External Hardware

Motorola’s Cliq 2 is a slide-out QWERTY phone with a 3.7″ high-res capacitive FWVGA display with an 480 x 854 max resolution. On the outside, the Cliq 2 looks eerily similar to its predecessor, with a few notable exceptions. The Cliq 2 features a brushed titanium edge around the screen, which makes the phone look pretty sleek and appear less plasticy than the original Cliq. It feels slightly heavy and solid in the hand, which I personally think is a good thing (though I know some out there will disagree).

The original Cliq received a bit of flak for the omission of a search button on the main display, a criticism Motorola must have taken to heart as the Cliq 2 now features the standard 4 buttons we’ve come to expect on most Android phones. The Cliq XT also had the standard 4 button layout.

On top of the device you’ll find the power button as well as the 3.5mm headset jack. Along the right side, you’ll find the volume rocker, a switch to turn on silent/vibrate mode, and a camera button. The charging port stands alone on the left side of the device.

The back of the phone is made of a rubberized texture, making the Cliq 2 feel really good in the hand. Also on the back of the device is the camera and LED flash.

Hardware Keyboard

One of the biggest enhancements of the Motorola Cliq 2 is the rethinking of the physical keyboard. The Cliq 2′s keyboard was “inspired by nature,” and strangely resembles the shape of a honeycomb (signs that it may receive newer Android versions? We hope so!).

Though the keyboard is not ugly by any stretch, we don’t expect it to turn many heads either. Fortunately for the Cliq 2, the keyboard makes up for its shortcomings in the looks department by being incredibly functional. The buttons are domed similar to the original Cliq which allows you to more easily find the keys you’re looking for, making for an enjoyable typing experience.

The keyboard on the original Cliq was a bit cramped with the huge directional pad on the left side of the device.  The directional buttons still exist on the Cliq 2, though their presence is much more subdued, which makes the keyboard feel a bit bigger (though there is still some free space on the keyboard which could have been utilized better).

I must admit, at first glance I didn’t think I was going to like the keyboard on the Cliq 2. After a week of use, however, I’m typing faster than any other hard-or-software keyboard I’ve used with the exception of Swype, which conveniently comes included in the Cliq 2.

Internal Hardware

On the inside, the guts of the Cliq 2 features some pretty decent specs that put it right on par with other high-end devices. The 1GHz TI OMAP 3620-1000 processor should be powerful enough to handle everything MOTOBLUR has to offer without the lag we sometimes experienced on the original Cliq.

Similar to Motorola’s other devices, the Cliq 2 features a dedicated PowerVR SGX 530 GPU, which should allow for increased performance on even some of the newer, graphically intense games such as Dungeon Defenders. The Cliq 2 repeatedly beat out my nexus one on various gpu benchmark tests, with a difference of 23 fps on the Cliq 2 to 15 fps on the Nexus on the Nenamark1 benchmark test. We also noticed that the Cliq 2 will play games like Gun Bros or Dungeon Defenders decently without much lag, where my Nexus One sometimes struggles with these titles.

Storage space hampered the original Cliq device, but the Cliq 2 has 1GB of internal storage. Though much smaller than the 8-16GB found on the Galaxy S line of devices, it’s far roomier than the 512MB found on most of the mid-range offerings on the market today. In addition, the Cliq 2 features a microSD card slot with support up to 32GB of additional storage.

Software

As expected, the Cliq 2 comes preloaded with the MOTOBLUR overlay, Motorola’s overlay of the Android operating system which focuses on a constant stream of your social world using built-in widgets. During the intial set-up of your phone, Motorola asks for all your social media site log-in information, and uses that to deliver content right to your homescreen without needing to launch an application. That being said, we find that MOTOBLUR is much more overbearing than it is useful, and removing all the widgets from your homescreens greatly increases the zippiness of the devices.

One of the biggest beefs we had with the original Cliq was the fact that it was stuck on Android 1.5 at a time where 2.0/2.1 had already started to be featured on major devices. Motorola and T-Mobile seem to have learned their lesson with this one, as the Cliq 2 will sport Android 2.2 Froyo when it is released on Wednesday.

Though Froyo is not the latest version of Android, only one device currently on the market is officially touting Gingerbread, and only one (Sony’s Xperia Arc) of the upcoming superphones launched at CES earlier this month was running Gingerbread. No word yet on when or if Motorola is planning on upgrading the Cliq 2 to Android 2.3, 2.4, or 3.0, but we’ll certainly keep you updated if/when we learn more.

