Motorola Q9 Smartphone Review
Advantages & Downfalls of PDA Smartphone with Windows Mobile and GPS
The Motorola Q9 is one of the most popular PDA smartphones available on the market today. Being popular is not always a true measure of performance however.
The Moto Q9 has a very happy and well organized following of fans, but it is not without its drawbacks. Despite the few annoying details shown above the Q9 is still a great smartphone for those that want the familiar interface and applications of the Windows operating system.
No Motorola Q9 review would be complete without noticing one major thing: every other reviewer on the Internet seems to love it. The benefits of the Moto Q9 are spoken of in terms of flexibility, options, and high quality features, yet the initial unit that was tested in this review died after only two days. After being powered down for the night and plugged into a wall socket to charge, the phone simply failed to boot up the next morning. No degree of hocus pocus and drawn out conversations with tech support could bring it back to life. The second unit showed no such problems, but even so, the initial problems left a sour taste in the reviewer's mouth. Moving forward, however, there are some positive aspects associated with the experience of using the Motorola Q9.
Benefits of the Moto Q9 Smartphone:
- Windows Mobile 6 is a good, stable operating system with plenty of options for additional programs and expansion.
- The keypad is comfortable, and after a little bit of adjustment is very easy to navigate and use.
- The screen is bright and larger than most other smartphones.
- Built in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi make transferring files and syncing the phone a breeze when matched with a similarly equipped computer.
- Built in GPS allows the user to use applications such as Google Maps for Mobile to plot their position and get driving directions to any destination.
Drawbacks found during the Moto Q9 review process:
- Without a stylus some functions are difficult to use. Fast forwarding through songs on Windows Media Player was slow when listening to a long podcast. Clicking and dragging the slider with a stylus would be much better.
- The unit is a bit wide for some people's taste. While it is still comfortable it feels rather large when slipped into the pocket of a person's pants. The extended life battery also adds a bit of thickness to the unit.
- The device only syncs its contact list with Microsoft Outlook. Users without Outlook will have to enter contact info manually or transfer it via Bluetooth from another phone. Likewise it is also set up that way for the calendar function. However, in tests it was possible to sync with Google Calendar using a third party application.
Despite the few drawbacks for the price the Motorola Q9 is an excellent buy (most carriers sell for around $150 after contract rebate). The support and overall popularity of the phone ensure that it will be a staple of the wireless world for quite some time to come.
