Physically, the Moto Q is pretty cute. Most Windows Mobile smartphones I’ve seen have some degree of bulk; the Q is so thin and shiny that until I switched it on I thought it was just an ordinary phone packing a full keyboard. Yes, the box shows a life-sized shot of the Q running Windows Mobile. Okay, so I can be hasty to play with shiny things sometimes.

The case is a familiar mix of black rubberised paint and polished plastic. The screen and front-facing camera lie beneath a single transparent plane that makes them easy to wipe clean, much like Motorola’s RAZR range of phones.

Although technically a reasonable size, a 2.4-inch screen seems a little small above the Q’s keyboard. That said, text renders readably, images look good and menus are easy to navigate — from a user interface standpoint it all works but does seem a little miniaturised due to the screen.

The QWERTY keyboard is well designed; the buttons are well separated and not too small given the limited width of the device. Composing text messages or email is easy enough and definitely faster than a standard numeric keypad with or without predictive text.

Menu navigation is via an easy-to-operate directional button. The surrounding call, menu and shortcut buttons are flush with the face of the device but not touch sensitive — they have the same aesthetic appeal but actually provide tactile feedback.

The 2.0 megapixel main camera works well enough but the image quality isn’t spectacular; I’ve seen better at the same resolution but I’ve also seen worse. Media playback is excellent, however. Video plays smoothly and music sounds as good as one would expect from a decent MP3 player. The sound is quite rich and while it’s not the clearest thing I’ve ever heard, I would happily accept it as an MP3 player replacement if not for the proprietary headphone socket also shared by the charger and USB cable.

Documents To Go by DataViz is a nice addition. The suite includes editors for Word, Excel and PowerPoint, a viewer for Adobe PDF files and an extractor for ZIP files.

Though everything seems to work stably and in general rather quickly, navigation is a little tardy when moving back to previous menus. Starting programs for the first time is also slightly sluggish, as one usually finds with Windows Mobile, though better than many of the handhelds and smartphones I’ve used in the past.

If you’re looking for a smartphone, the Moto Q is a stylish, modern device at an entry-level price. Don’t just jump for a Blackberry or an iPhone; there are other options available and the Q is right up there among the best of them.