favorite music on the Moto Q. The gym is where I listen to most of my music, so I had to prepare my Moto Q for this purpose. My workout mix consists of 2 albums and one was purchased through iTunes. Music purchased through iTunes can only be played on an iPod. My first stumbling block, but I was not to be denied. After burning the playlist(s) to CD's, I was able to import into my PC running Windows Vista. Syncing the music was just as easy using Windows Media Player. The whole process took no more than 30 minutes. If you use a PC as your primary desktop computer, setup time will be significantly reduced.

Sound Quality

I've pretty much been listening to The Used and My Chemical Romance for the past six months, so it's safe to say that I'm very familiar the music. This was helpful when testing the S9 headphones. Using the iPod Shuffle as a reference, I was impressed by the sound quality of the S9 headphones. The Used could be described as hard rock, even though they tend to get pinned with the emo tag. When listening to loud guitars, you don't often find nuances between headsets. Surprisingly, that's exactly what I found when using the S9 headphones. There were subject production values that were lost upon me listening with the iPod Shuffle. Granted, the music was ripped using two different computers, but I don't have any reason to believe that Vista's ripping process produces substantially better sound quality. I did not experience any audio drop outs or static. I did find the volume to be lower than I prefer. This could be due to the Moto Q and not necessarily the S9 headphones. Not a major issue, but worth nothing. My personal preference is loud, blaring music and with the S9 headphones I did hear more of the surrounding environment.

Being a Bluetooth headset, you can also field calls with the S9. I heard the caller in my left ear and quality was on par with the best of headsets. Normally, I use my right ear for my Bluetooth headset, so this was a bit odd. It would be great if there were an option to switch. If such a setting exists, I was unaware at the time of this review.

Comfort

The Motorola S9 is worn behind your neck and over your ears. The S9 features a "snug" fit and while more noticeable than standard headphones. They are not adjustable, so this fit might not be for all. The headset is very light. For gym use, the behind the neck feature did impede with any exercises using a weight bench. Runners however will enjoy the freedom of no wires and not having to worry about headphones falling out.

Functionality

As you'd expect, this is a Motorola Bluetooth product, so it worked seamlessly with the Moto Q smartphone. Pairing was a snap, taking a minute or so to get the two devices communicating. Standard procedure for pairing, put the S9 in pairing mode and then simply enter '0000' on the Moto Q to get them talking. The S9 comes with "on board" controls. Rather than accessing your music player (in this case the Moto Q), track changes and volume settings are all done using the controls on the headset. There is an audio acknowledgment whenever you make a change, which I found helpful, especially when I was getting used to the controls. I didn't notice any lag time while changing tracks or volume. The S9 performs as if it were tethered.

Design

The headset looks as if it were designed with the Moto Q9m in mind (and perhaps it was) as they look like blood brothers. The headphones are constructed of a very high quality and durable plastic. The inner lining is composed of a rubber material. Both are designed for heavy use and would respond well to persperation associated with gym use. The color choice may not suit everyone, but there is no questioning the build quality of the S9 headphones. Overall, I found the S9 headphones to be a nice mix of sleek design, but also designed for wear and tear.

Overall

The Motorola S9 headphones are priced accordingly condsidering the feature set and build quality. The snug fit might not be for everyone, but this set delivers when it comes to functionality and design. It won't replace your Bluetooth headset, but it is an excellent choice for someone looking to remove the wires from their active lifestyle. Runners will enjoy the ergonomic design. All in all, this is a solid effort and one that works well with the Moto Q family of smartphones.

 ToughSkin Offers Rugged Protection for Moto Q,  Tuesday, 12 June 2007 The ToughSkin for the Motorola Q provides rugged protection and good looks. Its one-of-a-kind design customizes the popular rubberized skin for extreme lifestyles on the job or at home. It's the only skin to feature ruggedized bumpers, screen protection, and a deluxe swivel holster.

The ToughSkin for Moto Q is billed as "rugged" protection for your smartphone. It comes from longtime case manufacturer, Speck Products.

The first thing you notice about the ToughSkin is the rugged look of the material. The ToughSkin is composed of Kraton which is a special polymer plastic. According to Speck, this material is more durable than competing skin cases that are made from silicone. It also has a nice feel to it and this should not be discounted. Realizing the quality of material, the packaging of the ToughSkin for Moto Q actually has an exposed area to allow customers at retail locations to sample the feel of the material. The side of the case has a distinct look that reminds me of treads on a tire. While it's my belief this was done for looks, it actually ends up being a nice feature as the "treads" make it easier to grip the Moto Q.

The ToughSkin allows access to all ports on the Moto Q, except for IR and miniSD. The IR port is not a major issue for me, but I could see lack of access to the miniSD as being problematic. For example, swapping cards from the CoPilot miniSD maps card to a mulit-media card could prove to be a hassle if done regularly. One of the features of the Speck ToughSkin cases has always been the built-in screen protector and the Moto Q case is no different. However, I find it as a great option on the Q as opposed to say a Treo, considering the Q does not have a touch-screen. On touch-screen devices, accessing the screen can be vital making the flip-lid screen protection at times a nuisance. On the Moto Q, I have a new fondness of the ToughSkin's screen protector. This option allows owners to put their Q in a pocket or pocketbook without fear of spare change or keys scratching or scuffing the screen. The screen protector fits neatly between the case and the Moto Q. It is optional, so if you take issue with it, you can easily remove it. With previous cases, this was possible, but it affected the fit of the case. As with most skin cases, the 'gummy' feel of the case might make it difficult to grab from your pants pocket. The two soft menu keys are covered, but it felt natural using them with the case.

My beef with previous models of the ToughSkin has been the added bulk and this issue was specific to the Treo. By nature, the Treo is a larger phone, so adding bulk was always a concern. This simply is not the case with the Moto Q and certainly not the ToughSkin. Verizon had sent me a replacement Q and I had not gotten around to returning my original Q. This gave me an opportunity to compare the size of the Moto Q with the ToughSkin and without. As you'll see from the images, there is not that much of a difference. The clip on the holster is also very low profile.

Understanding their customers, Speck ships their ToughSkin with a holster allowing you to wear the case on a belt or clip to a bag. The clip swivels allowing you to wear the Moto Q to your preference. The Q is intended to face inward and this further adds to the level of protection offered by the ToughSkin case/holster combo. Should you accidently dislodge the holster from your belt or pocketbook, the corners of the ToughSkin holster would take the brunt of the fall. With the screen facing inward, this also minimize any damage to the screen or keys. The ToughSkin case slides into the bottom of the holster making it secure and then snaps into place using the grooves in the case. Removing the case felt awkward and I felt myself concerned that I might snap the top corners of the holster.

The ToughSkin case offers superior protection for Q with a heavy plastic screen protector and inward facing holster. Discounting the ToughSkin as "just another skin case" would be an injustice, as their materials and craftsmanship set them apart. While their skin case sets them apart, they do fall short in the holster category. Active users will most likely find frustration with inserting and removal of the Q from the Speck holster. The ToughSkin has a snug fit around the Q which is as good as can be expected from a skin case due to the pliable nature of the material. If you routinely swap out your miniSD cards, then the ToughSkin could prove to be problematic as it covers both the IR and miniSD ports. All in all, the ToughSkin provides a nice combination of rugged looks and serious protection for the Motorola Q smartphone.