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Help Official "Complaints about the Photon" (Rant/Discussion) Thread

dickie6

Lurker
Nov 6, 2010
9
0
Let me start by saying when I switched from my HTC Hero to my EVO 4G.
It was like a whole new world. I couldnt believe I suffered through using the HERO which in hindsight was the biggest hunk of crap. So fast forward. I have very little complaints about my EVO (except battery - of which I have 2 extras).
The EVO is like a part of me. I am on my phone 10-12 hours a day for work and pleasure. So I have had an upgrade on my account for months and decided while on vacation to venture into a sprint store. I must say I disappointed with the 3D on the HTC 3D. So I figured why not give the Photon a shot. Well I brought it home and kind of played with it for 2 days before activating it...

The processing speed is incredible and thats where it ends for me.

The screen is so god damn sensitive that I feel I have to quick touch everything.

I don't have an issue with the pixelating like others.

I don't like the size of the text on the screen.

I think the overall look of the Motoblur or whatever they call it is a 1 on a 10 scale.

I agree the radio seems to be significantly better than my EVO but...I live in a good coverage area.

Overall. I am extremely disappointed in the PHOTON 4G. I expected this to knock my socks off and all it has me doing is wanting to run back to the Sprint store.

Come on Sprint get your heads out of your butts and give us soemthing incredible to follow up the EVO.

:thinking:
 
Thanks for your opinion. But in all honesty, it's likely going to be a matter of personal opinion.

As you've already seen, for every person who thinks the Photon doesn't measure up, there are about as many, if not more who think it's an awesome phone. It's too bad you weren't one of them.

Out of curiosity, are you going back to your EVO or to the EVO 3D? As an option for you, although I'm not a big fan of Samsung phones based on my past experience with them, I do know they're planning on releasing a Galaxy II version of their phone on Sprint in the next month or so. Maybe that's something you might consider.
 
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Let me start by saying when I switched from my HTC Hero to my EVO 4G.
It was like a whole new world. I couldnt believe I suffered through using the HERO which in hindsight was the biggest hunk of crap. So fast forward. I have very little complaints about my EVO (except battery - of which I have 2 extras).
The EVO is like a part of me. I am on my phone 10-12 hours a day for work and pleasure. So I have had an upgrade on my account for months and decided while on vacation to venture into a sprint store. I must say I disappointed with the 3D on the HTC 3D. So I figured why not give the Photon a shot. Well I brought it home and kind of played with it for 2 days before activating it...

The processing speed is incredible and thats where it ends for me.

The screen is so god damn sensitive that I feel I have to quick touch everything.

I don't have an issue with the pixelating like others.

I don't like the size of the text on the screen.

I think the overall look of the Motoblur or whatever they call it is a 1 on a 10 scale.

I agree the radio seems to be significantly better than my EVO but...I live in a good coverage area.

Overall. I am extremely disappointed in the PHOTON 4G. I expected this to knock my socks off and all it has me doing is wanting to run back to the Sprint store.

Come on Sprint get your heads out of your butts and give us soemthing incredible to follow up the EVO.

:thinking:

Nice write up, dickie6. Have you tried different launchers (Launcher Pro, ADW, etc)? Sometimes those can remedy some of the font issues, as many launchers offer themes with different fonts.
 
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Let me start by saying when I switched from my HTC Hero to my EVO 4G.
It was like a whole new world. I couldnt believe I suffered through using the HERO which in hindsight was the biggest hunk of crap. So fast forward. I have very little complaints about my EVO (except battery - of which I have 2 extras).
The EVO is like a part of me. I am on my phone 10-12 hours a day for work and pleasure. So I have had an upgrade on my account for months and decided while on vacation to venture into a sprint store. I must say I disappointed with the 3D on the HTC 3D. So I figured why not give the Photon a shot. Well I brought it home and kind of played with it for 2 days before activating it...

The processing speed is incredible and thats where it ends for me.

