Motorola Photon 4G hands-on!

By on Jun 9, 2011 at 12:43 PM
mobile June 9, 2011

While it just was made official moments ago by Sprint CEO Dan Hesse and Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha, we were able to snag some hands-on time with the 4G beast earlier this morning. For starters, the Motorola Photon 4G features a 4.3-inch qHD display, 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor, 16GB of storage, an 8-megapixel camera, front-facing camera, and support for Motorola’s webtop solution, which will allow the phone to power a full Firefox browser on your HDTV. As far the feel, the device is extremely solid and we’re loving the futuristic styling of the design, complete with angled corners. Also, the glossy bezel contrasts beautifully with the rubberized soft-touch case back. The phone runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and felt incredibly snappy during the time we spent with it. The Motorola Photon 4G is scheduled to launch this summer, though pricing information has not yet been announced. Don’t let that get you down, though — we have a gallery full of hands-on photos below!

UPDATE: Check out our video hands-on with the Motorola Photon 4G, too!

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  • Anonymous

    Was that a kickstand that I saw?

    Also, WTF dedicated camera button?! You take it off of the Droid X2, but put it on this? Make up your fucking minds. And unlock the bootloader.

    /broken record
    //can’t stop
    ///won’t stop

    • Mrhug3

      Agreed. Also, nice Diddy reference.

    • Anonymous

      Problem is, they don’t even know how to stop.

  • http://twitter.com/BlazeBlu2kx Geary Saddler

    Looks like Sprint got the Etna that failed to launch on Verizon as the
    bionic because of tegra incompatibilities with the lte chipset.

    • Anonymous

      The tegra had no incompatabilities with LTE. The SOC is independant of the radio.

      • Cocoviper

        That’s incorrect- all SOCs have to have integration work done to interface with their respective radios. This is the advantage Qualcomm brings to handset OEMs: a solution where all the integration work is done already but with a price premium.

    • Anonymous

      It wasn’t incompatibilities, it was the horrible battery life that prevented its launch

  • worldbfree4me

    What’s this? The Atrix reincarnation with Moto Blur version X. Not a modder per se, but an unlocked boot loader is a must!

    • http://www.droiddoes.com/ iNorm

      If you aren’t a “modder” then why do you need an unlocked bootloader?

      • worldbfree4me

        Everyone including HTC, Sammy and LG have said “We will keep the bootloader unlocked” which means Cynagen or someone else will probably come out with a feature that’s the Bees Knees and should I decide to flash, I’d like to have that option open to me. We already know Moto Blur is not for everyone, so what if I want to rid myself of it and go “Pure Google Experience” with a locked boot loader, I’m stuck no?

        Sent from my iPad

      • Anonymous

        Dude, if you’re flashing ROMs, you’re a modder.

        That said: 
        According to Android Central, this phone has an unlocked bootloader. Is Moto turning over a new leaf?

  • Brendan

    Is the screen PenTile (like the Atrix)?

  • JUSTQUAN2

    Nice device! Just that dang moto blur that honestly turns me off. I’m glad it’s optional and not permanent. Ques: what part of summer are they talking?

  • ApplesNAndroid

    This is up against the EVO 3D. Witch HTC’s latest commitment for unlocked bootloaders, and nearly identical specs +4G why settle for this?

    • ApplesNAndroids

      *with*

    • Anonymous

      Nearly identical specs? First gen snapdragon vs dual core tegra? I’m as much an HTC fan as anyone but thats big.  Add to that the world phone nature of the photon and you have a winner

      • ApplesNAndroids

        Isn’t the EVO 3D dual-core as well?

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_JNKVTT7PJMXPYP2GVCIERBQQCU Andrew

         The EVO 3D will have second gen snapdragon dual core at 1.2GHZ vs this device 1GHZ tegra.  Tegra is good but seems optimized for gaming.  We will see.

      • sansenoy

        First gen snapdragon??? The Tegra can barely handle 720p video playback, while the EVO easily crunches 1080p playback and recording… True, the CPU is the same design, but a great one…

    • Anonymous

      This has 4G as well

    • Deval

      Because this is a world phone?

  • Anonymous

    Very impressive.

  • MrKishanG

    HTC Evo 4G 3D vs Motorola Photon 4G. Going to be a tough decision. I like HTC Sense. Never used MOTO Blur. I hate the fact that HTC only is going to have 4 gigs of RAM. The Photon has 16 gigs of RAM. Any thought on these items?

    • Anonymous

      Plus Samsung Galaxy SII. Its gonna be a tough decision this summer

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_JNKVTT7PJMXPYP2GVCIERBQQCU Andrew

      RAM and ROM are not the same.  None of these devices have 4GB of RAM let alone 16GB.  You’re thinking about ROM or onboard storage.  Shoot, our computers don’t even have 16GB of RAM.

    • http://infotainmentempire.blogspot.com Rob

      you mean 4 and 16 GB of ROM…

  • Shenanigunz

    Is the screen RGB or Pentile?

  • WhoDatEhea?

    I’m glad Sprint is getting some great options, but snapdragon+htc+3d; EVO 3D FTW!!!

  • Anonymous

    webtop needs the laptop dock, it won’t launch with a hdtv, unless you have modded packages from xda. What works under hdtv is the entertainment center (videos, photos). This is from my experience with the motorola atrix

    either this is an error or motorola unlocked webtop for hdtv use

  • Anonymous

    Damn, Nexus S 4G+Htc evo 3d 4G+Photon 4G+ samsung galaxy SII+sprint’s reasonable price plans and an upgrade coming up in a two months…….Holy crap, its good to be a sprint customer :)

  • BackInAction

    This is a world phone, right?  What GSM frequencies does it support?

  • I do know

    just go to engadget where you can actually watch a hands-on video

  • http://infotainmentempire.blogspot.com Rob

    As a new Verizon customer with a Droid X2 I don’t understand… why are all these other Tegra 2 devices recording in 1080p and the DX2 is at 720p? Same chip, same OEM… what the hell?

    Currently I don’t have use for 4G but of course it’d be nice to have… hope the Droid 3 gets switched to LTE instead of 3G…

  • http://twitter.com/CptMurderMarley Mr. Marley Jones

    What makes this phone different than the previous dozen 4/4.3 inch Android phones before it #seriousquestion

    • Anonymous

      Not much…but it does support Device Encryption and SD Encryption which is huge for Enterprise users who have Encryption security policies with Exchange Activesync.

  • Jcarli00

    trim that nasty thumb nail…ughhh

  • http://twitter.com/TurboFool Jarrett Kaufman

    I have yet to see anything mention the RAM in this thing. Has anyone else? I’m quite curious. Motorola’s proven to be nearly as good as HTC at keeping their phones up to date which makes this one very tempting. Also it has the search key, unlike the upcoming Galaxy S II which I was considering holding out for. I’d like to know the RAM situation before I start trying to make decisions.

    • Anonymous

      1GB of RAM

  • Anonymous

    Another Ghetto phone.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Byron-Sigh/698690135 Byron Sigh

      :facepalm:

      Whats ghetto?  The fact it isnt an iphone.

  • http://twitter.com/JoshuaPingley Joshua Pingley

    Evo 3D > Photon

  • Josiah

    With locked bootloader, what do we suppose the probability is for rooting within first few months?  I really want to want this phone.  If I was more certain about root access, this would be a no-brainer vs. EVO 3D.

  • Anonymous

    My Atrix feels old right now. Most of all Motorola screw us that have the Atrix 4G now they put Gingerbread and a kickstand for Sprint’s Photon which pisses me off now.

  • Anonymous

    Wow, you have to admit that is one really cool looking phone.

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