Photon or Epic Touch?

So you own an epic touch, what are you going to do?


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dullgeek

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Ok, so over in the MoPho forum, there's a question where someone asks if folks are keeping their photon or returning it for the gs2 epic touch. Most of the answers are from people who already have a photon and are pretty highly skewed toward that phone.

I'm curious how people in this forum value the comparison. Now that you've got the epic touch:
  1. Are you happy with it?
  2. Are you contemplating returning it?
  3. How do you feel it compares to the photon?
  4. If you're switching, what draws you to the phone you're switching to?
  5. If you're keeping it, what do you like about it over the photon (in particular) or other phones (in general)

Disclosure: I have a photon and am contemplating the switch. I've got the perspective of other photon owners, but would like the perspective of epic touch owners. Thanks!
 

sndplace

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Have you gone to the Store to see it in person? is a great phone even if you don't switch you should check it out and i'm sure you will if not yet done so.

1. I am greatly happy with this phone.
2. Unless its defective in someway NO! lol
3. From little time With the Photon (in store use only like 5 mins) love the screen better on mine.
4. Came from the Epic4G so its an upgrade. size,speed and features.
5. Same as 4. To add all phones can be used for 2+ years if need be but IMO this is a true 2 year capable phone for me. Even though next year i might still buy another phone.:)
 

Beezzy

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I really dislike the Photon, the only benefit is that its a world phone. Otherwise, it doesn't feel that great. The software is still MotoBlur, the Pentile Matrix screen is annoying(they made Moto Blur with Dark Colors for that reason, so its less noticeable), and its slow. Its not very responsive for a Dual Core phone.
 

dschachm

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I had the photon for 3 weeks coming from blackberry. I did love that phone but I picked up a epic touch yesterday and it is awesome. The screen is beautiful and the speed is amazing. The radios on the photon are definetly better but the ones on the epic are pretty good. Still better than blackberry.
As for the interface, I really can't talk because I use launcher pro. I do miss the universal inbox the photon had and miss being able to select all in the inbox for my verizon account. I love the lock screen and the Widgets to toggle 4g wifi and sounds. Holding this phone is great. I love the size and feel. I like the lighter and bigger feel. The photon was too thick with a low profile case. I don't have a case on the Sammy yet but I think it will be perfect. I also have a sammy 65 led tv and sending video, music and pictures wirelessly without having to configure anything is awesome. Oh and I forgot the camera and video are much better on the sammy. Love the interface.
Hope this helps.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
 

BRIVERS73

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Ok, so over in the MoPho forum, there's a question where someone asks if folks are keeping their photon or returning it for the gs2 epic touch. Most of the answers are from people who already have a photon and are pretty highly skewed toward that phone.

I'm curious how people in this forum value the comparison. Now that you've got the epic touch:
  1. Are you happy with it? Extremely! :cool:
  2. Are you contemplating returning it? Not now but you never know...
  3. How do you feel it compares to the photon? What's a Photon? ;)
  4. If you're switching, what draws you to the phone you're switching to? Nexus Prime : ICS & pure Google
  5. If you're keeping it, what do you like about it over the photon (in particular) or other phones (in general)
Speed, Fluidity, Responsiveness, Screen Size & type,

Disclosure: I have a photon and am contemplating the switch. I've got the perspective of other photon owners, but would like the perspective of epic touch owners. Thanks!
 

dschachm

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I had the photon for 3 weeks coming from blackberry. I did love that phone but I picked up a epic touch yesterday and it is awesome. The screen is beautiful and the speed is amazing. The radios on the photon are definetly better but the ones on the epic are pretty good. Still better than blackberry.
As for the interface, I really can't talk because I use launcher pro. I do miss the universal inbox the photon had and miss being able to select all in the inbox for my verizon account. I love the lock screen and the Widgets to toggle 4g wifi and sounds. Holding this phone is great. I love the size and feel. I like the lighter and bigger feel. The photon was too thick with a low profile case. I don't have a case on the Sammy yet but I think it will be perfect. I also have a sammy 65 led tv and sending video, music and pictures wirelessly without having to configure anything is awesome. Oh and I forgot the camera and video are much better on the sammy. Love the interface.
Hope this helps.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

I thought I would quote this because I forgot the biggest thing so far. I had the sammy fully charged at 2 and used it petty much none stop till 7 and still had 50% battery left. Photon would have been dead around 6. I will post back later today but I would assume the sammy is much better. I even had the photon underclocked and by this time with the photon I would be at 80%. I am sitting at 93%.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
 

anon(26204)

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I have both the photon and ET4G...and after playing with my ET....im selling the photon. The ET is jusg a better all around phone. The gps works excellent as well as the reception and wifi connectivity...which was the issues i had with the Epic.

