Motorola Q (Verizon Wireless)
Manufacturer: Motorola Part number: Q
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The Motorola Q lives up to much of the hype by offering good call quality, an excellent multimedia experience, and the essential productivity tools, all wrapped up in a sexy little package.
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Where to buy
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CNET editors' review
Motorola Q (Verizon Wireless) price range: $72.99
- Reviewed by: Bonnie Cha
- Edited by: Kent German
- Reviewed on: 05/24/2006
The good: The Motorola Q boasts a sexy, ultrathin design and features a sharp display, a full QWERTY keyboard, EV-DO support, and a sharp multimedia functionality. The Windows Mobile 5 smart phone also has integrated Bluetooth, a speakerphone, a 1.3-megapixel camera, and solid call quality.
The bad: The Motorola Q lacks integrated Wi-Fi and analog roaming, and you can't use its Bluetooth as a wireless modem. The screen also tends to hold a lot of smudges, and there's no option for a cameraless version at this time.
The bottom line: The Motorola Q lives up to much of the hype by offering good call quality, an excellent multimedia experience, and the essential productivity tools, all wrapped up in a sexy little package.
User reviews
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Considering other Verizon PDA/Phones? Read this!
by shawbart7 on June 7, 2006
Pros: Size, Screen, Battery Life, Multimedia experiance, One handed use
Cons: Screen does hold smudges, No Wi-fi
Summary: After much research and use on other smartphones and pocket PC's (Treo's, Samsung i-730, XV6700, etc...) I decided on the Q. I have had the device for about ...
Summary: After much research and use on other smartphones and pocket PC's (Treo's, Samsung i-730, XV6700, etc...) I decided on the Q. I have had the device for about a week now, and will try to give you the nuts and bolts. First off the size really is significantly smaller than any competitors! I honestly forget it is in my pants pocket (a big difference from my old Kyocera 7135 and Treo 650). The screen and is outstanding, better than the xv6700, much brighter and it is readable in sunlight. The keyboard is only a bit easier to use than the Treo's but it is enough to make a difference in speed and accuracy. The QWERTY is also better than the i-730’s but easily inferior to the xv6700’s (which does require two hands though). The Q’s one handed use is the best I have experienced, you don't miss the stylus at all which was one of my fears. The navigation pad is very precise, again better than the Treo's. However, the scroll wheel, while very functional is a bit stiff to click down when selecting, thus causing the wrong program to open on occasional. It is a bit annoying and honestly I find myself using the navigation pad more anyway. This is a very good phone, it lives up to its billing. It has better voice quality than other phones I have used except maybe the Kyocera 7135, though the Q's speaker is far superior (there is no comparison to the xv6700’s speaker or headset volume). I will give you a heads up on reception. I have constantly been receiving fewer bars on my Q compared to other phones, including my old 7135, Treo 650, my wife’s LG vx9800, and friend’s phones. However, it hasn't affected call quality yet, and I haven't had a single dropped call and my coverage area isn’t exceptionally strong. I figured out an answer to this issue noticing that the Q only can display three reception bars as opposed to other phones which have four or more. The Q plays Mp3's and video files very well, replacing my Mp3 player and the desire to get a video iPod as I had hoped it would. There is no wi-fi which may annoy some. I opted out of the data package, and regularly sync e-mail and AvantGo which feeds my web needs. I will say too that the battery life is far better than I expected, it took me almost 3 days of using it regularly to kill the battery! I am loving this phone. It was very difficult for me to select it over the xv6700 and the Samsung i-730 (phones I played with alot at the stores), but I am glad I did. The one-handed use surpasses the competition as does the Q's appeal. Not only is the Q an excellent PDA, Media player and Phone, but this thing rocks on form factor and coolness. Your friends will be impressed! The old brick phones are finally gone. Motorola got this device right, it accomplishes what it set out to do and they will sell alot of these devices! Hope this helps any of you fellow techies who might be wrestling over the idea of getting a Q over some strong competitors.
165 out of 168 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Not quite a PDA
by plussier on May 31, 2006
Pros: Thin, sleek
Cons: No Touchscreen, wider than a Treo
Summary: I have been eagerly awaiting the release of the Q as I thought it might serve me better due to the thin form. However none of the early reviews I ...
