Review: Motorola Photon 4G

[mujeebrehman 78]

First of all congratulations and welcome aboard. I will try my best to answer your queries.

1. The network quality of Motorola photon is just awesome. Let me tell you that I am not feeding you something which I have read over a forum. This is something I have experienced myself. My place and my office has the best possible network however at my work there is dead spot where all phones that I have used nokia htc etc etc.. tend to drop calls This is only phone that keeps the call going at that spot. Further, I can vouch that the network is best.

2. Overclocking- To be frank I am a bit skeptical about overclocking as the current stock setup is works best for me as I have around 150 apps and my phone works like charm. Further overclocking puts extra burden on battery too. Whereas I was interested in underclocking the phone to see how much more juice I will gain. I tried using the setcpu app after rooting the phone on stock rom but the app forceclosed on me.

3. You are right there are no earphones in the box. However, the speaker quality and output is best afaik or seen on any smart phone till date.

4. Again no hdmi cable in the box. All you get in the box is the phone, battery, charger along with the usb cord and manuals. Now mopho has micro hdmi port so just a normal micro hdmi to hdmi is all you need. Not a mess like mhl apdater IMO. Original Motorola micro hdmi should be a damage of R.s 750 to 1k.

You can try Parin he had it in stock earlier or else post a requirement in the buy or sell forum.

Once you get the phone my suggestion is root it asap and install a recovery and take a backup of the stock. Then you can unlock the boot loader and try different roms once you are done with stock. The best roms for mopho afaik is skinny version by joker and cm7 as they are the most stable ones. You can get them both at XDA.

Best of luck and please share your experience with us.

[kundalus 24]

^^^^@mujeebrehman, what i can say is its gsm radio is average. The network usually drops where all others also drop. Again, the gsm radio is very slow. it takes really a bit of time to come back to gsm coz it goes into automatic mode when gsm is out of coverage.

[dev997 62]

^^^

@mujeebrehman Can yo please verify if this is the case with your handset too (call drop and slow convergence on GSM mode) . If not , we can consider this pertaining to a single handset , but if this is true in your case too, then we really have a bigger problem to solve !!!

Edited February 12, 2012 by Honest
<< Quote Removed >>

[dev997 62]

I need one more help from you guys :

Actually I have been preparing for rooting my photon as soon as it comes to me (by tomorrow or day after than hopefully) and so I browsed through some youtube videos by QbKing77 (great guy btw , kudos to him !! ) and XDA forums dev posts and have collected various files and s/w that are needed in all involved processes (rooting, unrooting, unlocking bootloader etc), only one thing that I couldn't find is the system.img file that is used for rooting after unlocking the bootloader ( iwissh to follow this method as opposed to One-click root or photon torpedo method as I need JokerSax's Overclockable kernel and ROMS using those kernel which can only be possible if photon is unlocked and also 4G is never useful for us anyways).

Can someone please help in this regard ? If you are aware of any other method(simple one) that I can follow for rooting after unlocking bootloader that would be geat too !!!

Thanks

[dev997 62]

And yes , One more thing - Which Headset/handsfree you guys use with moPho (as it doesn't comes with one in the package)

[nishsuxx 193]

@ all mopho owners

I am planning to change my handset and this phone is in top of the list, i went through this thread and what gather is that mostly the issue are in GSM mode.

My query is if the phone is operated in CDMA mode "Only", will there be any issues with Voice/SMS/Data ?

If this is already answered then please direct me to the post ( & sorry )

TIA.

[Maulik.Parekh 34]

1. For me the GSM Radio is best .. I am able to call where all my other handsets failed to call or voice was choppy ... With MoPho it is super... not observed any such slower convergence on GSM ... it works super ...

2. No need of overclocking, I second mujeebrehman, that even I have underclocked it to 750 Mhz .. On Stock ROM with Root and No Frills CPU control app.

3. Headset does not come out of box .. I am using Philips Headset with Mic ... Audio is just awesome from headset amd speakers both .. moreover graphic equalizer is for both headset and speaker which i have not seen with any other smartphone. .. With Philips headset audio quality is better than GalaxyS which i had earlier with its original headset.

4. Bought HDMI cable for 350 bucks after a lot of bargain .. .. Working fine with My Full HD LCD TV. But I am not able to get 1080p video on LCD .. It simply does not change resolution .. remains same that of phone ... Any workaround for that .. pLease let me know...

