How bad is the lag?

[Captain01]

I have an upgrade soon and am debating between the Photon and the Epic 4g Touch. I have looked at quite a few reviews about the Photon and in almost all of the video reviews there is some lag when scrolling the home screens and such. I was just wondering if this is something that everyone is experiencing or not. I think I really want the Photon over the Epic Touch but the Touch looks so much smoother than the Photon.

I also went to the Sprint store to play with both phones and the Photon they had out had truly awful lag. They didn't have and Epic Touch out so I couldn't compare they side by side. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[TheMostToys]

I have both the E4GT and the Photon.

The Photon is my daily carry because of it's superior radio (can not be beat! and at the end of the day, a phone is useless without a good connection.) That said, in most circumstances, the E4GT has fine reception, but there are four places that I spend a lot of time where there is very weak signal and that disqualifies the E4GT (well, relegates it to backup status in my wife's purse.)

The E4GT has a FAR superior processor. Not just the main CPU but the GPU and it's support of the new API's. The GUI is directly connected to the GPU (like in the iPhone's) and this is what gives unprecedented "buttery smooth" interaction. It is also why the phone never stalls (because the CPU's and GPU's never get in each others way.) Whereas on the Photon, the Tegra 2 processor has to deal with the GUI and the application execution. You can use different launchers (Launcher Pro, SPB 3D, ADW, ...) that are more efficient than the Moto-UI, but nothing will compare to the E4GT responsiveness.

Just need to decide what is more important to you. For me, the 0.2 second difference in responsiveness and the occasional lag is worth it if the phone actually works (is getting a signal.)

 

[drexappeal]

Quite honestly, any "lag" that a phone has is all subjective to the actual user's tolerance level. Just for example, I started experiencing more lag on my EVO after I had the phone for some time already. Initially, I didn't notice much lag at all, but as time went on I could tell the difference from when I first purchased it. That said, now having a phone with a dual-core processor in the MoPho, while using Launcher Pro Plus as my UI...absolutely minimal lag compared to how the EVO was using Launcher Pro Plus.

I know what you mean by the "lag" that you noticed on the MoPho using Motorola's UI because I did notice it slightly. Again, still not as bad as the EVO eventually got, but it was noticable. Switching to an aftermarket Launcher was night and day with regards to using the MoPho and responsiveness.

I'd look at the different pros and cons for both devices, prior to deciding which is better suited for your needs. Hands down, for my purposes, the MoPho kills anything else on Sprint's lineup for everything that I do on a day-to-day basis. There were two key factors that kept me from swapping my MoPho to the ET4G, 1) Samsung's history for lack of support (not that this couldn't change, but I'm not a root user as of yet, so this is important for me) and 2) The device just seemed massively bigger to me and didn't feel as comfortable to hold (despite it being extremely thin, the height and width were just uncomfortable for me personally). Again, that's for my personal preferences.

 

[Citizen Coyote]

I have noticed lag on my Photon, but it seems to be app-specific. For the most part, it's smooth enough. If you're totally lag-intolerant, though, you'll probably be better off with the GS2.

 

[Captain01]

There were two key factors that kept me from swapping my MoPho to the ET4G, 1) Samsung's history for lack of support (not that this couldn't change, but I'm not a root user as of yet, so this is important for me) and 2) The device just seemed massively bigger to me and didn't feel as comfortable to hold (despite it being extremely thin, the height and width were just uncomfortable for me personally).

I think that it will actually be those 2 things that push me toward the Photon as well. If I am gonna have this phone for 2 years now that Sprint is going to 22 month upgrades I want one that the manufacturer is going to take care of. Also, while the big display would be nice for movies and such I don't thing I really want to carry that around with me all the time.

 

[Captain01]

You can use different launchers (Launcher Pro, SPB 3D, ADW, ...) that are more efficient than the Moto-UI, but nothing will compare to the E4GT responsiveness.

