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I recently received the T-Mobile Motorola Cliq in the mail that I ordered due to my contract being expired.  I wanted to give my positive and negative thoughts on this phone in case you are with T-Mobile and are looking to upgrade from your old phone. My previous phone before the Cliq was the T-Mobile Dash.  It’s basically a Blackberry, but a little different.  I had it for two years and it served me well.  However, I knew I didn’t want my next phone to be a “Blackberry styled” phone.  I did a lot of debating and researching on potential new phones and my final decision was between the Cliq and the Nexxus One by Google.

After reading the introduction, you obviously know I chose the Cliq.  The Nexxus One didn’t have the positive feedback I was looking for in terms of units sold.  Since it is an “iPhone type” phone and considered to be the phone that could challenge the iPhone, I was interested in the beginning.  However, to see the Nexxus One not selling well was my warning flag to pass on it.  So, let’s get into my analysis of my choice of phone…the Motorola Cliq.

Positives

-First ever live stream phone with Motoblur feature.  Your MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook profiles are integrated and you are constantly up to date with what your friends are doing.  This experience takes place on the homepage and is called the “happenings” widget.

-The interface and software is clean.  It’s nice to use a phone that isn’t a cluge.  It’s easy to navigate around.

-Great security features to protect your phone.  You can set up a pass code so after a certain period of time that you choose, a user created code must be entered to use the phone.  There’s also also the ability to lock the phone to prevent ghost dialing.

-3 actual buttons.  ”Home, Back, Options.”  Having only 3 buttons on the phone in one place makes them easy to find while your interaction with the phone can be done via the keyboard or the touch screen.

-Great side controls for controlling volume, setting the phone to sound or vibrate, using the 5 megapixel camera, and power button.

-Organization of messages and contacts.  You can sort how each of these features are viewed.  For example, you can look at your messages from Facebook, Twitter, and email all from one inbox or choose to view them in separate categories.  The same goes for your contacts.

-3G Network provides a great internet connection.  I’ve yet to find myself needing to connect to a wireless connection, but that can be done if you choose to do so.

-You have the ability to type using the QWERTY slide out keyboard or you can choose the use the touch screen keyboard.  I really like having options and the ability to try multiple features out and see which one works best for me.

-Great selection of free and paid apps from Android app store.  It’s as simple as downloading apps on an iPhone and the usability of the apps that I used are quite slick.  Sometimes I feel like I am using an iPhone.

-Multiple window panes to store apps or widgets on.  There’s such a larger number of apps and widgets accessible on the Android operating system (which is impressive in it’s own right.)

-Very clear incoming and outgoing calls.  It provides such a clear sound when talking to another person.  It so crisp you feel like you are on a landline phone.

-You can charge the phone through a USB connection to your computer or attach an adapter and plug in the outlet.  Once again, giving me more options is key to my happiness!

Negatives

-The screen gets your fingerprints all over it.  They could have done a better job with the quality of the screen to keep it cleaner.

-Personal Issue – Even though all of my contacts from my last cell phone were all saved to the sim card, my phone recently decided to remove all of my contacts.  Not sure why this happened, but it’s very strange and extremely frustrating.

-Battery life is an issue.  Contrary to other reports I have heard about this phone, I’m not impressed by it’s battery life.  It needs to be charged quite a bit.  Much more frequently than my past phone, but I think it may have to do with the fact that it’s running a lot on one phone.  It’s pretty much a portable computer.

-Slide out QWERTY keyboard could have been made a little better.  The keys are pretty close together, so until you get use to its handling you will hit keys you didn’t intend to press.

Overall, I believe this phone is probably the best thing since the iPhone.  I am very happy that I chose to go with the Cliq and not the Nexxus One.  Granted it’s not on the level or popularity that the iPhone is at, but I believe it offers more than the Google Nexxus One.  I know many won’t agree with this analogy, but I think the Cliq has a lot of positives going for it.  There are negatives to the phone like any, but you are going to have that with any new piece of technology.  I would like an answer as to why my contacts were randomly removed.  Anyone else with this phone have that happen?  What do you think of this phone even if you don’t have it?  Do you think it’s a solid alternative if you can’t get an iPhone?  Would you choose the Cliq or the Nexxus One?  Let me know your thoughts and leave a comment.

Further reading:

New Technology Coming From T-Mobile

Which Cell Phone Is The Best Tech Gadget?

Will 2010 Still Produce Positive Upgrades In Technology?

Where Would We Be Had Technology Not Advanced?

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