Motorola CLIQ: first hands-on impressions (update: with video)
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Sep 10th 2009 11:59PM
posted Sep 10th 2009 11:59PM
- Despite the MSM7201a core, the UI is definitely faster than any factory ROM we've used before on any Android device. A good test of this is to quickly swipe open the app drawer -- the action's smooth on the CLIQ, whereas most Magic ROMs would stutter.
- The screen is glass capacitive, and it feels that way. There's no "give" like you've got on a G1 or Magic, for example.
- Expanding on the glass screen, the device feels absolutely fantastic overall. Through Motorola's thick and thin, you've got to admit that the company has a reputation for building ridiculously rock-solid phones, and we're pleased to say that the trend is continuing with the CLIQ. Pictures don't do it justice -- the white model looks particularly cheap at a glance -- but in the hand, it feels like it's fashioned from a solid block of metal.
- The camera button has a focus detent, which makes it a heck of a lot easier to properly harness the power of your 5 megapixel autofocus optics. The jury's still out on photo quality, but it seems promising and focusing is relatively quick (though our disappointment in QVGA 24fps video still runs pretty deep).
- This probably blew Google's mind, but MOTOBLUR has five home screen panels along with a small indicator similar to the iPhone's to show you which one you're currently on. Who knew that someone might want more than three? [Yes, we know HTC's bringing additional panels to the table in Sense as well -- thing is, stock Android doesn't, which a majority of Android phones in circulation still run. It'd be nice to see Google take something like this into the trunk in Donut or Eclair. -Ed.]
- The keyboard feels great. Truly stellar, actually -- and we don't think there's much room for complaints about layout, unless you're really into the dedicated horizontal number row.
Update: More screenshots of CLIQ and MOTOBLUR UI, including the back panel designs and some comparison shots. Interesting to note that the keyboard aspect of the device is just slightly thinner than the iPhone 3GS.
Update 2: Now with more video!
See more video at our hub!
when will all this nonsense about what kind of touchscreen things are end?
For Engadget? Never.
Didn't you know, resistive screens are made out of dead kittens and capacitive are made out of jelly beans and ice cream?
It's not nonsense, the type of touchscreen really can make or break a device. I'm with Engadget on this one, and I hope they continue to always tell us what type of screen a device has.
...AND maybe the also tell us the size of the screen as well! That would be nice!
Yeah! What is it with all these "news-men" always trying to shove these "facts about things" down our throats!?
A touchscreen is a touchscreen! Sure, they may use two totally different types of technology, but they achieve the same results!! You never heard about this argument for the first 99% of touchscreen devices that came out, so why is this year any different!?
sorry for the double post, but N.D: NEWSMEN?! That's hilarious.
Bloggers =/= journalists.
Opinion =/= news.
Engadget =/= news source.
I'd assume that's why he put quotes around news men, because he was being sarcastic.
And if does matter what technology touchscreens are. Yes, they both achieve the same result in that they allow you to touch your screen and receive feedback, however whether or not your touch and how you need to touch your screen to receive said feedback is where the difference comes into play.
Capacitative screens are for people who like to stick their fat fingers flat on the screen and mash big buttons where as resistive screens often require the use of something like a stylus. Also, capacitative screens can be made with glass where as resistive screens cannot (as far as I know). This affects the feel of the device and also the cost of the device. Perhaps they didn't state these things for the first "99%" of devices that you knew of because capacitative screens were not widely used until the iphone began using them. But now it certainly does make a difference, if a device uses a resistive screen, you can almost certainly expect it to be mushy unless stated otherwise, where as capacitative you'll almost always be pressing your finger against a nice hard surface.
@pete
=/= != valid logical notation
=/= valid logical notation
=/= ≠ valid logical notation
Yeah, I'm stealing the top of the comments. I just wanted to say... did anybody else catch this little bit: "Is there any way to multitask with this phone?" "Well, it IS capacitive screen..."
@Chris
Either you broke your own rule a couple times there or you were simply talking out of your ass because your second example, "=/= valid logical notation" is exactly what I did you asshat.
nice phone and the media could end up describing it as an "iphone Killer".....
@pealnapod
There's not "3 iPhones"
The 1G is not being sold anymore. There's only 2.
There are 7 "announced" android phones.
2 rumored Android phones.
