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Will the Bionic have a locked down bootloader like the droid x?
I have no knowledge on the subject, but I can only assume that it will.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Yeah, Moto confirmed it. It can still be rooted though (I'm assuming) , which is the most important thing to me personally.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
I love this community, and the ability to try others' work. I think Moto will keep their products locked to a degree. Done with them yet holding on to my Droid.
Who knows though now that Xoom is unlocked, maybe Moto finally got the hint. We can all wish, but until the release comes, we won't know for sure
The Atrix 4G got locked down, but hopefully we will have better luck..... My Droid Eris is feeling slower by the day, but I won't use my upgrade on a locked-down phone.
I remember reading from a few different places that the bionic has a good chance of being unlocked. That's because the chip they are using in the bionic vs. D2 and dx. The d2 and x have a certain chip that needs to locked down or something but since the bionic has the Tegra processor it won't have that special chip. I hope this is the case.
is this phone even worth getting? i'm due for an upgrade and they been trying to throw the iphone4 at me but i've been waiting for this...now i wonder if this is a waste of time... my eris is driving me crazy so i want something fairly soon...this phone seems to be the only worthy choice though for verizon customers...are there any other competitive options besides this phone without switching carriers?
bill.mahoney said:
is this phone even worth getting? i'm due for an upgrade and they been trying to throw the iphone4 at me but i've been waiting for this...now i wonder if this is a waste of time... my eris is driving me crazy so i want something fairly soon...this phone seems to be the only worthy choice though for verizon customers...are there any other competitive options besides this phone without switching carriers?
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Thunderbolt? They believe they have a root for it already. And for sure is unlocked. It's for sure gonna have a great dev community.
oh. ok. i'll look into it more...i was under the impression it was for sprint like an evo2 replacement... didn't know it was verizon. ty
erismaster said:
I remember reading from a few different places that the bionic has a good chance of being unlocked. That's because the chip they are using in the bionic vs. D2 and dx. The d2 and x have a certain chip that needs to locked down or something but since the bionic has the Tegra processor it won't have that special chip. I hope this is the case.
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Chip's called e-fuse
The atrix boot loader is signed not encrypted
I expect the same will happen to the bionic as its basically an atrix with less RAM and a larger screen
Swyped from my captivate
Mr.Pie[OCN] said:
The atrix boot loader is signed not encrypted
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Good News!!! And I definitely want the Bionic because the Thunderbolt is essentially the Evo 4g with less battery but more ram(768mb vs 512mb). It also is essentially the same thing as the Droid Incredible, but with 512mb vs 768mb of ram.
lesismore1 said:
Good News!!! And I definitely want the Bionic because the Thunderbolt is essentially the Evo 4g with less battery but more ram(768mb vs 512mb). It also is essentially the same thing as the Droid Incredible, but with 512mb vs 768mb of ram.
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not really as the signed partitions and the bootloader is essentially checked each boot
devs are working to see if we can bypass it or something....but at least it isn't encrypted which gives the devs a slightly higher chance of finding a fix vs having the bootloader encrypted
Not to get get off topic but I wish the root population was larger. Then when motorola does encrypt their phones then it's not like the lesser 5% of the phone purchasers being upset about it. Me getting this phone depends on if it's unlocked or not. I have friends all the time ask me to root their phone. I have a few friends that run custom roms that I put on. Not one of them has had a problem(knock on wood) I don't see a big risk in rooting and flashing custom roms, especially with how easy it is nowadays. That's my 2 cents
Mr.Pie[OCN] said:
not really as the signed partitions and the bootloader is essentially checked each boot
devs are working to see if we can bypass it or something....but at least it isn't encrypted which gives the devs a slightly higher chance of finding a fix vs having the bootloader encrypted
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I know that, but it's better news than if it was encrypted and/or had something similar to an e-Fuse, and that's what I meant in good news. I knew it wouldn't be the same as a Nexus S or Nexus One (which are Dev friendly), but my Eris had a bootloader (S-On) which so far as I can see is the same as a signed bootloader (correct me if I'm wrong). Hopefully, it'll just be a couple of weeks/months to crack it but (knock on wood) at least we won't be stuck with the situation Droid X owners have.
