Motorola TRIUMPH User Reviews

I've had this phone for over three years and have to say that it was pretty high maintenance. It no longer lets me turn it on or off, so it's off the the recycling bin as not even Virgin will give me a credit on it for my next purchase. Bluetooth never worked. After about 18 months of ownership I had to break into it as the internal memory got loaded with a file that kept the phone from receiving text messages. It was a nightmare! I wouldn't buy it again if I could do it all over again.

I've had this phone nearly 2 years now. Rooted and used 2.3 Starship Triumph (excellent build--very stable) for over a year. Just flashed ICS rom this weekend and love it. Phone is a little slower, but overall, everything functions except for the video camera and HDMI port. Battery life is so so, but build quality feels very good for a prepaid. Would highly recommend this phone as a budget ICS root project!

I have this phone for almost 14 months. I say is really good for my first android phone. The first 4 months, I had no problems with it. Until it started loosing memory, lagging, and many more problems. So I decide to root it and install the 2.3 rom. I fix many issues but cause and HDMI so it won't work. 6 Months Later I installed 2.2 Sharp Rom and I will say that this is a completely recommended rom for any Motorola triumph user. It fixes more issues and plus is a lot faster and smoother for multitasking. The Camera isn't that great but is still good enough for me to make YouTube videos. I also like how it has Gorilla Glass so it doesn't have any scratches. I recommend this phone to anyone but I also recommend rooting it f you have any problems with it.

My last phone was a Motorola Droid so I thought Triumph would be similar, wrong. The hardware may be OK but the software integration on Triumph sucks. #1 complaint is Bluetooth won't stay connected so the thing is useless for driving hands free. VM customer service has been totally unresponsive on this problem Second the android keyboard is poorly configured. It uses your contacts list for a dictionary. That might be OK for looking up contacts but it is useless for entering text messages or email. Battery life is poor, the battery cover likes to fall off. Reception is mediocre. The camera always blurrs images.

To anyone on the ropes considering this phone I got to tell ya you wont be disappointed. I was reading some posts here and some people I think are reviewing the wrong phone or something. The guy below me says the internal storage is only 3 bits and I've got to tell ya son either you got the wrong phone or your phone is plum broke. These phones have 2 GB internal storage (1GB is used up by default android 2.2.2 and VM bloatware) but on a factory phone that leaves 1 GB open. I personally upgraded my phone to 2.3.7 rom and it is just incredible. Some issues I was having (GPS and data coverage) is fixed with the 2.3.7 upgrade GPS test connects with 10 sats and around town I connect at 600-700 kbps speed test and a few times by our local mall have hit 2.0 mbps which is just really great- at my ranch I have wifi so cant really say what I connect there. By the way I'm not all that great with technology so if I can upgrade the rom anyone can, and with upgrade I also have 755 MB of internal storage left and have about 50 apps all stored on my internal hard drive (2.3.7 without the bloatware frees up a lot of storage room). The battery lasts twice as long as my brothers 4G phone- we went campin and huntin a couple weeks ago and his phone would be dead before we got back to camp and mine was still at half battery (2.3.7 also helps save battery though so...) I dont know if some people got phones that were lemons or what but me and the wife both have one and they are both top notch. I give this phone thumbs up and 10/10.

Word of advice: big bore- go big or dont complain that the bear chewed your ass

I had gotten this handset for Christ,as '11. Now I myself know a whole lot about smartphones and have researched them for some time. Now, I feel like a complete idiot for choosing this handset. Let me just say, this phone is a cancer. The only things I can say positive about it is that it has a very nice body design, and the screen is quite nice. Now what can I say about what I don't enjoy about the phone? Dear Lord I'd be sitting here for an eternity... Battery life lasts you 6 hours of texting and data on, MAYBE, and with all features turned off, ALL FEATURES, you can try for 10 hours. The internal storage is about enough for a couple of apps, if you're lucky. I literally have to clear everything out of my phone. It's about 99% stock phone at this point, yet I have 20 megabytes left. Rejected texts every day because i have no space. And ah let's see, the camera. It's actually quite nice, that is, if you can get the shutter to capture within 5 seconds. If everything isn't perfectly still expect the quality to look as if somebody threw paint cans at a wall, and started smearing it everywhere with their rear ends. But if the timing, positioning, and lighting is PERFECT, you can get some okay pictures. The processor speed isn't bad at all, I can't say much about it. I haven't experienced any problems with it freezing or lagging. But this brings me to something, the default skin on it is awful, just awful. The default widgets and preinstalled junkware is TERRIBLE. Don't expect anything near an HTC quality skin. It's skin and bones on a good day. Now the data speeds, they are a joke. My peak has been about .5 mbps. And after 30 seconds of having 3G on, you could cook an egg on the back of the battery covering. And again, with data on, not even USING the internet, you'll have your battery die faster than a McDonald's ban in Mississippi. Using this day to day has been such a hassle I can't even express it in words. Raising a child for half a year is easier. I'll be using this until Virgin upgrades its handsets, hopefully this year. But please, do not buy this phone. If you have any sense about you, you'll wait out Virgin's introduction of better phones. Just please, heed every warning written here.