5. To Root unlocking bootloader isnt necessary ... I rooted it with One click root .. rooted in seconds ... unlocking bootloader .. not now .. will do after ICS stable is released :-)

[kshah 452]

^

ICS is now pretty much stable. Using since 24 hours, no reboot / freeze. (joker's Alpha 1.1.2) Battery life seems to be lower though but not very bad. Even underclocking to 1000 mHz keeps device snappy. So try it.

In my mopho I have no issues on CDMA. GSM I have never used

Edited February 14, 2012 by kshah

[raysmanindi 4]

I have 3 Motorola Androids and i was planing about Photon and Thanking to all your comments about its pros and cons i think i will have to search for a better handset other than a Photon.

Any Suggestions!!!

[dev997 62]

^

ICS is now pretty much stable. Using since 24 hours, no reboot / freeze. (joker's Alpha 1.1.2) Battery life seems to be lower though but not very bad. Even underclocking to 1000 mHz keeps device snappy. So try it.

In my mopho I have no issues on CDMA. GSM I have never used

@kshah as you are on Cm9 ICS , I suppose you have unloacked bootloader (seems like a requirement to have cm9 working). Can you please tell me which process you followed for rooting after unloacking bootloader and if you followed same steps as QBking77's video , do you happened to know from where I can get system.img file (links provided on XDA post are all down due to SOPA/PIPA issue)

Thanks !!!

[kshah 452]

Procedure is very simple

1. Flash pudding, unlocked boot loader by RSD

2. Wipe recovery and flash CW recovery by fast boot.

Please pm me your mail incase u need any thing.

I don't even root stock rom while flashing rooted rom in recovery

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk

[mujeebrehman 78]

^^^

@mujeebrehman Can yo please verify if this is the case with your handset too (call drop and slow convergence on GSM mode) .

Dear sorry for replying late but I guess this has already been addressed. I am not an solid gsm user hardly I am on gsm network say 5% of my usage that too for 3G data. Now pertaining to the network query as I had told you earlier i have very good network at my place.

And the only place where I do not get coverage (my office lobby) is also covered pretty well at least I get two to three network bars and I can make calls and receive them with ease no matter if I am on cdma or gsm. I am using soundmagic pl 21 earphones as of now previously used sound magic pl 11 total vfm imho. And again mopho has the best speaker output that I have ever seen on a smart phone apart from those Chinese phones

Further, I do not understand what Kundalus meant by gsm having slow gsm radio. I.e if you put your network on GSM mode it will only use the sim network and does not latch to cdma afaik. Mate if you still face this issue which i highly doubt, one can go to cdma workshop and select the tab OTHER - R-UIM - CONFIG and then select R-UIM ONLY. After this your phone will never latch to any network other than the sim card in th slot.

Also swapping between cdma and gsm ot the other way round hardly takes 3 secs and I can vouch for that.

@ all mopho owners

I am planning to change my handset and this phone is in top of the list, i went through this thread and what gather is that mostly the issue are in GSM mode.

My query is if the phone is operated in CDMA mode "Only", will there be any issues with Voice/SMS/Data ?

If this is already answered then please direct me to the post ( & sorry )

TIA.

Buddy this phone is the best world phone for now till something better pops up on the radar. The major flaw on gsm mode will be lack of usdd and no sms delivery report if you can live with it. Please go for mopho you will not regret. And on cdma network wise there is no issues at all. If you have any specific query please feel free to pm me.

I have 3 Motorola Androids and i was planing about Photon and Thanking to all your comments about its pros and cons i think i will have to search for a better handset other than a Photon.

Any Suggestions!!!

Mate tell me which phone does not have any flaws. I guess right now afaik epic 4g touch is the best cdma phone. but if you want goodness from both the worlds (cdma and gsm) Mopho is your best bet. The choice is yours. I agree there may be better phones but these two are tru vfm.

[KumaarShah 143]

The only problem I have faced with my Photon (when on GSM mode) is - No USSD, No Call Conferencing (even on CDMA mode) Rest all features are already posted. Also see Kapil's latest post on Droid 3.

[Maulik.Parekh 34]

I am able to do call conferencing in GSM mode ... it works fine .. with add call button ... i have done it for 4 participants. ..

[Karthik R 246]

Good news : Motorola confirms ICS update for Photon. No exact dates announced but expect them to roll out in Q3 of 2012.

Indeed, phones getting the update in Q3 may be just in time to see the next improved version of Android get released

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Indeed, phones getting the update in Q3 may be just in time to see the next improved version of Android get released

Not to worry! As it is, the world is coming to an end in December 2012, that's Q4 of 2012

[kshah 452]

Photon travels at speed of light so TIME is standstill. All other will perish except photon.