Also, unrelated note, but I played with a friends Atrix 4G for about 30 minutes, and a couple things......
Good
1. Fast as hell! (In apps, games, typing, etc) Very lag free! (see below)
2. In game, incredibly smooth and great looking screen. Better than other friend's Droid Incredible, and colors look nearly as good as my old Zune HD.
Bad
1. Home screen lags quite badly. My friend had lots of apps on desktop and though the Live wallpaper and app drawer were smooth, switching left to right was laggy.... Very nitpicky but annoying.
Overall, I still want the phone (more than before), and want Cyanogenmod on this thing badly!
lesismore1 said:
Good News!!! And I definitely want the Bionic because the Thunderbolt is essentially the Evo 4g with less battery but more ram(768mb vs 512mb). It also is essentially the same thing as the Droid Incredible, but with 512mb vs 768mb of ram.
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Not really, the thunderbolt has a new generation snapdragon, between that and the extra ram, and better video processor, it's actually WAY faster than an Evo 4G. Out of the box quadrant scores are around 1975, and general performance is really much better than an Evo in every way. (not saying it's faster than a bionic obviously, but it definitely isn't the same thing as an Evo).
ncobs said:
Not really, the thunderbolt has a new generation snapdragon, between that and the extra ram, and better video processor, it's actually WAY faster than an Evo 4G. Out of the box quadrant scores are around 1975, and general performance is really much better than an Evo in every way. (not saying it's faster than a bionic obviously, but it definitely isn't the same thing as an Evo).
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Thanks for clarifying. When I looked to check facts for the comparison, it only said 1 ghz Snapdragon, so I assumed the same CPU/GPU as the first gen.
still the tegra 2 is a faster processor ... otherwise its more of a wait and see...
I have decided to wait for the bionic instead of getting the thunderbolt... unless the tb comes out tomorrow... but that is very unlikly.
im so sick of seeing people compare the evo to the thunderbolt, first things first, LTE is better than WiMAX. Second of all the processor arent even close, and you know on the evo if you use a task killer, it might have 250mb or RAM free, when you do it on the bolt, you will have overmb free, it will never lag. ever. and the only time it will fall behind the bionic or atrix is gaming, thats it
Thinking of buying an android device. I've two choices motorola defy and milestone. As defy got 800 mhz processor and this got 600 mhz i'm confused i can't buy milestone 2 because of its price. So what's your reviews with this phone? Also adobe flash works on this device?
Shriharsh said:
Thinking of buying an android device. I've two choices motorola defy and milestone. As defy got 800 mhz processor and this got 600 mhz i'm confused i can't buy milestone 2 because of its price. So what's your reviews with this phone? Also adobe flash works on this device?
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Depending on your location, you may or may not have Flash. It's included in Stock Froyo, so there's a good chance you'd have it.
The Milestone is a physical beast in terms of durability for a slider phone. I've dropped it numerous times and it's still held up great.
The Defy on the other hand, is insanely durable. It has military standards for durability, but it lacks the physical keyboard.
CPU speeds shouldn't be an issue for you if you are rooting it, you can easily overclock the Milestone to 1GHz from 550Mhz.
skadude66 said:
Depending on your location, you may or may not have Flash. It's included in Stock Froyo, so there's a good chance you'd have it.
The Milestone is a physical beast in terms of durability for a slider phone. I've dropped it numerous times and it's still held up great.
The Defy on the other hand, is insanely durable. It has military standards for durability, but it lacks the physical keyboard.
CPU speeds shouldn't be an issue for you if you are rooting it, you can easily overclock the Milestone to 1GHz from 550Mhz.
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i'll root it. That's not problem but i've heard that overclocking reduces battery life. Though my main motto is chatting, texting and surfing net. I don't usually play games but sometimes play them.
Shriharsh said:
i'll root it. That's not problem but i've heard that overclocking reduces battery life. Though my main motto is chatting, texting and surfing net. I don't usually play games but sometimes play them.
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Every ROM has its fair share of battery life. Right now, I find that my best battery life is with iceandfire v2.1. The others are good, but I can't get a full day out of them.
both phones are locked in terms of bootloader. this means no custom kernels! all meaning the core of our phones are locked. our roms are based on whatever version of android motorola gives us and whatever the community comes up with, gingerbread updates or whatever, is still based on the latest kernel motorola gives us.
