Hands-On with Motorola's Unannounced Q9m for Verizon

Motorola Q9m for Verizon

Motorola Q9m for Verizon

Motorola Q9m for Verizon

We didn't do any hard-core testing on the Q9m, but did run it through some basic call tests and battery tests. Call audio quality seems good, but the Q9m's antenna might perform a bit less well than the original's - it's hard to say. Both the new and old Q devices share the same 1130mAh battery, CPU, miniSD card slot, and RAM and ROM sizes. It should surprise nobody, then, that the Q9m scored nearly the same time in our talk-time test as did the original: 5 hours. Voice Signal's VoiceSuite system provides high-quality speaker independent voice dialing and voice commands on the Q9m. Bluetooth support for a number of profiles, including A2DP stereo, is also available. There is no WiFi support on the Q9m.

In terms of multimedia capabilities, the Q9m is a bit of a mixed bag. For starters, it uses a 1.3 megapixel camera for photo functions. While the camera has a full screen viewfinder, something the Q lacked, it appears otherwise to be basically the same as in the older model. One of the only significant multimedia changes is the support that the Q9m has for Verizon's V CAST Music download service. The service worked perfectly on the Q9m, and I was able to mix and match V CAST tracks with my own transferred music in playlists in Windows Media Player.

The default setup of the Q9m's Home screen consists of a media centric ring of controls that can be accessed with the scroll-wheel or the d-pad. The ring surrounds a rectangular area where pictures and videos can be viewed, or music track information can be seen. This media view of the Home screen, something that can be quickly toggled on and off with one of the keyboard keys, provides the user with reasonably quick one-handed access to media stored on the device. The regular view of the Home screen can be customized to show upcoming appointments, unread messages, and unfinished tasks, just as would any other Windows Mobile smartphone. However, the Q9m also includes the ability to customize the shortcut icons seen on the Home screen, something that most WM smartphones lack.

Multimedia Home screen

Multimedia Home screen

Multimedia Home screen

Motorola Q9m for Verizon

Motorola Q9m for Verizon

Motorola Q9m for Verizon