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Motorola's cool new QWERTY, the Photon Q 4G LTE (pictures)

For $199.99 the Motorola Photon Q carries the Droid 4's superb physical keyboard over to Sprint. The QWERTY slider also boasts LTE support, a fast 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and a bright 4.3-inch display.

Brian Bennett
Brian Bennett is a former senior writer for the home and outdoor section at CNET.
Brian Bennett
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1 of 9 Sarah Tew/CNET

Big, bright, and colorful

The Photon Q 4G LTE has a 4.3-inch qHD LCD that uses what Motorola calls ColorBoost technology. The result is extra brightness and colors that pop almost like an AMOLED screen.
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2 of 9 Sarah Tew/CNET

Type your heart out

The Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE's primary life purpose is to provide an awesome physical typing experience and it succeeds. The phone's keyboard layout is virtually identical to that of the Motorola Droid 4, another excellent QWERTY made by Moto. There are five rows, including a dedicated number row, a wide spacebar, plus bright LED backlighting.
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3 of 9 Sarah Tew/CNET

Thick and solid

It's hard to ignore the Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE's half-inch thickness and 6-ounce weight. On the right edge of the phone are small volume buttons and a camera shutter button.
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4 of 9 Sarah Tew/CNET

Charge and watch

On the left side of the Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE are ports for Micro-USB and HDMI connections. The phone is also compatible with an optional HD Dock accessory to charge and output video content to HDTVs simultaneously.
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5 of 9 Sarah Tew/CNET

A basic back

On back of the Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE is a more conventional back plate as opposed to the fancy Kevlar material coating the Droid Razr, Droid Razr Maxx, and Atrix HD.
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6 of 9 Sarah Tew/CNET

Power only

The top edge of the Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE has just one button, the phone's power key. There's also a 3.5mm headphone jack placed here.
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7 of 9 Sarah Tew/CNET

The battery beneath

Embedded under the Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE's rear surface is a nonremovable battery.
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8 of 9 Sarah Tew/CNET

Set your camera

The Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE comes with an 8-megapixel camera that snaps pictures quickly. It also has many image-capture settings and image filters.
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9 of 9 Sarah Tew/CNET

Check the weather

Like many smartphones these days, the Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE has a dedicated app for checking the forecast.

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