mujeebrehman 78 Report post Posted November 13, 2011 I will try my best to explain the experience so far I had with this phone. Pros The phone is well built and is a real treat to hold as it has smooth rubberized finish back. I also like the cool octagonal cuts on the edge it really makes this droid stand out of the crowd. The battery life is awesome for an android phone. Gives me a whole day without recharge on moderate use and wifi or 3g does not seem to kill the battery much. This is the best I have seen so far on an android. Also the battery is just 1650 mah but does the job. Where as my incredible with oem evo battery with 1500 mah is nowhere close to this one. The phone does not heat up at all. Again I have seen my incredible feel like it is just out of an oven if I use it continually to watch videos or play games. Also I have seen few of my friends complain about their S2 gsm getting hot quite soon. The phone has a qhd pentile display which was a deal breaker for me before I got it. But trust me I did not find any pixilation with display I have used it watch movies and that to at brightest display settings. (Again that’s me may be I have a poor eyesight ) This phone has a direct hdmi port so no need to get a mhl adaptor as well as standard hdmi cable. You just need an usb hdmi cable which easily fits in pocket and you are ready to roll on an lcd. The network on the phone is rock solid I get the best possible coverage in slightly weaker signal areas too. The phone has no lag whatsoever. Though it a just 1 ghz but still its a dual core processor with 1gb ram. This is a world phone with single standby so you can easily hop between network of your choice and enjoy both 3g (but it does comes with a price) and EVDO. The Motorola applications platform is good if not great as htc sense but I would still say better than touchwiz but it is what I feel and others may have a different opinion. This device is quite easy to root you actually do not need a pc. You can do it right on your phone. This device is a true multimedia device with bright true display unlike s2's with over saturated colors I had actually tested transformers 3 on htc evo, Sammy s2 and photon side by side on the same scene and photon was the best in terms of quality. S2 was good too but I felt the colors were not real and my s2 friends too did not argue about it. Also the speaker phone volume is far better than most of the devices out there and it is a real treat along with the photon kick stand. Cons (The list is longer than the pros) This phone has big time issue wherein it restarts randomly and is not acceptable at all. A phone for me is a phone first then it is a smart phone i.e. you should able to make and receive calls properly that is the least you expect from a phone. But this phone at times has a dead air when you make a call as actually the call is not connected it just shows being connected. On top of it you cannot disconnect that call you will have to restart the phone. If you do not trust me just check the xda forum you will see what I mean. I tried the various firmware updates to resolve this issue as even sprint as acknowledged this issue. Afaik 4.5.1A-1_SUN-198_6 version is the best wherein this issue is almost negligible but still it does occur at times. This phone does not support call conferencing for me it was news but I came to know that there are so many imported handsets that do not support this as we have to patch the call by dialing the number 3 after making the second call which cannot be accomplished using this phone. If i knew this I would had never bought it as for personal and official reasons I have make so many conference calls. And I am stuck for now as there is no work around available. This phone has an issue at least on my phone wherein the evdo gets disconnected every now and then especially if you watch videos online or the data transfer is high. You also have known issue of youtube not working on evdo. But it has a workaround. The phone does not charge to complete 100% I mean when I had first started to use this phone i could see the phone going from 100% to 90% as in sync with the usage but after the firmware update it seems that like htc the phone in order save the battery trips the charging well before it could reach actual 100%. However, from 90% onwards it seems to be fine. Also this phone shows the battery percentage in blocks of 10's like it will show 90% then next step is 80% and then 70% and so on and nothing in between. Same goes for charging. Some users have complained about wifi being killed on gsm mode after a upgrading the firmware. Surprisingly my wifi works great i had it tested it on all the firmware versions. Currently I am on 2.3.4-4.5.1A-1_SUN-198_7 which is yet to available through ota (Thanks to xda) This phone does not have many options for custom rom as it is with all motos. But I guess most of use care less. P.S I will update this post as per my experiences. Please pardon me if any of my observations seem noobish and please correct me if possible. 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mgdelhi 192 Report post Posted November 13, 2011 Nice reviews. Adding a few to pro and cons which you can add to your posts. Pros: This is the first Android I have used which is a breeze to sync with Outlook. I have used 3-4 variants of Samsung Galaxy S, Dell XCD-35 and few others. In all other mobiles, you have to go through import/export process. When you connect this phone to your PC, it installs "MOTOROLA MEDIA LINK" from its own storage (and updates from net) and gives option to Sync with Outlook besides media syncing options). Cons: It does not give SMS delivery report (in GSM at least, have no CDMA). I have tried installing few SMS application as suggested bt forum members like "GO SMS Pro" but result is still the same. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mujeebrehman 78 Report post Posted November 13, 2011 Mukesh buddy I am sorry if i misguided you I was one of the fellas who had asked you to install go sms pro for sms delivery reports. After your post I checked sending a sms from my gsm number and you are right it did not give me a delivery report. However I saw a service pop up saying network message when i sent the sms. But still it works fine if i use the cdma and i do get the delivery report. