The Motorola Cliq XT is Moto's fifth U.S. Android offering and T-Mobile's fifth Android device overall. The carrier has not released pricing or a specific release date, but the XT is expected to ship sometime in March.
Don't be quick to dismiss the XT as the Motorola Cliq, just without the keyboard. There are similarities between the two, such as Motoblur and Android 1.5, but the Cliq XT also offers a more robust and connected media player and Swype technology.
Without the slide-out keyboard, the Cliq XT has a slimmer profile and is much easier to slip into a pants pocket. The phone measures 4.59 inches tall by 2.33 inches wide by 0.48 inch thick and weighs 4.4 ounces.
The Motorola Cliq XT comes packaged with an extra back cover in a metallic purple. The purple back plate has a soft-touch finish, whereas the black one has a more textured feel.
The Cliq XT has the same 3.1-inch HVGA capacitive touch screen as the Cliq and Blackflip. It's sufficiently bright and clear, but it's on the smaller side. You do get multitouch capabilities in the browser and photo gallery.
The smartphone features the standard Android virtual keyboard but it also has a Swype keyboard. Swype lets you compose words by continuously dragging your finger from letter to letter instead of individually pecking at each key. We were skeptical at first and it takes some getting used to, but we were pleasantly surprised by its accuracy.
Below the display, you'll find the usual home, search, back, and menu keys. You also get a navigational touch pad for scrolling and selecting items, but we often just ended up using the touch screen.
The Cliq XT has a 5-megapixel camera with an LED flash, digital zoom, and autofocus. It can also record MPEG video at 24 frames per second at HVGA resolution.