Which launcher would ya'll recommend? And do they take away any features of gingerbread or any nice features that Motorola has put on this phone?

 

[wynand32]

Whereas on the Photon, the Tegra 2 processor has to deal with the GUI and the application execution.

Well, actually, the E4GT and the Photon are, of course, IDENTICAL in how Android works on them. Both have GPUs (and whether the E4GT's is so much better is open to debate) that are utilized to whatever and completely equal extent in drawing the UI. Yes, the E4GT's processor is clocked higher than the Photon's, but they work exactly the same way as far as the UI is concerned.

Note that the Tegra 2 is NOT a "processor," it's a system on a chip (SoC) that incorporates a CPU (Cortex A9) and GPU (ULP GeForce), just like the Samsung Exynos is an SoC that incorporates a CPU (also Cortex A9) and a GPU (Mali 400). The E4GT is a bit faster than the Photon (largely by virtue of being clocked higher and for using the NEON instruction set, which matters most for video), but that's not because the E4GT does anything fundamentally different than the Photon (except for processing video playback more efficiently, but that's unrelated to the question at hand). Then again, the Photon's Tegra 2 is also pushing 30% more pixels than the E4GT's Exynos, and so that comes into play as well.

That said, I experience zero lag in the homescreen. At most, you can say that Moto did something with the transition code that makes panning from one homescreen to another a little less "smooth," but that doesn't seem to be a function of the hardware. As stated, put on a different launcher and it's perfectly "smooth." However, it's not actually "laggy" for me, which I would define as unexpected and inconsistent slowdowns.

One could just as easily say that the E4GT is choppy when opening and closing apps, transitioning from portrait to landscape, etc., while the Photon is really smooth. That would be largely the effect of Moto's transitions, however, which really are nice and smooth compared to Samsung's abrupt transitions. It's clearly not, however, a function of processor speed.

 

[drexappeal]

I think that it will actually be those 2 things that push me toward the Photon as well. If I am gonna have this phone for 2 years now that Sprint is going to 22 month upgrades I want one that the manufacturer is going to take care of. Also, while the big display would be nice for movies and such I don't thing I really want to carry that around with me all the time.

Are you currently Premiere Gold or Silver? If you're premiere Gold, then you should upgrade this weekend, in order to get 1 last early upgrade. If you're silver, then obviously it's a moot point.

Keep in mind, Motorola is now owned by Google (and there are still rumors of Google contemplating purchasing Sprint...although, I really don't believe them because that's been talked about for the past few years). Even though, after the purchase, Google maintained that Motorola would still function independently, it's now in Google's vested interest to make sure the future of current and upcoming Motorola Android devices are well supported. Even if Google may give Motorola autonomy over the hardware, there's no reason to think that Google would let any of the Motorola devices fall off as far as software is concerned. Motorola's support was already pretty darn good, even prior to the purchase, but let's even take the MoPho as an example. Within the first 2 months that this phone has been available, there've already been two (2) OTA updates (with a 3rd rumored to be on its way). Some may take the stance that the device should've been flawless and not needed OTA updates so quickly, but I've never heard of any Smartphone that was completely flawless right off the bat. The fact that the MoPho got a couple updates so quickly leads me to believe that Google already started flexing their muscles as far as software support is concerned (of course, this is all speculation on my part).

But, getting back to your original question, any "lag" you might've noticed would be tolerable for some and not so much for others. I haven't experienced any lag ever since I put Launcher Pro Plus on the MoPho, so I'm not really a reliable source if you're only looking to use the OEM UI.

 

[floorguy]

Do you know if you need GPS for anything???


then stay away from anything Samsung....

to bad to, cuz i kinda like samsungs look...but I HAVE to have use of GPS.. And when my phone shows me in RUSSIA its not a good thing

 

[drexappeal]

Do you know if you need GPS for anything???


then stay away from anything Samsung....

to bad to, cuz i kinda like samsungs look...but I HAVE to have use of GPS.. And when my phone shows me in RUSSIA its not a good thing

Woah, that's crazy!...my Epic never got that bad, but it would at times show me in Nevada or one of the surrounding states. Luckily for me, I also had an EVO which was much better with GPS signal, so I didn't worry about Samsung's GPS woes.