I honestly would tell you to choose htc or maybe samsung. but its up to you as you say you only have these two choices. look at the amount of roms for HTC or SAMSUNG, there is A LOT more than what this phone can support / offer.
EDIT: unless you are talking about moto droid which is different from the moto milestone. the droid is the U.S. variant which runs on CDMA networks and is one of two devices made by moto (other being the xoom) that offers an unlocked bootloader.. I would go for the droid in this case
ummmm I want cpu speed
if u like a Smartphone with keyboard then Milestone,Milestone 2 and HTC Desire Z are the best. but if u want to play games that are heavy like dungeon defenders than u need 512mb RAM = Milestone 2 or HTC Desire Z. because we cant use on Milestone SWAP... locked bootloader...my opinion is save u money a little bit and get a Milestone 2 =)
at least here - milestone is very cheap compared to other android phones. also if you want qwerty, which REALLY sucks btw (but at least it is there) you should get milestone.
MuF123 said:
at least here - milestone is very cheap compared to other android phones. also if you want qwerty, which REALLY sucks btw (but at least it is there) you should get milestone.
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qwerty sucks how? Can you elaborate? Because in India we get only one phone till we do jobs. So i want to pick a device that'll be with me till 4 years
Shriharsh said:
qwerty sucks how? Can you elaborate? Because in India we get only one phone till we do jobs. So i want to pick a device that'll be with me till 4 years
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umm I just hate typing on the qwerty. it is tough to press, keys are crammed together so you have to touch the key with tip of your finger... not so satisfactory key travel so you cant tell if you have pressed it or not.
I had HTC Wizard and I must say it was heavenly writing experience when compared to Milestone.
Go try it before buying...
The hardware keyboard sucks, but it's still better than the on-screen one, I can't type a sentence without making a mistake in each word.
I've debated getting the D4 for some time now (had my upgrade for awhile) and pretty much miss a physical keyboard which is my primary motivation.
How are you guys liking it, obviously the big con is moto vs htc in bootloader locks but otherwise, would you recommend it? Not being able to tether the 4G would be a huge blocker too..
I am happy with the D4 and would recommend it...cautiously.
Like you said, the bootloader is locked, and as a result development activity is somewhat limited. If custom ROMs are a top priority then I would go in another direction. Furthermore, the screen is sub-par.
Other than that though, the phone is great. Build quality, battery life, the keyboard, and the stock OS are all very good. 4G wireless tethering works perfectly.
I had the same prob when I went from D1 to bionic, always found myself choosing not to use the phone for some task (like answering this thread), waiting until I could use a laptop instead. I'm very happy I switched. It may not be ideal, but then the ideal doesn't exist. Physical keyboard, dual core, Vz 4g: What else gets a check on that trio? -GEF
Funny thing, I'm debating the switch too.
I found a cheap cheap droid 4 on CL and I'm about to activate it today. I sure am going to miss my thunderbolt though. Kinda sad that I'm selling it today..
Thunderbolt vs Droid 4
My wife has a Thunderbolt and I have a Droid 4. As far as comparing the two, the Thunderbolt does have the advantage of an unlocked boot loader, and tons of ROMs, however...
Our D4 ICS ROMs are more functional than the Thunderbolt's since they have no RIL(data/phone) so really they are unusable at this point in time. My wife currently runs Virus' InfectedEternity ROM, which is great but it's a GB ROM with Sense 3.5. She envies my software all the time especially now that the D4 ICS Roms have stable data. The wifi tether app works great. The only things which do not work in our ICS ROMs are the HW video codecs (which might be coming once we can flash custom kernels and use open source since a TI license is required for our codecs), and the advanced ICS camera functions (face detect).
As far as hardware, the D4 is definitely superior. The only benefits the Thunderbolt has are a slightly bigger screen (0.3" bigger), and a better camera. Otherwise the D4 wins all day with a better looking screen (Tbolt is older TFT), a faster processor (dual core OMAP4430 vs single core snapdragon), better touchscreen, better call quality (both are excellent though), and better battery life. The D4 even has a physical keyboard (the greatest phone keyboard ever) and they are still about the same thickness.
