In late 2006, Motorola made history in the U.S. by successfully marketing the first widely adopted Windows Mobile device—the MOTO Q. Followed by a massive ad campaign, the Q started a trend of slim and affordable devices with embedded QWERTY keyboards. It was geared to the masses—and it looked good!

Building on the Q’s success, Motorola has upgraded the device and introduced the Q9 line. The new devices have a redesigned case and hardware buttons, slight revisions to the internal hardware, and run the new Windows Mobile 6 software. The Q9 line has two different GSM versions and a CDMA variant (Q9m for Verizon and Q9c for Sprint). This review looks at AT&T’s MOTO Q Global (Q9h), a GSM/GPRS 3G smartphone.

Clean, thin case; a bit wide for a smartphone

Although the Q Global is quite thin, it’s a bit wide for a non-touch screen smartphone. Occasionally, I noticed the width while holding the device—my hand felt a little “stretched,” but not terribly so. As is, it’s useable, but not comfortable for longer conversations.

The exterior of the unit is remarkably clean. The microUSB port is located on the left edge, and it accepts the charging/sync cable and the headset cable. Also located on the left edge, wrapped around towards the back of the device, is the opening to the microSDHC card slot. The up/down/OK/back combo button is located on the right edge of the Q. It’s designed to help you navigate through e-mails and other screens with ease—more on this later. The bottom edge of the Q is free of buttons and ports, and the top edge has a curved loophole for a detachable wrist strap.

The back of the device is coated in soft touch paint, which helps you grip the device and prevents slips and accidental falls. The aperture for the 2 MP camera, along with its flash and light sensor, is located along the upper portion of the back (picture quality was average).

The front of the Q Global is where the action really happens. The vibrant 2.4” QVGA display is among the largest I’ve seen on a non-touch screen smartphone and is a real pleasure to use. The device includes an auto brightness feature that adjusts the display for optimal viewing and to conserve battery power. Centered below the display is the standard 5-way D-pad, and flanking it are the Call and End Call keys, Internet and Messaging shortcut keys, Home and Back keys, and the two Soft Key activation buttons.

Below all these buttons is the well-designed and functional 37-key QWERTY keyboard—an absolutely fantastic performer. The bottom row on this keyboard includes shortcuts to launch Calendar, Contacts, WM Player, Camera, and Voice Recognition/Speakerphone. The keys are responsive, tactile, and easy to depress. (Extended typing didn’t land me in the finger hospital.) A neat feature here is the ambient light sensor, which turns the keyboard backlighting on and off based on the available light. The sensor is located above the display, to the right of the silver M logo.