Motorola PHOTON Q 4G LTE User Reviews

doublej1970
posted on 08 Jan 2013, 13:28 (Posts: 28; Member since: 16 Apr 2010)

9

If the camera could get an update/upgrade somehow this would be a perfect qwerty phone!

doublej1970 has owned it for less than 3 months before publishing this review

Only thing holding this qwerty phone back from being in the S3 or Evo Lte league is the camera! I had the first Photon and loved it, but the camera sucked! A little disappointed still with the Q camera! If the Q would have had the Evo Lte quality type camera then this would have been a keeper phone for a long, long time for me! Battery could have been larger also. Call quality at times had some echo issues. Other then that the phone is really, really nice! Keypad is WOW. Speaker is super loud for music lovers out there like myself. Very nice to look at, great design.

Build quality 9/10

Reception 9/10

Call quality 8/10

Internet 9/10

Multimedia 9/10

Camera 7/10

UI speed 9/10

Everyday usage 9/10

Text input 10/10

Display 9/10

Battery 8/10

Pros

• almost everything!

Cons

• Camera
• battery length

doublej1970 alternatives:

LG Mach

downphoenix
posted on 04 Dec 2012, 18:11 (Posts: 3165; Member since: 19 Jun 2010)

9

If you love QWERTY you'll love this phone

downphoenix has owned it for less than month before publishing this review

The Photon Q probably isnt the best phone in Sprint's lineup, but it is the best QWERTY phone. It also had solid build quality, if you have butterfingers you'll feel a lot better about dropping this phone than a Galaxy S3 or Evo 4g LTE. There are some minor issues with this phone, and lack of a removable battery is a bummer, but if you can get this phone at a good price I recommend it. at the $200 the carrier is asking for it, its too much, but at $100 or less its great.

Build quality 9/10 Build quality is fantastic on this. Very well built, as motorola phones tend to be. Only issue I've noticed is that the charging port was initially too tight, but a few plugs and unplugs was enough to give it proper play and still gave a secure connection.

Reception 9/10 Reception has been phenominal, it picks up service sometimes in areas that I never got service with previous phones before. I WOULD give it a 10 here, but phone has occassionally opted for a roaming connection over a sprint connection in a couple of areas where previous phones would select the sprint connection consistently.

Call quality 8/10 Call Quality is very good. Only issue is that the earpiece volume could be louder.

Internet 10/10 the internet use is just great on this. Stock android and Chrome is all you need, and no issues with this at all.

Multimedia 8/10 The music players work very good and even allow for music player controls on the lock screen, and the speakerphone puts out some lsound. The quality is slightly dampened at the highest volumes though, and bass response could be better on the speakerphone. It sounds fantastic when using headphones.

Camera 7/10 The camera could use some work. The front video camera is good for what it is, but a bit disappointed in the real video camera, which IS better, but not to the degree I would expect. Also the flash is bright, but pictures are taken too quickly when using the flash so it appears brighter than it should in the picture.

UI speed 8/10 The UI is quite fast, but have had some minor hiccups with it. I did mark it down for that since it consistenly seems to have an occassional hiccup, regardless of what is running

Everyday usage 9/10

Text input 9/10 the qwerty keyboard on this thing is just fantastic. I would have given this a 10, but the touch screen typing is really only a 7 or 8 here

Display 9/10 The screen, other than not being an HD display, looks fantastic. Great color production, sharp, great viewing angles and brightness.

Battery 8/10 It does pretty good in getting through a day, Im down to about 25-30% on a full charge after a regular day of use, calls, text, data, etc. Heavy use is a strain on it though, can barely make it through in heavy use.

Pros

• great slide out keyboard
• great body and design
• bright and sharp display
• great internet performance on wifi or mobile networks

Cons

• camera is disappointing for a flagship
• speakerphone is loud but sound needs improvement

victoriavanclover
posted on 03 Nov 2015, 16:48 (Posts: 0; Member since: 22 Sep 2015)

6

Motorola photon Q

victoriavanclover has owned it for more than one year before publishing this review

Honestly, in the beginning it was okay, but as I started using it more I found more and more issues, overheating and lagging being the major. Another major issue, if the screen cracks in anyway, no matter how small, it will not work. If you have a pattern password, you can't unlock it and have to get a new phone.

Build quality 5/10

Reception 7/10

Call quality 7/10

Internet 9/10

Multimedia 7/10

Camera 8/10

UI speed 6/10

Everyday usage 5/10

Text input 5/10

Display 8/10

Battery 2/10

Pros

• Has a physical keyboard
• Easy to hold in hand
• The camera is pretty good

Cons

• Screen isn't durable and can't handle any kind of crack
• Overheats majorly
• Freezes and lags quite often
• Doesn't have the best of battery lifes

midnightrebellion86
posted on 05 Nov 2014, 09:55 (Posts: 0; Member since: 05 Nov 2014)

4

Just a cheap knockoff of the DROID 4

midnightrebellion86 has owned it for more than one year before publishing this review

I bought this phone when I switched from Verizon's Droid 3.Big mistake. I've had two of these phones and the screen glitched up and broke each time after several months of usage. I was forced to keep keyboard slid out at all times, so that the screen wouldn't glitch up.

Build quality 1/10

Reception 5/10

Call quality 5/10

Internet 7/10

Multimedia 5/10

Camera 3/10

UI speed 2/10

Everyday usage 1/10

Text input 6/10

Display 6/10

Battery 1/10

Pros

• 4G

Cons

• Built in battery
• Camera
• Flimsy screen

LouisCyphre
posted on 16 May 2014, 14:59 (Posts: 0; Member since: 16 May 2014)

7

The non-removable battery will kill the phone.

LouisCyphre has owned it for more than one year before publishing this review

I had mine fail after having it for over 16 months two days ago. The battery failed, swelled up and apparently took out the microSD card slot. Non-removable batteries are a MAJOR ENGINEERING fault. That's the most likely component to fail. If the battery fails and swells on a phone with a removable battery the battery cover is most likely to pop off.

Fortunately the Sprint store was able to remove my micro SD card which is still usable in my old Samsung Transform with a full backup of my apps, photos and SMS messages. The moment you notice charging issues it should be backed up and taken to a Sprint store for service. This the first and will be the last phone I own with a non-removable battery. Keep in mind that this phone is also International (Worldmode) which I require as I travel internationally. The closest comparison is available only through another carrier. If you want international coverage outside of North America, you have to have a GSM radio. I have not reviewed or owned the alternative I am looking at. However it is the one I am looking to purchase in the near future which will require a carrier change.

Build quality 8/10

Reception 8/10

Call quality 8/10

Internet 8/10

Multimedia 8/10

Camera 7/10

UI speed 7/10

Everyday usage 8/10

Text input 7/10

Display 7/10

Battery 1/10 The non-removable battery is a major engineering defect. If the battery fails, it can ruin the phone.

Pros

• Slide out QWERTY keyboard.
• International (Worldmode).

Cons

• Non-removable battery.
• Screen resolution.

LouisCyphre alternatives:

LG Optimus F3Q