hey jbuggydroid, i was wondering, when you paired your Wiimote, did u need to download any app from the market or does it connect directly?
Photon Owner's Comments, Issues, and Reviews
- Thread starter milominderbinde
- Start date
I love everything about this phone except for the battery life. I unplugged from the charger at 8am and right now it is 3pm and I only have about 35% left. I have been on 3G and all other radios are turned off. I have made one short phone call and haven't really used it. Why is it draining so quickly?
6th day with the phone and remain impressed.
Build quality...rock solid. Feels well build, but at the same time light and just "fits" in the hand.
Reception ...damn impressive. Just back from the beach where I constantly got 1 bar if I was lucky with my pre-minus and that 1 bar floated in and out of no bars. This phone got 5 bars the whole 3 hours and didn't change from it.
Battery life....getting a solid 10 hours or so as advertised, which is pretty good IMHO. Seems to take awhile to charge though, but not too bad.
Notifications..being able to dismiss one at a time is big for me.
Screen... Love it. Yes I can slightly see the pixel/blinds effect if I'm indoors on a light background and really look for it. However, it's a MOBILE phone and also spend lots of time outdoors and the screen just rocks in bright light, where other screens fail miserably. I'll take this trade-off anyday. If I'm indoors at home I'm on a laptop or desktop instead anyway.
UI...actually liking this version of what Motorola shipped with. It's customization enough to steer away from anything you don't like and I'm fine with it.
Added Toys: kickstand...awesome. Ability to turn it upside down when charging and still view in landscape (double awesome) Car dock and media dock look amazing and can't wait to get my hands on those.
Camera. I like the interface and gallery a lot, but the pics are a tiny bit washed out. Trying out Vignette, Camera Zoom FX and Camera 360 along with the stock camera to see if it can be improved a bit with an app, but still decent enough.
Just a solid phone and does all I was looking for and more. Will be interesting when the SGS2 comes out. I figured it was 25% odds to keep the photon and 75% change to the SGS2. Now I'm not so sure since I'm loving the Photon. Sounds strange, but the SGS2 might be TOO small/thin/light for me. I like to pocket phones with no covers and the Photon just fits perfect seems solid. I get the sense that if I went any smaller/thinner/lighter that I might break it. We'll see but that's my "so far" update.
Build quality...rock solid. Feels well build, but at the same time light and just "fits" in the hand.
Reception ...damn impressive. Just back from the beach where I constantly got 1 bar if I was lucky with my pre-minus and that 1 bar floated in and out of no bars. This phone got 5 bars the whole 3 hours and didn't change from it.
Battery life....getting a solid 10 hours or so as advertised, which is pretty good IMHO. Seems to take awhile to charge though, but not too bad.
Notifications..being able to dismiss one at a time is big for me.
Screen... Love it. Yes I can slightly see the pixel/blinds effect if I'm indoors on a light background and really look for it. However, it's a MOBILE phone and also spend lots of time outdoors and the screen just rocks in bright light, where other screens fail miserably. I'll take this trade-off anyday. If I'm indoors at home I'm on a laptop or desktop instead anyway.
UI...actually liking this version of what Motorola shipped with. It's customization enough to steer away from anything you don't like and I'm fine with it.
Added Toys: kickstand...awesome. Ability to turn it upside down when charging and still view in landscape (double awesome) Car dock and media dock look amazing and can't wait to get my hands on those.
Camera. I like the interface and gallery a lot, but the pics are a tiny bit washed out. Trying out Vignette, Camera Zoom FX and Camera 360 along with the stock camera to see if it can be improved a bit with an app, but still decent enough.
Just a solid phone and does all I was looking for and more. Will be interesting when the SGS2 comes out. I figured it was 25% odds to keep the photon and 75% change to the SGS2. Now I'm not so sure since I'm loving the Photon. Sounds strange, but the SGS2 might be TOO small/thin/light for me. I like to pocket phones with no covers and the Photon just fits perfect seems solid. I get the sense that if I went any smaller/thinner/lighter that I might break it. We'll see but that's my "so far" update.
