Samsung phones on paper are great, however they are extremely buggy. I would avoid Samsung at all costs. It seems Motorola is the most responsive when it comes to software updates as well which is so important.
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Photon or Galaxy S2
- Thread starter snowcrash
- Start date
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- motorola photon 4g
Samsung phones on paper are great, however they are extremely buggy. I would avoid Samsung at all costs. It seems Motorola is the most responsive when it comes to software updates as well which is so important.
busted bones
Android Enthusiast
Ive been having a complete nightmare of a time with my phone, I had it reboot in the middle of a 911 call reporting a drunk driver who was all over the road. Im having issues with it locking up and the constant HTC reboot screen issues are bothering the hell out of me followed by getting the soft keys to load and take up the entire right side of the screen Im pretty fed up with the phone. And then of all things yesterday the charging port stopped working. The sprint store I took it to told me it would be $100 for a replacement, what the hell am I paying for insurance if I cant get a replacement on a manufacture defect? If you ask anyone I know I do not abuse my phone because my business relies on a reliable phone.
drexappeal
Extreme Android User
Yeah, sorry to hear that. I've been hearing of a lot of EVO owners experiencing those issues. I personally haven't. Are you sure it's not one of the apps that you have on the phone that's causing it?
busted bones
Android Enthusiast
I thought that might have been the case as well but factory resets and a new phone didnt fix that issue. Even when the phone was blank I was having issues with these things happening. The broken charge port sent me over the edge though. I had the phone for maybe a week and then that popped up and because its physical damage they said itll be $100 for a replacement.
drexappeal
Extreme Android User
Damn, sorry to hear all of that. Hopefully you have better luck with the photon.
Galaxy S2 just hit the FCC with a Wimax radio, so that means Sprint.
I would wager that it will drop in late August or September. Sprint will need a heavy hitter in September if they don't have an iPhone5.
I've decided to sit out the Photon, Evo3D and SGS2 in favor of the Nexus 3...for now. I'm just too content with my Nexus S currently.
I would wager that it will drop in late August or September. Sprint will need a heavy hitter in September if they don't have an iPhone5.
I've decided to sit out the Photon, Evo3D and SGS2 in favor of the Nexus 3...for now. I'm just too content with my Nexus S currently.
brownhornet
Android Enthusiast
The difference here is going to be that the GS2 is going to be unlocked so if you dont want to wait for "official" updates you can flash your own. The Photon is going to be locked down so youll have no choice but to wait on official updates. As far as resolution, I dont understand still why people keep hyping up the "qHD" displays. I have the 3D and the display really isnt much better than my Evo 4G was. Lower resolution or not, that SAMOLED+ is still better than the qHD screens to me. Just watch the side by side videos on youtube of the GS2 vs the 3D or the Sensation and there's no way you can possibly tell me that the qHD screen looks better.
mkvoran
Member
For now..... I have high confidence that the Photon will be unlocked sooner than later. And some even think it may be unlocked out of the box.
Either way, I'm happy to play around with ghost blur or w/e they are calling it now until the bootloader is eventually unlocked.
Glod
Newbie
I have nothing against those who want to EVO3D or GS2 over the Photon, The GS2 is obviously the more sexy device. I wouldnt be surprised if the "Within" gets high praise from cnet, engadget, and thisismynext(the verge) and the Photon will not get praise or even worse they won't even review it.
I just have some really bad experiences with Samsung and HTC phones. For example My girlfriend's Epic GPS Stopped working months ago and she's so stubborn she wont let me or sprint fix it. And I am on my 5th EVO 4G; 1 thanks to water damage and 3 thanks to the charger port issue (ugh!).
Photon for me!
I just have some really bad experiences with Samsung and HTC phones. For example My girlfriend's Epic GPS Stopped working months ago and she's so stubborn she wont let me or sprint fix it. And I am on my 5th EVO 4G; 1 thanks to water damage and 3 thanks to the charger port issue (ugh!).
