Motorola Photon Q Review: A Comprehensive Look

The Motorola Photon Q is a powerhouse of a smartphone, packing a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM, making it a beast for multitasking and heavy usage. This phone is not for the faint of heart.

With its 4.3-inch qHD display, you'll be treated to vibrant colors and crisp text, perfect for reading, browsing, and gaming. The display is a joy to behold, and you'll find yourself getting lost in the visuals.

The Motorola Photon Q's Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system may seem a bit outdated, but it still gets the job done. However, it's worth noting that the phone's performance is still snappy and responsive, even with the older OS.

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The Motorola Photon Q has a design that's both comfortable to hold and compact enough to fit in most pockets. Its angled corners make it easy to grip while making calls.

The phone's body is made of a soft plastic that feels good to the touch, although it would have been nice if it was wrapped in Kevlar like some other Motorola phones. The Photon Q's 4.3-inch display uses Color Boost technology, which Motorola claims gives smartphones 50 percent more pixels than the leading smartphone offers.

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The display isn't as sharp as some other high-end phones, but it does look sharper and more vibrant than some others. The Photon Q has a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera and an 8-megapixel camera on the back, along with a physical camera button on the right spine.

The phone's battery is an embedded 1785mAh one, which is supposed to last longer but can't be replaced if it becomes damaged or runs out of charge. The charging port and MicroHDMI port are located on the left spine, while the volume rocker and MicroSD card slot are on the right.

The Photon Q's design is a slight departure from its predecessor, the Motorola Photon 4G, with angled corners that make it comfortable to hold.

The phone's compact size allows it to fit easily into most pockets, making it a great choice for those who want a phone that's easy to carry around.

The Photon Q's body is made of a soft plastic that feels good to the touch, but it's not as durable as some other phones on the market, like the Droid Razr and Droid Razr Maxx, which are wrapped in Kevlar.

The 4.3-inch display on the front of the phone uses the same Color Boost technology as the Motorola Atrix HD, which Motorola claims gives smartphones 50 percent more pixels than the leading smartphone.

The screen on the Photon Q isn't as sharp as some other phones, like the Samsung Galaxy S III or HTC One X, but it does look sharper and more vibrant than the screen on the Motorola Droid Bionic.

The back of the phone features an 8-megapixel camera and the external speaker, and the phone's embedded battery is supposed to last longer, but it can't be replaced if it becomes damaged or unable to hold much charge.

The left spine of the phone hosts the charging port and MicroHDMI port, while the right spine has the volume rocker, a physical camera button, and a small flap covering the MicroSD card slot.

The Motorola Photon Q's processor is a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 Plus dual core CPU, which was jointly supported by Qualcomm and Google through the Android 6.0, Marshmallow release cycles.

This processor is notable for its time, including a micro-HDMI port, and is similar to the ones found in other devices like the Motorola Droid RAZR (XT925) and Atrix HD (MB886).

The Photon Q has 1GB of RAM, which is a decent amount for a device of its era.

It's worth noting that the Snapdragon S4 family of processors were widely used in various devices, including the ones mentioned earlier.

The device is compatible with Motorola lapdock devices, but only in "mirror mode" with the final ice cream sandwich update, and support was discontinued with the Jellybean update.

Here's a list of some of the other devices that share similar platform underpinnings with the Motorola Photon Q:

The Photon Q's hardware is quite versatile, and it can function as an Android laptop solution when paired with LineageOS or another modern community ROM with multi-window support.

The Motorola Photon Q has its share of pros and cons.

The Photon Q has an NFC chip, which means you'll be able to take advantage of any software that uses this technology.

One of the biggest cons is that LTE is not available in most places, which can be a major drawback for some users.

Another con is that call quality is muffled, which can be frustrating for those who rely on their phone for clear conversations.

On the bright side, the battery life is decent, lasting around 5.5 hours of normal use before needing a recharge.

Here's a quick rundown of the pros and cons:

The Motorola Photon Q is a powerhouse when it comes to performance. It's powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon S4 processor with 1GB of RAM, which makes it handle virtually everything you throw at it without a hitch.

Even the most content-heavy pages scroll smoothly, and the phone rarely slows down perceptibly. The only time it might slow down is when loading high-resolution images or videos, but even then it's still quite snappy.

The phone can handle most games available in the Play Store, which is great news for big mobile gamers. It's also worth noting that the physical keyboard allows for some games and emulators to be played with specific actions mapped to specific keys.

Call quality over Sprint's network leaves a bit to be desired, with voices sounding a bit muffled and a low buzzing noise audible when someone speaks. You and your caller will be able to hear each other, but you may have to speak up a bit to make yourself heard clearly.

The Motorola Photon Q's camera is adequate, but not the best. It's an 8-megapixel camera that tends to produce dark photos, especially in poorly lit areas.

Photos can look washed out, and the camera app doesn't offer many extras. However, the phone does have a zero-shutter-lag camera, thanks to Android 4.0.

The front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera works well for video calls and taking quick self-portraits. You can even use it to take a Facebook self-portrait, if you're into that.

Video recording is available in 1080p, but footage can look a bit too dark. Audio pickup is slightly muffled, possibly due to the microphone's location on the bottom half of the phone.

The phone's video quality is quite good, but don't expect it to pick up every bit of audio.

The Motorola Photon Q is a solid choice for anyone who wants a phone with a physical keyboard.

It's a bit on the chunky side, which might not appeal to everyone, but its keyboard is a major selling point for heavy texters and email composers.

The phone is currently the keyboard phone to beat, making it well worth considering if you're in the market for a device with a physical QWERTY keyboard.