InfoTart

The other day I realized that AT&T, my wireless operator, has never given me a subsidized phone. So I went online to see what kind of deal I might be able to strike. Since I’m trying to expand my library of mobile devices for testing in support of my freelance activities through Hand Interactive, I thought it was time to fill in a gap and get my first Windows Mobile device.

Looking around the AT&T web site, I found two devices on my Windows Mobile wishlist with great discounts, the Motorola Q9 Global and the Samsung BlackJack II. Both are nice smartphones with qwerty keyboards and fantastic industrial designs. Which one should I get? To be honest, I love the industrial designs of both devices, so I couldn’t use that as the deciding factor.

PROs

• Both devices run Windows Mobile Standard (not touch screen), but the Moto Q9 has the newer 6.1 firmware.
• Both offer 3G data speeds.
• Both are quad-band devices, which means that both would work equally well when I travel to Europe or Asia.
• Both offer cameras (2 megapixel), which isn’t great but currently par for the course for enterprise-oriented devices.
• Both offer micro-SD card support, but Moto Q9 supports up to 32 GB vs. BlackJack II’s support for 4GB.
• Both offer web browsers, though Moto Q9 ships with the latest version of Opera, as well.

CONs

• Neither device offers WiFi. What the heck?? How can an enterprise smartphone not offer WiFi nowadays?? If either device had offered WiFi, then that would have been the deciding factor and I would’ve selected it immediately.

Both devices are pretty evenly matched, so it was a tough choice. In the end, I selected the Motorola Q9 because it had the newer firmware and came pre-installed with Opera. (Internet Explorer on Windows Mobile is terrible.)

If Samsung comes out with the BlackJack III that has built in WiFi support, then I’ll definitely have to consider picking it up…