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Review: Motorola Photon 4G

Form Basics Extras Wrap-Up Comments 13

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Bluetooth

The Photon 4G supports the usual batch of Bluetooth profiles. I was able to pair it with mono and stereo headsets, as well as PCs and other phones. Call quality via mono headsets was very, very good — probably the best quality I've heard from Bluetooth in six months. Music streamed without hiccups to my stereo Bluetooth speakers. Passing contact data and files between the Photon 4G and phones/PCs was not an issue.

Clock

As with most Android devices, the Photon 4G has a white, digital clock that's visible on the home screen when the power/lock button is pressed. The Photon 4G's is a bit small, in my opinion, making it harder to read at a quick glance.

GPS

The Photon 4G includes both Google Maps and TeleNav GPS. Both are capable applications at providing voice-guided driving directions. The latest version of Google Maps supports 3D city views (in select cities) and map caching for offline use. The TeleNav GPS performance is a little bit better and more accurate in my experience, and Sprint offers it to customers for free.

Sprint Wallet

The Photon 4G ships with the brand new Sprint Wallet software on board. This software/service was developed by Sprint, Google, and Visa to enable NFC mobile payments. Sadly, the service is still in beta in a limited number of markets. Phone Scoop was unable to test this feature, but wanted to point out that it is available. Also, the Photon 4G doesn't have the necessary NFC components.

WebTop

Similar to the Motorola Atrix 4G, the Photon 4G includes Motorola's WebTop software. With the use of an optional HD dock, the Photon 4G can be attached to an HD monitor, keyboard, and mouse and used as a laptop replacement. The software that controls on this is identical to that of the Atrix 4G, but the Photon 4G won't have its own laptop dock as the Atrix did. When in WebTop mode, the Photon 4G runs the Firefox browser and offers access to all the files and applications on the phone — but on a much larger screen. Bottom line: if you choose to travel with a travel keyboard and HDMI cable, you might be able to hook the Photon 4G up to the HDTV in your hotel room and use that as your computer instead of toting a full laptop around.

Next page: Wrap-Up

Phone Scoop spent some time with Motorola's two new Android handsets for the Sprint network. Here are our first impressions of these two beauts!

Sprint Reveals Motorola Photon 4G

Jun 9, 2011
At an event in NYC today, Sprint and Motorola announced the Photon 4G. Much like the Atrix, the Photon supports a laptop dock or HD multimedia dock - and Webtop app - that lets it run a Firefox browser like a desktop PC.

Motorola Talks Jelly Bean Updates for Its U.S. Devices

Oct 20, 2012
Motorola has updated the list of devices that will receive updated versions of Android and is revealing for the first time those slated to get Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The Droid RAZR M, RAZR HD, and MAXX HD are all schedule to receive the Jelly Bean update before the end of the year.

Motorola Promises to Update Droid Bionic to Android 4.0

Sep 23, 2012
Motorola has indicated that the Android 4.0 update for the Droid Bionic that was scheduled to occur in during the third quarter of this year has been delayed until the fourth quarter. No details were provided as to why, but Motorola VP of product Punit Soni promised that the update will be delivered before the end of the year.

Sprint Pushing Maintenance Update to Moto Photon

Jul 11, 2012
Sprint today detailed changes headed to the Motorola Photon 4G by way of a maintenance update for its system software. The update makes it easier to import contacts from an SD card, improves music playback via streaming music services, boosts the performance of the mobile hotspot feature, and makes it easier to create and accept calendar meeting requests on the phone.

Motorola Photon 4G / Electrify

4.3" display 540 x 960 pixels
dual-core Nvidia Tegra2 processor
1,700 mAh battery
Memory Card Slot, Headphone Jack (3.5mm)

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