Motorola has long been one of the strongest Android phone makers. While Samsung may get higher numbers and HTC a bit more of the mind share, Motorola’s original Droid for Verizon is arguably the phone that made Android take off as more than just “not iPhone.” The line is so successful that many users dub all Android phones Droids, a la Band-Aid or Kleenex, and Verizon has embraced that by calling almost all of its Android phones just that, as Verizon has the license from LucaAarts, not Motorola. Now a division of Google, Motorola may not have had a Nexus phone or the ability to put straight Android on without modifications, but the company is absolutely a force to be reckoned with. On Verizon.
Off of Verizon, it feels like there’s a distinct lack of choice. For example, if you want a 4G LTE phone from Android, your choices are exactly one device. The Motorola Photon Q is a kind-of-sort-of update to the Motorola Photon, the previous only 4G Motorola phone on Sprint. The Photon Q keeps the angles of the original Photon, but throws in a full QWERTY slider similar to the Droid 4 from Verizon. At first, the Photon Q was in fact the only phone on Sprint’s LTE network with a physical keyboard, but LG’s Mach came out on November 11 to keep it company. With a $199 price tag compared to the Mach’s $99, and with Motorola’s proven Android track record, isn’t the Photon Q the obvious choice? Let’s find out.
First Impressions
I never got a chance to really mess with the previous Photon, but I was impressed by the little I saw and the users I know who did get to use the phone love it. The Photon Q’s name instantly makes me think of that user satisfaction, as well as that of another phone that users were less satisfied with, the Motorola Q. For the unfamiliar, the Q was a portrait QWERTY Windows Phone device, aimed at the Blackberry set. It annoyingly lacked of a touchscreen just as touch was going big and was stuck with an already-dying OS. What it did have going for it was that it was fairly stylish for the era.
Times were darker back then, and keys shaped funny.
The Photon Q is absolutely a philosophical descendant of the original Q; serious thought was clearly put into the styling of the device. The front face has no buttons, a camera, and a speaker grill that artfully hides an alert light. Sliding the screen up reveals the QWERTY and as an added bonus, turns the phone on. There’s a detailed review of the keyboard below, but it clearly shows that Motorola has been making keyboard slider Android devices for some time; this is not a version 1.0 device.
This is not the Droid 4 you were looking for.
Motorola placed the power button on the center-top of the device instead of center-right as most handset makers seem to do. This took me barely any time to adjust to, as opposed to Samsung’s placement on the Galaxy S III. In fact, with the angled edges of the Photon Q, it actually felt kind of natural.
Motorola brings you a new way to play “find the button.”
The right side is blessed with the volume buttons and a dedicated camera button, a feature I always appreciate. Shifting the rubberized door reveals a slot for MicroSD, perfect for supplementing the rather meager 8 GB internal storage, with only 4.6 GB actually available to the end user. Really, Motorola? Did we step through a temporal anomaly and end up in 2007?
As for the left, there you’ll find a mini HDMI port and a MicroUSB port for charging. Overall, the body feels nice and solid, with an almost-ruggedized feel. The Motorola Photon Q is in fact waterproof. Forgive me for not testing that particular feature out on this loaner phone. However, I do want to note that the memory door feels very flimsy, as if it’s something that will break off after a few months if you swap cards frequently. This is a problem that may feel familiar to original Palm Pre users.
Another problem brought on by the ruggedness of the Photon Q is that Motorola has decided to go the Apple route and give users a non-removable battery. While the 1785 mAh battery under there should last you some time, it’s a vexing move. Plus, it adds to another issue; like many current CDMA phones, there’s a SIM slot included for international travel. However, it’s not accessible. Instead, there is a Sprint SIM soldered into place underneath that sexy backside.
No rear access.
That leads to the most important caveat. If you travel internationally and want a phone that you can just swap any SIM into, this is absolutely not the device for you. This impacts a small subset of buyers, but if you are part of that subset, you can just stop reading this now.
The Software
The Photon Q is running Android 4.04 a.k.a. Ice Cream Sandwich. We’ve been told to expect an update to Jelly Bean (4.1 or 4.2 ), but as Motorola has since backed off of that particular promise for the original Photon, you may want to take that with a grain of salt.
Compared to Samsung and HTC, Motorola’s Android skin is barely there. This is a welcome change from the company’s original skin, MotoBLUR, which frankly jammed the phones. The skin is so light that I had to stop and remember this is an Android feature or a skin feature. One thing that reminds you of that fact is when you try to swipe to the left from your home screen; Motorola seems to only have right swipes. Swipe far enough to the left and you’re prompted to add a page. A bit annoying for those who go heavy on the home screens, but as I generally stick to two, I’m okay with this.
The little clock flips from analog-stye to digital when you tap it. Minutes of fun.
I’m particularly fond of the four-way unlock screen. Hold the key and you’ll see a ring. Up takes you to the phone, down to texting, left to the camera and right to unlock. This is similar to HTC Sense, but the ring metaphor just worked better. Sliding the keyboard to unlock seems to always take you Home.
I’ve fallen in love with one particular tweak. See how some of the apps in the previous screenshot (browser, text, phone, email, and people) have little up and down arrows? That means those apps can be swiped on as well as tapped. That will open a small, widget-like view. This is really handy for if you want to call a favorite; you simply swipe up, and there’s the name. No need to re-enter the phone app or leave a widget open all the time. This fits in well with the “less home screens” design element.
No, I am not showing you who my Favorites are.
Motorola also adds SmartActions, a way to pre-program behaviors for set times and places. For example, you can tell your phone to go on airplane mode every night at 10 PM and come back online at 10 AM. That’s only one example of what you can tweak. This ability to tweak the phone reminds me a little of writing Macros and of several hacks I used to put on my WindowsMobile and Android phones. The average consumer may ignore this feature, but this is a nice feature for a power user.
Sprint is one of the few providers backing off pre-loading a ton of apps. I see SprintID and Sprint Zone, and that’s it. There are a few more preloaded apps, like QuickOffice, but it’s far less invasive. Motorola and Google expect you to use Google’s services, to the extent that Sprint hasn’t even loaded the Sprint Navigation GPS software on here. Google Navigation is your free option.
Speaking of Navigation, Motorola has thrown in Vehicle Mode, a slimmed down display for using your phone as an in-car GPS. I was under the impression that Android already has a car mode, so I’m a bit confused by this, even if it’s a clever idea.
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