Looking for a smartphone that will grab your email on the go? Your choice just got tougher - or maybe easier, depending on how you look at things. The BlackBerry still delivers mobile email par excellence but we won't pretend that it's as strong in other areas, such as being a PDA or, for business users, providing seamless no-cost connection into an Exchange email system. Nor does it have a wide range of third-party software to add features and functionality to the basic device.
Motorola's MOTO Q 9h, however, ticks all those boxes and then some. This slim black beauty is built around the Windows Mobile operating system - not great news if you're not a fan of Windows but appealing for those who appreciate the extra features it brings to the device (such as a solid organiser) plus the familiarity and easy hook-up to your desktop or laptop PC. And being the first smartphone packing the fresh-baked Windows Mobile 6 edition means you get better email searching and smarter shortcuts.
The Q 9h has one of the best smartphone Qwerty keyboards we've ever used, along with a nippy navigational wheel on the front and a dial on the right side that's cleverly adaptive to the screen. The longer you hold the "up" or "down" buttons while in your address book or inbox, the faster the scroll speed. This is one of several touches Motorola has introduced to the operating system.
The two-megapixel digital camera is now mandatory for any decent smartphone but the inclusion of a 256MB microSD card for storing photos, music and video is a welcome surprise.
It's just a shame that the high-speed coverage of Vodafone's 3G network on which the smartphone runs is still a little patchy in places, even around Sydney. You won't lose your connection but you won't always get the mobile broadband speeds of which this device is capable.
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