Related
I got the Bionic a couple weeks ago and it's been pretty awesome so far. But I saw the Razr pop up (http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_...l-core-processor-lte-support/?tag=epicStories) and kind of got bad a feeling that I shouldn't have been so hasty getting the Bionic.
I lost sleep over this too. Ultimately I resolved that I'd keep my Bionic. I can only imagine what the phones on the horizon with a 720p res display are going to do to the battery. Also, until we see more phones with the Ice Cream Sandwich O/S, I'm staying put.
Yeah, that RAZR is straight doinggggggggggggg
art0605 said:
I got the Bionic a couple weeks ago and it's been pretty awesome so far. But I saw the Razr pop up (http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_...l-core-processor-lte-support/?tag=epicStories) and kind of got bad a feeling that I shouldn't have been so hasty getting the Bionic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, this is how it's going to be for any piece of electronics you buy. "This is good but the next thing is better." If you keep waiting for the best thing ever you probably will never get anything. I say stick it out w the Bionic and when your upgrade comes up I'm sure the RAZR will look like Zach Morris' phone from Saved by the Bell (OK maybe not that bad).
I hear you
I get it no one wants to get a phone a 2 months later its replaced by a better one.however I love the bionic I have had one or two glitches unlike others I just got lucky. Its super fast I think the screen looks great and I watch Netflix. The pentile screen also uses a small amount o of battery compared to the other screens
id return my bionic if you guys updated from the charge or thunderbolt and wait for this droid razr, its going to be sick
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App
They won't post a release date until last minute. I think the Bionic was a placeholder at this point, they just wanted the name to make them money. This device will probably be leaps(maybe not bounds) better.
I don't think it will be a huge improvement.. Honestly as of right now I see no need to upgrade my phone I have yet to find anything that would slow down my phone. Never really experienced lag and flash runs smooth... After I installed DroidTh3ory's ROM my phone has had 100x better battery life as well...
It's announced today - coming early Nov to VZW
From PC World's review
There's a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED qHD display (that's 960-pixel by 540-pixel resolution), an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with 1080p video capture, an HD front-facing camera, and 32 GB of memory, split between internal storage and a microSD card. It's also a 4G LTE phone.
On the outside, the Droid Razr sports laser-cut woven Kevlar fiber and a Gorilla Glass display, highlighted by aluminum accents and wrapped around a stainless steel core. A splash guard is designed to protect the phone from flying liquids.
Motorola's stuffed a 1,780 mAh battery into the Droid Razr, and claims that will give a user 12.5 hours of 3G talk time or 8.9 hours of video playback
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
our3rotts said:
It's announced today - coming early Nov to VZW
From PC World's review
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, I've been tracking it all morning. So as of now, I'm on the fence about selling my Bionic for that bad boy. What to do, what to do?
Sure the material looks better in theory, same RAM 200 mhz more? Wonder how much extra performance you will see. Super Amoled with pentile subpixel display right? Not sure about this one team, I also feel kinda torn.
I currently have a partially working Thunderbolt and was going to switch out for a Bionic on Friday, until I saw the RAZR announcement this morning. I went over the specs and hardware/software wise there are no major differences whatsoever... The appeal of the RAZR seems to be it's design. It's "pretty" and built to take a beating. Looks like you could beat someone to death with it and it will still function 100%.
I am now debating if I should still get the Bionic or hold on to this Thunderbolt a bit longer and get the RAZR. What bothers me is they say they are taking pre-orders on the 27th but no one(not even Verizon) will say when the phone will actually be released.
In b4 we see an article "Nerd beat to death by RAZR smartphone... PZNERD"
2-3 months after the RAZR comes out, HTC or Samsung will release something you wish you would have waited for. I waited 10 months for the BIONIC, I'm going to enjoy this badboy for as long as I can. I've learned not to look forward to any more phones in the future. Unless you are willing to buy a new phone every 2-3 months, you will never have the best for long.
Maybe Verizon should consider leasing these phones as the technology is growing faster than most people's wallets can afford.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
How much you all want to bet the GSIII will be out by February? That'll be the phone of all phones.
While the Razr does look good it doesn't look like it will be leaps and abounds above the bionic, plus it has a locked bootloader also, so you would be in the same no custom kernal boat. With DroidTh3ory's Blurr3d and D3Blurr3ed ROMs i don't see the need to jump ship yet. Now maybe when the Nexus or another powerful phone with an unlocked bootloader comes out then i would consider it, but after investing the money in the Bionic i couldn't imagine paying full retail price, probably between $500-$600, for another phone so quickly.
There will ALWAYS be something better in the future! Get what you want and enjoy it. Don't beat yourself up for buying what you have because a new one is coming out soon. And those of you without a bionic, don't b*tch at people who have it by saying they should have waited.
The Bionic is a great piece of work.
Of course there will be better phones soon, but Android can always put out an update that makes the current devices even better.
~INB4 i smack somebody~
I think the Bionic will be a better phone because they will probably try and make the razor too sleek and have to sacrifice things such as battery life and hardware just my 2 cents
Non-removable battery yuck. Wonder if the prime will be the same?
zetsumeikuro said:
Non-removable battery yuck. Wonder if the prime will be the same?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like having an external battery so I can pop it out when needed...
And...internal battery means no Extended Battery...you're stuck with what ya got.
About the RAZR being offical annouced so shortly after the "king of machines" was released. I know there are other better phones being thrown out in the open, but I'm talking about the moto realm strictly. Makes you wonder since the Bionic was so delayed already, why not beef up the specs even more? Not trying to start a flame/troll war, just want to see other people's opinions. Thanks .
Well my opinion on this is simple.... there will always be something better coming out... regardless of what specs a certain phone has.. the next one will have something more... personally I love my Bionic... and I would like to see an ota or two out before I get another phone... but the Razr is something I think is being released to compete with the nexus prime or galaxy nexus or whatever its going to be called... its all marketing IMO. I just hope that the Bionic isn't forgotten or written off just because all these other devices are coming out.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
Yeah I understand their need to "compete" with the nexus prime it is a beast of a phone. I mean they could of just bumped the Bionic up a bit more since it wa s already so delayed. I'm sure the Bionic could of handled the extra 200 mhz base and the superamoled vs pentile. Regarldess I still think the Bionic is nice, but it feels like another "place holder" phone for moto. Feels like they just did it to do it, and get over with.
