We admit we also got swept up in the hubris at the time, but now we're eager to judge the Cliq 2 on its own merits. And for the most part, we like what we see. It's slimmer than the original Cliq while sporting a larger and more vibrant display than the most recent Cliq, the Cliq XT. We also enjoyed decent performance and we appreciate that it offers Froyo (Android OS 2.2) out of the box. The continued inclusion of Motoblur wasn't as welcome, and we were hoping for a few more features over the previous models, but the Cliq 2 does its job as a midrange Android device. Pricing details are still to come, but we expect T-Mobile to offer it for about $129 with service.
Design
Though it shows a design evolution from the original Cliq, the Cliq 2 has a lot in common with that device. You'll notice the same basic shape, a slider keyboard, and a similar placement of external buttons and peripheral ports. Yet, Moto made changes where it counts. The rounded edges give the phone a slimmer feel, and the darker color around the display gives it a more professional look. At 4.56 inches long by 2.34 inches wide by 0.57 inch wide, the Cliq 2 is about halfway between the Cliq and Cliq XT in size, but it's heavier than either model (6.17 ounces). That's more bulk than we like in a cell phone, but the trade-off is a sturdy feel and a solid slider construction. We also like the textured soft-touch material on the back cover.
The 3.7-inch display makes great use of the phone's real estate and offers a vibrant resolution that shows 854x480 pixels. That's a big improvement from the previous two Cliq models, so we weren't disappointed. The touch interface is quite responsive, and we welcome the ambient light sensor, accelerometer, and proximity sensor. Just like on other Android phones, you can change the backlighting time and the brightness.
The Cliq 2 offers a large display with sharp resolution.
One of the Cliq 2's best features is its physical keyboard. Though the design may be arresting at first--some people see a spiderweb, whereas others see reptile scales--we loved almost everything about it. Not only are the individual keys quite large, but they're covered in a comfortable rubbery material. We were able to type quickly with few mistakes. What's more, the large space bar is located conveniently in the middle of the bottom row, and there's plenty of space at the top edge and on either side. Our only beef with the keyboard is that we'd prefer more shortcut and function buttons beyond the dedicated search control and the navigation arrows.
The Cliq 2 has a comfortable, easy-to-use keyboard.The camera lens and flash sit on the top of the phone's rear side. Unfortunately, there's no mirror for taking vanity shots. You'll have to remove the battery cover to access the microSD card slot, which isn't ideal, but at least you don't have to remove the battery as well. The power control and 3.5mm headset jack sit on the Cliq 2's top just around the corner from the Micro-USB and charger port on the left side. The right side holds the volume rocker, ring silencer switch, and camera shutter. It's worth noting that most cell phones put the volume rocker on the left side, but the switch on the Cliq 2 made no impact on usability.
Interface
As mentioned, the Cliq 2 runs Froyo so you'll get all the new offerings that the OS update brings. Voice dialing over Bluetooth is one of the highlights, of course, but Froyo also brings the ability to store apps on the memory card. The Android interface is intuitive as ever and the main menu shows the standard icon-based design
The Cliq 2 has seven home screens that you can program with the usual widgets and app folders. You'll also find shortcuts to connectivity options like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the usual Google search bar, a music player widget, and an area for programming one-touch access to your favorite contacts. Accessibility features include voice readout (text to speech) and a menu zoom, though the latter option slows down the phone somewhat.
Motorola continues to put Motoblur on its T-Mobile Android phones. We're fans of a stock Android experience, so Motoblur wouldn't be our first choice. Also, we don't like that you have to register for an account before you can use the phone. Still, that's not to say the interface doesn't have its strong points. The social media (such as Facebook and Twitter), news, and weather widgets can put useful information up front and the universal inbox effectively gathers all your communications into one place. We're also grateful that Motorola made some much-needed tweaks to the interface in its last round of updates (see our Moto Flipout review for more information). Fortunately, Motorola allows you to use Motoblur as much or as little as you wish, so we advise you to consider your options carefully.
Features
The Cliq 2's phone book size is limited by the available memory, with each contact holding phone numbers and e-mail addresses, street addresses, an instant-messaging handle, a company name, a birthday and anniversary, a nickname, a URL, and notes. You can save contacts to groups and pair them with a photo and one of 55 polyphonic ringtones for caller ID. Keep in mind that Motoblur dumps people you follow on Twitter into the main contact list. So don't be surprised if you see a celebrity's name listed above your mom's cell number. Fortunately, you can change the view to show only people for whom you actually have entries in your phone book.
Organizer features include a calendar, a calculator, an alarm clock, a timer, and a task list. The Cliq 2 also syncs with your Google calendar and any other calendars that you keep with POP3 or IMAP4 e-mail accounts. For higher-end options, the handset has Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Microsoft Quickoffice, PC syncing, USB mass storage, voice search, speaker-independent voice dialing and commands, T-Mobile's visual voice mail, and Assisted GPS. And, best of all, the Cliq 2 can function as a 3G mobile hot spot and even has a T-Mobile app for Wi-Fi calling. Both worked as expected.
When you're not talking, you can send text and multimedia messages or use the Cliq 2's integrated instant-messaging application. For the more creative, the handset also lets you send an audio postcard with a phone and a recorded message. E-mail support is just what you'd expect. Beyond the full syncing with Google mail, you also can add a Yahoo e-mail account and corporate sync through Outlook without Access (OWA).
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