The Motorola Q was released, some smaller WM handsets like the T-Mobile Dash and the Samsung Blackjack have hit the market. But the Q still looks good nearly a year after its introduction, and, with its slim 0.5-inch design, remains among the thinnest smart phones available.
Still, I watched a number of shows on MTV and the History Channel, and some newscasts. After a few minutes, I forgot about the so-so video resolution and enjoyed all the programming. Even so, once you've seen true broadcast mobile TV, it's hard to go back to handhelds without tuners such as this one. Fortunately, the Motorola Q's stereo speakers are loud enough that you can watch TV without having to throw on a pair of ear buds.
Aside from the Amp'd stuff, the Q is still a top-quality smart phone. Motorola packs in a QWERTY keyboard; broadband EV-DO; a sharp, 320- by 240-pixel, 2.4-inch color screen; and a 1.3-megapixel camera that takes decent photos. The camera, though, has the usual Windows Mobile frozen "hiccup" after each picture. Voice quality is quite good, with solid external noise rejection, and the phone is comfortable to hold for long periods of time.
The Q's 312-MHz processor won't win a race with other smart phones, but it will get you where you're going, despite some occasional sluggishness. The handset has 40MB of storage memory available for applications, and Amp'd Mobile also tosses in a 256MB minSD card to get you started with music and video (hey, 256MB isn't much, but it's better than nothing). The Q scored 5 hours 29 minutes of continuous talk time on our battery rundown test, a reasonable figure for an EV-DO phone with such a slim profile.
The Motorola Q has lost some of the luster it had at its introduction last year, but it's still a good choice for a smart phone. Add in Amp'd Mobile's superior lineup of live television channels, and you'll never be without something to do or watch on the go. As long as you can live with the subpar video quality, this edition of the Q is a winner. Find that phone at phoneandbeyond.com