Summary: I have been eagerly awaiting the release of the Q as I thought it might serve me better due to the thin form. However none of the early reviews I read noted that there was no touchscreen. I am a physician and a PDA power user and have many medical applications that I rely on. There are several physicians at my hospital buzzing about the Q and running out to order one. I hope that they are aware that many of their Windows Mobile/PocketPC medical programs may not be as functional without a touchscreen and also consider that editing documents on the Q will not be easy if at all possible. They may want to think about this before purchasing. If motorola had included a touchscreen they would have had a wider market by including the PDA power users.
144 out of 160 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great promise but didn't deliver
by sikerr on June 2, 2006
Pros: Form factor, screen, Internet speed
Cons: feels slow, lousy synching, doesn't support outlook notes.
Summary: When i purchased this, i was excited as hell.
Having taken it home and worked with it for the last 12 hours or so, i can tell you that i'...Summary: When i purchased this, i was excited as hell.
Having taken it home and worked with it for the last 12 hours or so, i can tell you that i'm bummed and that it is going back.
First of all, if you use pop email, synching is a nightmare. Even with techs on the phone from both Verizon and Moto, they couldn't tell me how to set up pop email in a way that even resembled real time email. I put it next to my bberry and sent a half dozen messages. They were like night and day. The bberry get's it instantly. The Q has to wait 15 minutes to send a message. Then, it only sends you part of the message. if you have atachments you have to request that they be sent the next time around. Yes, you can force a synch but it's a tedious and pointless process just to read an email you are already in the middle of.
Next, the active synch product synchs to Outlook, as long as you don't use the notes portion. What??! Are t hey serious? Yes, in fact they are. If you don't have exchange , the activesyncyh doesn't support all of Outlook on your Q. In fact, the Q doesn't even have a memo/notes application on the unit. i thought i must have missed the sw or accidentally deleted it but the Moto tech guy confirmed that the Q doesn't support NOTES from Outlook. How lame is that?! Why build a phone and then have it handle 3 qtrs of the synch???
I tried downloaded 4 programs that shoudl have run on the Q. of them, only 1 of them (Slingmedia's player) actually ran. The others all bombed out - and this was on links directly from Moto's Q web page. I'm hopeful that this will get fixed as firms gen up Q based solutions but for now, it was pretty weak.
The Q has a gps on board and has the capability to turn it on (vs just accessible for 911 calls). I did so and had hopes to find a mapquest type solution that would make use of it, but here again i was dissapointed. I did find a site www.alk.com that claims one is coming but that didn't do much for me during my 15 day trial period.
Again, i was very excited to get the phone. Now that i have had it and tried to work with it, i have to say, it feels like a miss.
(A friend of mine independently got one 2 days ago and he has already returned his as well due to similar reasons).
Sufing on the phone was very nice. EVDO is fast and the screen is sharp. However, not having a touch screen sucks when surfing. It's just not efficient using a scroll wheel to scroll though all possible links....
In concept the phone is great. Maybe if you are an exchange shop, many of these hassles go away. Otherwise, I'd stear clear and wait for Moto (or Nokia) to get it right with their next model.97 out of 106 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Q is solid, but isn't for everyone
by mrhappyct on August 26, 2006
Pros: Design, Phone Performance, Price Point
Cons: Battery Life, Email Software, Windows Mobile OS
Summary: I have lived with a Motorola Q for three months now, so this isn't a review from someone who has only had the phone long enough to hate it. ...
Summary: I have lived with a Motorola Q for three months now, so this isn't a review from someone who has only had the phone long enough to hate it. I'm also a long time smartphone user, having gone through too many Treos and Blackberrys over the past six years to count. In fact I still have to carry a Blackberry a good deal of time for work.
But the Q is my personal phone, paid for it out of my own pocket when I moved over from Cingular to Verizon, because Cingular coverage wasn't matching up to my needs. It has earned its place in my pocket and while its not the absolute homerun I would have hoped for, its more solid than some reviews here might lead one to believe.
