The Moto Q, Take 2 (1/3)
Motorola Q9 / 9h with WM6 Standard
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INTRODUCTION
Since the original
Motorola Q was launched on Verizon, the Qwerty-bar
phone genre has become pretty popular. The
Qwerty-bar is defined as a landscape
style screen,
navigation hardware buttons, and a small thumb
keyboard in a flat candy-bar type form-factor. Most
of these devices evolved from the old Blackberry
devices yet run Windows Mobile instead. Now, Motorola has a new Q for you to view, the Q9, often called the 9h. It runs on GSM networks and has UMTS and HSDPA. Is it a worthy successor to the popular Q? Read on for the thorough review!
WHAT'S HOT
My favorite thing about the Motorola Q9h
is the keyboard. It's got a great tactile feel and
soft-touch buttons. The Q9h also has Bluetooth 2.0, a 330MHz TI IMAP 2420, Windows Mobile
6 Standard,
2.4" 320 x 240px 64K color screen, Quadband GSM/EDGE,
2100Mhz UMTS/HSDPA and a 2MP camera. The extra
RAM and ROM are very welcome additions as is the
fast processor.
Device |
Size (inches) |
Weight (grams | ounces) |
4.74" x 2.63" x 0.43"
|
157 | 5.53 |
|
4.33" x 2.09" x 0.59"
|
117 | 4.12 |
|
4.66" x 2.48" x 0.47"
|
130 | 4.58 |
|
4.56" x 2.33" x 0.67"
|
188 | 6.63 |
|
4.64" x 2.36" x 0.48"
|
129 | 4.55 |
|
3.96" x 2.34" x 0.67"
|
133 | 4.76 |
|
4.68" x 2.44" x 0.67"
|
188 | 6.63 |
|
4.58" x 2.42" x 0.47"
|
120 | 4.20 |
|
4.56" x 2.33" x 0.65"
|
178 | 6.28 |
|
3.92" x 2.41" x 0.60"
|
137 | 4.83 |
|
4.24" x 2.09" x 0.53"
|
117 | 4.12 |
|
4.17" x 2.00" x 0.85"
|
151 | 5.34 |
|
4.41" x 2.24" x 0.49"
|
122 | 4.30 |
|
4.57" x 1.70" x 0.64"
|
140 | 4.94 |
|
4.88" x 2.44" x 0.53"
|
130 | 4.56 |
|
4.21" x 2.20" x 0.55"
|
120 | 4.20 |
|
4.53" x 2.47" x 0.47"
|
146 | 5.15 |
|
4.63" x 2.19" x 0.67"
|
158 | 5.57 |
|
4.35" x 2.07" x 0.67"
|
158 | 5.57 |
|
4.56" x 2.41" x 0.51"
|
125 | 4.41 |
|
4.44" x 2.36" x 0.55"
|
133 | 4.69 |
|
4.01" x 1.98" x 0.55"
|
124 | 4.37 |
|
8.28" x 4.67" x 1.08"
|
640 | 22.5 |
|
4.48" x 2.52" x 0.59"
|
154 | 5.43 |
|
4.17" x 2.38" x 0.68"
|
147 | 5.18 |
|
4.01" x 2.00" x 0.71"
|
165 | 5.82 |
|
4.41" x 2.24" x 0.49"
|
122 | 4.30 |
|
4.41" x 2.28" x 0.73"
|
140 | 4.94 |
|
4.61" x 2.51" x 0.78"
|
183 | 6.45 |
|
4.40" x 2.40" x 0.50"
|
123 | 4.34 |
|
4.01" x 2.00" x 0.45"
|
110 | 3.88 |
|
4.56" x 2.36" x 0.70" |
200 | 7.05 |
|
4.60" x 2.30" x 0.50" |
110 | 3.88 |
|
4.30" x 2.40" x 0.60" |
120 | 4.23 |
|
4.20" x 2.30" x 0.60" |
136 | 4.79 |
|
3.70" x 2.30" x 0.60" |
126 | 4.44 |
|
4.48" x 2.39" x 0.51" |
116 | 4.09 |
|
4.60" x 2.60" x 0.50"
|
134 | 4.70
|
|
4.40" x 2.32" x 0.75" |
190 | 6.70 |
|
4.10" x 2.10" x 0.60" |
150 | 5.30 |
|
4.01" x 1.97" x 0.78" |
110 | 3.88 |
|
4.40" x 2.32" x 0.75" |
190 | 6.70 |
|
4.40" x 2.50" x 0.50"
|
120 | 4.20
|
WHAT'S IN
THE BOX
The Motorola Q9h comes with a USB sync cable, AC
adapter, stereo headphones with talk button/mic/volume
control, software CD,
manual, Quick-start guide, and a 512Mb MicroSD card
with SD Card adapter.
This is everything you get in the box.
The Q9h itself arrives covered in adhesive protective plastic.
THE DEVICE
The Motorola Q9h looks pretty big compared to some of the other devices out there now. Of course the larger width does make for a nicer keyboard layout.
The keyboard on the Q9h is very comfortable. Its material is similar to the keyboard on the T-Mobile Wing. You've also got some shortcut keys on the bottom row for Calendar, Contacts, Media Player, Camera, and well the speaker button doesn't do anything. Actually (after consulting the manual), if you're in a call, the speaker button turns on speakerphone. Very nice. On the other hand, the shift key is located on the right side instead of the left, and there's no delete key. You have to use the Back button as a backspace key.
Thanks to the ambient light sensor, the keyboard buttons backlight comes on when it's dark and you're pressing buttons. Also if it's very bright out, the ambient light sensor adjusts the brightness of the screen to retain readability. The early iPaq H3600 Pocket PCs from 7 years ago also had this feature and it's a shame that all manufacturers do not implement it.
The left side of the Q shows only the proprietary synchronization and audio connector.
This is the only connector. If you want to play music on your car stereo, you'll have to get an A2DP Bluetooth Adapter.
At the bottom, you'll see nothing but shiny black plastic.
The right side has a back button, as well as two up and down buttons with an action button in the middle. While it's not a jog wheel, it's okay for scrolling through emails and performing minimal navigation.
The top end has more shiny black plastic and a small slit for the speaker presumably.
On the back is the 2 Megapixel camera with flash, speaker grill, and battery cover. All of this is a rubberized non-slip material which feels very nice in the hand.
Beneath the battery cover is the 3.7V 1170mAh Lithium Ion battery. To the right you can see the SIM slot, and on the left you can see a thin black screen covering two stereo speakers.
The MicroSD card has it's own slot on the side of the device. The slot is covered by a little rubber flap. It was pretty difficult to figure out how to open it at first. Also good luck figuring out which way the MicroSD card goes in. It will take some trial and error or a quick consultation with the manual.
Here you'll see from left to right, HTC P3300, T-Mobile Wing, the Qtek 8500 Smartphone, and the Motorola Q9h.
Here you can see a comparison of the thickness. On top is the Motorola Q9h, then the Qtek 8500, the HTC P3300, and T-Mobile Wing. While the Q9h is quite thin, it's much longer and wider than these other devices.