Yeah, I definitely expect even better battery performance once I remember to toggle to 3g when 4g isn't necessary! 30 hours is just insane!! Who wudda thunk?!?!Awesome!!
When I was on 3G I got about 30 hours on one charge. Unfortunately, 4G isn't too strong in my area but compared to my EVO the Photon lasted way longer
Photon Review:
I am a recent provider jumper, having been with TMo for 10 years, and coming from a long history of Blackberries. Just prior to my departure from TMo, I had a brief and unsatisfying relationship with an Android dual core device, the LG G2x.
So after deciding that Sprint was the best alternative, I researched both online, and in-store, the Evo 4g, 3D, and the Photon. I tested the Evo 4g in hand for 3 days (which I still feel rivals the 3D in certain areas), and after playing with both the 3D and the Photon in-store (including w/dock), decided to give the Photon first dibs on my loyalty.
I was already prepared for certain problems, as some folks had reported audio problems with calls, phantom reboots, battery pulls, sub-par battery life, poor reception, camera problems (including but not limited to a front-facing camera that performs worse than a 1964 Instamatic, and those loyal to the HTC's Evo 3D also warned against the horrors of Pentile screens and the dreaded Motoblur (Ghost) UI.
I got home, rolled up my sleeves, and fired up the beast.
THE GOOD:
1. Phone was so light in my hand, I thought they forgot to include the battery!
2. After a full charge (no conditioning, and no marketware extras like Juice Defender, etc...), I managed to retain a 20% charge after 14 hours of moderate use (phone calls, texts, taking pictures, editing pictures, uploading pictures, IM'ing, surfing, gaming, a little Sprint TV, etc...yeah, for me that's "moderate.")
3. Having come from the G2x, and the Evo 4G, I was anticipating HATING the screen (which, btw, would have been one of my list's deal-breakers), I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't bother me much, and as time went on, not at all. Yes, there is a slight degradation if you're spoiled by that crisp clear HD OMG kinda Amoled screen vibe (and believe me, I like it as much as sex and chocolate), but honestly, I was not experiencing any kind of squinty-eyed resentments. It looked absolutely fine. And to be honest, the only time I noticed any type of gridding was when outside in bright sun-light (screen sleeping), and if I angled the phone just so.
4. I was able to install SPB Shell (my favorite Android launcher), and it was lighting fast, equal to the stock 3D HTC Sense. Bear in mind, the stock Motoblur (Ghost) is fast, but not buttery fast. I have found the blur Ghost to be a completely satisfactory launcher/UI nonetheless.
5. I liked the fact that the Evo 4G had a fairly loud speaker, and calls were loud and clear. However, testing mp3's, video, and other sounds on the Evo 3D was one of the primary reasons why I did not see myself buying it. The audio, video, and call audio on the Photon is excellent! In fact, I had to turn the call volume down. HA! Photon, you're a rockstar!
6. The kickstand is such a great convenience,(yeah, yeah, I know I can buy a case with it for the 3D...), but I love the fact that it comes stock, and that the Photon can function with it on either side, and even straight up and down. The clock widget (and extras are a nice touch).
7. Camera rivals the G2x, once you learn how to use it. Always use the touch focus box prior to using the shutter. The on-board editing suite isn't as fancy as what you might find in Photoshop or Paintshop on your pc, but it nicely corrects the most common flaws.
THE BAD:
1. Took a bit longer to boot then similar dual core challengers.
2. The unlock swipe is still a bit jerky, but I've read some have noticed this smooth out over time.
3. The VGA front-facing camera is absolute crap and shouldn't have even been part of the package. If you're going to have so much right with this phone, don't let the video-chatters down with this garbage...unusable and unacceptable.
4. It does not come with a microSD card, which may be a problem for some people. Not a problem for me, but consider yourself warned.
5. Stock browser doesn't always load websites when I use it. Installed Dolphin and Opera, and have not had that problem with them. Odd.
