Motorola Q 9m Cell Phone Review - Hardware
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Mark Brezinski Published on December 31, 2007 Comment on this |
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Keypad
Text Words Per Minute (8.93)
The Q 9m got through our test paragraph in 21.49 seconds, which is about 44.67 words per minute. This isn't the best score for a QWERTY, but it isn't bad either. We actually didn't like the keyboard at all, and it took a lot of practice to get through our paragraph without any mistakes. The keypad offers virtually no tactile feedback, and led us to not hit keys and think we did.
| Cell Phone | Words Per Minute | Score |
| Motorola Q 9m | 44.67 | 8.93 |
| Palm Centro | 39.4 | 7.88 |
| Motorola Q | 39.6 | 7.92 |
| Pantech Duo | 48.43 | 9.69 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 49.8 | 9.96 |
| Nokia N95 with 3G | 29.28 | 5.86 |
T9 and Auto Complete (5.0)
Since the Q 9m has a QWERTY keyboard, it doesn't have any use for T9. It does have a basic auto-complete, however.
One Hand Usability (6.57)
QWERTY keyboards usually perform far worse on one-handed typing tests than with two-handed ones. The single thumb has to jump around everywhere, and if the keypad is stretched out, it makes the phone pitch and roll around (which makes typing even harder). Given this, and also given our dislike for the keypad, we actually got a decent score here. The keyboard's small, cramped keys meant less thumb travel time, which allowed relatively fast typing: 32.83 words per minute. We still wouldn't recommend typing this way because its far easier to type with both hands.
| Cell Phone | Words Per Minute | Score |
| Motorola Q 9m | 32.83 | 6.57 |
| Palm Centro | 26.6 | 5.32 |
| Motorola Q | 22 | 4.40 |
| Pantech Duo | 31.77 | 6.35 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 26.5 | 5.30 |
| Nokia N95 with 3G | 29.64 | 6.48 |
Keypad Backlighting (4.0)
The Q 9m doesn't have separate controls for its keypad backlighting, and will dim when the display does. Overall, the keys are well-lit and the lighting seems even. We had no problems reading y keys in the dark.
Controls
D-Pad/Joystick (3.0)
We really didn't like the d-pad on the Q 9m. It was small, and the arrow keys were easy to press by mistake when hitting select. Also, the keys follow the trend of not providing adequate tactile feedback.
Touch Screen (0.0)
The Q 9m doesn't have a touch screen.
Jog Dial (6.5)
The jog dial is on the top right side of the phone. Holding the phone normally should put the thumb close to it, if not right on top of it. Using the jog dial, lists can be navigated quickly. Pressing it will click on something just as the select key would. Below it is a back key. Navigation can't be done exclusively with the jog dial, however, as there's no way to open the Start menu with it. Jumping from the left soft key back to the jog dial is a huge, awkward stretch.
Soft Buttons (3.0)
The soft buttons are even worse than the keyboard. They aren't convex, and require you to press into a flat surface. They're so soft and squishy it's hard to know when you've actually pressed them. We really weren't impressed with the keys in general on the Q 9m.
Volume Control (0.5)
There is no volume rocker. The jog dial will only perform volume functions when you're in a call.
Power and Standby (3.5)
Power is handled by pressing and holding the end button. As we've discussed above, the end button isn't very good at letting you know when it's pressed. Therefore, you'll probably punch the key harder than you should to get the phone to power down. There isn't a standby button, though you can set a timer for standby mode in the settings menu.
Other Buttons (2.0)
There are two other buttons not discussed above: the home and back key. They both suffer from the same problem as other d-pad array keys: they're squishy and don't provide adequate tactile feedback.