The screen is amazing and nice and the camera is the best camera i used on any cellphone.



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YBCold

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Had a photon and hatred the phone except for its radio and call quality. The screen its grey and washed out and mine was rebooting its self everyoneI would take out of the charger.

E4GT all the way!
Winninngg! :p

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Paperino

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Well, I own both phones currently, and have enough time to really decide which one of the two I am going to keep. As of today, I don't think I am keeping either... So, at risk of getting flamed, I will explain my reasoning....

Photon Pros -

  • Amazing Clarity of Phone calls and strong reception
  • World Phone
  • qHD Resolution
  • One hand usage is good.
  • Car Dock features
  • Motorola Updates/Support has been quite decent.
  • Good Email software

Photon CONS

  • Slow bootup
  • Some lag in starting apps
  • Pentile screen not good for video watching
  • Camera Lag sucks!


ET4G Pros

  • SAMOLED+ Screen
  • Good reception/calls (not Motorola good, but better than previous Epic)
  • Great Multimedia Applications
  • FAAAST!!!

ET4G CONS (IMO)
  • CRAPPY SAMSUNG SUPPORT
  • Poor one hand operation.
  • Resolution of the phone is too low for a screen this size, makes everything unnecessarily big.
  • Overall feels like a cleaned up Epic, which is good and bad, but doesn't change the feeling that it is not as big of an upgrade (doesn't feel new).
  • Lock screen is not great
[

I can't attest to battery life yet, as I haven't really stressed the phone that way, but I think the ET4G has an advantage here, but the Photon's battery is definitely not bad as some here have reported. It only requires one charge a day, regardless of how much I throw at it.

The screen is the Photon's biggest downfall, great resolution, poor display type. The screen on the Samsung is amazing, but we would really have benefited from a bump in resolution at a screen this size.

My use for phones is threefold:

  • Primary use - Email/Text and calls. Photon wins this one easily for me.
  • Secondary use - Calls - Photon wins clearly, but not by as much as I would have expected coming from the original Epic).
  • Tertiary use - Multimedia - Camera, Music, Videos - ET4G wins this easily, although the integration for use with my car is better on the Photon out of the box (again, this is limited experience since the Samsung car dock is not available yet).

My decision at this point is simple - GET BACK ON THE FENCE. If you wait it out, even just one month, you have more choices. I am tempted to keep the Photon, because it keeps me under the old terms, while keeping the ET4G puts me under the new Sprint stranglehold, but I think I am going to end up buying a Photon off contract and waiting out the next couple of months.

Hope this helps someone.
 
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Cubfan

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I owned the Photon, which I returned before the fixes went out. Generally, I loved the phone except for two things... The screen was too dark when viewing videos, and it apparently didn't display as many colors so gradients looked bad. Also, the camera was decent, but not outstanding.

On the other hand, the car dock was out of this world. It was easy to get the phone in and out, and sound was perfect. One wire that shared audio and power. The Samsung dock is reported to be much worse, picks up whine from the engine without a special adapter that affects sound quality, more difficult to get the phone in and out, and has two wires coming in for audio and power.

The Samsung solves my biggest gripes with the Photon, but also fails in several categories for me. Would be a tough choice if I had to pick, but I would lean toward the Photon. That is the main reason I am waiting for something else.
 

Mikest

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I owned a Photon for 3 weeks, next Weds would of been my 30 days.