Overall, the D4 is definitely superior to the Thunderbolt. Development is booming for the Thunderbolt, but is at a standstill until ICS leaks, whereas we are on the verge of bypassing the D4's boot loader with kholk's kernel, which means our development should blow up in the coming months.
I got a GS3 because it's the last subsidized upgrade I'll ever get through Verizon (and keep unlimited data).
Pros of gs3:
Nicer screen (but too big for easy one handed use)
Lighter weight
Other than that, in the real world there are no other advantages. With the .232 leak, the Bionic seems just as fast, and this includes gaming so far. The Bionic build quality is better, the radios are at least as good, and it actually feels better in the hand (the sg3 is BIG). And I already miss my Lapdoc.
Bottom line is that the Bionic is still a great phone with a new lease on life with ics. You ain't missing much other than the latest new device buzz.
I'm actually coming to the Bionic from a different Samsung device (Charge). I wouldn't have high hopes for the radios if I were you. Samsung still hasn't proven that they can get them right as seen by complaints with the Nexus. Maybe the S3 is different...I sure hope so.
That said, they do lots of things really well. I'm anxious to put the Bionic through its paces because, for me, this is an upgrade in every sense of the word.
My girlfriend had a Droid 2 global and I have a DX2 work phone. Both the DX2 and D2g are horrible phones. Girlfriend accidently dropped the D2G in the toilet (where it belongs) and I begged and pleaded for asurion to give us a non-moto phone. She ended up getting the bionic and she's happy, and fiddling with it the other day I'm actually quite impressed as well with it.
I'll stick with my nexus till verizons contract expired and I'm done with them though.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
That is a good question: what new phone is worth upgrading to from the Bionic?
ronaldheld said:
That is a good question: what new phone is worth upgrading to from the Bionic?
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hardware wise there is nothing mind blowing right now that I would upgrade to but I would definitely suggest the Galaxy Nexus if you prefer tinkering more as the Nexus lineup is the most "open" of any Android phone and would provide you with the best user community
I'm happy with my Bionic, but the GS3 blows it out of the water.
Nothing out now is worth upgrading from a Bionic. I'll be waiting for a device with an OLED screen (not massive hopefully) and an OMAP5 beast of a processor. I'm perfectly happy with my Bionic until then.
My wife had a HTC Thunderbolt and it is quickly showing its age so we were able to get her a Galaxy S3 which I got to setup and play with.
Compared to the Bionic from a hardware standpoint, both devices are similar performance wise. The SGS3 has a little better of a gpu on it, a faster cpu and has double the ram of the Bionic, but the difference is still minimal spec wise. The biggest difference is the screen, the SGS3 has a MUCH nicer screen and the size is great. Finally I like that Samsung put a big enough battery in the SGS3 (2100mAh) compared to the Bionic's 1730 mAh battery which isnt big enough IMO.
From a software standpoint my Bionic on the ICS leak is just as smooth and seems about as fast as the SGS3. I also like the new Blur a lot more than Touchwiz though both are pretty nice. Other than that? I like the overall build quality of my Bionic better and it seems like Motorola has finally got the radios down with the basebands in the ICS leaks.
Would I trade my Bionic for a SGS if it was free? Not sure but I definitely wouldn't pay for one. Since I am grandfathered in on unlimited data with Verizon, my next phone will not have a subsidy unless I am willing to give up my unlimited data (which I am not) so I will have to pay full price. That means my next phone will have to blow my Bionic out of the water and I don't see any of the current devices out there doing that....not even the upcoming rumored Razr HD.
TY for the little review of the SGS3 vs our Bionic. I hated the fact that everyone shunned the Bionic. Coming from an OG Droid it was a definite upgrade. With the announcement of the RAZR, RAZR Maxx, and Galaxy Nexus everyone seemed to jump off ship too quick. Everyone complanied about the screen, the dropped network, etc...everyone was quick to point out what i believe are small flaws. For me the Bionic was the phone I wanted and am not dissapointed in it. The locked bootloader made the development community small. Without roms like those from Dhacker, DroidTheory, Eclipse team, and Liberty team, our phones would be very bland. I never gave hope on it. I was bummed when we lost a few of the devs due to the ungrateful people who didn't appreciate their hard work. I was really stoked with the announcement of ICS for our phones. And now with the leaks out I am much happier with my phone until the eventual upgrade. The SGS3 is nice but it not a worthy upgrade imo now that we have leaks and eventually an official ICS. Sorry if I took this off track.