Photon for me!
busted bones
Android Enthusiast
You and me both on the EVO, Im on my 4th, 1 stopped vibrating at all, 2nd and 3rd was so bugged out it was unusable, and now this ones charge port broke.
This subject is still the big question for a lot of us that can upgrade. Photon NOW or wait for the SGSII and decide then? Is it a good strategy to pick up the Photon now and hope the SGSII comes out in the 30 day return/exchange window? Then you can decide to either keep the Photon or treat this as a trial period and move on to the SGSII if you prefer. What's the cost in the later...your upgrade is put back and you pay a $35 restock fee? What happens if we buy the Photon Sunday and we go 29 days and still no SGSII? Return it and go back to an earlier device to wait out the remaining time (hopefully not much longer)?
Sorry for all the questions, but Sprint finally has (or VERY soon) will have a very strong 4G line-up and it's strategy time for many of us to pick hardware we might have to stick with for awhile.
Thoughts?
Sorry for all the questions, but Sprint finally has (or VERY soon) will have a very strong 4G line-up and it's strategy time for many of us to pick hardware we might have to stick with for awhile.
Thoughts?
drexappeal
Extreme Android User
Anybody that's strongly considering the SG2 should absolutely wait, until at least the SG2 release is "formally" announced, with pricing.
If that was the case for me, this is what I'd do:
1) Wait for either the formal SG2 release date to be announced and/or a pre-order to be announced...whichever is first (and the 2 could possibly go hand-in-hand).
2) Go to wherever I decide to eventually purchase the phone to place a pre-order (e.g. Sprint, BB, Radio Shack, Walmart, Wirefly, Amazon,etc. - The pre-order does not obligate you to a purchase until the phone is released, so you can always cancel)
3) 2 weeks prior to the release date, go back to wherever you placed the pre-order and purchase the Photon 4G (2 weeks is a good amount of time to try out the Photon and see if it's a device that you like). At Best Buy and Radio Shack, you can actually use the gift card you'd likely receive for the SG2 pre-order for the Photon purchase and that will not take away from the "pre-order" that you placed.
4) Once the SG2 is released, you'll still be on the pre-order, so you'll have dibs to purchase the device. If you haven't fallen in love with the Photon, go into a Sprint store briefly to check out a live version of the phone (or any 3rd party retailer that might have a live display version to check out). If it seems like you'll like it better, trade your Photon in...simple as that.
Is there really much of a chance that Sprint will get an iPhone?
Bandage
Member
I would think there's a rather good chance.
Analyst: iPhone 5 likely coming to Sprint, T-Mobile | Wireless - CNET News
While I like samsung hardware, in my experience with them you need to be happy with the phone and it's quirks. If it has issues chances are slim to none that they will fix it down the road.
Which works out well for me since my upgrade isn't due to hit until November... that should give me enough time to see if there are any glaring issues with the SGS2 before I plunk down my money.
The nice thing is the fact that there are two other, very solid phones to choose from if the SGS2 has some kind of deal-breaker issue for me (the E3D and P4G).
And, while I hope sprint does get the iphone, it's just not for me. I know it's a very stable platform with excellent hardware but it just isn't much fun as far as I'm concerned.
Which works out well for me since my upgrade isn't due to hit until November... that should give me enough time to see if there are any glaring issues with the SGS2 before I plunk down my money.
The nice thing is the fact that there are two other, very solid phones to choose from if the SGS2 has some kind of deal-breaker issue for me (the E3D and P4G).
And, while I hope sprint does get the iphone, it's just not for me. I know it's a very stable platform with excellent hardware but it just isn't much fun as far as I'm concerned.
brushrop03
Android Enthusiast
The Photon's screen is pretty bad. Color reproduction is not very accurate. Especially noticeable when watching video. It has good blacks, but other colors are too saturated. skin tones should not be red. It's like looking at a really bad LED TV. I would have to say my Evo looks much better. It's not the best...but better. And the performance isn't that huge of a difference for me either.
