Motorola Photon Q -or- Galaxy S3??

[Michelle Purdy]

I can't decide! There isn't enough information out there about the Photon, but it claims to have zero shutter lag which is a big deal to me. That and being able to take a still shot while recording video. Both phones offer that. I like that the Photon has the dedicated camera button, but at least the front-facing camera of the Galaxy is a little bit better for taking self shots. I like that the Photon has a physical keyboard, but not so much the bulkiness of it. The most important thing to me are the cameras and their quality as I'm a parent of a 2-year old and I take TONS of pics and video. Is there an app or anything out there to make taking pictures a little easier the way a dedicated button would? Which would you suggest?

[Drillbit]

Both phones are really equal in power, so it comes down to the Motorola vs. Samsung brand name, a thicker phone with a sliding keyboard vs. a thinner phone with a larger, higher resolution screen. IMO, the new Motorola phones, so far the Photon Q is the second after the Atrix HD, are very competitive and underrated.

One question I have is that you're in Verizon and the Photon Q is only in Sprint. If your profile is outdated and you're already in Sprint, you might also consider the EVO 4G LTE, which appears to have a dedicated camera button and the cameras in the last crop of HTCs seem as good as Samsung, or better. They are certainly fast as well. There probably isn't anything like the Photon Q in Verizon until the unannounced yet Droid 5 will come along.

[Michelle Purdy]

Thank you for the reply! I am actually currently using a Net10 phone/plan, but still have service with Verizon; however, I'm planning on switching and was thinking of going with Sprint. I have just done some more extensive research and decided Virgin Mobile has such good plans to choose from that I think I'll go with them. They offer HTC One V and HTC Evo V. Now I'm not sure which of those would be better. I like that the Evo has the dedicated camera button, but it doesn't appear to have zero shutter lag, which is pretty important with a young child. However, I guess, if it's a better phone, I'd be able to put up with a slight lag. It'd be nice to know if anyone has any info on these two phones. It's pretty cool that the Evo has 3D, too.

[Ross Felix]

I got the Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE from Sprint on the day it came out.

The good: Processor wise, I was unable to stump it. I could throw anything I wanted at it and it worked fine. The keyboard was the best I've ever used on the phone. It's also the first time I can remember that a keyboard phone came out that was similarly powered to the other phones on the market. Usually a phone comes out, and then 6 months later they take the same specs (which are already old at that point) and slap a keyboard on it.

The bad:
The battery died as quickly as the iPhone 4 or 4s when it first came out (I don't remember which one had the problems). They had to put out a software fix and teach people how to close apps that they weren't using to improve battery life. Once that was done, it was my understanding that things improved. They need to do the same thing here. I was getting 4 hours of battery life. But before you think it was just the phone, I actually made Sprint swap it out for another one and had similar issues.

Additionally, if you're a major picture / video guy, I believe that the Q has less onboard storage and can only hold a 32gb card rather than the 64gb that the Samsung can hold.

Finally, the camera is definitely not as good.

So... if you're desperate for a keyboard, I'd recommend holding off for a bit to see if Motorola releases any software patches -- and if they do, then consider the Photon.

and p.s. right now, if you're going to consider Sprint just know that the 4G LTE has only been rolled out in a few markets -- so expect to only use their 3G network for the next few months (at a minimum).