There probabily is a reason such as an example is the targa version went into production a long time ago there were problems with somthing maybe hardware maybe softare but than you start to develope the razer but have a bunch invested in the bionic and a lot made. I just mean the bionic was meant to probably just be the first lte duel core. I teally think they did not mean to do that but couldnt delay the razer because tech gets old fast. And compitition is fearce. I think right now as soon as they can come up with the nitch phone with the best specs and put it together it goes to market. Htc is worse at it. Motorola is jyst evolving the droid x seris. What is missing is the droid with keyboard series. There my faverite phone for battery life nut like back to the bionic and razer i am thinking the razer is going to have battery drain issues worse than the bionic. I think the nexus prime is gona be worse on battery. With the htc being the worst battery hog as usuall
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium
phullofphil said:
There probabily is a reason such as an example is the targa version went into production a long time ago there were problems with somthing maybe hardware maybe softare but than you start to develope the razer but have a bunch invested in the bionic and a lot made. I just mean the bionic was meant to probably just be the first lte duel core. I teally think they did not mean to do that but couldnt delay the razer because tech gets old fast. And compitition is fearce. I think right now as soon as they can come up with the nitch phone with the best specs and put it together it goes to market. Htc is worse at it. Motorola is jyst evolving the droid x seris. What is missing is the droid with keyboard series. There my faverite phone for battery life nut like back to the bionic and razer i am thinking the razer is going to have battery drain issues worse than the bionic. I think the nexus prime is gona be worse on battery. With the htc being the worst battery hog as usuall
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah Bionic was meant to just be the first dual core/LTE phone. The market is evolving too fast to the point where "offical" shelf life is like 6 months now. Wonder what it will be in a few years. They probably could of bumped the core speed of the processor to 1.2 for the Bionic before release. Oh well it is what it is I suppose.
For anyone that has purchased one for full contract/upgrade pricing ($200), I feel kind of bad. Sure there's always something new coming, but if it's being announced in a week and likely to come out in the next few weeks, the wait is probably worth it. At the very least, there's a chance to get the same phone (bionic) for cheaper, once the newest phone is released. That said, I'm getting my bionic tomorrow and I picked it up with the amazon deal for $0.01. If I had waited, I basically would have needed to pay $200 more (at least) for the razr or any of the other upcoming devices, so I don't really feel bad about my purchase. It was absolutely the best deal I think I'll see for a while.
If the production device looks like the pictures, I do envy the look and casing. It's definitely a beautiful device... very sleek and the fact that it's slightly thinner does have a bit of an appeal. In terms of actual specs and features? It's slightly better, but I wouldn't have paid an additional $200 for it. ICS would be the biggest appeal for me, and there's a decent chance that might make it to the bionic anyways. For those with a bionic already, it's probably not worth it. Once it comes out, depending on the pricing, the bionic will probably still be the better value and have more appeal for those that are value-oriented while the razr will be close enough in price to appeal to those that need the latest and greatest.
The one thing I'm curious about will be the pricing... it seems quick for them to be dropping the price on the bionic, but not impossible. Will the razr be slightly more expensive? Or will the razr cause a nice price drop on the bionic?
I think these few devices coming up are only being pushed out so soon to compete with the new iphone, especially with the holiday sales coming up. Phones like the bionic and galaxy S2 are kind of considered "on par" with the iphone, so the slight improvements to these phones will create more of an appeal. The release does seem to be very close to the bionic, so I'd guess they intended the bionic to be released quite a bit earlier.
CC Lemon said:
For anyone that has purchased one for full contract/upgrade pricing ($200), I feel kind of bad. Sure there's always something new coming, but if it's being announced in a week and likely to come out in the next few weeks, the wait is probably worth it. At the very least, there's a chance to get the same phone (bionic) for cheaper, once the newest phone is released. That said, I'm getting my bionic tomorrow and I picked it up with the amazon deal for $0.01. If I had waited, I basically would have needed to pay $200 more (at least) for the razr or any of the other upcoming devices, so I don't really feel bad about my purchase. It was absolutely the best deal I think I'll see for a while.
If the production device looks like the pictures, I do envy the look and casing. It's definitely a beautiful device... very sleek and the fact that it's slightly thinner does have a bit of an appeal. In terms of actual specs and features? It's slightly better, but I wouldn't have paid an additional $200 for it. ICS would be the biggest appeal for me, and there's a decent chance that might make it to the bionic anyways. For those with a bionic already, it's probably not worth it. Once it comes out, depending on the pricing, the bionic will probably still be the better value and have more appeal for those that are value-oriented while the razr will be close enough in price to appeal to those that need the latest and greatest.
The one thing I'm curious about will be the pricing... it seems quick for them to be dropping the price on the bionic, but not impossible. Will the razr be slightly more expensive? Or will the razr cause a nice price drop on the bionic?
I think these few devices coming up are only being pushed out so soon to compete with the new iphone, especially with the holiday sales coming up. Phones like the bionic and galaxy S2 are kind of considered "on par" with the iphone, so the slight improvements to these phones will create more of an appeal. The release does seem to be very close to the bionic, so I'd guess they intended the bionic to be released quite a bit earlier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the Bionic through a fluke got some e-mail saying that I was eligible to upgrade. Called in vzw they had no records, rep asked me to forward (since they didn't see the offer in their system) so I did and they're like okay we'll honor it, but you should do it now just in case. So I did and sold my D3 for like 350 so pretty much no cost Bionic for me. Hell I paid like 100 for my x2,which got turned into a D3 (brand new not clnr)via warranty, cause of all the stupid music skipping which pissed me off. Then today I got an email which made me lol, vzw was like whoops we f'ed up you're not eligible for any type of upgrade. I was like too late already got my upgrade pznerd. So for "free" it's definately not bad, I do have the 14 days if I do find out one of those devices are coming out fairly soon idk if I want to go through all that hassle though. Or if I return the Bionic if my upgrade date will be reversed cause of this special circumstance.