Yes, it is a nice phone. Though I'm a little disappointed that they couldn't have made the screen bigger and presented more phones. I really wanted to see that Sholes. No matter, which ever comes out first will be my new phone. I'm really impressed with Moto Blur. Good job, Moto.
this phone looks like complete information overload.
You mean "Motorola killer" don't you? This is the last year for Motorola's cellphone division. It's just weighing down the rest of the company's value. RIM, Nokia and Apple have all the meat in the smartphone market. All that's left is a few small bones and Motorola is unlikely to even get any of those. You don't find too many companies perfecting failure like Motorola has been doing.
Whoop dee friggin' do, another GSM phone. Who gives a rat's ass? GSM in the US sucks the big wad, as legions of AT&T users are loudly attesting. Motorola should have been ready with a CDMA Android phone, to own that market while there's no iPhone to compete with.
Amazing how Google just grabbed a copy of Linux and have effectively taken over the cellphone market.
Brand equity at its finest.
Yeah..... they've completely taken it over. Completely.
:ugh:
Yeah, 0.25% of the cell phone market. Crazy how they managed that.
"taken over the market" is a bit of a stretch don't you think? I can count the number of Android based phones on the market now one 1 hand. But there are more Blackberrys then I can count and theres even 3 iPhones. So whats all this nonsense about Android/Google owning the market?
Clearly he meant in terms of buzz...popularity...
Clearly nobody is going to overtake the cellphone market in statistics in just a year. Don't be slow people.
Looks at the cellphones coming out over the next year...
Android
Android
Android
Android
Android
Android
Android
Android
Android
Android
Android
Android
Android
Android
Android
Android
Anyone notice a pattern?
Yoyodyne, go ahead and add actual device names to your Android "list". I'd be VERY surprised if you even get past half of it...
Confirmed:
Android G1
Android Magic
Android Hero
Android Galaxy
Android Ophone
Android Galaxy Lite
Android Pulse
Android Cliq
Android Sholes
Android Tattoo
Android Etna
Android DSTL
Android InstinctQ
Android GW800
Android Dell Mini
Rumored:
Android Xperia
Android Acer
Android Touch HD2
Android GeekPhone
Android Behold2
Android Herron
Android Calgary
I think that covers his list PLUS more....
booooom!!!
iDavey just owned you guys
You are vastly oversimplifying what Android is. Yes, it does run on top of a Linux kernel, but nothing that you actually see on the screen is running on Linux. It's all running on top of Google's custom virtual machine, which has a very nice set of intelligently designed custom APIs and tools that were all built from the ground up to give a solid handheld usability experience with multitasking.
Saying that Google just slapped Linux on a phone is like saying that Apple just slapped Unix on a phone, it might be true to some degree but it really isn't giving the full story.
@chefgon_ign
You are right in some sense, but using the same argument you could say Ubuntu is not Linux, because it runs Ubuntu on top of Linux. Nowadays, that is Linux: Something using Linux to power its operating system that was layed on top.
Android is a mobile "flavor" of Linux, and if you have ever rooted a phone you would realize how much Linux it actually is.
Your ignorance is amazing. I could say the same about the Mac OSX (I am a Mac user), Apple grabbed a copy of CMU's Mach Kernel, hack jobbed a few things from BSD and voila, you got Mac OSX or iPhone OS for the matter. The reality on the other hand is a lot more complex. Simply slapping a vanilla kernel and making it work on an ARM device with Obj.C/Java at its core isn't enough, on top of that a simple but usable UI and its App developers is what makes Android or iPhone. Both are equally well thought out products.
Please think before you type again, making nonsensical comments only make you look like a tool.
I am very excited about this. My biggest fear was the keyboard so I'm particularly pleased to hear it's slick.
Who does this hand belong to? I'm strangely turned on by the chipped red nail polish.
Probably tnkgirl. You wouldn't be turned on.
Might just have to purchase this one Full Retail (No Contract Extension). Hopefully Motorola has taken care of their notorious battery issues (OEM batts not lasting 6mo)
All of T-Mobile's phones look like toys for fckin 5 year olds. FAIL
nice comeback tmobile fanboy.
btw if you want my comeback go wipe it off your mom's face. that is, if you can find time between blowing tmobile and acting like a huuuuge f@g online
............................-__-'
*walks away, tends to life he actually has*
yeah if you really had a life you wouldn't have to type that. what a joke you are
Ah. The more i read the more i want.
