Rather than make this another post about saying one phone is better than the other, I am going to post my detailed experiences on using my Triumph for 2 months. I searched on the Optimus V forums and the Triumph forums, but did not find a post detailing the actual issues the Triumph did and now does not have. I am a former happy Optimus V owner and would gladly recommend that phone to anyone who wanted an Android phone.
Past
I was one of the early adopters of the Motorola Triumph when it was first released and I was a bit underwhelmed. I made a post detailing my issues that honestly made the phone borderline unusable.
These issues included:
Additionally, there were multiple design issues I had with the phone that are still sometimes an issue regarding the speaker placement and button design. I was earlier skeptical about the build quality after multiple reports of dust getting underneath the screen and light leakage and other issues.
Present
A lot has changed over the last few months, especially with CM7 being ported over by tickerguy (Karl Denninger), and his port has changed this phone for the better. I can report the random lack of responsiveness, home/back button randomly not working. poor battery life, random 3G data drops, and malfunctioning proximity sensors are completely fixed.
The phone is now very responsive and flips through pages of applications with no problems at all. All buttons on the bottom row work pretty much perfectly. The malfunctioning proximity sensors are now fixed and no longer flash the screen on and off repeatedly during a call. Battery life is now fantastic with Juice Defender and no longer drains after less than 12 hours of usage. 3G data is now rock solid provided you have a decent signal and never drops without warning. However, there are still a few minor problems that remain.
Remaining Problems
I still have an issue with the design of the speakers being placed on the bottom sides of the phone. Over time you get used to the odd placement, but your palm usually covers at least one speaker on the bottom and muffles the sound. The power button placement is on the side and a little hard to press, but that is more of a nitpick than an actual issue. The bigger issue stems from the lack of AGPS support, and the poor reception compared to an Optimus V.
Tickerguy found that the base band is broken and can't pass proper AGPS data without corrupting everything. It is currently impossible to enable AGPS support on the Triumph, and will likely require a base band update to fix/enable it. This means if you're trying to get your location from a cold start; it can take up to 2-5 minutes. The Optimus V can find your location in seconds even from a cold start. The Triumph still has an issue of receiving signals about 5 dbm off from the Optimus V, and the effects are definitely noticeable when you're in a fringe/weak signal area. This can weak havoc on your battery life as well if your phone has to constantly search for a signal. These would have to be resolved with a base band update, but I wouldn't hold your breath for one.
Additional software issues include having your CPU getting pegged 100% when Bluetooth and WiFi is enabled. This seems like an issue tickerguy cannot fix because Motorola has not released the sources for the WiFi driver. Additionally, there is no WiFi tether from the same issue of not having the sources to the WiFi driver. Finally, data still drops to 1X randomly from 3G, and there is no apparent upcoming fix for any of these, because of the lack of sources released from Motorola.
Conclusion
The last two paragraphs may make it seem that this phone is unusable, but that is far from the truth. My Triumph is finally a phone I can rely on everyday with no issues. The build quality has been good enough, and having a case over your phone prevents dust issues from entering the screen. The screen is a huge improvement over the Optimus V, and the Snapdragon S2 chip inside is extremely fast. Battery life is very good, and all normal applications and phone functions work perfectly.
I would recommend the Moto Triumph to everybody with the CM7 build installed, except for people who need:
That is a pretty specialized list, and I feel most people do not need those features to have a functional daily phone. If none of those features are a deal breaker; you will be extremely pleased with having a Moto Triumph in your pocket.
EDIT: I forgot to mention the MIUI port for the Triumph. The MIUI port built by isaacj87 is built on top of the CM7 rom tickerguy has been working on. The same issues and bugs apply to the MIUI port along with the CM7 port. Personally, MIUI is a little too iPhone-ish to me, but to each their own.
Past
I was one of the early adopters of the Motorola Triumph when it was first released and I was a bit underwhelmed. I made a post detailing my issues that honestly made the phone borderline unusable.
These issues included:
- Broken GPS (NO AGPS!)
- Poor reception compared to Optimus V
- Home/Back buttons that randomly didn't work
- Malfunctioning proximity sensor (flashing screen during call)
- Random 3G data drops
- Poor battery life
- Random lack of responsiveness (launching apps, etc.)
Additionally, there were multiple design issues I had with the phone that are still sometimes an issue regarding the speaker placement and button design. I was earlier skeptical about the build quality after multiple reports of dust getting underneath the screen and light leakage and other issues.
Present
A lot has changed over the last few months, especially with CM7 being ported over by tickerguy (Karl Denninger), and his port has changed this phone for the better. I can report the random lack of responsiveness, home/back button randomly not working. poor battery life, random 3G data drops, and malfunctioning proximity sensors are completely fixed.
The phone is now very responsive and flips through pages of applications with no problems at all. All buttons on the bottom row work pretty much perfectly. The malfunctioning proximity sensors are now fixed and no longer flash the screen on and off repeatedly during a call. Battery life is now fantastic with Juice Defender and no longer drains after less than 12 hours of usage. 3G data is now rock solid provided you have a decent signal and never drops without warning. However, there are still a few minor problems that remain.
Remaining Problems
I still have an issue with the design of the speakers being placed on the bottom sides of the phone. Over time you get used to the odd placement, but your palm usually covers at least one speaker on the bottom and muffles the sound. The power button placement is on the side and a little hard to press, but that is more of a nitpick than an actual issue. The bigger issue stems from the lack of AGPS support, and the poor reception compared to an Optimus V.
Tickerguy found that the base band is broken and can't pass proper AGPS data without corrupting everything. It is currently impossible to enable AGPS support on the Triumph, and will likely require a base band update to fix/enable it. This means if you're trying to get your location from a cold start; it can take up to 2-5 minutes. The Optimus V can find your location in seconds even from a cold start. The Triumph still has an issue of receiving signals about 5 dbm off from the Optimus V, and the effects are definitely noticeable when you're in a fringe/weak signal area. This can weak havoc on your battery life as well if your phone has to constantly search for a signal. These would have to be resolved with a base band update, but I wouldn't hold your breath for one.
Additional software issues include having your CPU getting pegged 100% when Bluetooth and WiFi is enabled. This seems like an issue tickerguy cannot fix because Motorola has not released the sources for the WiFi driver. Additionally, there is no WiFi tether from the same issue of not having the sources to the WiFi driver. Finally, data still drops to 1X randomly from 3G, and there is no apparent upcoming fix for any of these, because of the lack of sources released from Motorola.
Conclusion
The last two paragraphs may make it seem that this phone is unusable, but that is far from the truth. My Triumph is finally a phone I can rely on everyday with no issues. The build quality has been good enough, and having a case over your phone prevents dust issues from entering the screen. The screen is a huge improvement over the Optimus V, and the Snapdragon S2 chip inside is extremely fast. Battery life is very good, and all normal applications and phone functions work perfectly.
I would recommend the Moto Triumph to everybody with the CM7 build installed, except for people who need:
- Bluetooth and WiFi on at all times
- WiFi infrastructure tethering
- Strong reception to compensate for fringe/weak signal from VM
- AGPS support
- HDMI out (still broken in CM7)
That is a pretty specialized list, and I feel most people do not need those features to have a functional daily phone. If none of those features are a deal breaker; you will be extremely pleased with having a Moto Triumph in your pocket.
EDIT: I forgot to mention the MIUI port for the Triumph. The MIUI port built by isaacj87 is built on top of the CM7 rom tickerguy has been working on. The same issues and bugs apply to the MIUI port along with the CM7 port. Personally, MIUI is a little too iPhone-ish to me, but to each their own.
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