Photon popularity vs. Droid Bionic

[k425]

I wonder why the Motorola Droid Bionic is seemingly much more popular than the Photon?

Is it just a Sprint vs. Verizon thing because of the sheer numbers of Verizon subscribers that are eagerly anticipating this phone as compared to Sprints total subscriber base.

Even prior to the Photon's launch this activity in this forum was really light (and continues to be - 328 threads and 4,042 posts) as compared to the BIonic forum's activity (401 threads / 16,823 posts). This also translates to the tech sites, they seem so post with regularity about the Bionic's availability. Maybe it's due to the seemingly huge amount of time since the Bionic's initial announcement and the fact that it still hasn't launched.

It just seems strange that so many are eagerly anticipating the Bionic and the Photon which is very similar (TI OMAP 4430 vs. Invidia Tegra 2, 1080p vs. 720p video recording).

Coming from the EVO 4G i am just used to more forum and online activity.

 

[ronald600]

It's the Sprint vs Verizon thing and the fact that Sprint released 2 phones at the same time.
You have the HTC 3D and the Motorola Photon.
They are both selling very well and with Verizons new data charges the Sprint users will only increase

 

[dullgeek]

Coming from the Pre, I get how a rival phone hurts me. If more people focus on the droid and iPhone, then the developers follow.

I've only been an android user for 5 days. But it seems to me that if people focus on a rival android phone, that doesn't hurt me. Because developers still follow android. And if people develop apps for the bionic, they'll run on my photon.

So I don't understand rivalries between android phones. Is there some reason that I should care that other android phones are doing well? Shouldn't I be pulling for android on any phone?

 

[k425]

Coming from the Pre, I get how a rival phone hurts me. If more people focus on the droid and iPhone, then the developers follow.

I've only been an android user for 5 days. But it seems to me that if people focus on a rival android phone, that doesn't hurt me. Because developers still follow android. And if people develop apps for the bionic, they'll run on my photon.

So I don't understand rivalries between android phones. Is there some reason that I should care that other android phones are doing well? Shouldn't I be pulling for android on any phone?

Welcome to Android and to the Photon! I too was a invested Pre user (Sprint) and was holding out for the next Palm phone but when the EVO 4G came out I could not resist the 4.3" screen. I am glad I made the switch as the EVO was the best phone I ever owned. Now the Photon supplants the EVO and goes beyond it (better camera quality, much better video recording, a ton more app storage space). On the Photon I love the Phone Portal app, native support for HDMI mirroring, WebTop capability (haven't used yet), and yes the appearance of the screen. The only thing i do not like is the smallness of the fonts throughout the system especially as compared to the EVO. Hoping there is a solution for this in the near future other than rooting and using a font changing app.

Why it matters if there is support or interest in one particular Android phone is this. When new important apps come out (for example Skype with Video Calling, Netflix, Hulu Plus, etc.) the more popular phones tend get supported and get supported first. So far the Photon does not have Skype video calling capability, Hulu Plus support, heck even Qik causes my video chat feed to be always sideways no matter which way I hold the phone. So the more popular one particular phone is, the more it is supported by developers (XDA, custom ROMs including Cyanogen support, specific web sites such as Good and EVO | Everything HTC EVO 4G, HTC EVO 3D, & HTC EVO View 4G , etc. which maximizes the owner's experience of owning and using the phone.

 

[garrettfarnum]

It's because when the Bionic was shown off at CES (?) it was a super superphone and as time went on and it was teased and leaked it created a huge base for it. The Photon was announced and released in a tenth of the time.

 

[dullgeek]

It's because when the Bionic was shown off at CES (?) it was a super superphone and as time went on and it was teased and leaked it created a huge base for it. The Photon was announced and released in a tenth of the time.

I dunno. I came from the palm world & they took forever between announcement & release. Didn't work out for them.

 

[ScandaLeX]

To the OP, I get exactly what you're saying. This isn't about OS but the actual phones themselves. Before the EVO launch, the PR for it was thru the roof. I only knew of the Photon by reading about it on one of these sites. Even though the phone is thru Sprint, it seems as though Sprint isn't going to promote loudly or vigorously ANY phone that overshadows the EVO line.