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KanagaDeepan 1,084 Report post Posted November 13, 2011 Great review Rehman ji.... +1 to you... For the difficulty in disconnecting a call (which rarely occurs in my photon), I use the option in ACCESSIBILITY settings [Power button ends the call]... As a prev EPIC user, I was once NOT happy with the video playback capability of Photon (Rock player) as some few-hundred-MB-video-songs play nicely in epic, but struggled in Photon... Further Photon can't play sounds in videos of some files... Later I saw MX VIDEO PLAYER (FREE) in AM, which makes use of Dual-Cores and then the videos played better in Photon... It also has option to select/play audio-track of false-stereo video files and solved the audio issue as well.. Then I uninstalled all my other video layers... It is a must have for all Dual-core phone users, imho... My naughty baby sits silently and loves to watch video-songs on photon with kick-stand open.. But for me, photon's screen is a mixed bag... Though EPIC's screen is also of pentile matrix, its rarely felt comparing photon, imho.. What I am trying to say is pentile AMOLED is much better than pentile LCD... But if the user has not used AMOLED for long time earlier, then that won't make a huge difference, imho... RGB_AMOLED (SAMOLED+) >> Pentile_AMOLED === RGB_LCD >>> Pentile_LCD 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mujeebrehman 78 Report post Posted November 13, 2011 +1 to Kanaga bhai for the work around option in ACCESSIBILITY settings [Power button ends the call]... Now that is what I call team work fellas. Finally i see the Motorola photon users kicking in. I would love to see Karthik posting his 2 cents. And that My naughty baby sits silently and loves to watch video-songs on photon with kick-stand open.. made me LMAO! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mgdelhi 192 Report post Posted November 13, 2011 Mukesh buddy I am sorry if i misguided you I was one of the fellas who had asked you to install go sms pro for sms delivery reports. After your post I checked sending a sms from my gsm number and you are right it did not give me a delivery report. However I saw a service pop up saying network message when i sent the sms. But still it works fine if i use the cdma and i do get the delivery report. No need to say sorry buddy. I knew it must have worked in CDMA, that's why you recommended. And in my post also I specifically mentioned about SMS delivery report problem in GSM. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Karthik R 246 Report post Posted November 13, 2011 The default app drawer and menu looks too plain / boring even in comparision to other recent Moto devices like Bionic - use Launcher application to customize. I'm using adw launcher. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sunilromy 62 Report post Posted November 14, 2011 (edited) gr8 review, thanks. btw can anyone upload 720p video recording.? no phone is perfect. I am really confused between evo 3d & photon. Edited November 14, 2011 by sunilromy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mujeebrehman 78 Report post Posted November 14, 2011 The default app drawer and menu looks too plain / boring even in comparision to other recent Moto devices like Bionic - use Launcher application to customize. I'm using adw launcher. Buddy I was just comparing the stock drawer with a few others. Btw i to use Go launcher right from my incredible days. IMHO it is the best out there and i really like the transition effects. On top of I have the complete set of go apps like go dialer, go sms, go contacts. So for me my android is GOdroid Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mfaiz2 27 Report post Posted November 14, 2011 SPB shell 3d launcher is best in this regard as per my openion. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mujeebrehman 78 Report post Posted November 14, 2011 SPB shell 3d launcher is best in this regard as per my openion. Buddy I too agree with you I had it on my phone but for me it was extra loud and 3d overdose. Moreover, $14 for a launcher is way to much for a launcher. Not that I was using the paid one though gr8 review, thanks. btw can anyone upload 720p video recording.? no phone is perfect. I am really confused between evo 3d & photon. It depends on your requirements both of these phones are good and have thier own cons. I know the cons of motorola photon but I am not much aware of EVO 3D. But we have some die hard fans of EVO 3D gurus like dhiraj and summet verma are a few examples. Still I would go for moto photon as it is a world phone and for me it has much better feel and look as compared to 3vo. Also I am not a great fan of batteries from htc phones. Now about the sample videos you needed. Dude just goggle it you will find hell lot of sample videos over the Internet. But I guess the video quality of 3vo will be better than photon even though it is just 5 mp camera as mp is not the only deciding factor here. Please check the following link for sample videos http://www.google.co.in/#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&site=&source=hp&q=motorola+photon+video+recording+samples&oq=motorola+photon+video+recording+samples&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=610l26094l0l26200l36l36l3l12l5l1l298l4129l1.10.10l21l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=d49ffe95499037ad&biw=1024&bih=639 Still if you are not satisfied I can upload the sample videos from my phone within a day or two. Thanks, Mujeeb. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KanagaDeepan 1,084 Report post Posted November 14, 2011 If anyone want the modified "wpa_supplicant" file to force Android to use Ad-Hoc WiFi (some tethered WiFi of s60 or other devices like olive vr9), please reply here and I will provide the detail in correct thread (or here if its ok to do so)... Actually it was given to me by our Parin bhai and I thank him for the same here and to apply that patch your phone must be rooted first... Rehman ji, can you please explain that simple method to root photon on phone itself here?? Is it the SU download from AM + few commands in terminal window one??? Thanks... