Motorola CLIQ Review
Share this page:
Introduction:
Motorola recently launched its first Android device, but despite the barrage of ads it is not, in fact, the DROID. No, that honor would belong to the Motorola CLIQ, a sprite little messaging device designed around social networking. The CLIQ sports Motorola’s MOTOBLUR interface, a customized skin for Android that bombards the user with news and entertainment updates, as well as integrating feeds from Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and others. Other features include a 5 megapixel autofocus camera, 3.1” display, Wi-Fi, 3G and a full QWERTY keyboard. In the box you’ll find:
• Li-Ion battery
• AC adapter with USB cable
• 3.5mm headphones
• 2GB microSD card
Design:
The CLIQ is without a doubt geared towards the younger generation, and the design embodies that. It is on the small side, which means a smaller screen and keyboard, but is still heavy. It has a good weight to it, but we’re not crazy about the feel. When closed the slider is loose and when held by the bottom half the top piece will wiggle, but thankfully this goes away when opened. Still, the CLIQ isn’t exactly what we’d call solid, and the cheap plastic housing doesn’t do much to reassure us.
 |  |  |  |
The Motorola CLIQ is designed for the younger generation | |||
 |
You can compare the Motorola CLIQ with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.
The 3.1” capacitive HVGA display is quite nice. The 262K colors offer more depth than screens we’ve seen from HTC and it is plenty responsive. It’s a far cry from the DROID, but that is to be expected. Below the display are physical Home, Menu and Search buttons. On the left side is a vibrate toggle (something we’d love to see more of,) volume rocker and microUSB charging/data port. The right side has the lock/power button and camera key. The side keys are all very shallow and could use a bit more travel for reassurance. The top simply features the 3.5mm headphone jack.
 |  |  |  |  |
The hardware keys | Left side | Right side | Top |
The back of the phone has a simple layout: the tiny 5MP camera sits up top and the single speaker is along the bottom. On our white version the battery door has a random gathering of dimples for a stylized design. On the titanium it is a carbon fiber-esque raised pattern. We prefer the titanium version; on the white the gray door and keyboard do not mix well with the black and white design. The two-tone titanium looks much more professional, whereas the white/black/gray will more likely appeal to a younger audience.
 |  |
The back | |
Sliding the phone open reveals the four row QWERTY keyboard. The buttons are small and layout is not offset, but it wouldn’t be so bad if the bottom row was not concave. The top three rows- containing the letters- have a good rounding to them that lets you easily distinguish between the keys when typing, but the bottom one- housing the spacebar, alt, sym, search and back keys- is concave, which causes your finger to just kind of fall into it. The top three rows all have a very good click when pressed, but the bottom row does not. This makes for an awful feel whenever going for the spacebar, which as you can imagine is quite often.
 |  |  |
The Motorola CLIQ has four row QWERTY keyboard | ||
There are some elements we really like about the CLIQ’s design, most notably the size, but the build quality and keyboard leave much to be desired. We realize that this is a mid-level device, but at the same $200 on contract as the rock-solid DROID we’d expect something nicer.
Share this page:
Related phones
9 Comments
1. remixfa posted on 20 Oct 2010, 01:55 0 0
the slide keyboard you have must have been an original demo ship out. motorola fixed that in final production. mine has no such problem. you complain about the plastic casing on the phone then say its a little heavy. how much heavier would it be with steel doors? lol. make up your mind. you really need to wrap your mind around the new pricing structure at tmo. people dont buy the contract pricing very often anymore. most people are switching to the Even More Plus plan, or go on that at sign up. so the "200 with contract" doesnt really count for much. All the androids are priced the same. 399 full retail which means 20/month on the payment plan.
2. PhoneArena Team posted on 16 Nov 2009, 17:09 0 0
@remixfa We had a retail unit, it was not a pre-production demo. We understand that it would be heavier with steel doors, but Motorola could have used a higher quality plastic, and especially for a plastic device it is extremely heavy. Its weight was similar to the Droid, which has much higher quality components.
3. remixfa posted on 20 Nov 2009, 08:06 0 0
to each their own. as long as it doesnt feel like a samsung u340, im fine. my only complaint is the screen sometimes doesnt recognize commands. try handscent SMS, its notorious for not allowing t he Send button to not be pressed on the first few trys with keyboard out. same issue with games, if the keyboard is out, sometimes the screen will just stop responding and i have to close then open the keyboard for it to start working.. never such an issue on my Mytouch.
4. vzwtech86 posted on 04 Dec 2009, 00:37 0 0
Got mine for 49.99 at best buy. At 200 I definitely wouldn't have bought it but if you can get a good price the phone is well worth the purchase. I just hope motorola has plans on doing a 2.1 update on motoblur. And you can't beat the remote wipe/locate feature. As far as the keyboard goes I think its actually one of the better ones I've used. The bottom row still has decent click to it and I think being concave actually seperates the feel of the letters and symbols from the space and other function keys. Also with the recent s/w update it resolves a lot of issues. One of the coolest features of the phone is the backlight on the keyboard. Only the letters and bottom row are backlit but when you hit the alt button the numbers and symbols light up showing you that they're active. Only issue I have is the looseness in the top portion of the phone when closed. Feels like that piece is gonna fall off.
5. raph21st posted on 04 Dec 2009, 03:07 0 0
how did you get it for $$$49.99 at best buy? it says its $99!! OMG if its 49 im going to get one today!
6. vzwtech86 posted on 04 Dec 2009, 04:24 0 0
I think it was 49 forthe weekend after thanksgiving because of a 50 off promotion. even at 99 bucks though i would recommend it. just not for the full 199.99. for 199.99 id go with the bold 9700 instead.
7. Schmao posted on 23 Mar 2010, 06:23 0 0
How is the battery rated so high? My cliq dies like everyday.
9. Patchy the Pirate (unregistered) posted on 30 Dec 2010, 17:15 0 0
Please, please, please, please Motorola, NO MORE BLUR. Or make it an app or launcher that can be turned off. Blur lags this great phone out and at times makes it stall like a car with bad gas.
Latest Motorola Reviews
Latest Reviews
Shop Links
Check priceeXpansys US (Unlocked) $299.99
* NegriElectronics.com (Black) $329.50
Advertise here