5.5 Does not play .avi files. I had The Matrix.avi (surprised?) on my Evo 4g, and it played perfectly. And while the Photon can play the video portion of the flick, it cannot render the audio. I have tried Mobo player, but, the problem persists. I hate having to convert files. Anyone got a fix?
6. Took FOREVER to sync my contacts from gmail....couldn't figure out why until I noticed that it was also syncing my Twitter and Facebook contacts. I have several thousand followers on Twitter, so it muddled the process down for sure. Not necessarily a bad thing, just unexpected. The upside to this down, is that ALL your personal and social network contacts are together, so....if you want to twitter someone, you can just scroll down to their name and viola! Saves time and battery power because you're not using the browser or widgets to scroll through what could be pages and pages of names (which AREN'T *shudder* in alphabetical order). This one particular cloud has a rather shiny silver lining.
7. At first I wasn't able to see my moto on my pc when connecting it via usb. I had to download the drivers separately from moto's website. Once the phone was recognized, I was only able to see the "thumbnails" of pics and vids stored on my moto. However, after careful review, I noticed that my pc recognized the moto and the microsd card in the moto as separate entities. So, pay attention to your pc autoplay windows...there may be one that says "moto" and one that represents a letter drive. The letter drive is your phone's microsd card.
THE UGLY:
1. I lifted the phone to take a call today. The side of it hit the edge of my glasses (and not very hard, either), and it chipped the edge of the phone. So, while the body of the Photon may look like a strong, smooth Harley gas tank...it's definitely a cheap ruse. To chip not just the color, but the actual resin/plastic/space-age polymer whatever it is, was a warning to all of us: get a protective case on this bad boy, or you'll wind up with one of the least aesthetically pleasing world phones you've ever seen.
2. Also, I'm not particularly fond of the volume and camera buttons. They look unpolished and a bit antiquated. A friend mentioned they looked H.R. Giger'esque...so now I can live with them. Perhaps some ALIEN wallpaper and the look will be complete.
I'll continue to tinker with the Photon, and will report anything that might be helpful to current and future users. If the phone continues to perform as it has, then there is very very little chance I will return it for an Evo 3D. I'm sincerely picky, and quite impressed.
I am a recent provider jumper, having been with TMo for 10 years, and coming from a long history of Blackberries. Just prior to my departure from TMo, I had a brief and unsatisfying relationship with an Android dual core device, the LG G2x.
So after deciding that Sprint was the best alternative, I researched both online, and in-store, the Evo 4g, 3D, and the Photon. I tested the Evo 4g in hand for 3 days (which I still feel rivals the 3D in certain areas), and after playing with both the 3D and the Photon in-store (including w/dock), decided to give the Photon first dibs on my loyalty.
I was already prepared for certain problems, as some folks had reported audio problems with calls, phantom reboots, battery pulls, sub-par battery life, poor reception, camera problems (including but not limited to a front-facing camera that performs worse than a 1964 Instamatic, and those loyal to the HTC's Evo 3D also warned against the horrors of Pentile screens and the dreaded Motoblur (Ghost) UI.
I got home, rolled up my sleeves, and fired up the beast.
THE GOOD:
1. Phone was so light in my hand, I thought they forgot to include the battery!
2. After a full charge (no conditioning, and no marketware extras like Juice Defender, etc...), I managed to retain a 20% charge after 14 hours of moderate use (phone calls, texts, taking pictures, editing pictures, uploading pictures, IM'ing, surfing, gaming, a little Sprint TV, etc...yeah, for me that's "moderate.")
3. Having come from the G2x, and the Evo 4G, I was anticipating HATING the screen (which, btw, would have been one of my list's deal-breakers), I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't bother me much, and as time went on, not at all. Yes, there is a slight degradation if you're spoiled by that crisp clear HD OMG kinda Amoled screen vibe (and believe me, I like it as much as sex and chocolate), but honestly, I was not experiencing any kind of squinty-eyed resentments. It looked absolutely fine. And to be honest, the only time I noticed any type of gridding was when outside in bright sun-light (screen sleeping), and if I angled the phone just so.