Shit.
Why do phones have qwerty keyboards?
I type on a keyboard by muscle memory, muscle-memory my thumbs don't have. It's super hard to find letters on one of those things unless my hands are on the homerow!
I have muscle memory on my qwerty keyboard. You're doin' it wrong.
I just have memory memory of my qwerty keyboard.
Welcome to 2001
Isn't "taken over" a bit of an exaggeration? What % of the market share do they have? I was really hoping for an Verizon Android device today. Since it is not I guess I am going with a TP2.
It's been confirmed the Sholes is real and will be released by the year's end. So why settle for something like that?
Looks like a very appealing device. Now if it could get _at least_ VGA quality (though honestly I want 720p), it would be that much better.
T-Mobile gives the myTouch freshlook, which is 5 homescreens. HTC gave Sense 7, so "3 isn't enough!" isn't anything new in Google's eyes.
Anyway, it's beautiful. I would want it if I was on T-Mobile for sure.
Well since the tmobile rep was there and that there is a Cliq page on tmobiles site i think its a sure thing.
If I was on T-Mobile, not it.
My bad, brain fart there. Sorry well hopefully the will be more Androids for all the other phone companies here shortly.
I am on T-Mobile, but I prefer to use my iPhone.
I don't trust anything Moto makes. Not anymore, and not ever again.
and so the andriod takeover continues. i godda say android is prooving mighty impressive. unless nokia can get maemo up to the same or better standard, android will almost certainly be powering my next phone.
Shit. BlackBerry needs to get a new UI. This new phone looks sweet.
blackberry is mainly targeted at business users.....this slick UI will merely serve as a distraction and reduce productivity
agreed.
Agreed, BB's UI is so old. Did they every fix that problem of not being able to IM on wifi only?
I really am liking this phone the more I hear of it. It may be a sexified G1...but it's still good. The UI customization more than makes up for the standard processor. I'm still going to hold out thouhg (as long as I can).
I go to basic training for the Air Force in Nov. I get out in Jan/Feb. So hopefully my 2mths of seclusion from technology will bring some good stuff to compare. My top choices are 2 Motorolas and a rumor. That's a new thing.
So it's either this, Sholes, or Rachel.
Remember these words. "YOU DO NOT BOWL!!!"
I need help with that one, LOL
It's looking like the end of the road (In my hands anyways) for my G1. It has been fun and frustrating, but the CLIQ is looking very promising as a upgrade, or a sidegrade for those who were looking for a faster processor.
But this looks to me like a worthy upgrade. Now for that price....
"The screen is glass capacitive, and it feels that way. There's no "give" like you've got on a G1 or Magic, for example."
Lol wut. The G1 (and as far as I know the Magic) has a capacitive screen. I know you have such a hard on for them, but you really need to calm down about this already.
He's talking about the difference of glass and plastic screens.
The G1 and the Magic still have glass screens, not plastic.
I thought the was odd when I read that. Maybe CZ has a spongy screen protector on his G1?
Wanna guess the price of this thing?
400 dollars
"The screen is glass capacitive, and it feels that way. There's no "give" like you've got on a G1 or Magic, for example."
Wait, what? The screen on the G1 at least is glass capacitive and I believe it is on the MyTouch also. I'm poking the crap out of my G1 right now and there's definitely no "give".
Agreed, mine also feels nice and smooth, no give. Dunno what they're referring to with that one.
Looks great in closeup shots, can't wait to see this in the showrooms.
My one complain on the keyboard is the lack of a tab key... its very useful when using a linux shell... which I do a lot. Probably enough so that I'll stick with my G1 until another 5 row qwerty comes out.
So far, I'm more impressed then I thought I'd be. Love the 5 home screens over 3, QWERTY is always a plus, and I realy like how moto cleaned up the bottom by getting rid of talk & end hard buttons. What I was worried about before the reveal was that I thought this handset was going to be some neon-colored tween machine (remember the blue/white/green leak photos?), but I liked how moto classed it up so that it could go very well with more adult buyers, even though the younger crowd will be their target audience. Can't wait to see more hands on video, but all-in-all, not bad moto.
