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The just-released Motorola Q enters the ring with the trimmest profile, better looks, and Windows Mobile under the hood, while the 700p boasts the time-tested Palm OS and wireless DUN capabilities. Who will prevail?
It's not often that we see two high-profile smartphones hit the streets within days of each other, which is why last month's arrival of both the Motorola Q and the Palm Treo 700p made such a big splash. Both devices boast flashy, headline-grabbing features: the Q's oh-so-slim form factor, the 700p's wireless modem capabilities, and the 3G support common to both. All of which leaves us with a dilemma: which one most deserves our hard-earned cash? We decided to pit the Q and the 700p head-to-head and find out which one was still standing once the dust settled.
They’ve got the look
While the Treo 700p and the Moto Q are roughly the same height and width, the wafer-thin Q is only about half as deep as the bulkier Treo, and at 4.1 ounces the Q more than two ounces lighter than its Palm OS competition. That makes the Q one of the thinnest and lightest smartphones we've ever tested – one that fits nicely in a jeans pocket (try that with the 700p). The Q also gets a jump on the Treo with its roomy keypad, which we found considerably easier to use than the 700p's relatively cramped thumbboard. That said, the 700p has the edge when it comes to its 65,000-color, 320 by 320-pixel touchscreen display, which boasts a bit more real estate than the Q's lower-resolution 320 by 240-pixel LCD. Another factor to keep in mind is that the Q lacks the 700p's touchscreen functionality, which means you'll have to use the four-way navigational mouse to select icons, menu options and links instead of simply tapping the screen.
Speedy data, and memory to spare
The 700p and the Q are nearly neck-and-neck when it comes to connectivity: both support 3G EV-DO networks, both have Bluetooth and infrared ports (good for wireless desktop syncing), and both have memory expansion slots (SD expandable memory for the 700p and miniSD expansion for the Q). In addition, both handsets lack Wi-Fi support, disappointing in light of such Wi-FI enabled phones as the T-Mobile MDA, but not exactly a deal-breaker, since both smartphones work on high-speed 3G networks. However, the Q falls short in one important department: it doesn't allow for dial-up networking via Bluetooth and/or USB (not yet, anyway), a handy tool that the 700p supports.
Under the hood
The 700p and the Q boast similar processor and memory specs: each has an Intel Xscale 312MHz processor and 128MB of flash ROM, and the Q has 64MB of user-accessible RAM to the 700p's 60MB. But while the numbers are essentially the same, we found some important differences in terms of performance: specifically, the 700p seemed much peppier than the sluggish, lethargic Q (which seemed much faster when we tried it at CTIA in Vegas back in April). While we had no trouble launching applications and zooming around menus on the 700p, we often found ourselves twiddling our thumbs waiting for apps on the Q to launch (sometimes as long as 5-7 seconds), while the cursor frequently lagged behind our taps.
Day-to-day look and feel
Clearly, one of the biggest differences between the Q and the 700p are their two operating systems: Windows Mobile 5.0 for Smartphone (for the Q) and the Palm OS (for the 700p). Those looking for the easiest day-to-day usage – with as few steps as possible for launching applications or checking e-mail – will likely be better off with the 700p and its user-friendly Palm OS. While the Smartphone version of Windows Mobile 5.0 is considerably easier to use than the more powerful (but more complex) PocketPC variety of Microsoft's mobile OS, we still found ourselves clicking through more menus than we would have liked (which isn't much fun when you're multitasking on a crowded sidewalk). On the other hand, if you're a die-hard Windows user, you might prefer to stick with a Windows Mobile environment on your PDA. Also, while the Q may be saddled with a more difficult operating system, its slimmer and lighter form factor and generous keypad makes it easy to use with one hand than the heavier, bulkier 700p.
Keeping in touch
The Treo 700p and Motorola Q are pretty much neck-and-neck when it comes to e-mail and messaging. Both make it easy to check multiple personal e-mail accounts, be they Web-based or of the POP/IMPA variety, and both do an excellent job of handling corporate Exchange/Lotus/Domino accounts. The two smartphones also support GoodLink's corporate back-end service, which allows for instant syncing of PIM and e-mail. Mobile Web surfing on the 700p's Blazer browser and the Q's mobile version of Internet Explorer was speedy, although IE did a better job of formatting PC-style versions of Web pages (albeit with a lot of horizontal scrolling) while the 700p's longer display (320 x 320 versus 320 x 240 for the Q) means you'll see more Web page at once in a single-column view.
On-the-road Office
The Q does a nice job of rendering Word, Excel, and other Office documents with its flexible document reader, which lets you zoom in and pan around in impressive detail. That's the good news: the bad news is that the Q's on-board software doesn’t let you create or edit Office documents, a big minus for mobile professionals who spend much time on the road. While the 700p’s DocumentsToGo app doesn't render Office files or PDFs as smoothly as the Q does (some PDFs we looked at were infested with gibberish), you can create and edit Word documents with ease, a decisive factor in our book.
And the winner is...
There's no denying the Motorola Q's slim and sleek design, and at just over four ounces, it's probably the most powerful smartphone that's ever fit in a vest pocket. If you're all about making calls, checking e-mail and managing contacts and you don’t want to be weighed down by a bulky phone, go ahead and grab the Q. But if you're looking for the best overall smartphone – one with full mobile office capabilities, speedy performance, best ease-of-use and wireless DUN functionality – the bulkier but better-equipped 700p gets our ultimate nod of approval.
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