Let me focus on my biggest complaints: First is Battery Life. My early impression was that the extended battery was going to be a permanent installation. Turns out that my battery life was directly affected by two things: Reception and Wireless Sync. Foregoing the Wireless Sync feature (which doesn't mean you still can't get your email automatically) really made a big difference in my situation, because I often go into marginal coverage areas, and it appears that Wireless Sync will just keep trying to make a connection when it can't. That said, the Q is a phone which will need to be charged up every night, pretty much like my Blackberry and any other smartphone I've had. The extended battery is a worthwhile accessory if you are a heavy talker or email junkie. It adds a little bulk to the back of the phone, but its still more "pocketable" than a Treo or Blackberry
Email works well enough on the Q, but its not heavy-duty email like a Blackberrry or a Treo running Snapper Mail. If you are buying this phone more for email than for calls, including attachments and html-based email, my suggestion is to look harder at the others until someone releases an alternative mail client for Windows Mobile. By the way, the Q is one of the better phones for voice calls that I have used in a long time. Quality of what you hear is solid, the speakerphone actually is decent, and bluetooth headsets (at least the two different ones I have used) work fine.
Most of my other real knocks on this phone are mostly about the Windows Media Smartphone software. It just feels a little clunky and all the edges haven't been rounded off. It is important to occasionally clear the memory out by killing all of the running programs via the Task Manager. Maybe a future update from Motorola and Microsoft will help this weak point.
A note to Mac fans, despite the Windows Mobile software being...well, Windows--Mark/Space's Missing Sync for Windows works just fine for syncing the Q to your Mac Address Book and iCal. Be sure to get the latest version (2.5.1) which improves the sync performance greatly.
Bottom line: You should look at the Q and decide if you need more of a power tool than this phone is. Hardcore tech types will likely be happier with a Treo 700 or a Blackberry 8000 series unit. However, if you are a normal person, who wants a sleek cell phone that can do email, surf the web, carry your address book and calendar around in your pocket for a smaller price than the Treo or Blackberry, the Q is a solid choice in my experience.40 out of 40 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Review correction - MiniSD
by tonejon on August 11, 2005
Pros: unknown at this time
Cons: unknown at this time
Summary: Oringinally stated in the review of this product (8/10/2005) the only available "Mini-SD memory size is 256MB" is incorrect.
I have been using the SanDisk MiniSD 512MB product ...Summary: Oringinally stated in the review of this product (8/10/2005) the only available "Mini-SD memory size is 256MB" is incorrect.
I have been using the SanDisk MiniSD 512MB product since December 2004. MiniSD is currently at 1GB capacity and available from many digital media outlets for as little as $75.33 out of 43 users found this user opinion helpful.
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SMARTPHONE OS NOT UP TO TASK, BUT A VERY GOOD TRY...
by garment69 on June 12, 2006
Pros: Form Factor, wieght, Screen, good amount of memory
Cons: Smartphone OS
Summary: Well, Im just about out of choices. Had the Treo 700W for a month, loved it, but hated it. Simply not enough program memory to keep everything going. I would ...
Summary: Well, Im just about out of choices. Had the Treo 700W for a month, loved it, but hated it. Simply not enough program memory to keep everything going. I would browse IE for ten minutes, jumping between pages looking for some info. Then I would get an email so I would go check it, but becuase I left IE the Treo would close it down to conserve memory and I would have to start searching all over again. This happens all the time because IE takes up so much memory. The 650, which I had before, has the same exact problem except its designed that way. Now the Q. Very very cool phone, BUT its a smart phone, NOT a pocket PC. This is a very important difference. Its more like a pocket pc for dummies. Very little customization, very simply and straighforward. You cant edit word or excel documents, only view them. You cant highlight text because no copy or paste. If you are searching an internet site and the phone wont highlight something you want to click on you're out of luck. This is all a function of no touch screen. But, Motorola knew this, so its not like its an ommison. The phone itself is awsome thought. Great screen, great battery life and great VOICE CONTROL OVER BLUETOOTH. Something it would seem only Motorola deams important.