Edit: I'm sure both devices will be $299.99. The prime is pretty damn sexy curved glass, and the Razr being thin w/ a super amoled on moto. My main concern for both of those devices would be battery life. I also do feel that the Bionic is better than the iPhone for the most part. iPhone 4s for sure, iPhone 5 no clue, but it'll be atleast another 6 months I'd think before we see the iPhone 5 launched.
zetsumeikuro said:
About the RAZR being offical annouced so shortly after the "king of machines" was released. I know there are other better phones being thrown out in the open, but I'm talking about the moto realm strictly. Makes you wonder since the Bionic was so delayed already, why not beef up the specs even more? Not trying to start a flame/troll war, just want to see other people's opinions. Thanks .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that the phone manufacturers have very long product design, development and manufacturing cycles. The Bionic's delays probably screwed up what was expected to be the release difference between the Bionic and Razr, but it would be dumb on Moto's part to delay the Razr just for that reason.
But, how much could the Bionic's specs have been beefed up? Faster clock speed on the dual-core processor? I think that Bionic has pretty high-end hardware already.
We'll see later today, but there will probably be specific reasons why some people would want a Razr over a Bionic, and vice versa for other people.
Motorola really dropped the ball with the bionic. Don't get me wrong, its an awesome phone, but with how long it took them to bring it to the market, it shouldn't have the bugs that it does have.
Also, with how long it took them to bring it out let the competition outdo them. They did announce this phone 10 months before it came out. If they could have gotten it out by May, this phone may have been a huge success for them, but since they didnt, competition had the time to outdo them. But that's the life of an android owner, something better always around the corner. Unfortunately, Motorola allowed that corner to be too close when if they released it during late spring/early summer, they would have gave themselves time before that corner came.
I will say that if your waiting for the next batch of high quality Androids to be released, that there will be something better following them so you will still feel like you should have waited. The technology is moving faster than the wallet can afford.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
People tend to forget that the original Bionic was a Tegra-powered device with 512MB of RAM and running Froyo. It wasn't even a ground up redesign, they just slapped the Bionic name on the Targa, a phone which I suspect was originally intended to be the Droid X2.
The only thing that really impresses me about the Razr is the chassis- but I suspect the Bionic will hold up just fine. I'm more interested in the possibility of Ice Cream Sandwich, as many of the issues I have with the Bionic have been shared with every Froyo or GB device I've owned, and it would be nice to see a few of them fixed.
The Motorola RAZR event just concluded and frankly I'm not seeing any differentiating factors between the Bionic and the RAZR apart from form factor. The rumored NFC wasn't announced, and nothing about ICS was mentioned. The screen is supposedly different, with Super AMOLED, but if memory serves me, that's STILL a PenTile display, just a different pixel arrangement. This may in fact end up being a non-event.
Specs:
4.3″ Super AMOLED Advanced qHD display.
Dual-core 1.2GHz processor
1GB RAM
Gorilla Glass
weighs very little
1800mAh battery
TempestDash said:
The Motorola RAZR event just concluded and frankly I'm not seeing any differentiating factors between the Bionic and the RAZR apart from form factor. The rumored NFC wasn't announced, and nothing about ICS was mentioned. The screen is supposedly different, with Super AMOLED, but if memory serves me, that's STILL a PenTile display, just a different pixel arrangement. This may in fact end up being a non-event.
Specs:
4.3″ Super AMOLED Advanced qHD display.
Dual-core 1.2GHz processor
1GB RAM
Gorilla Glass
weighs very little
1800mAh battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's GB 2.3.5 vs. 2.3.4, for what that's worth. The battery is 1780, not 1800, to be specific - so, close to the Bionic. They apparently have some battery usage tweaks that could easily be done on the Bionic as well. It's quite a bit thinner and lighter, but it is also longer and wider. Why are these guys doing this?
It'll be interesting to see how the super AMOLED display does outdoors. That is one thing that the Bionic's display does very well.
I just hope that Google taking over Motorola that they help clear up the mistakes Motorola has made. While the bionic is a beast, i have to say that the thunderbolt would have to be the winner up to this point with the Verizon LTE phones due to the fact it didn't have to worry about rumors of it being outdated within 2 months of being released like the bionic has. When people bought the thunderbolt, they knew it would be a while before something better would be released. I never imagined Motorola was going to release a somewhat better phone right after they released one of the most anticipated phones of the year. If Motorola would have got the bionic right, they would have buried htc, lg, and samsung already and wouldn't need to release another super phone until the spring. Unfortunately Motorola fumbled the bionic and feel they have to release another super phone to make up for their mistake. Maybe they need to stop focusing on releasing so many different phones and concentrate on a select few phones and get it right and release them across multiple networks.
I know for as long as I waited for the bionic, i shouldn't have issues with my data going out and having to reboot the phone. They had plenty of time to work the bugs out and didnt. It's not like this phone wasn't pushed back, but if its going to get pushed back, fix the bugs while your at it.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
I dont WANT a super thin phone, I'm a tall guy in the Navy, we break things left and right! Now the water repellent, meh. Spills. Again though, NAVY. My spill is the ocean haha.