Like we’ve seen on many other Motorola devices, the Cliq 2 comes preloaded with some pretty useful applications as well as some bloatware (we’ll let you decide which is which). The extra software that comes included with the Cliq 2 include:

• T-mobile AppPack
• FM Radio (in connected Music application)
• Blockbuster
• IM
• Amazon Kindle
• Quickoffice
• Slacker radio
• Wifi calling
• Telenav GPS Navigation
• Tmobile Visual Voicemail

The Cliq 2 is being targeted toward the enterprise user, and the packaging touts the phone’s full calendar and exchange support. I tested out the exchange support for a few days, but didn’t notice anything much different than the email and calendar applications found on my Nexus One.

Call Quality

With all the awesome things our phone can do, we often forget about it’s basic function (especially when reviewing new devices)– making calls. In this respect, the Cliq 2 performs as well as you’d expect from any cell phone. I’ve made several calls from the Cliq 2, and both myself and the other parties had no problems hearing each other, even when using the Cliq 2′s speakerphone.

Camera/Camcorder Quality

Featuring a 5 megapixel camera with dual LED flash, the Cliq 2 takes fairly decent pictures in most lighting situations. It’s not the highest quality cell phone camera out there, but it gets the job done when you’re on the go and don’t want to bring a full camera along. Don’t expect this phone to fully replace your point and shoot camera by any stretch, but the Cliq 2 camera is decent enough to leave the full camera at home a bit more often.

One of the biggest disappointments is the lack of HD video capture support on the Cliq 2. This is extremely disappointing, as almost all high-end phones being released today feature at least 720p video capture support. As it stands, the highest resolution the Cliq 2 supports is 720 x 480 (480p).

What follows are some sample photos and a video I took using the Cliq 2′s camera.

Indoor Shots

Standing in line with Chris Chavez for Logitech Revue at CES2011

A Sample picture of some crap on my table!

Watching TV in the Bloggers Lounge at CES2011

Outdoor Shots

A car in our driveway

Our christmas tree, after I moved it outside.

I'm getting real sick of the snow!

Video Test

Pricing and Availability

UPDATE The Cliq 2 is currently showing a price of $99.99 after $100 mail in rebate debit card. At $99.99, anyone out there now considering picking up the Cliq2?

The Cliq 2 is slated to launch this coming Wednesday, January 19th. No official word on pricing has yet been announced by Tmobile, but we have every reason to believe that the Cliq 2 will launch at $199.99 similar to every other feature phone Motorola has launched recently. I really want to see it launch in the $129.99-$149.99 price range, and think it could do really well at that price point. We’ll update this review once we learn the official pricing.

Final Verdict

The Cliq 2 is a very solid device that is everything the original Cliq should have been. The 1GHz processor, dedicated GPU, and 1GB of memory make this phone zippy (especially once you delete all the MOTOBLUR widgets). Unfortunately, the Cliq 2 has the misfortune of being launched about 3-6 months too late. As it stands, the Cliq 2 will launch amid some heavy competition in its class with Tmobile’s Nexus S, G2 and Mytouch 4G, three phones which arguably have much more to offer than the Cliq 2 does. Add to that the fact that dual core phones are on the horizon in the next 6 months, and the Cliq 2 changes from a solid Tmobile offering to something that can easily be passed over if you can manage to wait a few months.

Now, I must admit that I’ve actually liked the Cliq 2 in the week or so I’ve spent with the device. Under different circumstances, I would have no problems recommending this phone to you. However, with more-able competitors already on the market on T-Mobile, and phones that will blow this phone completely out of the water coming soon, I’d recommend skipping Motorola’s Cliq 2. Unless of course you’re a huge fan of MOTOBLUR.

Gallery

HARDWARE

The very first thing you’re gonna notice about the Aria is its compact size. In a world of ever expanding screens, HTC decided to go small with the Aria. Measuring 4.1 x 2.3 x 0.46 inches and weighing a mere 3.8 ounces (that’s with the battery in there), most mobile enthusiasts would scoff at the Aria. But as an entry-level phone, it’s awfully pretty, awfully small (sometimes we forget a major point of having a mobile phone is portability), and awfully light.

You’ve seen the pictures comparing the HTC Aria to a deck of cards, and that’s exactly what it feels like when you hold it in your hand. It’s tiny! I’ve got an EVO, though, which makes most phones look dwarven. Here’s the EVO, an iPhone 3GS, and the Aria in a side-by-side comparison:

iPhone 3G S vs. HTC EVO 4G vs. HTC Aria

I absolutely love HTC’s choice to round out the sides and continue the matte finish all the way to the screen. It makes it incredibly easy to hold – you won’t be afraid of dropping the Aria while it’s in your hand because of that choice.