I have to say that I had my doubts about both noncontract phones and their service providers. I am glad that those doubts were laid to rest with this great little phone. Its not cutting edge or leading technology, but it gets the job done and will run any android app I have tried thus far. Part of me misses my dual processor 3D 4G phone, but the larger part is happy to be out of the $200+ a month plan that I always seemed to get billed as I would always have some roaming charge or go over my plan limits or some stupid thing. And this phone still looks and feels smart. Overall I am very happy with everything except when you actually have to call VirginMobile you are transferred to India I think.

After reading reviews below I installed gingerbread on my phone and it is even better now. Thanks for the advice- when all things root was googled everything I needed was right there with idoit proof instructions.

I own a small flower shop and I bet half of my business is saved on my handy little phone. I use it more as a tablet computer most days but it excels at making phone calls too. When you are dependant on yourself and husband to do the arranging, books, and deliveries a smart phone really comes in handy and this one fits the bill and the budget. Its wonderful turn by turn directions make it impossible to get lost and you dont even have to buy a gps system for you car.

I just got this phone a couple weeks ago after switching from the LG Optimus Black and Straight Talk. These 2 phones are supposed to be very similar, however the Triumph is proving to be a much better phone. I'm not sure if it is the difference in providers or the phone itself but I have not had a dropped call, I have an internet 3G signal that is surprisingly strong (at 2 bars I am getting faster connection speeds than with full bars on the Optimus Black), and overall the phone just seems to be faster and better. The only reason I went to the Optimus Black over this phone to begin with is because of wrong specs (on this website too) the Optimus Black is listed as having a 2mp front camera when it is only a vga front camera, and the Triumph was listed at under 250k colors when in fact its display is equal to the Optimus Black at over 16 million colors. The camcorder on this phone is also much better than the camcorder on the Optimus Black. One last thing- I ordered this phone on the internet for 199.99- a hundred less than what I shelled out for the Optimus Black. Must happier with this great phone.

Aint much for words..... $25 or $35 a month (depending on when you joined Virgin Mobile) you wont find a better deal than that. If you use Skype voice calling you get unlimited everything. The phone aint 4G but its tops for 3G- wont find any better. I rated my phone vs my wifes straight talk optimus black phone as the two are bout equal- cept my wife pays $45 a month and doesnt get as good of coverage here.

Have had the phone for about 2 months now and I just adore it. I think it is already an amazing phone and $25 a month is perfect for college. My dorm has wifi and with this phone I dont need to buy a computer. I can email, surf the internet, and even do reports on word inbetween going to the computer lab with an app from the market:). Using voice input I dont even have to enter the text with the virtual keyboard I can just talk and like a personal secretary it writes it all down for me. I just love this phone. Im going to have to try that gingerbread rom posted below. If it makes this phone even better that woud really be amazing;)

I gave into peer pressure and after several texts decided this great phone is worth writing a review about it. Im running 2.3.7 and the phone is just great. Ive never had a dropped call and the internet seems to work well in my area. I have wifi at home and use the phone as a laptop because between the wife and kids who can ever use the computer?

Dont try to compare this phone against a 4G- its like taking a suv and wondering why it cant beat Mustang in a drag race it wasnt built for it. This phone was built for a working family man- the plan has to be reasonable so we can still feed our family therefore there is a trade off to 3G at $25 a month vs the impressive 4G phones at over $150 a month. But compared to other 3G phones on prepaid carriers this phone is top notch. There are other phones just as good but none better (prepaid).

With that said I see that phonearena made a mistake in the hardware specs for this phone- the display has over 16 million colors not 262 144- have no idea where they got that number from.