Now the Nexus prime on the other hand. We shall see... Either way however, I LOVE my liberated Bionic, and now that the kernal source code has been released (See: Android Development) Ill be happy at least for the next few months *depending on development*
Just saw the the info for the RAZR. Gotta admit it's one sexy ass beast as in terms of how it looks. But in the end it's still the same processor bumped up 200mhz? It probably will be pentile for the subpixel display I believe? Friend trolling saying zomg its kevlar and corning and faster makes it only a "bit better". He's pretty much stating that it blows the bionic out of the water. Oh well I have my 14 days and pre-orders for the RAZR start on the 27th. But I'm not sure if I want to try to push returning it cause of the fluke w/ the email and vzw support that gave me a free upgrade on the spot. Since the center was the one that honored that E-mail even with no records on their part derp. The world of Android outdated the minute you're out the door.
smokedkill said:
I just hope that Google taking over Motorola that they help clear up the mistakes Motorola has made. While the bionic is a beast, i have to say that the thunderbolt would have to be the winner up to this point with the Verizon LTE phones due to the fact it didn't have to worry about rumors of it being outdated within 2 months of being released like the bionic has. When people bought the thunderbolt, they knew it would be a while before something better would be released. I never imagined Motorola was going to release a somewhat better phone right after they released one of the most anticipated phones of the year. If Motorola would have got the bionic right, they would have buried htc, lg, and samsung already and wouldn't need to release another super phone until the spring. Unfortunately Motorola fumbled the bionic and feel they have to release another super phone to make up for their mistake. Maybe they need to stop focusing on releasing so many different phones and concentrate on a select few phones and get it right and release them across multiple networks.
I know for as long as I waited for the bionic, i shouldn't have issues with my data going out and having to reboot the phone. They had plenty of time to work the bugs out and didnt. It's not like this phone wasn't pushed back, but if its going to get pushed back, fix the bugs while your at it.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The t bolt was delayed a good but also and released with many bugs (which still haven't been fixed) the hardware of the bolt was also crap, its the reason I have a bionic now. I agree that if its going to get pushed back this much it shouldn't have many bugs, I guess I got luck cause I don't have many (far less than I did with the t bolt). As far ar I'm concerned the bolt was outdated by my old X, it ran just as good with liberty froyo as my t bolt ever did, and it had far superior call quality and build quality.
One more thing: I hope that Moto solved the BSOD, because good luck pulling the battery out of the Razr. (I assume it will have some sort of iPhone-ish like key combos to power it down if it hangs, though.)
zetsumeikuro said:
The market is evolving too fast to the point where "offical" shelf life is like 6 months now. Wonder what it will be in a few years. They probably could of bumped the core speed of the processor to 1.2 for the Bionic before release. Oh well it is what it is I suppose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly the reason why I don't understand the decision carriers made to eliminate the "new after one" options for existing customers. I guess it makes sense to keep existing customers locked in while they entice new customers.
eraursls1984 said:
The t bolt was delayed a good but also and released with many bugs (which still haven't been fixed) the hardware of the bolt was also crap, its the reason I have a bionic now. I agree that if its going to get pushed back this much it shouldn't have many bugs, I guess I got luck cause I don't have many (far less than I did with the t bolt). As far ar I'm concerned the bolt was outdated by my old X, it ran just as good with liberty froyo as my t bolt ever did, and it had far superior call quality and build quality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of the bugs i had with the thunderbolt were eliminated when i installed a custom rom, other than the random reboots. I ended up trading it in within 2 weeks for the lg revolution because it had an unlocked bootloader. Big mistake. The revolution is one of the most unusual androids that i've seen (ive had 5 of them now myself, plus my girl had 2 different ones than me). It's almost as lg through a bunch of garbage files in it to throw off the development community.
Ive never owned a samsung, but the type of plastic they use is a turnoff for me.
I am intrigued by a Nexus coming to Verizon though. Didn't think i would see that happen.
Back to what I was saying earlier though. I feel that up to this point, that the thunderbolt is the biggest winner of the LTE phones on Verizon. I believe it is the only 1 that didn't get followed up by a superior product. It was followed by the revolution, which isnt as good. The revolution was followed by the charge, which was an improvement. In my opinion, the bionic is better than the charge. While the thumderbolt isn't the best 1, it is the only 1 that didn't get surpassed the very next time Verizon released a LTE phone.
While the razr looks nice, i don't regret buying the bionic at all. Unless the razr has a built in fm modulator, i don't think i ever will. Maybe add a solar panel to help with battery life would be nice also.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
How much faster can the Razor really be? Until either phone gets ICS we won't know how much a difference it'll make. The screen and weight are the only differences. The Bionic is already a light phone so I'm not really bothered. I did buy from Costco though so I could throw a fit over the bugs this phone has and get a different phone.
I know there's been a lot of discussion of recent handsets, given that the Bionic was the first of a flurry of next-generation phones, made all the worse by Motorola's steadfast refusal to hand us the keys to our phone and the various software issues they've so far completely failed to address. Given all that, it's very easy to down on the Bionic or feel suckered.
But where's the love for the Bionic?
I've been offered a different handset (as the software issues on the Bionic have been killing me) by VzW, offered the Razr, Rezound, and if I'm willing to wait, even the GNex. But as I've been considering that, I've realized that the Bionic really is the sweet spot for me.
We're quite nearly as fast as the Razr, same other specs, none of Moto's rubbish Smart Actions, and we can replace our batteries or get an extended battery. Not to mention that we'll be getting the bugfix release sooner than they will, so likely, our network drops will be fixed first.
The HTC Rezound is a great phone, but it's thicker than the Bionic, and that's without the (still unannounced) extended battery. It's also slowed down by HTC Sense, and they (as of last I checked) still don't even have root. It's got a beautiful screen, and a slight speed bump, but not much else on us.
The Galaxy Nexus LTE hasn't even been released yet, but we know that it won't have an SD Card slot (and thus, won't ever support 64GB cards as the Bionic already does), and that the sound quality from the speakers is very quiet, especially compared to Motorola's speakers. We also know that we can get good battery life, and that our extended battery actually fits the phone nicely versus their (still not announced) batteries. They've got a nicer screen, NFC, and likely a nicer camera, but at the end of the day, if you need extended batteries and extended storage, the Bionic is all you've got.
But, the Nexus Bootloader is unlocked. That's the main temptation for me to go over there, and for many of us, it's a sine qua non. That said, that's something that's well within Motorola's power to fix, either intentionally, by accident, or "by accident". They likely won't, but hey, there's hope. And even now, there's a growing ROM-building community, which will likely only grow larger as the software issues are fixed and ICS nears.