So for me its choices. Full featured pocket pc with phone or pocket pc light. I think I may try the vx6700. Its bigger, doesnt have the one handed operation of either of these, but its got tons of memory and that coveted touch screen.23 out of 24 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Day 5 and I love my Q...from a Palm User
by jswerdlick on July 4, 2006
Pros: Form Factor
Cons: Power port is in the wrong spot
Summary: I have been a Palm enthusiast since the Vx. I've owned Palms, Sony Clie, Blackberry, Pocket PC and the Treo 650.
It's been only a few days since ...Summary: I have been a Palm enthusiast since the Vx. I've owned Palms, Sony Clie, Blackberry, Pocket PC and the Treo 650.
It's been only a few days since I purchased my Q and I really love using this great product. Like all Palm users, I was finding it difficult getting use to a new interface; however, I quickly droped the insecurity that comes without having a stylo. The need to copy and paste has vanished. The Q is simple and direct. I feel liberated from PDA dependency.
The Q has many of the best features of PDA and Smartphone. It is a solid product. I especially like that the buttons are larger than the Treo and the soft keys are extremely durable. The buttons on my Treo seemed to loose their "click" after a while. All due respect to the Treo, it is a great product also but made me so dependent on having it with me always. It actually seemed to get heavier as time passed.
The Q is light weight, bright and easy to keep clean. Yes, the screen holds smudges longer but it's very scratch resistent.
What I like about my Q the most is the High Speed access offered by Verizon. The email and web functions are easy to use. Some people have written that the email set up is a bit confusing; I agree. Once everything is set up, this little machine flies.
As a former PDA user, I had purchased a fold up key board and other accessories that I thought would make me more productive. Give me a break! Whoever is writing or editing any document on a PDA, Smartphone or other hand-held device must have amazing eyesight and patience. It is so impractical and to an extent impracticable to draft or edit any MS office document on a PDA. They make another product for this purpose, it's called a notebook computer.
As for the software, nothing is perfect. I lost count of how many times my Treo shut down and rebooted from a few key stroke combinations. Windows Mobile 5.0 offers what I really need, not what I don't need. Killing open programs is not a problem and there is a reason why some programs stay open. I like not having to re-do everything when switching applications.
I almost had a stroke when I couldn't search my notes in contacts. The Treo has an awesome function for doing a key word search. The Q left me stranded on this island; however, I found a great utility that does the same thing even better and paid only $9.95 (what's a little extra $$ in the scheme of things?)
Verizon offered me the extended battery for only $20.00. It makes the phone easier to hold for one handed operation. I'm not concerned about the slim battery life because as any PDA user will tell you, when you get in the car you plug it in. Anyone that relies on their PDA or Smartphone will have to admit that we use them so much that keeping them constantly charged is always the priority.
The power plug is in the wrong spot. That's the only real problem I have with the phone. When I'm in the car and I go to use the product, the cord gets in my way. Unless car builders put a power outlet (formerly known as a cigarette lighter) on the driver's door, this will be a slight inconvenience.
I love the mini-sd card slot for it's hide-away feature. On my Palm I would accidentally pop it up and it would screw up everything I was working on.
The last reason for my abandonment of the high powered Treo is Verizon's rate plan. Unlimited data package and 1350 minutes for only $109.00. I opted for the $5.00 per month text message plan that gives me 250 messages. Both packages together blow away my former rate plan. A real cost saver! Coverage is great just about everywhere I go. The Q seems to loose the signal but still operates great. I'm sure that future Q's will have a more accurate signal meter.
I really love my Q. Get over the negative reviews. People do get used to their products and there is a learning curve to any new device...even an upgrade of the same product. The Q is a sexy, streamlined, functional product. It's well built and works great. Many have commented on some flaws in programming. I encourage everyone who buys this product to spend time reading the user manual and speaking with Verizon Data team members for answers on specifics. That's what they are there for. Verizon Sales people do not know anything about the Q, so don't bother with people in the store.
Play with the Q, get to know it and you will love it as I do.20 out of 21 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Q review, not perfect, but a very nice compromise!
by heeheel on June 2, 2006
Pros: Nice screen, battery life decent, qwerty keyboard very useable
Cons: Like any smartphone it is a compromise, Not a pocket PC, not as comfortable as a regular phone
Summary: OK I've had mine a couple days. Screen is terrific. Nice and bright, in fact it is so bright you can use it as a flashlight in the dark (...
