Review: Moto Q Cradle by Motorola

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A few reviews back I extolled the virtue of using a charger cradle for your 700w smartphone and today I’m back with a second review, this one for the Moto Q ($29.95) made by Motorola themselves (note: this is not for the Q q9 series, though they are similar).

Care to see some nice pics and my thoughts on this Q-ccessory (is that a word? It is now!), then click da link.

While of course it’s hard to go into depth about a charger stand, I have used the Moto Q one for nearly 9 months off and on and in short it’s one of my favorite ones—mostly having to do with the Moto Q’s design requirements.

Overview & Features

The stand is made from a tough type of plastic and while not heavy it is hardly flimsy either, which is to say the build is very good. Due to the design of the Q, with the mini-USB charger port to the lower left of the device instead of the traditional bottom, Moto had to come up with a slide-in feature: the device slides right to left at which point you give it a little extra push to line-up and insert the mini-USB charger. A consequence of the design is to have the full back support which conveniently leaves enough room for a device with a standard extended battery door.

In addition, the stand also has room for one extra standard or extended battery to be charged in addition to the main device, which is a neat feature that many will enjoy. Once could argue that due to the design here that the two rear speakers are somewhat blocked, but when alerts came through or a ringer they were just as loud as usual which is probably attributable to Moto’s great speakers (and they left a little gap--excellent thinking).

Thoughts & Conclusion

Finally, the cradle does not come with an extra mini-USB cable, so you’ll end up needing to use your stock one to connect and charge which is something to consider if you were looking to augment instead of replace your current charging setup. Overall I’ve had no issues with the Motorola Q charger cradle by Motorola, consider it a quality build and highly recommend it.

Photos: Rob "Chobacabra" Alvarado