Check it out http://find.t-mobile.com/controller?N=0&Ntk=primary&Ntt=cliq
Well that made my day, Free is better then anything.
"This probably blew Google's mind, but MOTOBLUR has five home screen panels"
Doesn't HTC do this with the Hero? Why would it be a mind blower? Maybe the funny is lost on me.
Nope, not missing anything -- HTC does it in Sense, not Google. Now Moto's doing it. Interesting trend.
With the Hero it's 7 screens... So much fail in this post what with the supposed "give" in the capacitive screens on the HTC Magic and the G1 and now the innovative 5 screens of the CLIQ.
Perhaps it gets the thumbs up for this "with a small indicator similar to the iPhone's to show you which one you're currently on".
What's the fascination with five home screens? There are so many custom ROMS out there that vastly increase the functionality of Android devices (even my G1)... including more home screens. And for those who are not into rooting and reflashing, there are several "Home Alternatives" (DXTop, aHome, etc.) that will also give you more screens.
I guess I'm just saying that the number of home screens doesn't seem like a good reason to buy or pass on a handset running Android when it's so easily modified.
WhoaWAITAMINUTEWHAT?!
*tries to click desperately*
...I fell for it.
But hey, $399 though!
It looks really good. And it seems like it will be free with a contract? Are you serious?
I would buy this in a second (since my 2 year plan expires this month). The only disappointment for me is the small screen :( I wish they just push it to cover the entire top panel. To me it looks 100 times better than the G1 (very ugly) and compared with the Hero and MyTouch this has a full very nice keyboard. Even know I haven't used the keyboard yet, it looks very practical.
Thanks Motorola, thanks TMobil for picking up the phone.
There are some good upgrades here from the G1 and MyTouch. They are basically the same except...
256M RAM vs 192M
512M ROM, same as MyTouch. G1 has only 256, may not go past Cupcake
3.5mm headphone Jack, MyTouch & G1 have none. Still don't get this one.
Battery is 1420mAh, 1340 on MyTouch (1150 on G1)
Camera, 5 mpxl vs 3.2 on the other two.
Real keyboard, a Must Have for me.
5 mpxl is good enough to replace a pocket point-n-shoot in my opinion but 3.2 is not.
I'm not sure I'd replace a MyTouch or G1 with it unless my contract was up, but I really like this phone.
I'm really liking this phone so far. It looks like a promising upgrade to my G1.
The only thing I'll miss is the trackball. It really is the best way to hit those tiny weblinks. Would it have killed Moto to have thrown one in there?
Eh, it's kind of a 'meh' phone. It seems to be aimed at the high school set/teenage girls; worse, it's also on T-Mobile which makes this a no-go for the Long Island region.
I get decent service, and I live on LI...
Looks nice. Hopefully Motorolla can start getting back into the game again.
Although I'd still prefer the Nokia N900. This Motoblur homescreen looks cluttered and haphazzard compared to the N900 execution.
A good homescreen (maemo also has 5) is top of the list for me. None of this, "I am an Uber phone, see all my mystery-meat icons laid out in rows upon rows of penultimate unusability". The homescreen needs to be informative and customizable as has been the norm since... 2000. Glad Moto is going to keep to that tradition on this.
I think that the home screens are user configurable. You can have as many or few widgets, contacts etc. as you like. :-)
I just don't see it being a powerful device. It does look very user friendly and I'll have to check it out but I haven't liked a single motorola smartphone yet. The company has always focused too much on aesthetics and not enough on inners. I still think of them as a toy, but we'll have to see how far they can take this guy. Plus how much memory?
Internal? Micro SDHC?
The DPad really really bothers me..
ok IF you want it for games fine include it..
but for general day to day use I'd rather have that real-estate for a better keyboard.
Something Nokia finally woke up to with the N97 -> N97 Mini
Personally I'm a bigger fan of the HTC Android phones.
Simply because... track ball!
I've actually got a Palm Pre, but I got it purely since I had no idea how long I'd have to wait for a Sprint Android phone (Sprint IMO is by far the best bang for the buck WITH good reception in my area). So I got my Pre in late July. And now I find out Sprint IS getting a good Android phone in November. D'oh.
But anyways, having played with a Blackberry, the trackball is really nice. I wish the middle button on the Pre was a track ball actually. Oh well.
