I have had the Motorola Q for 3 months. People want to know — do I like it? Well people, here is my answer:
General Overview
The Q is the latest Smartphone offering from Motorola. It is running Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone edition. It has a full QWERTY keyboard, a bright, large screen and a very thin profile that borrows from its cousin the RAZR.

The Good

The Q has a lot of upside.

Price: At $200 with the purchase of a new Verizon plan, the price can’t be beat. If you buy it at full retail, it comes with the slightly heftier price tag of $500. Compare this to similar offerings and you will find it is still a very modest price.

Form Factor: The Q fits nicely into the palm of your hand. Although its width initially had me concerned, that feeling quickly passed as soon as I realized how easily it fit into my shirt pocket. It’s also slips comfortably into normal pants pockets and its presence is not as easily detected as the clamshell models I previously preferred.

One drawback I see with the shape of the Q is that when using it as a phone, a wide portion of the screen is pressed against your cheek, and so it is constantly smudged.

The Keyboard: The Q is the first phone of its class with a full QWERTY keyboard. Responding to email, text messages and entering data is a breeze. There are a few problems and drawbacks with the keyboard. The keys are rather hard plastic and are not very comfortable — I have a texture phobia and these keys do not help matters. I have a feeling normal people won’t care. Also, you will never be able to text IDOL04 to vote for Taylor Hicks because the letters underneath the numbers do not line up the same way as on a traditional phone. You’ll have to ask your non-Q owning friends to help you out.

Smartphone Software: This phone can accomplish almost anything you need it to accomplish. Keep in mind that the Q does not have a touch screen — it’s a Smartphone not a Pocket PC. This means that you can’t edit documents since only the Pocket PC software will allow you to do that. The Q is the first Smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard, and as such it is the first Smartphone where the ability to edit documents would actually be a useable feature. I have a feeling this ability will be available as a software update in the near future. In the meantime, even though you can’t edit them, you can view virtually any document.

If you are not happy with the out of the box functionality there are hundreds of Windows Mobile 5.0 compatible third-party applications to take advantage of. For instance, I am using Oxios ToDo list in order to use my Q in my Getting Things Done (GTD) system. (More on GTD in a future post). I also highly recommend AgileMobile for instant messaging. Watch out though, it drains the battery quickly.

Email is easy to get going. I use ActiveSync to sync with Accenture’s exchange servers for work, and I just use the built-in browser to access Google’s mobile web interface to check my Gmail account.

Miscellaneous: The Q also has: built in Bluetooth, a slot for MiniSD memory (I bought a gig for $60), voice notes recorder, excellent media player, pretty good camera, (I actually use it vs. didn’t even bother with previous phones), and very good voice quality. It excels at its basic function as a phone.

The Bad

It’s certainly not perfect.

Smartphone Software: I know this made the list of pros, but something has to be said about the negative aspects of the phone’s software. There are a wide ranging set of user interface problems associate with the Windows Mobile Smartphone software. Basically, it’s not as well thought-out as Palm software so you click through more submenus then you should rightfully have to.

Email: Again, this was a pro overall, but as of now you can’t set the Motorola Q to accept push email. I think this feature will be available soon as a software upgrade, but for now you’ll have to settle for checking your email every 5 minutes. I suppose this would be an acceptable interim solution, if it weren’t for the…

Battery Life: The Q sucks the battery dry when you are using it as a phone. I’ve found I have approximately 3-4 hours of talking time. When I’m primarily using the data features and not the voice features, the battery easily lasts all day. If you are on the phone a lot and not near a charger, this is not a good phone for you. My life consisted of a series of stressful and long phone calls in the last few weeks before my wedding, so I am very familiar with the poor battery life of the Q. On the bright side, the battery life has gotten better over the past few months, so I can skip charging at night every once in a while — but this is risky so I don’t recommend it. Also, I noted significant improvement in battery life when I set my email to sync manually. Syncing every 5 minutes drained the battery quickly.

The Data Plan: $45/month for less than DSL speeds is just too much. You can’t get the Q without a data plan. I guess you can, but you really shouldn’t. The Q assumes you have a plan and doesn’t ever warn you if you are about to use the data network. Expect to see charges for accessing Verizon’s data network on your bill each month even if you have gone out of your way to not use the data services. Don’t get a Q without a data plan.

Conclusion

In general I am extremely pleased with this phone. It accomplishes exactly what I want. I recognize that it is not as powerful as a bigger and chunkier Treo 650 or similar Pocket PC devices, but I also felt it was more important to have something that was truly mobile and didn’t make me feel like tightening my belt to keep my pants on when I put it in my pocket. I can check my email and respond. I can view attachments. I can create voice notes, take pictures, read my Bloglines account, chat with my friends on AIM and Google Chat, watch videos, listen to music and place phone calls. The best part is that all of this functionality slips into my shirt pocket for $200. It may not be the iPod of Smartphones, but I thinks it is a glimpse into the future of our mobile lifestyle.