Of course, the software issues are huge, and I don't mean to excuse Motorola's massive screwup there. Motorola has really screwed us over with the software on this phone, and their refusal to unlock the damned bootloaders is huge. But hopefully they'll learn and improve the software from there.
In short, in the Bionic, we've got plenty of (expandable) storage, good speakers, a reasonable extended battery, good cases, promises of ICS, and a chipset that can keep up with anything on the market.
It's not perfect, but nothing ever is. For some of you, the other phones may offer something better, and more power to you, but for people like me who like large battery and storage capacity, even after this latest glut of releases, the Bionic will still be the best choice. It's not a dead headset, surpassed and unworthy of development. It's not been replaced by, well, anything, it's just one good option among other options.
So, if you're one of the people like me for whom the Bionic really still is the best phone on the market, hang in there, and don't let the haters get you down.
I love it!
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
Bionic ftw!
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
I completely agree with everything in the OP. The Bionic is a great phone even with its flaws and poor treatment from the manufacturer, and I believe it will only get better if Motorola holds to their promises of bugfixes and ICS, and the possiblity of an unlocked bootloader.
I can't believe I just read all of that on my phone.... but I'm glad that I did! The Bionic goes to 11!!
jus curious, when u were offered other phones...did u already cross the 14days return period ?
wanderfowl said:
I know there's been a lot of discussion of recent handsets, given that the Bionic was the first of a flurry of next-generation phones, made all the worse by Motorola's steadfast refusal to hand us the keys to our phone and the various software issues they've so far completely failed to address. Given all that, it's very easy to down on the Bionic or feel suckered.
But where's the love for the Bionic?
I've been offered a different handset (as the software issues on the Bionic have been killing me) by VzW, offered the Razr, Rezound, and if I'm willing to wait, even the GNex. But as I've been considering that, I've realized that the Bionic really is the sweet spot for me.
We're quite nearly as fast as the Razr, same other specs, none of Moto's rubbish Smart Actions, and we can replace our batteries or get an extended battery. Not to mention that we'll be getting the bugfix release sooner than they will, so likely, our network drops will be fixed first.
The HTC Rezound is a great phone, but it's thicker than the Bionic, and that's without the (still unannounced) extended battery. It's also slowed down by HTC Sense, and they (as of last I checked) still don't even have root. It's got a beautiful screen, and a slight speed bump, but not much else on us.
The Galaxy Nexus LTE hasn't even been released yet, but we know that it won't have an SD Card slot (and thus, won't ever support 64GB cards as the Bionic already does), and that the sound quality from the speakers is very quiet, especially compared to Motorola's speakers. We also know that we can get good battery life, and that our extended battery actually fits the phone nicely versus their (still not announced) batteries. They've got a nicer screen, NFC, and likely a nicer camera, but at the end of the day, if you need extended batteries and extended storage, the Bionic is all you've got.
But, the Nexus Bootloader is unlocked. That's the main temptation for me to go over there, and for many of us, it's a sine qua non. That said, that's something that's well within Motorola's power to fix, either intentionally, by accident, or "by accident". They likely won't, but hey, there's hope. And even now, there's a growing ROM-building community, which will likely only grow larger as the software issues are fixed and ICS nears.
Of course, the software issues are huge, and I don't mean to excuse Motorola's massive screwup there. Motorola has really screwed us over with the software on this phone, and their refusal to unlock the damned bootloaders is huge. But hopefully they'll learn and improve the software from there.
In short, in the Bionic, we've got plenty of (expandable) storage, good speakers, a reasonable extended battery, good cases, promises of ICS, and a chipset that can keep up with anything on the market.
It's not perfect, but nothing ever is. For some of you, the other phones may offer something better, and more power to you, but for people like me who like large battery and storage capacity, even after this latest glut of releases, the Bionic will still be the best choice. It's not a dead headset, surpassed and unworthy of development. It's not been replaced by, well, anything, it's just one good option among other options.
So, if you're one of the people like me for whom the Bionic really still is the best phone on the market, hang in there, and don't let the haters get you down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
afma_afma said:
jus curious, when u were offered other phones...did u already cross the 14days return period ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, this was only last week (purchased shortly after release), but I've been in touch with them about these issues since very quickly after the 14 days. I've called Verizon nearly 15 times, and only recently have they made this offer, and that's only because I've had especially bad troubles with the travel and amount of wired-headset-calling I do. I doubt that they'll be open for that if you don't have a history of calls and complaints.
wanderfowl said:
Yes, this was only last week (purchased shortly after release), but I've been in touch with them about these issues since very quickly after the 14 days. I've called Verizon nearly 15 times, and only recently have they made this offer, and that's only because I've had especially bad troubles with the travel and amount of wired-headset-calling I do. I doubt that they'll be open for that if you don't have a history of calls and complaints.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cool..thank u for the info..my bionic has been sailing smooth with no issues this far..i am hoping it stays that way..
Actually the galaxy nexus got slammed for having an absolutely terrible camera. I was going to see my bionic and get it, until I saw that. Dealbreaker.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
nosympathy said:
Actually the galaxy nexus got slammed for having an absolutely terrible camera. I was going to see my bionic and get it, until I saw that. Dealbreaker.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's certainly not worse than the bionic camera.
I'd trade your bionic in a heartbeat. Mine is in a drawer collecting dust because it's awful. Most regretted phone purchase of my life.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda premium
my bionic is garbage the constant data dropping makes me want to throw it against a wall and the only thing stopping me from doing so is the hope that I can sell it to some chump for at least 200 bucks when the nexus comes out.
smartphone minus data connection = ****ty phone with poor battery life.
From what I hear they say the data dropping out is common with all 4g devices. I cave from the thunderbolt and had the same experience. I'm seriously considering switching to a 3g device
i had a blackberry to a facinate now the bionic. BIONIC IS THE BEST
Th3demolitionman said:
From what I hear they say the data dropping out is common with all 4g devices. I cave from the thunderbolt and had the same experience. I'm seriously considering switching to a 3g device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can force you phone into CDMA only instead of LTE/CDMA. I was told at a VZW store thats a possible work around. I did switch back to my OG droid incredible until the bionic gets software fixes.
