It is time to get the second device up and running here at the Mobile Spotlight and it is yet another one from the category of what I am going to start calling super phones, the Motorola Photon. The Photon is well qualified to lay claim in this space due to some very impressive hardware spec which we’ll get to in a future post. As the HTC EVO 3D parts ways with the Spotlight we waive goodbye with tears in our eyes but consider ourselves fortunate for having a great benchmark to leverage when digging into new devices. As a new device this should be a little intimidating and I’m interested to see how the Photon stacks up over the next few weeks as I get my dirty claws into it’s features. Since I’m new to Motorola’s version of the Android platform we’ll get into the numerous functions I’ve had the opportunity to read about but let’s start with the form factor of the device and Motorola’s widget set up since these are largely influencing my initial impressions.
Form Factor
The two form factor elements that immediately jumped out at me is the profile of the device and the kickstand. The picture above does a good job of illustrating both. (and no I don’t know who Scott Wilke is but good luck with your fictitious big launch) Motorola has decided to angle off the corners of the device in what I think is a good move to try and delineate the looks of the device from the rest of the candy bar style smart phones in the market. The move isn’t a huge deal but I think it does a good job of make the phone distinguishable and recognizable vs other iconic devices and in my opinion creates a good look by adding a thoughtful stylish touch to the device. I can’t say I can really tell a difference the corner styling makes with the feel of the device in my hand, after comparing it to the EVO 3D, so the design to me only influence the appearance. Depending on your opinion this could be a good thing if you like the feel of a standard uber phone and like the styling element. For those of you that became addicted to the kickstand of your EVO 4G and were disappointed that the EVO 3D didn’t have one you now have a viable upgrade option if you don’t want to have to purchase a kickstand enabled case for an EVO 3D. The Photon’s kickstand is constructed with solid metal materials and is spring loaded which gives it a very sturdy feel. As one of my peers on the Product Ambassador team pointed out the spring is strong enough to prop the phone up from either landscape side of the device. This comes in handy because Motorola located the USB charging port on the down side of the device when in the kickstand is engaged so you can simply flip the bad boy over, plug in your charger and the kickstand is strong enough to hold up the device. If you have owned an EVO 4G I think you will find that the kickstand on the Photon has improved on the design and throwing in a customizable kickstand mode makes it that much more functional and fun. The last thing I will say about the form factor is the much appreciated use of the soft touch matte finish on the battery door covering the backside of the device. The barely there case I bought for my EVO 3D had this same finish so it was a welcome use of materials on the stock form of the Photon. The soft feel of the materials combined with the grippability of the surface makes it ideal cover material for handheld devices.
Widgets
More specifically I’m going to talk about the stock Motorola widgets available in the Photon’s UI. Here is a quick list the types of widgets you will find:
1. Toggle Widgets- On/Off widgets to control things like network connections, Bluetooth, GPS, etc
2. Weather- quick view of high/low temp of the day
3. Sticky Note- saves a quick note on your home screen, good for those of us with horrible memories
4. Social Networking- see latest updates and post to your social media sources of choice
5. Picture Frame Plus- slide show widget of your pics, will automatically bring in new images taken
6. Music: Now Playing- control of your MP3s, podcasts, and FM radio
7. Messages- consolidated message depot for email and SMS
8. Calendar/Clock- widgets displaying time and calendar functions
9. News- Read the latest news and blogs, allows you to choose your news sources
10. Bookmarks- widget displaying the web bookmarks of your choice.
There is a lot of good functions in this list that will help you manage your device and the content displayed which in turn allows you to customize your homescreens until you are blue in the face. My only issue with the widgets is the way they graphically appear on your homescreens, this is where comparisons to the EVO 3D’s Sense UI is going to bite the Photon. Motorola has done a great job of providing meaningful widgets and provide integration of the phone’s functions which makes the device very user friendly but the graphics used in the widgets don’t compare to the quality and appearance of HTC’s Sense 3.0 widgets. In an effort to illustrate my mind kept going back to the comparison of the graphics on the Playstation 3 vs. the original Playstation, the original is nice but isn’t as nearly visually stunning as it’s successor. I will have to readily admit I’m unimpressed with the widget’s graphical design and will be going down the route of using Android based widgets to customize my homescreens.
I will wrap for now but stay tuned because there is a lot to discuss with the device. The widgets are just the tip on the iceberg when it comes to what is packed into this phone! Until next time may the winds be at your back and as always if there is anything you would like to see commented on let me know.
No comments:
Post a Comment