Motorola Triumph Review - Motorola 's Victory in the Prepaid Market?

Motorola Triumph Review - Motorola 's Victory in the Prepaid Market?
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Motorola has been fighting tooth and nail to come back to the top and with the help of Android, they’ve been on quite the rise. Motorola had some key victories, such as laying claim to the first Droid series label on Verizon, releasing global capable versions of their Android powered smartphones, and even entering new ground with innovative smartphones like the Motorola Atrix 4G. It seems that Motorola is not stopping there with the release of their first ever Android powered smartphone on Virgin Mobile, the Motorola Triumph.

Motorola Triumph Specifications:

  • Dimensions: 4.80 x 2.60 x 0.39 inches (122 x 66 x 10 mm)
  • Weight: 5.04 oz (143 g)
  • Display: 4.1 inch capacitive touchscreen display, 480 x 800 pixels
  • Memory: 2 GB and expandable up to 32 GB via MicroSD slot
  • OS: Android OS 2.2
  • Processor: 1 GHz Snapdragon
  • Camera: 5 megapixel camera and front facing VGA camera
  • Connectivity: CDMA 1900 MHz
  • Data: 1xEV-DO rev.A
  • Bluetooth: Bluetooth 2.1
  • GPS: GPS with A-GPS
  • Battery: Li-Ion 1400 mAh

Design and Display (4 out of 5)

Motorola Triumph Reviewed

While the Motorola Triumph doesn’t offer any world shattering or innovative design features, it does look like a decent handset for the entry level market. The Triumph takes on a lot of design cues from the Motorola Droid X, in fact, it looks like a miniature version of the Droid X. The front of the smartphone is dominated by a 4.1 inch WVGA capacitive touch-screen display, which isn’t as amazing as a qHD or Super AMOLED display but it is decent for a prepaid phone. The colors are bright and the text comes off crisp and clear, and the screen itself is highly responsive to touch which is always a plus.

Below the 4.1 inch display are the now familiar Android shortcuts for menu, home, back and search. Along the left edge of the display is the power / lock button, opposite on the right resides the volume rocker. Up top, you’ll find the 3.5 mm headphone jack. At the bottom resides the microUSB and surprisingly, the port for HDMI out. The HDMI out is a surprising addition as most entry level, prepaid smartphones usually do not offer HDMI support. Overall, the Motorola Triumph does feel solid and looks like the more expensive and contract tied Motorola Droid X.

Performance (3 out of 5)

The Motorola Triumph comes packed with an extremely responsive 1 GHz Snapdragon processor that runs a preloaded copy of stock Android 2.2. This is a frighteningly powerful combination for a budget smartphone and it seems the LG Optimus V, that’s currently being offered on Virgin Mobile cannot compete with the Triumph. It’s no surprise that Virgin Mobile is setting up the Motorola Triumph to be the flagship smartphone in their lineup. When compared to other budget smartphones offered on prepaid plans, the Triumph performs faster and feels more responsive than its current competitors.

As Virgin Mobile is owned by Sprint, the Motorola Triumph utilizes the data speed connections offered by Sprint. It is not a 4G smartphone, but the 3G speeds were decent. Depending on location the speeds may fluctuate but in the Northwest region of the United States, the speeds were decent and fairly impressive for a prepaid smartphone.

User Interface (3 out of 5)

The phone is easy to learn, use and master thanks to the fact that it is running on stock Android 2.2. While it is a bit of a disapointment that it isn’t running on the latest version of Android, the fact that it’s running a stock version gives hope that the Triumph will be able to get the next version faster and over the air. As Android is a touch-screen based operating system, people of all ages can quickly adapt and learn to use it.

The Motorola Triumph did not include MotoBLUR but Virgin Mobile did include Virgin Mobile Live. Virgin Mobile Live is a music social networking application that’s decent, but ultimately feels like bloatware. The application can stream music and some videos, but actually something like Pandora is preferrable. The HDMI out that’s been included is also very simple to use, simply plug in a cable to an HDMI ready device and you’ll be able to view pictures and videos on a larger screen.

Features (4 out of 5)

The device comes equipped with a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash. This is a

Motorola Triumph Reviewed - Features

step up from other affordable smartphones offering 2 and 3 megapixel cameras. The camera quality was fairly decent, with pictures coming out crisp and clear. The LED flash is also a welcome addition, as it’s surprising how many smartphones come without a flash bulb of any sort included. Interestingly, the 5 megapixel camera isn’t the only camera that the Triumph comes equipped with. The Triumph has a front facing VGA camera for video chatting. The quality is definitely subpar, but the fact that the phone comes equipped with one at all is a surprise and an extra little feature to push it above its competitors.

Beyond the camera, the Triumph comes with the usual slew of features found in other smartphones. It has the ability to connect to Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth and it also has GPS. The HDMI out is also a nice little feature added into the smartphone that makes it just that much more innovative then the rest of its prepaid smartphone competitors. Even smartphones with contract obligations such as the Samsung Vibrant don’t have an HDMI port.

The Final Verdict (4 out of 5)

The Motorola Triumph ranks in as a solid “Good” ranking for a prepaid, affordable smartphone. It is set to be released on July 19th with a price point of under $250, which seems a bit expensive, but the item to note is that there is no contract associated with the phone. For a prepaid smartphone, the Triumph has a plethora of features that are found in more expensive ($400+) smartphones and yet, doesn’t give up on quality or speed. For prepaid smartphone users who are looking for a bit of an upgrade, the Motorola Triumph is the smartphone to look out for.

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