[kundalus 24]

@mujeebrehman, what i meant is that the GSM signal reception is not really great. Signal drops completely at places where a nokia is working with proper network signal. Also, the phone switches to Automatic mode once there is no network. And it takes forever for it to comeback to gsm network.

I am facing this issue since the very time i bought it. Not sure if only im facing it as i hardly saw any post while googling on this details.

Also, it would be great if you can help with the CDMA workshop thing. I'm a gsm user and am now facing a bit of issues with this GSM network going out even at a slightest indoor place.

[dev997 62]

Hi guys !!!

Finally I got my mopho yesterday and I started playing with it right away. In last 12 hours I have already unloacked the bootloader, rooted the phone, activated my RCDMA no on the handset and tried two roms - 1. ICS CM9 and 2. Rocko rom (based on Jokers skinny blur rom). My experiences with the phone till now

- when I was viewing review of photon on youtube and they talked about pixelation issue with pentile display on it, I thought it would'nt be any problem with me, but as I got m phone, I couldn't help but notice pixelation when enlarging images and above all washed out black colour and background (main reason of this being I came from super-amoled display of samsung epic4g). So the display was little disappointing for me . but I was happy to see a larger resolution. Sadly most of the 3rd party widgets are not acoording to this resolution and thus does't fit well on screen.

- with stock rom , I fill a detterent lag in every aspect which gone completely after I flashed custom kernel. Benchmark scores were exemplary though - getting 82 mflops on linpack , 3600 on quadrant on cm9.

In my sheer excitement I have also made some mistakes for which I have paid some price too. After installing cwm recovery I selected some wrong options and suddenly my phone rebooted only to show that my moto splash screen (with dual core logo) is gone. Instead when I reboot/power on my phone I just get a BIOS like display with all options (RSD,Fastboot,Android recovery etc) and if I doesn't select one for 5 secs the phone actually boots in BP mode to ROM. Can someone please suggest how to solve this issue ?

For all (particularly @kshah) who are on cm9 ,i have couple of queries -

- Is GSM mode working on cm9 , I don't see gsm(sim) settings on the rom ?

- How is the battery life for you ? (for a small time i checked it was very bad)

- Do you also see random reboots. Also I have noticed that cm9 is preconfigured to 1.3 GHZ overclock. Which tool do you use to underclock it and what settings have you set (I tried SetCpu which FCed on me)

- Video playback still doesn't work for certain codecs. I also noticed 1080p video playback lagging.

At this point I'm thinking of going back to complete stock again and then trying afresh. Can someone please provide me a link on how to perform that without loosing RCDMA radio settings.

BTW - loved the Kickstand and speaker quality. Still can't conclude about radio quality on CDMA a GSM , but can confirm that it converges very quickly (within 3 secs as @@mujeebrehman said)

[kundalus 24]

^^^^Can you provide a step by step guide of how to flash a custom ROM. Also does GSM works on ROKO ROM?

[kshah 452]

For GSM stock is only option. To use on GSM try dial *#*#4636#*#* and change to GSM auto prl, reboot and check.

Video plays on beta. I. Not sure which resolution

Battery life is poorer than stock.

For under clock there is option in setting -> developer options

Yesterday I switch back to stock as I could not find solution for + code dialing as CM9 resolve to 011 instead of 0091 as we require. I had no intention to change my contact store. But over all I loved ICS.

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk

[dev997 62]

@kshah thanks for clearing everything up ... One question though .. I'm trying to go back to stock and start from scratch. Can you suggest me which sbf (version) file I need in our case and if we need radio reprogramming after that for RCDMA to work

[mujeebrehman 78]

Great going Dev! Man you got your phone rooted it unlocked the boot loader and also installed custom rom on the first day!

Now you can install the latest stock sbf (197) for photon. The link for that file is down so please use my dropbox link

Not sure about programming but when i did the sbf i had to do programming due some other issue.

[kshah 452]

This one 1FF-sunfire-user-2.3.4-4.5.1A-1_SUN-198_7-CM-release-keys-signed-Sprint-US

This is Latest SBF is on XDA

Sorry, forgot to mention that after SBF reprovisioning has to be done.

Edited February 19, 2012 by kshah

[dev997 62]

@mujeebrehman thanks a lot man for the sbf link. It would be great if you can provide me link for downloading Skinny4g and skinnyrev1 rom too. Also in your view which one is most snappy and stable blur rom which works well with CDMA as well as GSM ?

Thanks again !!