The screen is so god damn sensitive that I feel I have to quick touch everything.

I don't have an issue with the pixelating like others.

I don't like the size of the text on the screen.

I think the overall look of the Motoblur or whatever they call it is a 1 on a 10 scale.

I agree the radio seems to be significantly better than my EVO but...I live in a good coverage area.

Overall. I am extremely disappointed in the PHOTON 4G. I expected this to knock my socks off and all it has me doing is wanting to run back to the Sprint store.

Come on Sprint get your heads out of your butts and give us soemthing incredible to follow up the EVO.

:thinking:

A new phone that knocks one's socks of depends on the un-met needs of a particular user. Display clarity, viewable in bright sun, loud speaker phone, excellent GPS, phone clarity and reception, world phone, car dock did it for my business needs. The Motorola UI is just fine; I like it actually.

In your case, your fundamental requirement seems to be a UI identical to the EVO.

Mike
 
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Just got back from Sprint store. While the sales manager told me at her store I could take the device home play with it and if I did not make a call on it...I could return it with no restocking fee. Of course she lied to me. I had my local store manager call her and after their dialogue it was clear she lied to me and I was given a full refund. Just a heads up. While I am sure this phone works for others and I am just one who didn't like it...The manager told me it is selling badly and it is the most returned phone in her store. FYI.
I will be on the lookout for the Samsung Galaxy 2 or a newer HTC phone. I just can't bring myself to buy the EVO 3D that screen makes my eyes go googly and who needs 3D ? If kodak couldn't make it mainstream I'm certain HTC won't either.....Cheers !
 
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well, everyone is entitled to their opinion. while the phone does have it's faults... as every other phone does, the pro's definitely outweigh the cons.
I've also had the original evo, epic, evo 3d, and I can say that the photon is probably the best one out of that lineup. And again, that's a matter of personal opinion.
From the great call quality, to the ridiculously loud loudspeaker, kickstand, able to see in the sunlight, about 13 gigs of usable internal memory storage (and that's not including sd card storage!), fast dual core processor, fantastic music player, great battery life, i honestly have no real problem with it (with the exception that it does tend to sleep on me from time to time, needing a battery pull as a reset)
I even thought I was going to miss HTC sense 3.0, but this version of motowhateveritwantstobecalled is actually not as bad as people have feared. it actually almost feels like stock android...to me at least.

Bottom line, if you really didn't like your phone...that's understandable. I'm sure that others share the same sentiment about this phone as well as other phones out there. but again, it's a matter of opinion. my opinion, is that I do not regret my purchase of the photon!
 
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We're all on the Android team, and no one makes the perfect phone for everyone.

If you change your mind, I'm sure the helpful cats here will welcome you back.

Nothing personal - but in my experience, these sort of threads tend to not end well. Anyone wanting my next move here changed, please just drop me a private message, my door's always open. Until then -

/thread
 
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I'll tell you that I was right there with you and ready to chuck the photon until I tried ADW. I found a couple themes I liked, a Sense style clock, and it's like it's a whole new phone. Try it. I didn't even go extreme, I think I have the ADW Blue theme, Sense clock and a calendar widget and thats really it.
 
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I'll tell you that I was right there with you and ready to chuck the photon until I tried ADW. I found a couple themes I liked, a Sense style clock, and it's like it's a whole new phone. Try it. I didn't even go extreme, I think I have the ADW Blue theme, Sense clock and a calendar widget and thats really it.

ADW launcher is good. Launcher Pro is another good one. I've used both - and have switched back and forth trying to figure out which one I liked the best. That is, until I accidently stumbled across the GO Dev team and all their various products, including GO Launcher EX.

In my opinion, all of their products, including their launcher, SMS program (replaced Handcent on my phone), contacts and weather widgets, etc., are by far, some of the best programs out there. They rarely crash (force close, etc.) and do not take up too much space on the phone. I've found that most of their offerings seem to take the best features from the other programs and place them all-in-one. I've also found that their developers are very responsive to users' questions, comments and/or requests. Finally and probably the most important thing: (which frankly, I'm still surprised they are) is that most of their stuff is free.