All in all best prepaid phone around.

My buddy told me I should post my thoughts on this great phone. First and foremost I cant remember what the phone was like before I upgraded the operating system. I too used Whyzor CM7 reloaded 2.3.7 rom. All you have to do is google it, download it, and install it to your phone- there are even youtube videos out there to walk you through it step by step (kyles teck desk is a good one) takes about 5 min and you will have an awesome phone running Gingerbread with special tools to save battery life, make display even more amazing, and even overclock the processor (no more than 1.2 GHZ or you might damage device over time). Google Triumph all things root too- great site to get info.

This is a great phone, but dont get fooled like some do by the "signal quality". I had an Optimus V before this phone and I use to have dropped calls once in a while with full bars of reception. In the same areas I only get 2 bars with my Triumph but have never had a dropped call. Using speed test my Optimus V (still have phone and test results) would get about 550 kbps on the corner of my block with full bars- standing in the same location with my Triumph I have 1-2 bars but average 750 kbps. Dont know why but with fewer bars I have better reception. My GPS also works great- dont know if its because I have 2.3.7 or if its because I usually test my GPS first but I have 7-12 sats on average and my google navigation works fast without any problems (love Car Home with 2.3.7).

Great phone already but you want best performance upgrade from 2.2.2 to 2.3.7. By years end Triumph owners will also have the option of downloading CM9 ICE CREAM SANDWICH wich is in alpha now but will be in beta soon enough.

All that for $25 a month that has to be the best deal on the planet and is why it gets 10 out of 10 every time.

I switched from Verizon paid plan to Verizon prepaid to Virgin Mobile prepaid and am sooo happy with VM and the Triumph. The phone is well built, very fast, has an amazing camera and camcorder and is just wonderful. Dont know how I delt with my old phone before getting this one. Am surprised that some other people have had problems but it may just be the reception in their area. Also my guy did a few things to my Triumph the screens are a bit different but the phone is running much better now too. The gps use to have a little trouble but connects to an average of 10 sat now and gives fast reliable directions and the internet browser is much quicker. Not sure what he did but it only took him a couple of minutes so it cant be that hard to get all the potential the phone has out. ps I gave the battery a 10/10 as it lasts much better than my coworkers EVO 4G by the end of the day she asks me to borrow my phone to text her husband because her phone is dead and I still have half battery and we use phones just as much durring the day.

First of all I'm not doing this review trying to compare this phone to a 4G phone but comparing this pone vs other 3G phones. The best feature of this phone is it can run on Virgin Mobile prepaid network- 300 min unlimited text and data $25 a month!! When compared against other 3G phones, both prepaid and plan phones, the Triumph doesn't disapoint.
It is a well built phone (as one would expect from Motorola), has great reception in my area and everywhere I have been so far and the quality of the call is as good as any phone I have used.
The Internet connection is something that some have said they have issue with, however I think this is largely based on area and what phone are you comparing it to. Compared against a 4G phone it is of course slower however when compared neck and neck to say my friends LG Optimus Black on wally worlds straight talk the Triumph is faster in my area (and he pays almost twice as much per month for straight talk as I do at VM). Running speed test best of 10 times the LG Optimus Black got an average 3G speed of 508 kbps and my Triumph got 610 kbps. As said though the connection speed is largely based on area. I have wifi at my house and the phone is just amazing with wifi.
I find the camera and camcorder to be great 5 MP and 720p video- I am personally very happy with that and cant think of a 3G phone that has much better.
The only Multimedia things I do are listening to music while cleaning up my horses and watching a movie or video once in a while all of which are great on this phone. Oh I also have Blood and Glory wich plays without any problems on the phone.
UI speed, Display, text input, and Battery- I guess my phone is going to be better than stock Triumphs in this area. I installed CM7 Gingerbread on my phone and all 4 of these scores are much better than stock 2.2.2. My Triumph is overclocked to 1.2GHZ without any problems and is fast as I would ever need a phone to be (phone doesnt even get hot while skypeing or playing games). The Display didnt seem that sharp on 2.2.2 but on 2.3.7 it is really bright and brilliant at least the equal to my buddies LG Optimus Black as you cant notice any difference with the phones side by side. The text input is much better on 2.3.7 than 2.2.2 was for me, and I am also getting much better battery life with 2.3.7 and Whyzor's 2.3.7 cm7 rom. By the way Whyzor and some other really good devs are working on CM9 Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich which will be out of alpha in a few months for the Triumph!! The 2.3.7 rom from Whyzor was the first time I ever installed a rom on a smartphone- it was really easy and only took me about 10 min to install this great rom- definately pushes the triumph to a 10/10 phone!!
Compared against other 3G phones (especially on prepaid network) the Triumph just rocks!! $25 a month and if you install and use Skype phone calls it is unlimited everything!! I love my Triumph!!

