Motorola CLIQ 2 Hands-on

Looking back at things, it can be argued that Motorola's first Android venture with T-Mobile, the CLIQ, was completely overshadowed due to the strong presence of the Motorola DROID for Verizon. Still, it seems as though it managed to somehow impress people with its MOTOBLUR interface and physical keyboardto warrant a fitting successor. Enter the Motorola CLIQ 2 which follows in the same path as being a mid-range Android powered smartphonne – and of course, it has some improved specs to keep up with the times.

First and foremost, there's no denying that the Motorola CLIQ 2 follows in similar fashion to its predecessor since it mainly relies on a complete plastic exterior combined with a landscape sliding keyboard. Time after time, we've seen a fair amount of Android devices produced by Motorola for T-Mobile, which doesn't necessarily embody the super high-end feel of Motorola's Android lineup for Big Red. In fact, the specs don't particularly scream anything groundbreaking and mainly relies on the tried and true hardware we've seen put out already – but of course, updated in small ways. The Motorola CLIQ 2 features a 3.7” capacitive display with a resolution of 480 x 854, 1GHz processor, 5-megapixel auto-focus camera, and HSDPA 10.1 Mbps. Repectable? Yes! But naturally, it's nothing we haven't seen before.

Motorola has gone far and wide when it comes to making devices with physical keyboards, but this time around, they've taken a unique approach with the design for the CLIQ 2. It's not to say that the keyboard on the original CLIQ was any good, but it's rather difficult to say whether or not the one with the CLIQ 2 is an improvement. Arranged in a honeycomb like pattern, the plastic keys are raised enough to offer a subtle distinction, but they felt a bit too stiff when pressed. However, we'd imagine that after some time and usage, it could eventually offer an appropriate response to make it feel more tactile. Regardless, they're average in size to make it easy for most people to speed type without much problems.

Underneath the ho-hum specs, we find the handset running that all too common customized MOTOBLUR interface running on top of Android 2.2 Froyo. From a cursory handling, the speed felt good enough for most people to tolerate, but it's nothing blistering fast compared to the titans in the Android world. Some will adore the personalized options that MOTOBLUR has to offer, such as the multitude of themes available, but security conscious individuals will take a liking for its support for remote SD card wipe. Now even though you'll have to live with Android 2.2 Froyo when it's released for T-Mobile starting on January 19th, it's positioned to receive the Gingerbread love some time down the road – but there's no word on when that will all happen.

The only unknown for now is pricing which can undoubtedly make or break the Motorola CLIQ 2. Moreover, it's anyone's guess as to when Motorola will actually come around to produce that all too important Gingerbread update that most people will probably expect nowadays. With all of that in mind, we can't emphasize enough that it's going to ultimately come down on pricing to see whether or not the CLIQ 2 will succeed or just flounder in the sea with all the other mid-range Android handsets trying to get a piece of the pie.