Since its inception, the Motorola Q has been successful. Versions of the popular slim handheld—originally billed as the "RAZR smartphone" at just 0.4 inches thick—can now be found on three carriers, with the device available in both CDMA and GSM versions. When Motorola revamped the Q, Verizon saw the new model first and branded it the Q9m. AT&T followed with its upgraded version, the Q9h, which bested the Verizon model with its excellent software bundle. Now Sprint finally has a new Q, and I'm pleased to report that the Q9c is a highly capable, inexpensive ($99.99 with a two-year contract, after a $100 mail-in rebate) smartphone, even if a few flaws hold it back from true greatness.

The Motorola Q9c looks a lot like its siblings except for one key difference—its battery pack. For some reason, Sprint trashed the RAZR-thin thing and decided to package all Q9cs with the extended battery. Now, my test unit scored a stellar 6 hours 56 minutes on a talk-time rundown test; that's easily the best figure I've seen on a CDMA handset. But the extended battery looks seriously bizarre. It sticks out sideways and adds both thickness (0.7 inches) and weight (5.2 ounces) to the Q's otherwise slender design. For those who want the original "standard" battery, it can be purchased for $44.99 from Sprint. But it crosses the line to make that the default option and mess with the handheld's slim profile.

Other design aspects fare better. The new keyboard is a nice improvement over the original; the Q9c's keys are larger and have just the right amount of quiet resistance for comfortable typing. The bright, 320-by-240-pixel display now includes an ambient light sensor. The thumbwheel on the right-hand side is a little stiffer and more recessed than on the original Q, but it's still usable. There's also a (nonstandard) 2.5mm headphone jack, a Back button, and a control area with six membrane buttons surrounding a responsive five-way control pad. Unfortunately, the Q9c still has the Backspace key above the regular keyboard.

As a voice phone, the Q9c excels. Test calls were clear and punchy, with plenty of volume. In one case, on a blustery day, the caller on the other end picked up a little wind noise but still heard me perfectly well. Another call had a slight buzz in the background. Overall, the handset sounded fine, particularly on my end, with a warm, full-bodied tone in the earpiece. When paired with a Plantronics Explorer 370 headset, the Q9c was clear if slightly computerized-sounding on the other end, but normal on my side.

The Q9c hits the Internet with EV-DO Rev 0 data; sadly, there's still no Rev A support. The handset uses the same Marvell 312-MHz processor as that of the Verizon Q9m and the original Q. It felt reasonably speedy in basic use but bogged down when switching between programs. Part of the problem is memory: There's just 50MB of internal storage and 25MB of RAM available for running programs, so keep an eye on the Task Manager.

The Q9c now supports Sprint TV, which offers dozens of channels. Live TV looked good, with smooth animation in full-screen mode; I averaged about 10 to 15 frames per second. Sprint's latest control panel for changing channels is simple to navigate and responds quickly. Sprint TV audio was distorted, however—the result of too much compression on Sprint's end. Another quibble: The volume control in Sprint TV works left to right, whereas in Windows Media Player it's up and down. I never got that straight throughout the review period.

The instant-messaging client is a welcome addition. It supports AIM, Windows Live Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger accounts, but not Google Talk or ICQ. On my tests, the app was responsive and even logged in and out quickly. I also liked its collapsible buddy lists, and the ability to sign off from individual accounts as well as a one-button "sign off all and exit" option.

The built-in Internet Explorer displayed Web pages at a decent clip, although it's no Opera Mobile (which comes standard on the Q9h). The Q9c includes the excellent DataViz Documents To Go, which views, creates, and edits Microsoft Office documents and also handles ZIP archives and PDFs. There's also a GPS radio, and the device works with Google Maps and Sprint Navigation. E-mail support is robust as usual, since this is a Windows Mobile 6 phone; it works with POP, IMAP, and Microsoft Exchange accounts, as well as Direct Push e-mail.

The Q9c sounded surprisingly detailed when playing music on a set of paired stereo Bluetooth Etymotic Ety8 earphones. Stereo music sounded tinny but clear over the built-in speakers (the distorted audio issue occurs only with Sprint TV). The Q9c accepts media cards up to 32GB; my Kingston 4GB miniSDHC card worked perfectly. Video was another story—none of the Qs perform particularly well on our CorePlayer video benchmark tests, and we couldn't get acceptable frame rates on 320-by-240 video, only on 176-by-144 3GP-format files.

The Q9c disappoints in the camera department and is essentially unchanged from the original Q. It sports a 1.3-megapixel CCD and an LED flash, but no autofocus. The camera takes decent pictures, all things considered, with no glaring flaws aside from muted color; the flash doesn't do much, unfortunately. The phone also records the usual, near-useless 176-by-144 thumbnail-size videos at 10 frames per second.

Overall, the Q9c has the best balance of price and performance on Sprint. The Palm Centro is cute and costs the same, but it's not nearly as capable, and it's uncomfortable to type on. The BlackBerry 8830, our Editors' Choice, is a speedy, stable e-mail handler, but it's more expensive, and the Q9c beats it on document editing, instant messaging, and battery life.

The MOTO Q9c by Motorola is one of the least-expensive ways to get a cutting-edge smartphone on Sprint. At just $100 together with Sprint's data plans, which undercut Verizon's by an average of $25 per month, the MOTO Q9c offers plenty of value, power, and flexibility—not to mention good voice quality. With that bulky battery, just don't look at it sideways.

Compare the Motorola Q9c with several other mobile phones side by side.

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