1) I was very happy with the Photon except the screen. It was a minor gripe to most but I'm a graphic designer / photographer so I might be more picky. I could see the pentile matrix on the screen and the colors had a bloom effect. The Epic 4G Touch is not only a bigger screen but the colors look much more vibrant, almost too vibrant. I'm still trying to perfect the settings but its a huge improvement in image quality. The larger screen also allows for a slightly larger on screen keyboard, another perk.
2) I did return my Photon for the Epic 4G touch yesterday, and I dont regret it. I was very happy with the Photon except the screen. If it had a different display I likely would of kept it.
3) I was drawn to the Epic Touch 4G for the larger Amoled Plus screen, the faster processor
4) Its faster than the Photon, booting up, loading apps etc. Touchwiz doesn't add much to the experience over Motoblur (whatever they're calling it these days) so I consider that a wash. From my brief experience the Photon had better signal strength (3G wise) but it hasn't been bad at all on the Epic 4G Touch. The Speaker Phone sounded better at high volume on the Photon, but I believe thats from the drastic difference in volume increases on the Epic. As you reach the higher end of volume bar it seems like the increases in output gets dramatically larger than at the lower end. Its kinda like its doubling the stops.
5) I feel as though I've covered this above
6) Covered above.
7) My addition to the unknown is battery life. The Photon was incredible on battery life, I haven't owned this phone long enough to make a comparison on that.
My Quick Summary wrap up
I loved the Photon except the screen. The Samsung Galaxy SII Epic 4G Touch addresses that issue quite nicely and includes a bump in screen size and processor speed. It cost me $100 dollars more for that bump, but considering I have to look at that screen every day for the next two years it was well worth it to me.
 
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dullgeek

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Wow! These are some great responses! Really helpful. I haven't made a decision yet, but I like the input.

Things that draw me to the MoPho:
  1. Two words: cardock. awesome.
  2. a metric ton of radios, including GSM/HSPA+ and an FM radio (why? Because we can dammit!)
  3. Inertia: it's simpler to not make any changes

Things that draw me to the E4GT:
  1. I think it's going to be more popular, and thus have more 3rd party accessories rather than limited and stupidly expensive accessories for the MoPho.
  2. Bigger screen, although lower resolution is troubling. And no, a 4.5" screen is not too big IMHO.
  3. Bigger battery
  4. A little bit frustrated with the stability of the MoPho.
  5. Ego: I want the world to agree that I've got an awesome phone. I think the world thinks the MoPho is ok, but not awesome.

Things I'm neutral about that seem to bother others;
  • Pentile display. I've heard others complain about it, but I am unable to see it when I compare it to other displays.
  • Speed. I came from a Palm Pre 2. Everything seems fast to me. (But I do shed a tear for webOS :'()


I owned a Photon for 3 weeks, next Weds would of been my 30 days.
LOL! Next weds *is* my 30 days. We bought our MoPho's on the same day. I guess that's not all that surprising. Lots of other people surely bought it on Aug 22, too. But it's unusual for that fact to come up in conversation between strangers.
 

Mikest

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LOL! Next weds *is* my 30 days. We bought our MoPho's on the same day. I guess that's not all that surprising. Lots of other people surely bought it on Aug 22, too. But it's unusual for that fact to come up in conversation between strangers.
Yep I bought it darn near the day after HP KILLED webOS :-X . In another world I'd be running a Pre 3 right now on the Sprint network.

I'm still grieving but I think I finally made it past the anger stage. I wonder how many M80's I can fit in my HP printer.
 

dullgeek

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Ok here's another question: Does Skype work on the E4GT? It does not work on the photon, due to some issues that the skype devs have with tegra processors. Or at least that's the explanation given in the mopho forums.

Yep I bought it darn near the day after HP KILLED webOS :-X . In another world I'd be running a Pre 3 right now on the Sprint network.
Wait a second. Do I have a clone that I'm not aware of?
I'm still grieving but I think I finally made it past the anger stage. I wonder how many M80's I can fit in my HP printer.
LOL! Right past that anger stage must be the destructive stage.
 

dschachm

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By the way you actually have 90 days to decide. You can exchange 2 phone. Go return the photon and try the epic. You can always return the epic for the photon again.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
 

dullgeek

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By the way you actually have 90 days to decide. You can exchange 2 phone. Go return the photon and try the epic. You can always return the epic for the photon again.
Wait. What? Do you have some reference for this? I thought for sure it was only 30.
 

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