Even in the Sprint stores I see countless people coming in to buy a phone and the reps push the Evo 3D when asked about a phone. I've yet to see one actually mention the Photon. Those that have come in to buy the Photon are those that ALREADY know about it's existance
.
Coming from the EVO 4G, (returned the 3D) most, if not all these sites (as mentioned above) had someone posting about it every second and development was outstanding. IMO, I believe this lack of interest.....for lack of a better word; is due to the Photons bootloader being locked meaning there is only so much devs can do with it in its current state.

 

[scoobdude]

The bootloader is unlocked and 4G can be regained. But until the source code is released the deve have very little to go on. In all honesty I am happy with how the phone works out of the box for the most part. I would like gtalk video and a few other nick nacks, but the phone is solid otherwise.

Other than that i do agree this phone is not being marketed well or at all (not sure what sprints's intentions were with this one). I think its more pushed on a mature older demographic of business people (who travel).

Keep your fingers crossed that the source code will be released soon so we can get some good roms out.

 

[dullgeek]

I watched the race last night. And of course there was a sprint commercial. Sprint appears to be positioning the photon as a business phone, rather than a general consumer phone.

 

[Puzzlegal]

Before the EVO launch, the PR for it was thru the roof. I only knew of the Photon by reading about it on one of these sites. Even though the phone is thru Sprint, it seems as though Sprint isn't going to promote loudly or vigorously ANY phone that overshadows the EVO line.

And yet, when I went to the Sprint store buy one on launch day, one of the employees asked if he could play with my phone, because the demo wasn't set up yet. And the woman who sold it to me said that she really wanted to buy it, but she had to wait a couple months for her next upgrade. And when I went back to swap the first one out for another unit (due to the "no sound on calls" issue) she looked at it with lust and repeated that she really wanted one, and told me they've sold tons of them.

The Photon had a special display with the dock, but the EVO 3D had more prominent signage, and was better displayed, all in all.

 

[thekarens]

I think it's more to do with HTC versus Motorola. HTC is very popular on Sprint whereas on Verizon their hits have been Motorola. If the Photon had come out first it would have done better than coming out after the 3d.

 

[dullgeek]

Why it matters if there is support or interest in one particular Android phone is this. When new important apps come out (for example Skype with Video Calling, Netflix, Hulu Plus, etc.) the more popular phones tend get supported and get supported first. So far the Photon does not have Skype video calling capability, Hulu Plus support, heck even Qik causes my video chat feed to be always sideways no matter which way I hold the phone. So the more popular one particular phone is, the more it is supported by developers (XDA, custom ROMs including Cyanogen support, specific web sites such as Good and EVO | Everything HTC EVO 4G, HTC EVO 3D, & HTC EVO View 4G , etc. which maximizes the owner's experience of owning and using the phone.

I've been thinking about this for a couple of days, and I'm sure that this is correct. However, I"m not as concerned as I was on webOS. Mainly because *most* apps seem to work cross platform. While I can see that the rivalry still exists and that there's a reason for it, it's still not as bad as being on webOS.

So far all of the apps that have an overlap between webOS and android, the android ones seem to have a lot more features. So, while I do see some cause for rivalry, I'm still not sure I should worry about it as much as I did on webOS.

 

[Citizen Coyote]

I watched the race last night. And of course there was a sprint commercial. Sprint appears to be positioning the photon as a business phone, rather than a general consumer phone.

It's definitely being marketed as a business phone. All the advertising I've seen (commercials, web ads, etc) push its business sense, despite the phone's entertainment capabilities. I think Sprint is trying to push the Evo 3D as the "entertainment phone" due to the 3D, and the Photon as the "business phone" due to the security and world phone features.

My local corporate Sprint store seems to promote the Photon more visibly than the Evo 3D. The Photon has two models on display (one you can pick up and play with next to the other top-end Android phones, and one on its own island, anchored to the HD dock and set up on a flatscreen monitor with a keyboard and mouse).