That being said, it’s not nearly as easy to take off the back cover to get to the battery. That might be a good thing for some, but I personally prefer a little more ease in removing the battery cover. As a side note, there’s a lovely shade of sports car yellow under the hood of the Aria. Being a geek, I notice and appreciate this small, eaningless detail, mostly because it’s cool looking and gives me something to show my non-tech-savvy friends. “But look! Underneath it’s yellow!” “Ooh.”

The HTC Aria has some style under the hood.

On the front, we’ve got the HTC standard capacitive buttons for Home, Menu, Back & Search, as well as an optical trackpad (welcome due to the Aria’s smaller screen). It’s a good-looking phone.

Display So, there are a lot of larger, higher-quality screens out there right now, but the Aria’s 3.2 inch HVGA screen shows off HTC’s Sense UI nicely. The screen is crisp and clear, even at lower brightness settings. The capacitive touch screen responds swiftly. Other than that, it’s your standard fare.

Camera Here’s the deal: I’ve come to demand a flash on my cell phone cameras. Not being able to take pictures half of the day seems absolutely insane to me – especially if you’re a night owl. The 5 megapixel camera does its job just fine in daylight, but no flash really puts a damper on the camera for me.

To an entry-level smartphone user, it might be forgiven, but no flash these days is heresy, especially for those of us who don’t like toting around a myriad of media gadgets. The VGA camcorder is decent enough in the Aria’s price range, but nothing to write home about.

Here are two un-retouched comparison shots of the Aria (top) and the EVO (bottom):

Sample photo taken with the HTC Aria.

Sample photo taken with the HTC EVO 4G.

You can see an obvious difference. The EVO’s colors are richer and the image feels more robust and dynamic, though the Aria seems to show more true-to-life color saturation in its image. Interestingly, however, the EVO’s image has a little more noise in it than the Aria’s.

Storage So… I’m not exactly sure where someone made this decision along the way, but there’s a piddling 2GB MicroSD card included with the Aria. I am seriously disappointed in that. Most people have an iPod Nanos with larger storage capacities. Obviously, the solution to this issue is to buy a bigger MicroSD card (up to 32GB), but if you’re dropping $130 already on this phone, I’m not sure you’re gonna want to immediately turn around and spend more to make it mid-level functional in terms of memory.

Speaker/Sound The sound quality was okay, though I admittedly live in an area where AT&T’s 3G coverage isn’t fantastic. Out in Santa Monica, though, the phone made crystal clear calls (though when the wind acted up, I could hear it blowing into the mic, which I’m not a huge fan of). I have to say that I’m a bit jealous HTC included a beautiful little hands-free headset with the Aria that looks and sounds fantastic while driving around Los Angeles, not to mention works great while working out at the gym – where did that hands-free go for the EVO, HTC? The music generally sounds great, especially for such a small phone. Once rooms got crowded, though, it was definitely struggling to cut through the noise. But it’s not a deal breaker.

Battery Life The battery life on this little bad boy is pretty nice – I had the phone for two weeks to review, and got a couple days of basic use out of it. Using it heavily (I’m talking bringing it out of sleep every 5 minutes and playing around with it), I got about 5-6 hours out of it. There’s a 1,200mAh battery in there, so you’ve got some room to play with in terms of time. It’s very, very efficient.

SOFTWARE

Obviously, we’re all Android fans here, which means we’re also crazy about 2.2 (Froyo). But I’d be selling the Aria short if I didn’t mention how nicely 2.1 (Éclair for those of us pastry-minded users) works on it. It’s smooth, and I never had an issue while browsing, playing music, or playing games. Even though we’re all becoming rapidly used to a 1 GHz Snapdragon world, Android screams on the Aria’s 600MHz MSM7227, 512MB of ROM and 384MB of RAM. Really. When I put it through its paces, not once did I experience any notable lag. This little phone rocks.

It’s with great sadness, however, that we mention the dark side of the Aria. By no fault of the handset itself, its carrier AT&T has decided (like they did with the Backflip) to completely cut off third party, non-Market apps from the Aria. That’s right, ladies and gents. No Swype for you, at least not until it shows up officially in the Market. As a die-hard Swype user (I will never use a virtual keyboard phone without it), this is unacceptable.

I get that AT&T says it’s to keep their customers safe… but let’s get real. If you’re sideloading apps from third-party sources, it’s a good bet you know what you’re getting into. This is SO depressing, AT&T! Why would you remove something that’s not even auto-enabled in Settings upon getting the phone? Most people who will pick up the Aria won’t ever poke around in there, and even if they did decide to enable sideloading, the message about the dangers of loading third party apps would likely scare them off well enough to disable it again. Sheesh.

