The Q is a great phone! For the last couple weeks I've had it, I've been reminded of all the reasons I fell in love with my OG Droid. It has a dedicated number row, a 1.5ghz dual-core processor, and just came out with an update for 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.
It's also the first phone by Motorola since the OG where the bootloader is unlockable. If you can get your hands on a Photon Q, I recommend it. If you don't mind switching to Sprint, you can get one free with a new contract (that's how I got mine...opened a new line on my account
).
I would, but I'm officially grandfathered into $40/month unlimited Android w/ Boost, I'm worried that I wouldn't be able to commit to a full contract, I hate contracts. Boost has 4G phones but none have a physical QWERTY keyboard, I could pay someone to get a Photon Q working on Boost but I would only be able to get 3G, which is fine with me, but it might not be economically viable for me to pay for the phone upfront and have someone attempt to flash it over only for MMS/SMS to be unreliable. I could see myself doing something extreme like
this with my Photon Q if I were to get one, but so long as I'm still on Boost's network and paying $40/month, since it's so useful for my job, I think that Transform Ultra's 3G is the best way for people to get in touch with me without me having to worry about the final cost of the bill ever, even with other great service options such as Ting and Republic Wireless. I appreciate that I can run my Waze GPS application off of the 3G and I just wouldn't be able to do that otherwise, and Waze is primarily what I use my phone for next to talking and texting.
I wouldn't mind a Transform Ultra 2, but it's such a unheard of mid-range device, I don't expect a sequel. We definitely won't get ICS with the current Transform Ultra 1, which I'm fine with, this is my first Android phone and the only one I could get because of the physical keyboard, and the price was right. I got it the month it came out, I'm too chicken to attempt to flash it, I fix computers for a living but I really wouldn't feel comfortable attempting to mess around with the software of the device. Anything physically related to the phone, like replacing the screen, sure, no problem. But flashing a phone isn't second-nature to me like reinstalling a computer's operating system is. Luckily, I have a customer's broken TU that was given to me and perfectly functional, I could probably try installing Megatron on that phone and if I'm successful I'll do it to my daily driver, at the very least, I could flash the broken one back to stock TU and use that one in the meantime while I found someone on eBay or on here who would be willing to let me pay them for their services.
I'd really prefer to send it out to someone to pay them to do it for me, since I only ever plan on doing it one time, and I'd rather have a professional do it. I really gotta keep something around as a phone-phone, but this phone is basically like a laptop to me, but even better, it makes and receives calls, only costs me $40/month, and can be tethered to any computer even a desktop to piggyback off of the 3G without me worrying about racking up my data, I don't even WANT to have to monitor my data useage. Unless CTMod's getting updated, I'd say either that or Megatron is about as good as it gets, I mean I've got the 3980mAh battery with the extended cover, that's pretty pimp, but aside from updating the ROM, I have no reason to tinker with it otherwise, it's just the greatest phone for day-to-day talking and texting and GPS and book-reading. The best part about the Photon Q or whatever the next new QWERTY Android slider that Boost Mobile has is that the bigger screen will make it an even better eBook, using the arrow keys on this phone to read in FBReader makes it a dream to use. And they did eventually fix the touchscreen issues I was having with the TU in an OTA update, yay. I could live without a computer if I had to sell everything and just rely on my phone to get by on, I really could.
It will be sad when I get my new phone and leave this community, everyone is so helpful here and resonate with why I've fallen in love with this piece of hardware, it's not a perfect device, but it's been an absolute joy to use even through the frustrating parts. Luckily, I don't see a new QWERTY slider in the horizons for Boost. If I ever find a better deal than Boost, if MetroPCS or Straight Talk can come out with a phone I'd prefer over the TU, I'd hop on over right away, I don't mind paying $35 or $45, that $5/month isn't going to make a huge difference to me, but it's specifically the TU that made me make my final decision to go to Boost permanently, and I hope that Boost Mobile can appreciate why their customers would want a great Android slider like the Photon Q on their network. I just need a little bit bigger screen, and 4G would be nice but not completely necessary. I'm sure I'm missing out with not having ICS, but I don't even rely on the camera on this device, and Gingerbread has done everything I've needed it to do for me so far, I really don't feel compelled to have a need to upgrade. I care more about the physical QWERTY keyboard and the no-contract plan w/ unlimited everything than I do about having the latest and greatest flavor of Android.
I wish they had bigger extended battery packs for the Photon Q, I can only find ones that go up to 3600mAh, which is still less than mine on the Transform Ultra even, and I could expect to still have less battery life than usual based on the bigger screen alone. One of the problems I have with phones these days is that they're all concerned about their weight. Me, personally, give me the brick. I've often joked that my phone is pregnant. I want them to make phones that are honkin' HUGE, and put dual-circle pads on it, like a 3DS XL. Give us a QWERTY slider with a gamepad and L1/L2/R1/R2 triggers on it, a 3D screen, 5-row keypad, good gaming processor, then why would anyone want a Playstation Vita? I feel confident that Android phones will soon even overpower that of the PS Vita long before Sony's next portable gaming option, which might take a while I mean the PS Vita didn't come out too long ago.
