The Motorola Q9m is now available from Verizon Wireless and we’ve got one to try out for a while. You would think that it would be pretty much the same as the Motorola Q9h we reviewed earlier except maybe with a Verizon CDMA radio instead of GSM. Au contraire mon frere…

The Motorola Q9m has a slightly different shape than the Q9h. The edges are a bit more rounded, but the keyboard is the same. That’s a good thing since the Q9′s keyboard is really well designed. In terms of hardware buttons, the layout on the Q9m is similar, but lacks the Internet and Email buttons.

On the left side there are some major differences. There’s a regular MiniUSB jack for sync/charging where as the Q9h has a proprietary connector. There’s also a flap that covers the MiniSD slot as opposed to the MicroSD slot on the Q9h.

On the top, there’s a flap covering a standard 2.5mm audio jack. This is completely missing from the Q9h and is a very welcome addition to the Q9m.

On the right side, there’s an actual jog wheel instead of the up/down buttons on the Q9h. Again, this is a superior interface. Spinning the jog wheels lets you scroll, pressing it selects the item (though a small ridge makes this a bit difficult), and there’s an unlabeled button below which acts as the “back” button.

On the back is a slightly different arrangement of the camera lens and flash LED as well as a bit of a RAZR like ridge on the battery cover surrounding the stereo speakers.

Also note the extremely good looking red and black paint job on the Q9m. This is much better looking than the Q9h.