I'm definitely lusting after this hardware, but I kind of hate MOTOBLUR already, especially since I don't use Facebook or Twitter. Is it possible to turn that crap off to declutter the screen? Maybe even install vanilla Android (I might be the only one, but I think vanilla looks good; I even like it better than Sense).
There seems to be pervasive misconception that "Cliq uses same standard Qualcomm 528Mhz CPU as G1". This is not really true - it's like saying that Intel 2Ghz/800FSB is the same as Intel 2.4Ghz/1066FSB. Sure, they are the same cores, but not "the same thing".
First, G1 did not run at 528Mhz - it ran at 384. At the time of its release, MSM7201A did not really support 528Mhz (maybe on paper, but not in practice/volume).
Second, Cliq actually uses newer revision of MSM part, taking advantage of being a year later. It does support 528Mhz clock and runs memory at higher clock - 160Mhz vs 128.
So Cliq has 37% faster CPU and 25% faster memory. Not groundbreaking, but faster. It also supports 7.2Mbps HSDPA, while G1 can only do 3.5Mbps. The wireless/bluetooth chipset is also newer/different (and performs much better).
To answer some other common concerns.
- Yes, internal memory is small, but it helps to keep the cost down ;) I think phones will be bundled with some microSD card, but that of course is carrier's decision. Those cards are cheap enough these days - you can get 8GB for under $15 now, so there's no reason to panic.
- Those clamoring for UMTS 1900/850 bands (AT&T/Rogers/Bell/Telus) - learn to read the hints. The announcement mentioned Latin American markets. Do a little research, you will find out they use those bands. Make your conclusions.
And yes, I actually do know those details.
no internal memory is larger than g1 engadget screwed up
Processor and memory
Processor Qualcomm MSM7201A
Processor Clock Speed 528 MHz
RAM 256 MB
Flash ROM 512 MB
User Storage Available (max) 256 MB
Memory Card Type FAT32
microSDHC, Class 6
Memory Card Size Supported (max) 32 GB
http://developer.motorola.com/products/handsets/cliq/
Blur I don't think that saying that standaed Qualcomm 528Mhz is the same as standard Qualcomm 528Mhz can be compared to saying Intel 2Ghz/800FSB is the same as 2.4Ghz/1066FSB. And while i'm sure your right about the differences in speed and performance between the cliq and the g1 the point is that while we are seeing substantial improvements in most aspects of android phones the hardware is needs to be stepped up. We've seen HTC through a 628MHZ on a winmo phone, why not on an android phone. If your trying to dethrone the iphone the handsets them self are gonna have to be improved.
@edu300
Its obvious that @blurified is a new media PR person from Motorola setting the record straight. Taking that into account, I think its safe to say that Moto did everything it could to squeeze all the performance they could out of this platform, taking all new and improved revisions of the hardware. However, the fact that they went with this standardized hardware platform says that they wanted to keep it cheap enough to manufacture to allow for it to be free with subsidy. This is obvious.
Here's the take away: You get the best revision of this standardized hardware for a competitive price.
Don't take this the wrong way @blurified and Moto, but I'm hacking Sense UI onto this as fast as I can. I love mah facebookz and twitterz, but Blur is too busy and distracting.
I hope this one means Motorola's big comeback. We've been waiting for so long.
love it!
"Here's my friend Rebecca, I'll just go ahead and tap that"
you couldn't make this stuff up
This explains why HTC changed the Click's name to HTC Tattoo... (in order to avoid confusion in connection with the CLIQ's release)
Looks like a great phone to me!
smart thinking as u are likely right
Hopefully when Windows Mobile 7 comes out it will be Capacitive friendly. I am sad to see resistive go (I like it more) but it is looking like I'll have to make the switch. Will you be able to install Maemo onto this? I really hate Android and everything Google stands for but this phone is mighty sexy, so getting something else on a T-Mobile handset (I want subsidized) sounds ace to me.
Doesn't surprise me you're asian.
Is T-Mobile the only carrier bringing this phone out? I ask because I've been with AT&T forever, though right now I'm between carriers. How is T-Mobile? Anyone enjoy their service?
Great video @ 5.22 : "Now here's my friend rebecca, i can go ahead and just tap that"