It's not bad at first, but it has terrible reception. The battery life sucks. The front camera i horrible too. You don't get all your calls and messages. It starts messing up not long after having it.

I bought my Motorola Phone back in July. I know that a lot of people had problems with the phone, but I guess I lucked out in some areas. This is a really great phone for Virgin Mobile! I upgraded to this phone from the LG Optimus V. If you want a good phone and plan on staying with this phone for a while I would say its worth the $300.

I don't have much more to say over what I've posted in the individual scores, except that I'd choose this phone over any other phone that the prepaid market has. It's a great smart-phone, and in my opinion it could compete with bigger and better smart phones out there. It does it's job, and does it very well. I expected to customize it more out of the box, but I've barely touched it and I'm satisfied. (and I'm a tech geek, I expected to mess with it a lot more after what I've heard of various Droids)

As for my gripes, I will say that the speakers seem to be muffled. That could be a defect in my particular phone, but they do the job. And the reception is not what I had expected out of this carrier. Beyond that, I'd definitely pick up this phone if I had to choose again.

I have been a happy Virgin Mobile customer for some time now. The $25 plan is great, especially with the unlimited web, but with the LG Optimus V I seemed to have reception problems. I now know that the reception problems had to do with the Optimus along with its general sluggishness, as I've had no such issues with the much snappier Motorola Triumph. I had read some disparaging reviews online about the Triumph which made me apprehensive about moving my service over to it, but my experience has been purely positive.

Even though others have said that the Triumph is pretty "vanilla" Android 2.2, I would have liked to see some kind of built-in task manager (holding down the Home button on the Samsung Galaxy Tab, for example, brings a list of recently-used applications and a "task manager" button that allows you to selectively kill apps). I've found that is a good way to extend Android's less-than-stellar battery life.

*** P.S. If you will buy this Motorola TRIUMPH I suggest at: Amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B005DTSBEU/phonearena.com-20

The triumph shouldn't of been released in it's condition. Got it last week came from optimus v, the signal strength is terrible! Never got more than 2 bars in places that I would have full bars with optimus. GPS is horrible!! Would take over 5 min to find my location, where optimus would find it in seconds. Phone was released with no way to check for system update. If you run the system update tool you just get a error message. And no update on Motorola's end either.
Battery life is bad too! Has nice screen and is pretty fast but without solid basic functionality like GPS and call quality save your money. I returned it the same day and went back to optimus.

Overall, the right apps can make this device blow any contract phone currently, out of the water if your thinking about going the affordable route. DEFINATELY!
The screen overall was the deciding factor for me, I returned my Evo as soon as I heard about this device. There is literally no difference between the two, just I would rather have my WHITE htc, other than the slim color choice the power it packs is unmatched.

I had a 3-day window to buy the phone and get the $25 a month data plan. I took a chance since it was my first Android Phone. The problem with prepaid phones today is they just plain suck if you want to surf the web. The Triumph's 4.1" of real estate did not disappoint. If you compare the Triumph to the Optimus V or iPod Touch, that 4.1" screen makes a big difference.

Reception with Sprint's network has been spotty. Sometimes it was hard to get a connection and the data speeds has been poor at times. Other times, the service was flawless. I didn't buy the phone to make calls, but the plan came with 300 anytime minutes; the call quality was decent and the reception was average. I have no plans to use the camera or camcorder, however the sample pictures that I took were okay and it was nice to have a flash for dark places. I have no plans to spend money on the Android marketplace.

The biggest defect in this phone is the 1,380 mAH battery. While I never timed how many hours I can use in 3G or WiFi mode, I have to charge the battery everyday (which is annoying, compared to charging every 2 days on the iPod Touch). Also, I can't leave my home without a backup power source (I use xPal 4001) just in case my Triumph runs out of juice. The 4 hours advertised for 3G is pretty fair. I have to warn you, when the battery icon is yellow, it goes to red very fast.

In summary, it's a great pre-paid phone for heavy data usage and it's very portable.