I also wish the screen was better, but getting everything i want in a phone would make it 800$+
Just got the Bionic a couple days ago. I haven't had any data issues yet but I have it in CDMA only mode at the moment. Will test it in a 4g area in a couple days as I am right on the edge of a 4g area. I also have a Inc2 and have had a Fascinate and D1. This phone rocks for me. Battery is decent, its fast, solid build, blur (nonblur) is kind of nice now. Camera software isn't great but it isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Phone is also a little thick. I am optimistic that the data bug will be fixed with the next update.
Troll much?
eallan said:
It's certainly not worse than the bionic camera.
I'd trade your bionic in a heartbeat. Mine is in a drawer collecting dust because it's awful. Most regretted phone purchase of my life.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Bionic camera is not one of the problems with this phone. It promptly takes good pictures and shoots very usable videos.
pharaoh45 said:
The Bionic camera is not one of the problems with this phone. It promptly takes good pictures and shoots very usable videos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the absolute worst cell phone camera I've ever used. It's completely laughable and almost unusable. I feel sorry for you thinking it's "good."
The camera in Theoryrom makes it not one of the problems in this phone.
eallan said:
It's the absolute worst cell phone camera I've ever used. It's completely laughable and almost unusable. I feel sorry for you thinking it's "good."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It all depends what system you are on.
886 - agreed, worst camera ever!
893 - much improved
Hey guys, I am currently the owner of a Samsung Charge with a cracked screen. While still functional, its a little annoying. I am thinking about getting a new phone off eBay as contract renewal isn't an option. While I would love a Nexus, Rezound or Razr, the prices are way too high. I noticed the bionic is reasonable at $200-250 on ebay used. Seems like the only reasonable LTE dual core actually. How is the bionic? Sounds like people like them, community pretty strong with the development of ROMs? Any reasons to avoid it?
The Bionic is a good phone itself, crippled by a locked bootloader. Because of that Dev has slowed down quite a bit. If I were you, I'd save for the Galaxy Nexus.
Dont take my word on this, but I read somewhere that you could still use LTE phones with bad ESNs just by putting your sim card in them so maybe you can get one on the cheap.
Initially, I HATED the bionic because of the lack of development going on and that it had a locked bootloader and the wifi tethering couldnt be used even though rooted.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One month later....
I absolutely LOVE the bionic! There aren't as many devs out there for it BUT P3droid and dhacker29 absolutely rock the living crap out of the phone and they work almost fulltime with it. With the 5.5.893 update manually installed(its a ***** to install if you used safestrap even once) the phone doesn't have a buzzing anymore and is fast and smooth! I came from being a hardcore HTC product fan(see name) and I don't honestly mind the bootloader being locked right now as Blur is actually nice.
My suggestion... Buy the Bionic, learn about it and enjoy having a phone that is able to keep up with new phones(nexus and razr) without overclocking or kernal swapping. The sheer knowledge of the devs and the ingenuity that they exhibit is MORE THAN ENOUGH to keep me with this phone for several more months. Once the bootloader is unlocked, it will be a contender for the next year or so.
P.S. The 5.5.893 update actually gets rid of headphone buzzing and the data drop issue!
As someone who has owned both Samsung and Motorola handsets,there is no comparison when it comes to build quality. The last Samsung I had, I retired it early because I had to. It was literally cracking and falling apart and I am not rough with my phones. My last Motorola (OG Droid) I retired it because I wanted to go to 4G and it still is being used on a daily basis today. I just hope that all of the people who went for the GNex are still as happy with it 6 months from now. I'm pretty sure that I will still be happy with my Bionic. JMHO.
htcdesirezgeorge said:
Initially, I HATED the bionic because of the lack of development going on and that it had a locked bootloader and the wifi tethering couldnt be used even though rooted.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One month later....
I absolutely LOVE the bionic! There aren't as many devs out there for it BUT P3droid and dhacker29 absolutely rock the living crap out of the phone and they work almost fulltime with it. With the 5.5.893 update manually installed(its a ***** to install if you used safestrap even once) the phone doesn't have a buzzing anymore and is fast and smooth! I came from being a hardcore HTC product fan(see name) and I don't honestly mind the bootloader being locked right now as Blur is actually nice.
My suggestion... Buy the Bionic, learn about it and enjoy having a phone that is able to keep up with new phones(nexus and razr) without overclocking or kernal swapping. The sheer knowledge of the devs and the ingenuity that they exhibit is MORE THAN ENOUGH to keep me with this phone for several more months. Once the bootloader is unlocked, it will be a contender for the next year or so.
P.S. The 5.5.893 update actually gets rid of headphone buzzing and the data drop issue!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to droidbionicroot.com. It is a great resource for the Bionic including wireless tether. The guy shows you how to do different stuff via you tube video. I played a coulple of games of Battlefield 3 on Xbox 360 with it. I had no lagging issues.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk
lol exactly! I changed the entitlement check(super easy) and havent been busted by verizon for the month and a half Ive used it.
I don't know why anyone would ever get the Bionic now with the Nexus and Razr available. This phone is insanely disappointing with the locked bootloader.
--
Sent from my Droid Bionic.
I see brand new Razrs on Craigslist for $300 all the time. Comes down to preference and whether you want to shell out the extra $50. I think the Razr is a little bit better build quality but the internals are all but identical. Running current firmware they're both reliable, quick phones. I prefer daylight visibility and a swappable battery to the AMOLED and slightly more rigid frame. YMMV.
MillionManMosh said:
I see brand new Razrs on Craigslist for $300 all the time. Comes down to preference and whether you want to shell out the extra $50. I think the Razr is a little bit better build quality but the internals are all but identical. Running current firmware they're both reliable, quick phones. I prefer daylight visibility and a swappable battery to the AMOLED and slightly more rigid frame. YMMV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On ebay the Razr is going for $400-500, $300 would be a steal. Anyway, I got the bionic, was able to pick one up for $230 including the car dock and extended battery. I am sure its better than a Samsung Charge with a cracked screen.
