Hands-on impressions of the Motorola Cliq

Bonnie Cha | Sep 14, 2009

It was a big day for Motorola. The handset manufacturer unveiled its first Google Android device, the Motorola Cliq (known as Motorola Dext outside the US), to a packed house at the Mobilize '09 conference in San Francisco. While much of the interest was in seeing Moto's premier Android handset, many were also curious to see if it would deliver something that would breathe new life into a company struggling behind the competition.

Is the Motorola Cliq the answer? Well, we're not completely sold at this point. We finally got some hands-on time with the device, and while we're impressed with the hardware and the features are on par, it's the Motoblur software that makes us weary. The integration of data from different sources is great, but having all information like Facebook updates, tweets, emails constantly streamed to your home screen is completely overwhelming, in our opinion. And is it really necessary?

True, you can customize the home screen and remove widgets, so we'll hold off on verdict until we get the phone in for review. Also, pricing will be a huge factor. T-Mobile and Motorola has not announced pricing, but Engadget Mobile grabbed a screenshot of the carrier's Web site that listed the Motorola Cliq for free with a two-year contract or US$399.99 without an agreement. This, of course, has since been pulled down, but if true, it could be an enticing offer for many.

Surely, we'll hear more news in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, check out a few more photos below and our video of the Motorola Cliq to get a closer look at the device and to get our first impressions of the smartphone.