Motorola CLIQ Review

The Motorola CLIQ is the perfect phone for the true social networking junkie.  It seems very nice in theory and our initial impression was good. With its easy-to-use design, action-packed feature set and spacious keyboard, the Cliq combines an attractive, powerful device with the customization of the Android operating system.

Motorola CLIQ Review

The Motorola Cliq is the Android OS on Motorola hardware. The Motorola CLIQ, running their custom version of Android called Motorola BLUR. The Motorola Cliq has a great design with a brilliant display and easy-to-use controls and keyboard. At 4.49 inches tall by 2.28 inches wide by 0.61 inches thick, the Cliq is big enough to have a solid feel while remaining portable. The Motorola CLIQ uses the MOTOBLUR interface, basically a touched-up Google Android interface design with a few new desktop widgets.

Though it's just 3.1 inches wide, its high resolution (480×320 pixels) and rich color support (262,000 colors) make it easy on the eyes. It sports a high resolution, which helps makes everything look nice and crisp. The Motorola Cliq's screen itself is made of glass and it feels absolutely great to interact with and the handset in general has a good feeling in your hand.

The Motorola CLIQ has a great keyboard. The full QWERTY keyboard slides out easily from beneath the display, and is very comfortable to use. There's enough spacing in each of the keys that it's easy to, but not too much that it's occupying a lot of space. Its keys are raised so we could dial by feel and bang out long text messages quickly without making mistakes. Next to them is a D-pad if you decide you don't want to navigate the interface with your fingers.

The Cliq offers support for both T-Mobile's 3G HSDPA network and Wi-Fi wireless networks, though, so you have plenty of options for high-speed browsing. The 5-megapixel shooter on the Motorola BLUR took some nice pictures, and one or two may have been print-worthy, but mostly it gave us trouble. The Web browser on the Motorola CLIQ is the standard Android WebKit browser, which is a pretty good app. Beyond the basics, you'll have 802.11b Wi-Fi, USB mass storage, Google Talk, Google voice search, instant messaging, stereo Bluetooth, visual voice mail, PC syncing, and speaker-independent voice dialing. Motorola CLIQ Review

Motorola has surprised us at the launch of the Cliq and after spending a week with the phone, I feel good about it. It is a good handset.