Anyways, wanted to share my opinion and hope you guys check out their stuff.
 
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I'll tell you that I was right there with you and ready to chuck the photon until I tried ADW. I found a couple themes I liked, a Sense style clock, and it's like it's a whole new phone. Try it. I didn't even go extreme, I think I have the ADW Blue theme, Sense clock and a calendar widget and thats really it.

Aftermarket launchers really can make a world of difference for some folks. I was hesitant at first because I enjoyed many of the Sense widgets (when I had the EVO 4g). Once I decided to spend the money on Launcher Pro Plus, I was set (until the phone's processor couldn't really handle it and probably would've been good to root the phone at that point).

I gave the Motorola UI a day before deciding to go back to using Launcher Pro Plus and I'm so glad that I did. The Photon responds to Launcher Pro Plus SO much better than it did on the EVO.

That's part of the reason that I created the aftermarket launcher thread:
http://androidforums.com/motorola-p...rmarket-rooting-not-required.html#post3087410
 
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I must be one of the few that don't mind not blur. To me it's fairly close to stock. I just replace most of the ugly widgets.

The thing I hate about the stock launcher is the ugly white bar it puts behind the dock. If you have a light background it's not so bad, but if you use a dark one (or one that's dark on the bottom) it looks terrible in my opinion. If it wasn't for that, I'd probably stick with not-Blur and just use different widgets.
 
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Just got back from Sprint store. While the sales manager told me at her store I could take the device home play with it and if I did not make a call on it...I could return it with no restocking fee. Of course she lied to me. I had my local store manager call her and after their dialogue it was clear she lied to me and I was given a full refund. Just a heads up. While I am sure this phone works for others and I am just one who didn't like it...The manager told me it is selling badly and it is the most returned phone in her store. FYI.
I will be on the lookout for the Samsung Galaxy 2 or a newer HTC phone. I just can't bring myself to buy the EVO 3D that screen makes my eyes go googly and who needs 3D ? If kodak couldn't make it mainstream I'm certain HTC won't either.....Cheers !

Are you saying you never made a call on the phone? Did you even activate the phone?
 
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The thing I hate about the stock launcher is the ugly white bar it puts behind the dock. If you have a light background it's not so bad, but if you use a dark one (or one that's dark on the bottom) it looks terrible in my opinion. If it wasn't for that, I'd probably stick with not-Blur and just use different widgets.


That's true, when I got my phone I noticed it right away and thought it was defective. My wallpapers are light so far, but if I used a dark one I'd have to switch launchers.
 
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From a Sprint Tech Support point-of-view, you stated that you loved your EVO 4G; however, we have customers all the time who call in stating that the EVO is the worst phone they have ever used. Personally, I have the Epic and know for a fact that the EVO 4G is a more highly functional phone but that just goes to show that opinions vary. We actually had one customer call in who had the 3D stating that the 3D feature is soooo annoying. Why in the hell would you buy a phone called the EVO 3D and then complain about it being 3D? Boggles my mind.
 
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OP you should give the Evo 3D a try. I loved my Evo 4G. I was skeptical of the Evo 3D when it was released. However having used it for a month now I love it way more than any other phone I have used.

The Evo 3D is an amazing phone without the 3D. The 3D is a bonus feature, you can choose to ignore if you don't care for it.

It's hard to top the Evo 4G because it is a spectacular phone. The Evo 3D slowly wowed me over time, a more subtle knock your socks off than an immediate wow.
 
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OP you should give the Evo 3D a try. I loved my Evo 4G. I was skeptical of the Evo 3D when it was released. However having used it for a month now I love it way more than any other phone I have used.

The Evo 3D is an amazing phone without the 3D. The 3D is a bonus feature, you can choose to ignore if you don't care for it.

