#Motorola sticky notes widget upgrade
#Motorola sticky notes widget android

NinjaBlur’s widgets, however, are a bit nicer.

We’re quite pleased with the boost in speed and responsiveness, but NinjaBlur remains one of the lamer modifications of Google’s Android operating system, and possibly the worst among the major players: LG, HTC, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson. When we tested the Droid X2, which initially ran Android 2.2, Motorola’s user interface was slow and laggy, but over the summer, the electronics maker finally moved up to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread).

The upgrade to Android 2.3 has been kind to Motorola phones. Other than the dull colors, the screen appears to operate just fine. We recommend you check it out at a store before you buy, just to make sure this issue doesn’t bother you. Motorola has attempted to combat the problem by filling its NinjaBlur interface with dull grays and blues, but the lack of color seems to only emphasize the display’s weaknesses. These dots ruin the smoothness of nearly any icon or moving graphic and are especially noticeable on the phone’s home screen. We’ve had issues with color banding as well, but the worst problem with the screen is the white and black subpixels, which create a tiny, but visible checkered grid of black and white dots. In an effort to save money (we imagine), Motorola has chosen to combine a PenTile display with LCD technology, resulting in a bland display that noticeably muted yellows and other colors. Though the capacitive touch works well and the phone has an impressive qHD resolution of 940 x 560 pixels, the Photon suffers the same display problems as the Motorola Droid X2, Droid 3, and Atrix. Unfortunately, it’s not a good device for those who value colorful, high quality screens. With the MicroSD slot also available, the Photon is definitely a media lover’s device. The phone has 16GB of built-in storage, more than most high-end phones. Internal storage is a bit more impressive. As with most dual-core phones, the Photon also has 1GB of RAM. The Photon 4G is a 1GHz dual-core phone running on Nvidia’s Tegra 2 processor, which is quite a popular chip these days. The Webtop environment is too limited to really use effectively.įinally, the cameras, rear speaker, and haptic navigation buttons are all pretty standard. If you have the right kind of monitor and pay for the extra hookups, it’s a neat thing to try out, but don’t buy the Photon for its desktop qualities. Yep, you can use the infamous Atrix Webtop interface with the Photon. This is because Motorola had to place the MicroHDMI and MicroUSB ports on the left side of the phone, so that the Photon would fit into Moto’s Laptop dock and Desktop dock accessories. Oddly though, because the USB charging port is facing downward while in this mode, you cannot use your phone as an alarm clock because you can’t charge it. Pulling out the metal band on the backside of the phone is easy and lets you prop it up (landscape) at about a 60 degree angle, good for use as a desk clock or for viewing video.

The dedicated camera button is also pleasant, though sadly missing from the Droid 3 and Droid X2.Įase of use and functionality also bleeds into the most noticeable feature of the Photon: its kickstand. Speaking of the buttons, they are metal and textured, which sounds trivial, but gives the phone a more premium feel and helps guide your finger to the section you want to press.

We particularly like the Battlestar Galactica-style curved cworners, which make it easier to slide your fingers from the power button on the top right to the volume toggle on the right side of the unit. The Photon feels very comfortable to hold, especially for a phone with a massive 4.3-inch screen. It won’t win any awards for its thinness, but the Photon is solidly built, with a gorilla glass screen, dark (very dark) blue metal bumper, and that slick black rubberized coating Motorola puts on most of its high-end phones since the Droid.

In outward appearance and feel, the Photon 4G edges out any of Motorola’s other designs this year. The bad news: It does suffer from a few of the same problems that seem to plague all Motorola phones this year, namely a bad screen and NinjaBlur. The Motorola Photon 4G is one of the first dual-core Android phones on Sprint and, along with the HTC EVO 3D, one of the only top-tier devices on the carrier. Fitbit Versa 3ĪT&T and Verizon have had dual-core Motorola phones for months now, and someone at Sprint got jealous.

#Motorola sticky notes widget android

#Motorola sticky notes widget upgrade