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mujeebrehman 78 Report post Posted November 14, 2011 I do remember your issue with Ad-Hoc WiFi I had followed it till the end. It had great deal of info about how to make it work. And Kanaga bhai you are right the simple way to root the phone without pc is SU download from AM + few commands in terminal window. Also there is one click root method which I have not used. For the people who don't know about this process here it goes. First Step: Download Superuser from market Download Terminal Emulator from market Download Dolphin HD browser Navigate to the above linked thread in the Dolphin broswer and Download photon-torpedo.tar Once all these are installed reboot your device. Second Step: From the terminal emulator enter commands pressing enter after each. cd /tmp/ cp /sdcard/download/photon-torpedo.tar . (note the "space" and "period" at the end) chmod 777 photon-torpedo.tar /bin/tar xf photon-torpedo.tar ./photon-torpedo.sh (you will receive errors at this point, IGNORE) ./install-su.sh Reboot your device Third Step: Run terminal emulator Enter the command su At this point it will ask for superuser rights and you are rooted. This is the easiest way to root without the pc and the best part is that once you update the firmware or do something which would make you lose your root you just need to type the commands in the second step and we are all set again. I have did it like 10 times and works like a charm. However, this is something that I have found at XDA and all the credit goes to the original poster. This link for this post is here Sorry for any typos as I had already called it a day and was about to leave office when I saw Kanaga bhai post. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sunilromy 62 Report post Posted November 15, 2011 thanks for such a great review. Battery is the Major drawback of htc. This review nearly changed my mind to go for photon. Though I am having curiosity to see 3d with my naked eyes. but for long term basis photon suits best. Mein kitne mazze lunga 3d ke, ek din toh bore ho jaunga. ek mahine ke andar shayad evo 3d ka kida nikal jaaye. Thanks once again. major of the photon cons are also with other phones too. If you ever notices. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mgdelhi 192 Report post Posted November 15, 2011 (edited) GPS locking is very fast and accurate in comparison with other phones I have seen. Edited November 15, 2011 by mgdelhi Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kundalus 24 Report post Posted November 26, 2011 i feel battery is one know issues for me which needs to be addressed. with an average talk time in a day and data on all time, photon doesnt even last 24 hrs. Anyone in the forum has tried any custom roms for photons so far??? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
::: VA ::: 531 Report post Posted November 27, 2011 My phone came from Hetal Bhai with 2.3.4.1A-1_SUN-198_7 and till now I havent had any issues. Using it on Idea GSM only with data on all the time. Battery is decent and you get fair idea of hours remaining with Battery Widget Pro. Love its kickstand and speaker quality. As I listen to lot of audios with only vocals & no music. Its great for music too and the way you can have different audio effects for speakers & headphones separately. Sygic works awesome with accurate Gps. Camera quality I have already shown on this post I havent checked if its rooted as would love to get ad-hoc working on it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
::: VA ::: 531 Report post Posted November 27, 2011 If anyone want the modified "wpa_supplicant" file to force Android to use Ad-Hoc WiFi (some tethered WiFi of s60 or other devices like olive vr9), please reply here and I will provide the detail in correct thread (or here if its ok to do so)... Actually it was given to me by our Parin bhai and I thank him for the same here and to apply that patch your phone must be rooted first... Rehman ji, can you please explain that simple method to root photon on phone itself here?? Is it the SU download from AM + few commands in terminal window one??? Thanks... Please guide me. As my photon detects Ad-hoc wifi connection but gets stuck at "obtaining ip address" after i give it the WEP key. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
::: VA ::: 531 Report post Posted November 27, 2011 Issue 1 : it detects adhoc wifi but doesn't connect. Stuck at obtaining ip address Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KanagaDeepan 1,084 Report post Posted November 28, 2011 ^^^^ Sure will come out with the req files and post it tonight... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
::: VA ::: 531 Report post Posted November 28, 2011 now even i have managed to detect ad-hoc on incredible1 but even this one stucks at obtaining ip address Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KanagaDeepan 1,084 Report post Posted November 28, 2011 (edited) I have attached the corrected wpa_supplicant file, which has to be first extracted from the zip file as RimWeb doesn't allow me to upload that file (without extension) directly... Obviously, this is for rooted users only... Then using RootExplorer (uploaded in Android sub-forum) copy this wpa_supplicant file to "/system/bin" dir... OH, just before pasting the file, click the button "Mount R/W" to give Read/Write permission and then copy the file.. This is the direct method without using the scripts to force Android to accept Adhoc-Wifi... Extract this zip file to get Wpa_supplicant file.zip Edited November 28, 2011 by KanagaDeepan 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mujeebrehman 78 Report post Posted December 20, 2011 Any one with MoPho wondering to get the accurate battery stats (FYI to those who are unaware of this photon like some other phones show battery percentage in the levels of 10, 20, 30.. that too using third party apps). I am using 2X Battery this app will show the accurate battery stats in % (This info was imparted by veteran KumaarShah all credit goes to him.) You can get the lite version free from the market and will suffice basic needs. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KanagaDeepan 1,084 Report post Posted December 21, 2011 ^^^^ Nice Info my friend... +1 to you and KumarShaah (in another thread)... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mujeebrehman 78 Report post Posted December 21, 2011 Pleasure is all mine kanagy bhai! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