Summary: OK I've had mine a couple days. Screen is terrific. Nice and bright, in fact it is so bright you can use it as a flashlight in the dark (yes I actually tried this). This is smaller than lighter than probably anyone would have thought! I have it hooked up to enterprise email, I can sync from my PC via USB, or via verizon data service... very nice! Email, calendar, contacts... all came in from outlook hassle free and it is integrated with making calls. Making calls is just like you would expect on a regular cell phone... but here comes the compromise factor, the numbers are just part of the keyboard, so harder to dial than a normal cell phone. While on the phone the sound quality is decent, but not as good as other phones I have had. Speakerphone works fine, could stand to be a little louder, but not horrible under-powered. Holster works fine... the holding clips actually fit into the creased sides of the phone. Another compromise, the screen is slightly smallish for email and web browsing, but I think it is acceptable... after all it is so nice and small, it is worth the trade-off. The dial jog feels good for scrolling, but not for selecting... I often scroll it one more selection (when I didn't want to) when I am trying to select an item... but probably with practice it shouldn't be much of an issue. When I first opened it I got a sense that it seemed very plasticy, so I worried it might be flimsy, but actually it seems quite rugged after having it in my hands a few days. So far no crashes, maybe windows mobile is more mature now... or motorola just really beat this one up in testing. I highly recommend this phone. It's not perfect, but what is? In the end it is a very good compromise... advanced PDA features and still a decent phone, and not too bulky.
16 out of 17 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Excellent Device - Not as bad as some say
by Bozhed on June 8, 2006
Pros: Excellent Form
Cons: Drains batteries quickly
Summary: I have read a lot of the reviews here and spoken to a number of current owners of the Motorola Q. I have also owned and used Blackberries, Treo’s, ...
Summary: I have read a lot of the reviews here and spoken to a number of current owners of the Motorola Q. I have also owned and used Blackberries, Treo’s, LG Phones including the LG VX9800 and the Motorola Razor. I picked one up this week and here are my initial impressions.
The phone layout and design are excellent. Compared to other devices like the Blackberry and Treo, the keys are in a much better location (about ½ up from the bottom end of the phone) making it much less stressful on the thumbs to type. The keys functions are very similar to a Blackberry. Takes a little bit of getting use to but learn very quickly.
Active Sync, which it comes with, is a breeze to set-up and start syncing. Works great with Outlook. I also have set-up my device to pull down emails from my gmail account. I read one review that said everything was being doubled when transferring. No so here. Works like a charm and very fast. Internet connections are much faster that on my Blackberry, which my work has supplied me.
The battery is another item that people tend to give bad reviews on. That may be why Verizon is currently offering a 60 dollar battery for 19 dollars. Supposedly the extended battery will give double the time which as I understand it from other users is about 2 days.
One of the big issues that people are focusing on in these reviews is the processing speed and how it is affected by having multiple applications open and the hassle of closing them once you are done with them. First, the Motorola is like any computer….having multiple applications open and running all at once will kill the processing speed of computer. Second, to close the programs I much easier than represented in these reviews. Just go to your home page and click on the top smart icons Task Manager and “Kill All” tasks running.
So far very happy with my decision. Would give a 10 but for the battery however, I can live with this since.Updated
I am extremely pleased with my purchase. For what I use it for it works great. I have noticed that if you are not in a high speed network area your internet connection can be pretty slow however, if in good area it screams! For the last few years I have been using LG phones and have had a really difficult time finding a bluetooth headset that worked well with the LG phones. I always thought it was the headsets, not so. After pairing a few of my many headsets with the new Q, they work great! Go figure.15 out of 16 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Returned Q in <48 hours
by Michigan123 on June 10, 2006
Pros: Form factor, screen clarity
Cons: Cumbersome to use, horrible POP3 set-up, botched rollout, dropped calls/limited cell signal throughout Chicago, while multiple e-mail accounts can be set up user can only use one outbound address
Summary: I spent over four hours on the phone in aggregate between Motorola and Verizon technical support just to get the e-mail function working. This is NOT a smart phone for ...