I had VZW trade me a razr for my bionic because of 4 diff devices having the same problem with connectivity. Other than that I loved it, good solid phone. Invert I got past the Pentile screen which isn't that bad as others say it was like my dx on steroids. I'd still have it if nor for my problems with it, but like others say price wise might as well look at a razr. Whatever feels best
Sent from my DROID RAZR using xda premium
If you enjoy tinkering with your phone, I would advise against the Bionic. The locked bootloader sucks, and I don't see it being unlocked anytime soon, if ever. Although there is some dev support, it's not much. Motorola has great build quality, but as long as they keep locking their phones down, I don't think I'll be buying anymore of their products. The Nexus has massive support, already, and the Rezound got unlocked, today, so expect to see dev support take off for that. If I were you, I'd stick it out with the Charge until you can afford one of those.
Edit-Sorry, I missed your post about getting it.
I just came over from using a charge. The charge has a better screen but the bionic is so much faster and more reliable. The charge did best for me with stock roms. Every custom rom i tried there was something wrong with it. So now that i have the bionic i took the latest ota update and i rooted it. Couldnt be happier. It was a good purchase as i sold my charge for 200 and got a mint bionic for 215 on swappa.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA Premium App
I've had the bionic since release. When the droid razr and galaxy nexus came out and all the devs moved, I was disappointed and pissed off. But after enabling webtop2sd and webubuntu along with dhacker's fabulous rom, I think it's safe to say that I'll be staying here for the next 2 years. Droid razr and galaxy nexus may be newer phones but they are both missing either the sdcard storage or the external battery. The Bionic has it all!
Ooh whats webtoptosd or whatever
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA Premium App
If you are a Sam's Club member (or know someone who is) you can get the Bionic for $120.00 with the Renew/Upgrade option or $50.00 with the Add More Lines to My Account option. But if you buy it as a Replacement Device, it'll cost you $570.00. I bought mine from them about end of October for $150.00 and added a line to my wifes' account. They have come down since then.
Hope this helps.
Tony
I recently came from the Fascinate which had a solid dev community, but the device was crippled with its lack of RAM. I am very happy with my Bionic on stock rooted. The screen isn't as vibrant add the SAMOLED but the device itself is fast and it has a ton of features. The build quality is far better than the Fascinate and hopefully the Droid branding will mean quicker updates (even though we are still on 2.3.4).
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium
I had the Bionic for nearly a year and was pretty happy with it except for the bootloader issue. Flashed the ICS leak and it was like a brand new phone. But for some reason it started having data drop issues. I couldn't live with that. So after my third Razr replacement they gave me a HTC Resound. Having a phone with an unlocked boot loader for the first time has been a real eye opener. I happily bode Motorola goodbye. (they are liars anyway with the empty promise of unlocked bootloaders on their devices. To date they still have not honored their promise.) The Razr was a dog. No battery life and majordata drop issues.
So I am a HTC fan now. So far so good. Hopefully this phone will last a while. I don't plan on renewing my contractwith big red so I can keep my unlimited plan. Don't need the newest phone just data with options.
Sent from my HTC Rezound
Unlocked Bootloader
Rooted with S-Off
using Tapatalk 2
The bionic is a GREAT phone! 1.2Ghz dual core (rated at 1Ghz but the ICS update bumps it up .2) 1GB DDR2 RAM. Don't worry about the locked bootloader, they have a work around figured out on that now (its called Kexec) and dhacker29 is developing CM10 (Jellybean 4.1) for the bionic right now. I have used the alpha version and it is smooth as butter. It is alpha so there is a few bugs but it will be a usable daily driver eventually and that is what the SGS3 and Nexus is running (Jellybean). I have used the Samsung Charge before and the Bionic is leaps and bounds ahead of that phone. If you keep it stock on ICS (the official update is out soon or you can run the leaked version for the time being) or load roms it truly is the best bang for the buck out there in the 4G world. There's a good reason why this is the phone I chose to use. My $0.02
this thread is 9 months old, y'all
Anyone think there will ever be a Droid 5? I use the HW keyboard when I need to SSH into a server, and have fixed many problems from my phone. I tried to do the same with a touchscreen, and its awful. I have to use numbers a lot, as well as the ESC key (vi rocks).
However the Razr Maxx HD's battery life may trump the HW keyboard. My ultimate device would have both, but there is no sign of anything coming from Moto like a Droid 5. I'm upgrade eligible (2 devices, with year apart upgrades, so I get a yearly new device). So, should I wait a little longer? Any chance we'll see a D5?
The only thing I don't like about the Razr maxx HD is the 1GB RAM. Everything else should be fine. Also, until Samsung or HTC releases something close to vanilla android like Moto, I won't even consider them. Plus, their battery life is awful, since the device spends so much power rendering those skins.
What are others doing? Oh, and the build quality of Moto devices rock. What should I do?
Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 2
I've had this exact same thought myself. I also own the Razr Maxx HD, and a Droid 4. Currently I'm using the Droid 4 as my daily driver (despite its underwhelming battery) as I'm far more productive being able to use a physical keyboard as opposed to onscreen. I seriously hope one does come out for Verizon at some point...
bgarlock said:
What are others doing? Oh, and the build quality of Moto devices rock. What should I do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hope that your Droid 4 lasts forever, and use your free upgrades to get whatever the most popular new phone is and then immediately sell it on eBay?
Motorola CEO talked about the Moto X phone, also mentioned more devices will arrive before October. I'm skeptical, but if they were going to make a new QWERTY this year, that was the clue for one.
Sent from my XT894 using Tapatalk 2
I think I'll hold steady.. "Good things come to those who wait" (I hope). The other idea about keeping my D4 forever, and selling my upgrade device on Ebay is also a good choice
Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Well they came out with 4 of them so there should be a 5. After all moto and droid goes together like peanut butter and jelly.if there isnt a droid 5 my wife will not be happy. She only uses physical keyboard and pickens are slim on verizon. Shes very picky when it comes to her keyboard. Maybe the droid 5 will carry a razr name?