 

[TheMostToys]

Well, actually, the E4GT and the Photon are, of course, IDENTICAL in how Android works on them. Both have GPUs (and whether the E4GT's is so much better is open to debate) that are utilized to whatever and completely equal extent in drawing the UI. Yes, the E4GT's processor is clocked higher than the Photon's, but they work exactly the same way as far as the UI is concerned.

Note that the Tegra 2 is NOT a "processor," it's a system on a chip (SoC) that incorporates a CPU (Cortex A9) and GPU (ULP GeForce), just like the Samsung Exynos is an SoC that incorporates a CPU (also Cortex A9) and a GPU (Mali 400). The E4GT is a bit faster than the Photon (largely by virtue of being clocked higher and for using the NEON instruction set, which matters most for video), but that's not because the E4GT does anything fundamentally different than the Photon (except for processing video playback more efficiently, but that's unrelated to the question at hand). Then again, the Photon's Tegra 2 is also pushing 30% more pixels than the E4GT's Exynos, and so that comes into play as well.

That said, I experience zero lag in the homescreen. At most, you can say that Moto did something with the transition code that makes panning from one homescreen to another a little less "smooth," but that doesn't seem to be a function of the hardware. As stated, put on a different launcher and it's perfectly "smooth." However, it's not actually "laggy" for me, which I would define as unexpected and inconsistent slowdowns.

One could just as easily say that the E4GT is choppy when opening and closing apps, transitioning from portrait to landscape, etc., while the Photon is really smooth. That would be largely the effect of Moto's transitions, however, which really are nice and smooth compared to Samsung's abrupt transitions. It's clearly not, however, a function of processor speed.

Well, as someone with both devices sitting right in front of me, I respectfully tell you that you are wrong. I've been told that it is the "NEON" implementation and the fact that the E4GT has double the memory pipe as the Tegra 2. Whatever the technical reasoning is, I can tell you for 100% certain, with ZERO doubt that the E4GT is noticeably smoother than the Photon (same exact apps, same exact configuration). Also, where I can occasionally see a lag (or delay in loading an app) on the photon, I NEVER see that on the E4GT. Just like I can easily lose data connection on the E4GT but not on the Photon. They are different phones, they each have different strengths and weaknesses. If you can not tell the difference between the responsiveness of the E4GT and the Photon, then good for you (slow reflexes?) But I can easily feel the difference. Regardless, I chose the Photon (for the radios) but if the E4GT has the same radios and antenna, I would chose it over the Photon.

 

[wynand32]

Well, as someone with both devices sitting right in front of me, I respectfully tell you that you are wrong.

Everyone's experience is different, of course. My point was that your implication that the E4GT uses the GPU to accelerate the UI but the Photon doesn't is entirely incorrect. And, I said that the Exynos is faster than Tegra 2 (at some things), but that I didn't believe the homescreen "lag" is caused by processing power but rather by how Motorola coded the skin. That's supported by the fact that other (perhaps even more complex) skins are buttery smooth.

Yes, the E4GT has a slightly faster processor and perhaps that translates into slightly better overall performance. But I wouldn't want anybody to read a post and conclude that the Photon's performance is bad, which it simply is not. It performs extremely well for me and without perceptible lag, and that's what matters when evaluating the Photon--not whether or not the E4GT is a few milliseconds faster in a few specific use cases.

I'll add that Moto's transitions--the zooming in and out when launching apps, going from landscape to portrait, etc.--does introduce a tiny bit of a perceived delay. However, it's also very attractive and, to me at least, less jarring than Samsung's jerky transitions. It might be that someone looking at the two would perceive the Photon being "slower" because of the transition, and I imagine it could bother some folks.