HTC Aria gaming demo

CONCLUSION

If you’re dying for an Android phone on AT&T, and you’re a serious enthusiast, then the Aria is not for you. The Nexus One is. That being said, if you’re an entry-level smartphone user who doesn’t care about sideloading third-party apps or taking pictures with a flash, then the Aria might in fact be for you. I can’t for the life of me understand the price – as a $130 price tag might be too steep for a phone that’s been kneed in the nethers in terms of Android. Sense UI tends to upgrade a lot later than other Android phones (so no 2.2 in the foreseeable future); and the iPhone 3GS got a super competitive new price point ($99) when the iPhone 4 launched. It’s not ‘crippled,’ but it sure ain’t the open source heaven us Android geeks know and love. Maybe ‘hobbled’ is a better word to describe what AT&T did to a perfectly capable
smartphone.

I can see someone like a mom, or a stylish yet non-tech-obsessed friend picking up the HTC Aria because it’s somehow adorable and totally sexy at the same time – but anyone who’s really into Android (or loves to have the latest and greatest) will pass on it. Which is a damn shame, all things considered. I think AT&T had a big chance to make the Aria a competitor in the hotly contested $99-$149 bracket, but blew it with the choice to remove the third party apps option. I guess we’ll be waiting a bit longer for a true, non-Nexus One Android option on AT&T (I’m looking at you, Samsung Captivate). Unfortunately, it’ll likely still be hobbled by AT&T’s decision to remove the option to enable third party app installation.

Review submitted by Ashley Esqueda, host of This Week in Mobile.

The Samsung Behold II is Samsung’s second Android phone released in the United States (first was Sprint Moment). The phone is now available on T-Mobile for $229.99 with a 2yr contract or $449 with no contract.

There was initially a lot of confusion over the official hardware specs, but we were able to clear that up. The Behold II is essentially a first generation Android phone because it features the same 528 MHz ARM11 processor which was included in the G1. Samsung also decided to ship the phone with the outdated Android 1.5, but they claim it will eventually support Android 2.0.

I have seen little promotion for this phone and I think I understand why. While many reviewers praised the AMOLED display and camera, they did not have much else positive to say about the Behold II. Samsung created a custom version of Android, called TouchWiz, and it appears to be an epic fail.

Keep in mind most of these reviews come from hardcore geeks like me. Some of them are pretty rough on the phone, but that is because they are comparing it to previous Android phones. It is entirely possible you might purchase this phone and love it.

I’m eagerly waiting for T-Mobile to release a second generation phone, but I’m quite happy with my Cyanogen-powered HTC Magic (myTouch 3G) till then.

Reviews are up at:

• Gizmodo: “Samsung’s Behold II is the most impressively ugly Android phone in existence. The custom interface is so bad, so gaudy and so confusing it turned my brains into ooze.”
• Unwired View: “It’s natural for Samsung to have vested interest in using TouchWiz to see how it works out. Sadly, that was probably not a good choice, considering it was more sluggish and a processor-hog.”
• PC World: “Though the Behold II has a gorgeous AMOLED display and a superior camera, customers might be turned off by the high price (it is more expensive than the iPhone 3GS and the Motorola Droid) as well as the somewhat cluttered TouchWiz interface.”
• Mobile Burn: “The Samsung Behold II had the makings of a great Android smartphone, but turned out to be the merely decent one instead. Samsung’s bull-headed support for its awkward and counter-intuitive TouchWiz homescreen system spoils the fun.”
• InfoSync: “Samsung’s TouchWIZ interface hurts Android experience”
• CNET: “Of all the Android devices, the Samsung Behold II offers some of the most powerful multimedia features, but its high price tag is a major turn off.”
• Brighthand: “If you are looking at an Android device on T-Mobile and aren’t as into the myTouch 3G, or the clunkiness of the G1, the Behold II is a nice option.”

We should be getting our hands on a review unit soon, so please let us know what questions you have about the phone. I’m really interested to play around with the Sprint specific software like NFL Mobile Live, Nascar Sprint Mobile Cup, Sprint TV, Sprint Navigator, and the visual voicemail app. It should also be fun to see if we can load a custom rom on it.

Reviews have been posted at:

• CrunchGear
• Engadget
• Gizmodo
• PCMAG
• CNET

Videos are also up:

Noah from Phonedog has a quick overview of the phone up.

MobileTechReview.com posted a video review of the Hero on YouTube.

And finally, PhoneScoop has also weighed in.