It's hard to top the Evo 4G because it is a spectacular phone. The Evo 3D slowly wowed me over time, a more subtle knock your socks off than an immediate wow.

Funny because the Photon wow'd me more than the EVO 4G originally did (it was also a big transition for me, since the EVO was my first Android phone). And the 3D, I didn't like at all (compared to the EVO 4G) w/ exception to the physical feeling of the phone (seemed easier to hold than the E4G).

But I do agree that it really depends on people's different needs and the EVO 3D would be a phone that is a great alternative, if people aren't fond of the MoPho.
 
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I came close to picking up the 3D instead of the Photon. I liked the screen better and I'm a big Sense fan. Also, the 3D was fully rooted and unlocked during my deliberation period, which was a big plus for me. What finally pushed me toward the Photon was the superior call quality, and word that both a dockless root *and* unlocked bootloader were achieved within days of each other. I may never root my Photon, but the option is nice. After the mess that was the Evo's gingerbread update, I'll be a lot more hesitant to accept a major OTA update to the Photon until I see the results.

As for the Samsung GSII, I've had my eye on it as well. Unfortunately, after my fiance's experience with the Epic and the problems with the Nexus S 4G, I'm wary of any Samsung phone. They just don't seem to have the support that HTC and Moto phones do (at least in the US).
 
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I will be on the lookout for the Samsung Galaxy 2 or a newer HTC phone. I just can't bring myself to buy the EVO 3D that screen makes my eyes go googly and who needs 3D ? If kodak couldn't make it mainstream I'm certain HTC won't either.....Cheers !
is there any device you do like? Did you even field test it at the store before buying. Looking at your previous posts you weren't happy with the Hero, you then get a EVO and thats fine until the calendar issue, you then get a Galaxy Tab and that doesn't live up to your expectations and now you get a Photon and that doesn't live up to your expectations either. If the EVO 4G was the best phone for you then you should stay with it until the next big thing comes along, but at your rate, I don't think anything will make you happy. :rolleyes:

Bottom line, unless a person is mind set on getting a (first generation) device, knowing full well that such devices will have bugs, and can't wait it out, and or not field test it in the store to see if it lives up to ones expectation, getting said device will give them surprises that they may not have wanted or like.

As for the EVO 3D, it may be googly for you but there are quite a few folks that are satisfied with it and in certain tests has even done better than the Photon and way better than the EVO 4G. The Photon may have its quirks at the moment, but then again every phone that I know of regardless of first generation or not has always come with a bug or two.

TS
 
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I got the EVO 3D last week, had it for a few days and returned it to get the Photon. The 3D was cool, but it was something I would use maybe once a week, if that. The low speaker volume and low earpiece volume was a killer for me most of all. I couldn't hear the phone ring in my pocket, missed texts all the time. Battery life was the second big problem. Off the charger at 8am, it was dead by 4pm with light to moderate use. Whats the point in having a smartphone if you can't use it because the battery is at 4%? Called up Sprint, told them the speaker was malfunctioning and they sent me the Photon.

Loudest phone I have ever had. Battery is down to 25% at 11pm. I noticed the screendoor effect on the first day, just because everyone was talking about it. After 4 days of use I don't even see it. Screen is beautiful. Battery cover is tight, don't have any audio issues with calls. Couldn't be happier!!!
 
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I was a very happy EVO 4G user until a month or so ago when my daughter's EVO got stolen from her car. The EVO 3D was just being released, so I gave her my 4G and bought a 3D. The 3D is a great phone and I loved it too, except for it coming unlocked in my pocket and butt dialing random people on my contact list. I travel a lot for business and thought the world phone feature could come handy. My wife has decided she wants to join the world of smart phone users so I just got a Photon 4G for myself and am giving her the 3D.

I haven't noticed the pixilation issue yet and the screen looks great to me. I don't like the Motorola launcher at all compared to Sense. I have installed Go Launcher EX and I think I have gotten the interface to a configuration I can live with (it is still not Sense) after a lot of work.
 
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