Summary: I spent over four hours on the phone in aggregate between Motorola and Verizon technical support just to get the e-mail function working. This is NOT a smart phone for business users as it simply has too many limitations - this is best framed as a consumer GADGET. I was so disenchanted that I returned my Q 36 hours after purchasing it and immediately migrated back to the reliable, trusty Blackberry. The most disturbing part of my Q experience revolves around the brutally candid (negative) comments shared with me by both Verizon and Q tech support personnel in which they concurred that the rollout was botched, the user manual was poorly written, and that the phone has major limitations for users used to Blackberry's simplicity and reliability. When I returned my Q the Verizon employee handling the return stated "I never liked this phone from the moment we began training on its use...I expect to see several returns in the days ahead"! Motorola had good intentions, but they fell short. I would revisit the Q in a year or two after the bugs have been worked out, though by then superior competitive products should be available. The Boston Herald wrote a negative article on the Q just before its formal rollout - shame on me for not heeding the warning. Expect dozens of reviews similar to mine in the days ahead. I feel like a fool for having invested approximately 40 hours over the past nine months following Web postings surrounding the Q as I got hyped up for what I expected to be the "Blackberry Killer" - RIM has litte to worry about from this product as it relates to the professional user, though I expect consumers to get sucked in by the marketing hype and attractive looks of the phone.
15 out of 19 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Motorola
- Part number: Q
- Description: When life sets you in motion, keep your connections strong. Mobile email, IM and text messaging on your Motorola Q is easy, fast and fun. And when leisure calls, the Motorola Q puts stereo-quality sound, rich video, and speedy web browsing right in your hands. Productivity occurs when time itself becomes a tool. The Motorola Q gives you the power to make time work hard for you, with synchronized business email at Broadband-like speeds. Smart technology decisions become strategic business advantages. The Motorola Q brings an intelligent approach to deployment for any size business - and supports leading business applications and key allies. Increasing your business IQ just became easier.
General
- Packaged Quantity 1
- Product Type Smartphone
- Form Factor Bar
- Integrated Components Digital camera,
Digital player - Width 2.5 in
- Depth 0.5 in
- Height 4.6 in
- Weight 4.1 oz
- Body Color Silver
Cellular
- Technology CDMA2000 1X
- Band CDMA2000 1X 1900/800
- Service Provider Verizon Wireless
- Operating System Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 for Smartphone
- Application Software Calculator,
Windows Media Player Mobile,
Alarm/Clock,
Microsoft ActiveSync,
Microsoft Internet Explorer Mobile,
Currency Converter - Input Device(s) Keyboard
- Phone Navigation Buttons Thumbwheel,
Navigation button Messaging & Internet
- Cellular Messaging Services SMS,
MMS - Supported Email Protocols POP3,
IMAP4 Communications
- Data Transmission EV-DO
- Wireless Interface Bluetooth,
Infrared (IrDA) - Communication Features Mobile Email client
Media Player
- Supported Digital Audio Standards MP3,
WMA,
MIDI,
AAC,
WAV Memory
- RAM 64 MB
- ROM 128 MB
- Supported Flash Memory Cards miniSD
Security Features
- Keypad Lock Yes
Digital Camera
- Sensor Resolution 1.3 megapixels
- Features Video recording
Display
- Type LCD display
- Technology TFT
- Diagonal Size 2.4 in
- Display Resolution 320 x 240 pixels
- Color Depth 16-bit (65000 colors)
- Display Indicators SMS indicator,
Signal strength Connections
- Connector Type USB
Battery
- Technology Lithium ion
- Capacity 1130 mAh
- Run Time Details Talk - up to 240 min,
Standby - up to 212 hour(s) Miscellaneous
- Included Accessories Battery charger,
USB cable Manufacturer Warranty
- Service & Support 1 year warranty
- Service & Support Details Limited warranty - 1 year
Product series
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Motorola products on Shopper.com
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- Manufacturer:Motorola
- Address:
600 N. Highway 45, Libertyville, IL 60048 - Phone: 847/576-5000