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2
The last rumor I remember reading about concerning the D5 was in December... and here it is June. Could we see one this year? Sure. Would there have been at least some leak or blurrycam picture or something to prove its existence by now? Probably...
I'm hoping my D4 lasts forever now, and that when the battery eventually uses up its long life of charge cycles that there will be some way to replace it even though removing it is a royal pain in the sack.
Khiraji said:
I'm hoping my D4 lasts forever now, and that when the battery eventually uses up its long life of charge cycles that there will be some way to replace it even though removing it is a royal pain in the sack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not too bad to remove actually. Mine actually came out while I was still peeling off the sticker. Problem is I hadn't noticed the damn cable!
The replacements from (I think it was) cellphonerepairshop.com come with a sticker kit that includes a little tab you can leave sticking out to pull the next one out really easily.
The hardest part is finding a T5 screwdriver. I ended up driving to a local shady repair/unlocking place who charged me £2 to borrow theirs!
Lum_UK said:
It's not too bad to remove actually. Mine actually came out while I was still peeling off the sticker. Problem is I hadn't noticed the damn cable!
The replacements from (I think it was) cellphonerepairshop.com come with a sticker kit that includes a little tab you can leave sticking out to pull the next one out really easily.
The hardest part is finding a T5 screwdriver. I ended up driving to a local shady repair/unlocking place who charged me £2 to borrow theirs!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's good to know! I was initially worried about the "non-removable" battery.
Khiraji said:
That's good to know! I was initially worried about the "non-removable" battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll post a guide to battery replacement at some point. I've got another Droid 4 coming (my GF wants one too) so I can get some photographs for how to do it.
I guess it depends on how well stuck down yours happens to be. Mine wasn't, others have had to use a spudger to pry it out.
Lum_UK said:
I'll post a guide to battery replacement at some point. I've got another Droid 4 coming (my GF wants one too) so I can get some photographs for how to do it.
I guess it depends on how well stuck down yours happens to be. Mine wasn't, others have had to use a spudger to pry it out.
Hi
Im in the UK and prefer using physical keyboard. had the original milestone which i loved. Could i ask you where you are getting the D4 from for your GF ?
Been looking on ebay but looks as though i will have to import from US
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jacmeister said:
Im in the UK and prefer using physical keyboard. had the original milestone which i loved. Could i ask you where you are getting the D4 from for your GF ?
Been looking on ebay but looks as though i will have to import from US
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
eBay, from a US seller.
Thanks for the reply
just noticed the company on your other thread, will check it out.
According to the initial question I think that there IS something you can call 'Droid 5' already...
I may be missing some points and details here, I'm not an expert but the first two Droid generations were known in the Europe as 'Milestone', starting from Droid 3 it was sold only in Verizon in USA so the Droid line became tightly connected with this provider.
After the 'Droid 4' the Verizon have still the phones of 'Droid' line, but they are made by HTC. At the same time they lost a QWERTY keyboard.
After the 'Droid 4' the Motorola created very similar phone - with identical keyboard, but under the different name - Photon Q.
For me it looks, that after the Verizon/Motorola split, the V. took their name and went to another manufacturer (HTC), while the M. took their last project and upgraded it further, so I'd suppose that the Photon Q model is more similar to D4, than any of the next 'Droids' from HTC.
Sadly, I've heard that Photon Q doesn't even have a SIM slot so I can't use it on GSM :/. If it wasn't the problem I'd buy it instead of D4 .
In the states the milestone was a watered down version of the first droids.
Sent from my Infected Rezound using Tapatalk 2
I tried to use a phone without a HW keyboard, and it was so painful when using SSH. Switching from alpha to numeric and back again was the worst. I just can't do my current job efficiently without a HW keyboard. I really hope that Moto has something cooking. I would be happy with the same form factor, but with 2GB RAM, 32GB internal, and a decent 4 proc CPU, with a better screen and camera
Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Ditto that, bgarlock.
@kolenda:
Actually, just to clarify, Verizon had the "Droid" license from LucasFilms, not Motorola. Most "Droid" phones were from Motorola, but some were from HTC (Eris, Incredible, etc) and Samsung (Charge), too. The latest phones released with the "Droid" license were from Moto: RAZR M, RAZR HD, and RAZR MAXX HD.
The Photon Q on Sprint is slightly higher-specced than the Droid 4 (faster CPU, bigger non-PenTile screen). But, yeah, it uses a digital SIM, so that doesn't make it very import friendly.
I, too, would love to see a successor to the Droid 4. Aside from a few issues, it has been a great phone. Easily the best phone keyboard yet. With Motorola now going through Google's design philosophy, moving towards stock Android and away from carrier branding/bloat, the prospect of a new QWERTY slider from Motorola excites me. Sadly, there haven't been any rumors or leaks of a new QWERTY phone from them (just the X Phone/ Moto X)... at least, nothing I know of.
The market for physical keys isn't dead, just hampered. Is it really for the lack of a demand, or because manufacturers aren't making high-end QWERTY phones (aside from Moto, since the Droid 4 and Photon Q were on par with other flagships at the time)? Any time Samsung comes out with a QWERTY phone, it's a mid- to low-tier affair. So, I'm hoping Google takes advantage of what Motorola is capable of, and pushes them further to make an even better QWERTY slider.
Sent from my DROID4 using xda premium
Thanks for clarifying this BPMOmega. I didn't say that Verizon had Droid license from Motorola, but that the Droid name was owned by Verizon, not Moto - so we agree here.
But I wouldn't suppose that such a name like "Droid" isn't a regular word any more, meaning some humanoid robot, but can be owned by a company... - and it's the sad thing.
kolenda said:
But I wouldn't suppose that such a name like "Droid" isn't a regular word any more, meaning some humanoid robot, but can be owned by a company... - and it's the sad thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aren't trademarks like that covered only in that specific industry. For example, Samsung couldn't release a phone or tablet called the Samsung Droid, but you can still have a car called the Ford Droid* without infringing on the trademark since nobody is going to confuse a phone and a car.
* And most likely the owners of said car will insist on making a certain star wars reference every time they get pulled over by traffic cops.