amageus said:
TY for the little review of the SGS3 vs our Bionic. I hated the fact that everyone shunned the Bionic. Coming from an OG Droid it was a definite upgrade. With the announcement of the RAZR, RAZR Maxx, and Galaxy Nexus everyone seemed to jump off ship too quick. Everyone complanied about the screen, the dropped network, etc...everyone was quick to point out what i believe are small flaws. For me the Bionic was the phone I wanted and am not dissapointed in it. The locked bootloader made the development community small. Without roms like those from Dhacker, DroidTheory, Eclipse team, and Liberty team, our phones would be very bland. I never gave hope on it. I was bummed when we lost a few of the devs due to the ungrateful people who didn't appreciate their hard work. I was really stoked with the announcement of ICS for our phones. And now with the leaks out I am much happier with my phone until the eventual upgrade. The SGS3 is nice but it not a worthy upgrade imo now that we have leaks and eventually an official ICS. Sorry if I took this off track.
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I like Moto's phones i also came from the OG droid. i think Moto does a good job on quality. i want something built good not some flimsy little piece of plastic. i figured the SGSIII would blow the bionic away but from everything i have read it is not so. I will keep my Bionic and my unlimited data until Moto comes out with a quad core than i might think about moving on but not until then.
i would also like to state that it also will depend on what the dev community moves onto as well since it seems that phones from VZW will now always be locked down.
Personally I think the Bionic is the most underrated phone in Android history. I bought mine on release day, upgrading from the OG Droid, and have been happy with it ever since. Now with the ICS leak, combined with my extended battery, 32Gb Class 10 SD card, and Lapdock 500, I have to say it's the closest thing to a perfect device I've ever owned (the one flaw being the locked bootloader).
amageus said:
..... Without roms like those from Dhacker, DroidTheory, Eclipse team, and Liberty team, our phones would be very bland....
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and sparkyman216 - get on that train Bionic faithful!
I too went from a Bionic to the SGSIII. I wanted one final subsidized device so I could keep my grandfathered unlimited plan as well.
I will admit, my biggest gripe with the Bionic (aside from the lack of an official ICS release) is its pitiful camera. I'd also really like to have a 720p screen and/or a little bigger screen area and some more internal storage since you don't get the "full" 16Gb internally on the Bionic.
At any rate, I got the GSIII and I have to say I am quite underwhelmed in several key areas. The camea is awesome in comparison to all of my various Moto devices over the years but it still seems slower to focus compared to my coworkers' iPhone 4S or even the HTC One X/Evo 4G LTE.
Probably my biggest gripe with the GSIII is its diminished battery life compared to the Bionic with an extended battery. Yes, it's a lot thinner but I'd gladly add a hump to the GSIII to get another 2 hours of runtime out of it. Gaming sucks when you are in CPU power saving mode!
The GSIII is also quite slippery and if I keep it I will investiage some kind of textured battery door or thin skin case.
As far as the pros, its reception is STRONGER than my Moto in strong areas (but weaker in fringe areas) and the call quality is really superb--a first for a Samsung! That screen is fabulous and I feel that 4.7" to 4.8" is the perfect maximum usable screen sizefor a modern smartphone. The S4 CPU flies and gaming is a total job on this device.
While I didn't think it would be a problem, I have grown to DETEST the capacitive buttons on the GSIII, especially when trying to type in landscape mode. I have big hands and my right hand is always hitting the menu button by accident. I also miss a side-mounted microUSB port and I miss having a standard microHDMI port. I have the 232 leak of ICS on my Bionic and I have a new appreciation of the HDMI port due to the revamped ICS Webtop mode and losing it is gonna really suck!
Not sure which way I will end up going as I really feel 50/50 about hanging onto the ol' Moto or jumping ship to the Sammy.
unbesorgt said:
Personally I think the Bionic is the most underrated phone in Android history. I bought mine on release day, upgrading from the OG Droid, and have been happy with it ever since. Now with the ICS leak, combined with my extended battery, 32Gb Class 10 SD card, and Lapdock 500, I have to say it's the closest thing to a perfect device I've ever owned (the one flaw being the locked bootloader).