4. I was able to install SPB Shell (my favorite Android launcher), and it was lighting fast, equal to the stock 3D HTC Sense. Bear in mind, the stock Motoblur (Ghost) is fast, but not buttery fast. I have found the blur Ghost to be a completely satisfactory launcher/UI nonetheless.
5. I liked the fact that the Evo 4G had a fairly loud speaker, and calls were loud and clear. However, testing mp3's, video, and other sounds on the Evo 3D was one of the primary reasons why I did not see myself buying it. The audio, video, and call audio on the Photon is excellent! In fact, I had to turn the call volume down. HA! Photon, you're a rockstar!
6. The kickstand is such a great convenience,(yeah, yeah, I know I can buy a case with it for the 3D...), but I love the fact that it comes stock, and that the Photon can function with it on either side, and even straight up and down. The clock widget (and extras are a nice touch).
7. Camera rivals the G2x, once you learn how to use it. Always use the touch focus box prior to using the shutter. The on-board editing suite isn't as fancy as what you might find in Photoshop or Paintshop on your pc, but it nicely corrects the most common flaws.
THE BAD:
1. Took a bit longer to boot then similar dual core challengers.
2. The unlock swipe is still a bit jerky, but I've read some have noticed this smooth out over time.
3. The VGA front-facing camera is absolute crap and shouldn't have even been part of the package. If you're going to have so much right with this phone, don't let the video-chatters down with this garbage...unusable and unacceptable.
4. It does not come with a microSD card, which may be a problem for some people. Not a problem for me, but consider yourself warned.
5. Stock browser doesn't always load websites when I use it. Installed Dolphin and Opera, and have not had that problem with them. Odd.
5.5 Does not play .avi files. I had The Matrix.avi (surprised?) on my Evo 4g, and it played perfectly. And while the Photon can play the video portion of the flick, it cannot render the audio. I have tried Mobo player, but, the problem persists. I hate having to convert files. Anyone got a fix?
6. Took FOREVER to sync my contacts from gmail....couldn't figure out why until I noticed that it was also syncing my Twitter and Facebook contacts. I have several thousand followers on Twitter, so it muddled the process down for sure. Not necessarily a bad thing, just unexpected. The upside to this down, is that ALL your personal and social network contacts are together, so....if you want to twitter someone, you can just scroll down to their name and viola! Saves time and battery power because you're not using the browser or widgets to scroll through what could be pages and pages of names (which AREN'T *shudder* in alphabetical order). This one particular cloud has a rather shiny silver lining.
7. At first I wasn't able to see my moto on my pc when connecting it via usb. I had to download the drivers separately from moto's website. Once the phone was recognized, I was only able to see the "thumbnails" of pics and vids stored on my moto. However, after careful review, I noticed that my pc recognized the moto and the microsd card in the moto as separate entities. So, pay attention to your pc autoplay windows...there may be one that says "moto" and one that represents a letter drive. The letter drive is your phone's microsd card.
THE UGLY:
1. I lifted the phone to take a call today. The side of it hit the edge of my glasses (and not very hard, either), and it chipped the edge of the phone. So, while the body of the Photon may look like a strong, smooth Harley gas tank...it's definitely a cheap ruse. To chip not just the color, but the actual resin/plastic/space-age polymer whatever it is, was a warning to all of us: get a protective case on this bad boy, or you'll wind up with one of the least aesthetically pleasing world phones you've ever seen.
2. Also, I'm not particularly fond of the volume and camera buttons. They look unpolished and a bit antiquated. A friend mentioned they looked H.R. Giger'esque...so now I can live with them. Perhaps some ALIEN wallpaper and the look will be complete.
I'll continue to tinker with the Photon, and will report anything that might be helpful to current and future users. If the phone continues to perform as it has, then there is very very little chance I will return it for an Evo 3D. I'm sincerely picky, and quite impressed.
