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If you are looking for a smartphone, you might want to check out the Motorola Q 9h. By giving up a stylus and touchscreen (neither of which you will miss, you get a QWERTY keypad, near complete data equipment and Windows Mobile 6 Standard. If you want a windows mobile device but want to skip the touchscreen display, the Q 9h might do the trick.
Things I like
* UMTS including HSDPA
* 512MB microSD card in the package
* quality construction
* perfect keyboard
Things that disappointed me
* no WiFi
* system connector
* middling camera
Despite multiple name changes, the Q 9h is still the same handset, with the exception of the GPS receiver in the Q9 Global 9but you can only get that one through AT&T.
There are very few Windows Mobile smartphones, and those few get overshadowed by the PocketPCs in terms of both price and functions. No matter the name of the OS, smartphones have enough regard for the enhanced functionality and expandability they offer with extra features and applications. Not all users would welcome touchscreen or a stylus. Even with all that said, the unusual combination of QWERTY keyboard and Windows Mobile (without touchscreen) makes the new Motorola stand out from the crowd.
Very Solid
The Q 9h measures in at 118 mm X 12 mm and 67 mm thick, the extra size due to the QWERTY keypad and the landscape display. The oblong body is jazzed up by the curved and sloping edges at the top and bottom.
Not a midget, but a nice shape
The sides of the handset sport a shiny black line. The right side of the phone bears the side scroll keys and the side select knob, much like a jog wheel on the Sony Ericson handsets. Also similar to the Sony Ericson is the back button right beneath the three side keys. If you press and hold the side select key it controls the master volume, with the side scroll keys setting the desired level. A shortcut to changing the ringing volume is to press and hold the back key.
On the left side of the phone we have the universal port for the charger, data cable and headphones. As is typical these days, the customary miniUSB is yet again replaced by microUSB.
On the back is a grey matte surface, covering the Li-Ion battery. At the bottom of the cover is the loudspeaker. Overall, the solid build of the Q 9h is very impressive.
The part of the back panel above the battery cover sports the manufacturer logo in the center, and with the camera lens and the flash at the top. At the extreme right edge we have the microSD memory card slot, protected by a plastic cover.
The cap to the memory card slot fits quite tightly and is attached to the phone's body to prevent loss. A 500MB microSD card and an SD adapter comes with the handset.
Both thumbs
The landscape 320 x 240 pixel screen has no surprises for anyone with its resolution and 65,000 colors. The landscape display is great for either browsing or document reading, readability is adequate even in bright sunlight. The bottom of the display flows seamlessly into the D-pad containing a pair of soft keys, Home key, Back key, Online key, Messages key and, of course, the usual couple of a green and a red receiver. For better touch orientation the keys are divided by thin ridges. Exactly in the middle of these controls is the round four-way navigation button with a confirming center button. All the keys on the D-pad do what you expect them to, the tactile orientation is adequate and mis-keys are less likely than you have with KRZRs.
The QWERTY keyboard has the standard 37 keys in four rows. The buttons are convex and elevated. Nearly all the keys have a primary and a secondary character, the numeric section of the keypad being marked in blue. Backlighting turns automatically on when needed, thanks to the ambient light sensor at the top right corner at the front. Both the QWERTY keyboard and the D-pad have blue backlighting, including the rim of the navigation key. The number keys backlight in a much darker shade of blue.
Generally speaking, the Q 9h is very text messaging-friendly; the keypad does require some practice but typing quickly becomes very fast and error-free. The bottom row of keys is very handy, offering almost instant access to calendar, contacts, multimedia (Windows Media Player), camera and voice commands. With the Q 9h, the thing that will require getting used to is the location of the Function Key and the Capitalize Key. Both serve as Shift in a way, but the Function key under the letter A is used for the secondary characters, while the one under Enter will capitalize letters.
Not quite perfection
Motorola spent some serious thought on the connectivity capabilities of the Q 9h. Along with GPRS, the device is UMTS and HSDPA enabled. My excitement about the supported over-the-air data transfer technologies quickly way to the disappointment with missing WiFi.
Along with the standard functions, the Bluetooth on the Motorola Q 9h can be used in the PC Remote mode. After you've paired your device with the PC via Bluetooth, the Q 9h screen shows a keypad map displaying the keys which can be used for controlling programs on the computer. The Motorola Q 9h allows you to remotely control the desktop, Windows Media Player and PowerPoint on your PC. Bluetooth pairing allows sending email,tasks, contacts, calendar items, ring tones, audio, pictures, video and voice notes to a compatible device. In the Bluetooth utility you choose the type of file and then you select the objects for sending. Having selected the object type, all the available files display for you to select and send.
Windows Mobile 6 features the Documents To Go office suite, which allows you to open and edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. A PDF viewer and ZIP manager are also available. Files can be sent attached to MMS and email, via Bluetooth or can be transferred to a computer for editing.
Motorola Q 9h pays includes the widely-used and appreciated Opera browser. Virus protection is provided by McAfee VirusScan, under Office Tools. This application, somewhat annoyingly, was constantly trying to take control even with all of its active settings disabled.
The extras
Talking about music and video, you don't want to overlook the headset that come with the retail package. The headphones have a unusual design, with the two ear buds on equally long cables. Where the cables join, there's a square remote pad with a mic and voice command key. The headset performance disappoints, failing to go beyond mid level and, given their connector, you just have to live with it. The headset isn't the only accessory supplied in the retail box. Included is a data cable and a 512MB microSD card with an SD adapter.
The camera at the back is a 2 megapixel. You have a choice of four resolutions: 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 640 x 480 and 320 x 240 pixels. Brightness has seven levels; with six presets available for white balance. When turned on, the LED flash is lit all the time, so you get a pretty good idea how your shot is gonna come out. This has a negative effect on the handset's battery life. The 8x digital zoom has four steps, but its quality is nothing to brag about.
Camera
In decent lighting pictures are passable, but the quality plummets rapidly in poor light conditions. This Motorola phone is a work tool for the most part and some users are likely to ignore its shooting capabilities. The camera could've been much better with a little effort. With Sony Ericsson P1 for example, which is also a business device, picture quality is much better.
Almost, but not quite
Talking about the hardware, there's almost nothing wrong with the Motorola Q 9h. Easily read display, very solid construction and a just perfect keyboard make a strong case.
The Windows Mobile Standard has pros and cons, with the pre-installed Opera being a nice touch, even if most users would've installed it themselves. Documents To Go is a nice advantage over the competition with the enabled file editing.
With UMTS and HSDPA, backed by EDGE, the Q 9h is a strong contender. Only the absent WiFi makes me have second thoughts. If you can do without that and a touchscreen, then this may be the phone for you.
  
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