I'm going to keep it for the 30 days. Hopefully the GS2 will be out and I can give that a try. If it's not out i'll more than likely return the photon and just wait it out for something unless the Photon can really start impressing me.
As far as Samsung not updating, that's true. But they also keep the bootloader unlocked so it will be easy, at least for me, to simply flash a ROM and be done. Bootloader is locked and encrypted on the Photon. And there are plenty of videos/reviews that say the GPS for the GS2 works fine out of the box.
I'm going to keep it for the 30 days. Hopefully the GS2 will be out and I can give that a try. If it's not out i'll more than likely return the photon and just wait it out for something unless the Photon can really start impressing me.
As far as Samsung not updating, that's true. But they also keep the bootloader unlocked so it will be easy, at least for me, to simply flash a ROM and be done. Bootloader is locked and encrypted on the Photon. And there are plenty of videos/reviews that say the GPS for the GS2 works fine out of the box.
whatsitsname
Android Enthusiast
I would like to think that Galaxy 2 will have an unlock bootloader too but that is not a given yet. I know that they gave Cyanogenmod and unlocked Galaxy 2. That said I think it will eventually come down to each carrier's decision. Unlike GSM international models of the Galaxy 2 which are universal, U.S. models will be carrier specific.
brushrop03
Android Enthusiast
That's true. It will be up to Sprint on whether to lock/unlock the bootloader.
whatsitsname
Android Enthusiast
Sprint unlocked, Verizon locked. 
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Concern over the display seems overblown. You don't have to read the spec; just go to the bloody store and look at one.
If display is the only issue then nothing beats first hand observation. My 2ct - having looked at the evo3d and photon in stores (as well as many other phones) I think the photon has a really nice display. Of course i'm gonna wait the 3+ weeks for the s2 to come out so I can compare it to the photon before making an informed decision (the evo3d already lost to the photon).
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Bootloader is another issue and it also concerns me; so I'm not ignoring that portion of your comment but if that is the deal breaker for you then just say so
Keep in mind that the signed/encrypted bootloader on the photon doesn't prevent you from rooting or loading a custom rom. It does mean that you can't change the kernel. I had a droid X that had the same issue and while it is somewhat limiting it's also not quite as bad as people make it out to be. In addition the sbf files that inevitably seem to leak out for moto's devices are incredibly handy for alleviating "brick" anxiety.
I'm not too concerned about the GPS at this point in time... the GSM versions of the SGS2 seems pretty solid all around. But it is still up the air how the CDMA variant will fair since it will have a different radio and there's the possibility it will have a different SOC (hopefully it won't but you never know).
brushrop03
Android Enthusiast
I would say just playing with it in the store isn't good enough. In the first 2hours i had it while at Best Buy I thought it was great too. But when I got it home and started doing my youtube thing, there was a huge difference. I'd say actually get the Photon and take it home for some time. Maybe when there's a firm release date for the SG2
Without access to the bootloader I can't load a custom rom. Rooting only allows for uninstalling bloatware and overclocking.
You are unable to change the kernel that the bootloader kicks off. You can however change other portions of the ROM.
While this does prevent you from loading a version of android that hasn't been released by moto it does allow you to theme the ROM and do a few other system level tweaks. Not ideal but far better than most are aware. Here's an example of a Droid X rom (the X also has a locked/signed/encrypted bootloader): [ROM] Liberty Gingerbread
Regardless, Moto should open this up. Hopefully they are feeling the pressure with HTC moving back to unlocked bootloaders.
While this does prevent you from loading a version of android that hasn't been released by moto it does allow you to theme the ROM and do a few other system level tweaks. Not ideal but far better than most are aware. Here's an example of a Droid X rom (the X also has a locked/signed/encrypted bootloader): [ROM] Liberty Gingerbread
Regardless, Moto should open this up. Hopefully they are feeling the pressure with HTC moving back to unlocked bootloaders.