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Completely agree.
And
unbesorgt said:
Personally I think the Bionic is the most underrated phone in Android history. I bought mine on release day, upgrading from the OG Droid, and have been happy with it ever since. Now with the ICS leak, combined with my extended battery, 32Gb Class 10 SD card, and Lapdock 500, I have to say it's the closest thing to a perfect device I've ever owned (the one flaw being the locked bootloader).
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The Bionic and the Rezound are both the most underrated android devices ever, and I own both.
I'd get the G3 if it had quad core in the US. But I'm real happy with the bionic/lapdoc combo with ICS. I don't think there is a more usable/versatile use of a phone with that.
I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 (SGS3 from here on..) on my desk for work.
Let me start by first saying the .232 ICS leak on the Bionic finally resolved my data drop issues, where data went away for no reason and it took a battery pull or airplane mode toggle to bring it back, although 3G <-> 4G hand offs are extremely slow. The Bionic with the 6.7.232 ICS leak is what I expected the Bionic to be (except the screen is worse than I expected) when it was sent to me in Sept 2011. Camera is typical Moto "phone" camera quality. Reception (with this leak) is great, battery life is very good (for an Android phone), etc.
I still use my Thunderbolt as my "daily driver" due to its screen and camera and general phone/email performance. With the Rezound 1620mah battery, and the stock 1400 as a spare, I can last as long as I need to between charges.
I hate touchwiz (both on my T-Mobile SGS2 with GB and ICS, and the VZW SGS3). Blur on the Bionic is "just enough" to help but not get in the way, and actually looks good. While touchwiz on the SGS3 "looks" better, it still looks "cartoony."
In day to day use (so not looking at every single feature/function, but rather only those I actually use), I like the calendar of the SGS3, its camera and its display quality over the Bionic. I also like that the SGS3 supports simultaneous voice/data over 3G. Those are 3 areas the Bionic doesn't keep up. Beyond that, the Bionic (with 6.7.232 ICS Leak) now has better reception, and the rest is a tie.
Would I buy an SGS3 if my Bionic was my daily driver (ICS or GB on the Bionic, assuming I didn't have the data drop problem)... I don't think so. While the camera and screen (colors, sharpness, readability, etc) are better on the SGS3, I don't think its worth spending the money.
Will I use the TB or the Bionic as my daily driver? Because of the screen and camera, I'm back on the TB for now.
I plan on buying a GS3 once I have the money, but it will be hard for a bit. The Bionic, my first smartphone, has been damn near perfect. Awesome ROMs once I worked up the bravery, made it even better. And now with official ICS, it has a new life and I love it. But I'm ready and begging for something new to play with and the GS3 is looking perfect.
I definitely agree with others who say the Bionic is overrated. I would argue that until that besides the Galaxy Nexus, the Bionic was pretty much the best phone on the US market until 2012's powerhouse phones dropped. On Verizon alone, I would take the Bionic over any phone until the GS3.
i think the camera is software limited, the post processing "magic", jpeg compression, noise handling, or maybe the auto-focus algorithm
samsung has digital camera worked together with SGS development
Let me preface by saying that I am one of the official testers of phones for my public safety department that are issued to our administrators of which I am one. Because of Sprint's slow and horrible data connection speeds, they have been bounced in favor of Verizon's network. I also have a personal phone which until recently was also on Sprint's network. I was so impressed with Verizon's 4G data that I paid the ETF and switched to Verizon. As such my phone history has been (after we jettisoned Blackberry in obscurity which I am not counting):
Work
Motorola Xprt
Motorola Admiral
Droid 4
Bionic
Personal
Hero
Evo
Galaxy S1
Evo 3D
Galaxy S3
As such I've had the opportunity to watch "generational" leaps in phone technology. The Hero to the Evo was such a leap. The Evo to the Bionic was such a leap. And now the Bionic to the Galaxy S3 is another evolutionary leap in technology. Keep in mind that I carry (as do most of our administrators) the Bionic. I recommended the Bionic because it met our tight security standards yet was fast, well built, and did everything well. That it would eventually see the next generation of Android was a plus and of course I have already previewed the unofficial pre-release unofficially . I determined that the Razr was not the leap in technology that warranted much excitement. It wasn't an option to be fair.
