• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Salve for the latest Bionic delay

If it makes our painful wait for the Bionic release any easier, the Sprint Photon 4G, which is essentially the Sprint version of the Bionic, was released yesterday and is getting rave reviews. It appears the phone is definitely worth waiting for... if we can resist SGS2 temptation when it hits. :)

If it's true that the Photon is the Sprint version of the Verizon Bionic, here's where you can download the Photon user guide in pdf format.

http://androidforums.com/motorola-photon-4g/384393-motorola-photon-4g-user-guide-pdf-download.html
 
Upvote 0
Photon 4G review | This is my next...

seems to me like the Motoblur UI garbage on the Photon is slowing it down. This reviewer preferred to just slap Launcher Pro on it. I really, really, really hope that the Bionic doesn’t have Motoblur on it, but I know without a doubt that it will. It just kills it.


Droid 3 does not have performance issues with half the ram of the Bionic, so why should the Bionic?
 
Upvote 0
I posted in the Droid 3 review topic Anandtech mentioned the launcher and home screens being gpu accelerated.

If thats the case...I cant see this version of the UI we will not call Blur...lol...being the main problem for any slow downs. Comparing these versions to the Blur that came with the Droid X1 on Froyo....the newer versions are better.
 
Upvote 0
There is someone on twitter that is posting things about the Bionic(Dont know the validity of it) but posted that the Photon is NOT the Bionic and that they have totally different processors and that Tegra 2 is the past....


If anything, the Photon is the original Bionic, since Tegra 2. Not same 4G tech and not same cpu/4G chipset issues, so probably faired better in tests than original Bionic.
 
Upvote 0
There is someone on twitter that is posting things about the Bionic(Dont know the validity of it) but posted that the Photon is NOT the Bionic and that they have totally different processors and that Tegra 2 is the past....

That would be the only way to justify this long wait. OTOH, friend from work has the Photon. It is nice but doesn't seem to be too much of an upgrade to the DroidX.
 
Upvote 0
Yes, and the AT&T iPhone has a different radio than the Verizon iPhone, but they're both still iPhones. The whole point is that the Photon appears to be Sprint version of the Bionic (even though there are differences) and it's getting great reviews, which gives me hope for the Bionic and makes waiting through this long, hot month a little easier. Put it another way. If the Photon reviews were AWFUL, I might already have a D3. :)
 
Upvote 0
.....it's getting great reviews, which gives me hope for the Bionic and makes waiting through this long, hot month a little easier. ..... :)

I agree, the reviews are good. Except for a number of them whine about the PenTile display's pixelation. You can really see it in some pictures on this review.
Motorola PHOTON 4G review

Although for what it's worth, the qHD display (with Gorilla glass) does make it a lot easier to read/see in direct sunlight. My OG droid's screen is useless in direct sunlight, even at max brightness, while the DX2 I tried out was awesome.

The Photon is selling for $199 with upgrade. Being so similar to the Bionic in specs, I really hope that VZW doesn't ask for $300. The specs, plus the more-than-half-a-year wait don't justify anything over $200, in my opinion.
 
  • Like
Reactions: john30308
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones