Motorola Photon 4G

The first thing you’ll notice about the Motorola Photon 4G
is the distinctive cut-off corner design which gives it a more rugged look than its round-corners cousins. Despite that, at 5 x 2.63 x 0.48-inches, it’s standard size for a 4G phone and only slightly larger than Sprint’s EVO 3D.

Powered by a 1GHz dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor and 16GB of memory, the Photon 4G feels faster in use than the EVO and even processor intensive activities like game playing or scrolling through image galleries present no problem for the Photon hardware with no noticeable lag or delay.

Running the Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread), the Photon comes with the Motorola Applications Platform (M.A.P.), the successor to MOTOBLUR. This is the phone UI that some people love, some people hate. Nothing on the Photon is going to change that but if you love the UI there are a number of useful enhancements in this version and it’s a major improvement on the MOTOBLUR found on earlier 4G phones.

Like the EVO 3D, the Photon 4G has an 8 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and shoots video in 720p – but neither the image quality or the video quality matches the EVO. If owning a good quality camera smartphone is your buying priority then the Photon is probably not the right choice for you and we’d recommend taking a look at the Sprint’s other flagship phone the EVO 3D.

If you place a higher value on outstanding call quality, then the Photon beats all other competitors right now on Sprint. Not only is call quality excellent, the powerful radio inside picks up Sprint service in areas where other phones struggle or even give up.

With moderate use, the 1,650 mAh battery will get you through the day on a single charge but heavier users will want to grab an extended battery pack or portable charger to keep them going.

Aside from running on the Sprint 4G phone network, the Motorola Photon is compatible will GSM networks worldwide making it ideal for the global traveler. Data encryption and remote device management add to the list of features that make the Photon a good choice as a both business and personal phone.

Buy or not buy?

Even the average camera can’t stop us liking this phone – the outstanding call quality and reception make it the best high-end phone available on Sprint. Official price is $199.99 with a two-year contract but Amazon have the Motorola Photon 4G prices lower and, for a limited time, free line activation.