I dont see anything wrong with the VGA front facing camera... I guess its just a matter of opinion.
I am on my 3rd Photon in 1 week. Notification LED light is one issue.
All 3 phones have the Green "Missed call, received email/text" blinking light...GOOD
...but, I have NEVER seen the Yellow or Red LED for battery low (as the manual says and I have seen on review videos where the phone's battery was low.....BAD
Also the White "charging" light only appears when the phone is off and it is charging (kind of red/white mixed LED)...sort of OK....should be this way when charging and the phone is on.
Like the phone....don't care about the pentile screen....very bright.
All 3 phones have the Green "Missed call, received email/text" blinking light...GOOD
...but, I have NEVER seen the Yellow or Red LED for battery low (as the manual says and I have seen on review videos where the phone's battery was low.....BAD
Also the White "charging" light only appears when the phone is off and it is charging (kind of red/white mixed LED)...sort of OK....should be this way when charging and the phone is on.
Like the phone....don't care about the pentile screen....very bright.
I haven't had this problem, but I installed Light Flow from the market and it gave me full control over my led colors and behaviors.
I dont know if this has been said here but i found how to view all of your home screens kind of the leap effect, on your home screen just swype your finger from the bottom of the screen upwards and there it is all your home screens, instead of hitting home twice
CAR and HD Dock
I got the car and HD docks, so far so good. Love the car dock and auto launcher. Also found a really good app for those who like all the travel and GPS data... it's called "UlysseSpeedometer:, has a nice display with information. I have not messed with the HD dock yet, probably didn't need it, but it looked cool. So far it has just made a nice bedside charger.
Only disadvantage to the bedside dock is the stock brightness control is all the way up, or all the way down. No middle of the road.
I got the car and HD docks, so far so good. Love the car dock and auto launcher. Also found a really good app for those who like all the travel and GPS data... it's called "UlysseSpeedometer:, has a nice display with information. I have not messed with the HD dock yet, probably didn't need it, but it looked cool. So far it has just made a nice bedside charger.
Only disadvantage to the bedside dock is the stock brightness control is all the way up, or all the way down. No middle of the road.
Re: CAR and HD Dock
I want a bedside charging dock, too, but can't justify the HD dock expense.:-$ I trust someone will come out with a $20 charging dock before long.
jbuggydroid
Well-known member
I used wiimote controller from the market. Heard u could do it without but couldn'tfigure out the pin. Plus wiimote controller is easy to set up.
jbuggydroid
Well-known member
You need a player that offers whatever codec you are using.
From the Getting Started section on Putting Music, Photos, Movies, and Documents on your phone:
Video Players
• Your stock video palyer may not play your video format but video players in the Android Market probably can.
• Vital Player (Free, Pro $4), Vplayer (Full: $5), & MoboPlayer add many formats. mVideoPlayer is great but adds no formats.
Last edited:
jbuggydroid
Well-known member
It can't play the audio file because the audio was probably encoded in AC3 (Dolby Digital). Its an old trick to retain the 5.1 Dolby Digital track on an AVI file to be played on the PS3 (mostly). The Photon cannot play those kind audio files. I think even my old EVO cannot play those. You need some kind of licensing agreement or something along that line.
New issue: My phone is now randomly turning the screen off while im using it. It is doing it a lot. (Example: it did it once while typing this short message).
Ok today my photon randomly powered off and didn't want to turn back on until I pulled the battery! WEIRD! And yesterday night it randomly rebooted right after I updated my youtube app and when my phone turned back on and got to my home screen I noticed the spot where my Youtube icon used to be was empty so I long pressed to re add the youtube app in that spot and it kept telling me that my home screen was full and there was no space for it even though there clearly was a slot for it. I had to long press the icon from the app drawer and add it to my home screen.. I hope this is not gonna be a recurring issue.
My phone's up-time is now going on 6 days. I did have 2 occasions of the spontaneous shutdown, but nothing for a while now. Wonder what I did?
Or maybe this will jinx me....
Or maybe this will jinx me....
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