The latest Android with some new spice is official. The Motorola Cliq brings an all new direction to the once leading mobile manufacturer. After the superhit days of MotoRazr, Motorola has quite failed to churn out any significantly successful smartphone. The A760 and A1000 that were amongst my favourite touchscreen devices, but the subsequent upgrades like A780 and A1200 were disappointing.
With the new direction that Motorola is now sailing towards, it bears the Android flag and the first device coming out is the Cliq. Motorola has loaded this with a custom UI called the MOTOBLUR. This integrates all your social media (online platforms) together and draws similarity to the Palm Pre’s synergy. But this reminds me more of what Nokia tried to do with live widgets in the N97.
Its our nasty habit, and not completely justified to compare each and every full touchscreen phone with the iPhones. But the 3GS today still remains to be the benchmark for any smartphone that is touch centric. So how does things look for the Cliq vs the iPhone 3Gs?
Note: The Cliq is not yet officially out and thus we only have some early reviews on the prototype’s that people have played with and ofcourse the details that the company has made available during launch.
iPhone 3GS vs Motorola Cliq Specifications
| Feature | iPhone 3GS | Motorola Cliq / Dext MB220
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| Network | 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 3G HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100 | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 HSDPA 1700 / 2100 / 900 |
| OS | iPhone OS 3.0 | Android v1.5 with MotoBlur UI |
| Display | TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors 320 x 480 pixels, 3.5 inches | 3.1″ Capacitive touch 256k colours |
| Camera | 3.15 MP / Autofocus 30 fps Video recording with audio | 5 Megapixel |
| EDGE | HSDPA supported 7.2 Mbps | HSDPAÂ 7.2Mpps |
| Internet Browser | Mobile Safari Full HTML without Flash | Full HTML with Flash Mobile |
| Messaging | SMS (threaded view), MMS, Emails | SMS, EMAIL, MMS |
| FM | no | No |
| Processor | 600 MHz CPU | 528Mhz processor |
| Battery | Unknown | 1420 mAh – Li-ion |
| Colours | White and Black | White, Titanium Midnight |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth AD2P (headset support only) Bluetooth P2P games WiFi, AGPS | Bluetooth 2.1 AD2P WiFi , AGPS Micro USB connector |
| Memory | 256MB RAM 16 GB/ 32 GB storage | 256MB RAM, 512MB ROM MicroSD Card Slot. 1GB Internal |
| Weight | 135 gms | 163 gms |
| Others |
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A lot of features between the iPhone 3GS and MotoCliq is common. With the proximity sensor, 3.5mm headphone jack, digital compass, accelerometer etc. A few areas where inherently iPhone is weak and Cliq scores is usb connection, mass storage, additional memory cards (micro SDHC), multitasking and a PHYSICAL KEYBOARD. And yet not many are rating this as an iPhone killer. Why? Isn’t a physical keyboard a great advantage?
Well, yes the qwerty in Cliq / Dext is awesome thing to have and I personally dont like the Palm Pre more than the iPhone at times for this same reason. But a fat device with a sideways qwerty isn’t all that convenience always. However we will leave the design as a personal preference and as I have mentioned earlier, at times its meaningless to compare smartphones.
However looking at the highlight of the Cliq, BLUR UI. Motorola is not the first to try a new UI to take on the App Store advantage that iPhone currently enjoys. The idea of having live widgets for the N97 tanked and thats where Cliq also takes a beating. Making the phone UI dependent on data being fetched from the cloud over a wireless internet connection isn’t the smartest thing to do (particularly on not such a large 3.1″ screen). Though the Cliq does well in integrating your social media presence and also filtering out the less important updates on twitter etc (grouping them as happenings). A 528Mhz processor on a heavy UI and smartphone can fall short. Though not conclusive yet, I am sure this wouldn’t be very slick and fast. I would also miss the awesome games on the MotoBlur for now.
Heavy and fat, while this is a part of the design, its something that the iPhone manages to score better at. But if you are someone who loves openness and need that bluetooth file transfer, qwerty, 5Mp camera etc etc… MotoCliq might be for you. But if you can live without that, iPhone 3Gs gives you a LOT in terms of apps, games, sleek design, amazing web integration, smooth multitouch operations etc.
iPhone / iPod touch downloads
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
first!
I wouldn’t switch to ATT. Ever. I want a Google phone but couldn;t switch to Verizon for the android. SO, carriers made me pick the cliq. $199 – plus I get to unlock it after 3 months.
What a horrible fucking review. It’s hardly legible and so obviously biased towards the iPhone it is sad. As a proud owner of a Motorola Cliq I’ll let the masses know that this phone is nowhere near clunky or fat. It’s surprisingly slim and sleek, a lot moreso than I was expecting it to be. It’s also less of a block to hold, unlike the iPhone. Secondly, the motoblur service is overwhelming at first. It is a crazy thing to see all this data coming at you at once, especially when the phone is new and it goes back and grabs most of the info from the last day or so and it feels like a lot to look at. But after a day or two your mind catches up and it all just seems so smooth, sleek, convenient, and ingenious. That is the best word I can think of to describe the cliq: “convenient.”
There is a difference between convenience and excellence!
lol iPhone 3gs rams 256mb? lol you got it wrong dude reseach before post so you can give more information, and you wont look noob about technology!!! this guys feel the know everything then post incorrect misleading information!!!
one more noob here!!! the POSTER!!!lol iPhone 3gs rams 256mb? lol you got it wrong dude reseach before post so you can give more information, and you wont look noob about technology!!! this guys feel the know everything then post incorrect misleading information!!! be sure before posting
Just got the Cliq in place of my iphone 3g and so far am thinking of going back to apple for the 3gs. I hate the feeling of being controlled by apple and only doing things there way but the Cliq just does not have the same feel. Its touch screen is not as smooth (although close) and it freezes up sometimes (not completely freezes just lags while it is opening say the text messaging). And I made sure to turn off all other application running in the background. Also I love the iphones virtual keyboard and the Cliqs just doesn’t work very well. Sometimes, for what ever reason, I can’t hit certain keys. I can literally run my finger over the entire key board and the key I want won’t light up. Very strange. Maybe I just have a lemon? Any one else having problems.
I have had the cliq since it came out and because I’ve never had an iphone I thought it was amazing…. until I got an ipod touch and then gave into playing with my boyfriends iphone. The touch screen on the iphone is sweeeeeeet, I have had a lot of touch screen issues with the clig, freezing, certain keys wont work at certain times, and forclosing warning. The apps just arent as good as the apple apps. and the graphics couldnt touch the iphone. Currently still a cliq owner because the on major turn off is the network the iphone is on… they suck… Maybe someday Apple will offer a contract to a different company for the iphone.