Now saying all that I steadfastly disagree with the notion that the Bionic is in the same league with the Galaxy S3. Sure, they do basic functions and the Bionic which has been woefully underrated and Verizon's EOL little gem, stands toe to toe with the best of them. However, the Galaxy S3 just does everything better and gives you more. Screen to screen there is no comparison. Speed, responsiveness, smoothness, software, hidden features, ergonomics, call quality, picture quality, video the list goes on...the Galaxy just does it all better. It is in my opinion a "generational" leap in technology. This is my unbiased opinion and mind you that on my recommendation, we carry the Bionic as the official work phone for my department. But for personal use, the Galaxy is a technological wonder and is arguably the best phone on the market; yes besting the One X as an overall better kit. Unfortunately we will not see the Galaxy S3 issued due to cost and security concerns, but really don't kid yourselves, the Galaxy S3 right now is in a league of it's own.
I recently bought an HTC Desire Z but was given the T-mobile model which doesn't suppport 850Mhz 3G, which is what my local network runs. The eBay seller has a Droid 3 XT883 that he can exchange my HTC for, would you recommend your Droid?
I really like the QWERTY keyboard on the HTC but there seems to be less in the way of ROMs for the Droid. Any other models you can suggest?
ashok_fernandez said:
I recently bought an HTC Desire Z but was given the T-mobile model which doesn't suppport 850Mhz 3G, which is what my local network runs. The eBay seller has a Droid 3 XT883 that he can exchange my HTC for, would you recommend your Droid?
I really like the QWERTY keyboard on the HTC but there seems to be less in the way of ROMs for the Droid. Any other models you can suggest?
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Its not a bad device, its got a solid cpu and ram which is still pretty speedy, the keyboard is one of the best available ( besides the droid 4's ), but in terms of roms and dev support its almost dead. They devs still around are still working very hard but sometimes a lot of things are outdated , and if you get brick it can be hard with limited support.
It is quite durable and reliable, easy to root as well, once hash develops the JB ROM it'll be a solid phone. I use mine day to day, on an ICS ROM, and it works well. However, doesn't mean I won't buy the fighter once is out, due to the fact that its a bit old. But I would recommend it.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers
Never even approach to this phone. It is the worst smartphone I have ever not only owned, but even held in my hand. This phone has managed to disappoint me not even in Motorola, but in whole Android. I'm pulling the thread to get brand new flagship on WP8 - thankfully we will never see WP8 on Motos. F..k Moto, damn droid!
the biggest pro to this phone, the keyboard, sucks for me. i've had 2 now and both have had problems with double pressing keys and some keys (particularly the question mark) not wanting to register. plus there's very little support. stay away
edit: on the pro side i can use it to open my beer bottles because of the metal bezel
DROID 3 - good specs, terrible support/updates. biggest drawback at the moment is the locked bootloader. i'm currently trying to decide whether to keep it (hoping we can actually get an OS update) or sell it.
if you're looking for the QWERTY keyboard and full 3G band support, have a look at the Xperia Pro mk16a. It's a good piece of equipment already running Jelly Bean.
Droid 3 could be good for you
If the following apply to you, the Droid 3 is a great phone:
1. You are OK with not having the latest and greatest version of Android
2. You don't mind rooting
3. 3G rather than 4G is OK for your purposes
Number two kind of applies to all Verizon Android phones in my book. They are so incredibly full of crapware as they come from Verizon that the hardware seems basically crippled by it. However rooting it and installing Titanium backup and then freezing all the crapware so it can't run transforms the phone. Personally I don't much care if I ever get ICS or JB on it. Once de-crapified the version it has is fine in my book. Then again my needs are probably less demanding than others. For me my phone is just a glorified PDA for getting my email, providing appointment notifications and storing my contacts. I use Touchdown for those things and that is going to be pretty much the same no matter what phone I use it on.
The speakerphone is the best I've had so far, very clear sound. The camera is above par as well, crisp and little grain, certainly better than my Atrix.
Absolutely