Display
Primary Screen Gross Resolution (8.0)
The Q 9m's display is 320 x 240 pixels. As you can see in the table below, this is a fairly standard resolution. Most phone, regardless of their screen size, have this resolution.
| Cell Phone | Resolution | Score |
| Motorola Q 9m | 320 x 240 | 8.0 |
| Palm Centro | 320 x 320 | 8.5 |
| Motorola Q | 320 x 240 | 8.0 |
| Pantech Duo | 320 x 240 | 8.0 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 320 x 240 | 8.0 |
| Nokia N95 with 3G | 320 x 240 | 8.0 |
Primary Screen Pixels per Inch (8.33)
The Q 9m only manages to fit 166.67 pixels into every inch. Though this isn't a bad score, it isn't quite up to snuff when compared to competing phones. The average user probably won't notice the difference though. A phone with lower pixel density will have softer lines and faded colors.
| Cell Phone | Pixels Per Inch | Score |
| Motorola Q 9m | 166.67 | 8.33 |
| Palm Centro | 205.7 | 10.29 |
| Motorola Q | 168 | 8.40 |
| Pantech Duo | 181.82 | 9.09 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 164.6 | 8.23 |
| Nokia N95 with 3G | 153.8 | 7.69 |
Screen Physical Size (6.00)
At 2.4" diagonally, the Q 9m finds itself above average for cell phones. Higher-end phones will have larger screens, but not by much. With few exceptions, most cell phone screens fall between two and three inches, which leads to spreads like the table below.
| Cell Phone | Size Diagonal (inches) | Score |
| Motorola Q 9m | 2.4 | 6.00 |
| Palm Centro | 2.2 | 5.50 |
| Motorola Q | 2.4 | 6.00 |
| Pantech Duo | 2.2 | 5.50 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 2.43 | 6.08 |
| Nokia N95 with 3G | 2.6 | 6.50 |
Screen Brightness (5.0)
Our light sensor claims the Q 9m is capable of only about 60 lux. This is a bit weak, and you most likely won't be able to use the phone as a surrogate flashlight. You will be able to see the screen in the dark, however. There are only timing settings for the display, not brightness settings. There is a light sensor, however, which will automatically adjust the brightness level of the phone.
| Cell Phone | Brightness (lux) | Score |
| Motorola Q 9m | 60 | 5 |
| Palm Centro | 54 | 6.90 |
| Motorola Q | 60 | 3.00 |
| Pantech Duo | 74 | 4.70 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 105 | 9.50 |
| Nokia N95 with 3G | 72 | 4.85 |
Screen Bright Light Performance (8.0)
For this test we shine about 3000 lux of light at the phone, which is equivalent to a sunny day. We then attempt to read said phone. In this case, we found we were able to do so without much issue. All text and icons were still easy to discern despite the glare.
Color Depth (6.0)
The below table isn't very indicative of the color depth found on most modern phones. Typically higher-end smart phones will display 262,000 colors. Windows Mobile phones, for the time being, can only display 65,000. Really high-end displays, such as the one on the Nokia N95, are capable of displaying in excess of 16 million colors.
| Cell Phone | Colors (thousands) | Score |
| Motorola Q 9m | 65 | 6.0 |
| Palm Centro | 65 | 6.0 |
| Motorola Q | 65 | 6.0 |
| Pantech Duo | 65 | 6.0 |
| BlackBerry Curve 8320 | 65 | 6.0 |
| Nokia N95 with 3G | 16,777 | 10.0 |
Secondary Screen (0.0)
The Q 9m just has the one.
Ports & Storage
Power & Data Ports (8.0)
The Q 9m uses a Mini USB port for both charging and data transfer. Unfortunately, it can't do both at the same time, as PCs can't feed it enough power through their USB.
Headphone & Jack Compatibility (6.0)
The Q 9m has a 2.5mm headphone jack. Though we appreciate standard jacks, we really wish cell phone companies would recognize that virtually everyone owns 3.5 mm headphones. Bluetooth headsets are also supported.
Internal Storage (1.0)
The Q 9m has 64 MB of memory. If you want anything other than PIM information on this phone, you'll have to invest in a Mini SD card.
Expansion Slot & Format (8.0)
The Q 9m's Mini SD slot will provide you up to 4GB of memory. Mini SDHC cards aren't supported, meaning you're stuck with 4GB max.
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