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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
Quick question guys thinking of geting a bionic from a friend but I have a few questions first
1. I see there is and awesome noob root and custom rom guide however how easy is it to go back completely to stock for warranty reasons with my charge I could just use a cwm install to get back to stock is it that easy for the bionic or is more required?
2. Does the bionic have a working ics port yet?
Sent from my SCH-I510 using xda premium
1. Is not as simple as the charge, but yes. there are guides on how to go back to stock from a custom ROM. Follow them to a T and you shoud be good.
2. Theres a few ics roms, axiom, gummy, etc. just look in the development section or on rootzwiki. You're going to have to install a safestrap or cwm bootstrap in order to use them though.
Don't
Sorry to be blunt, but don't get a Bionic. Sadly, this phone has become a leper in Motorola's lineup. It seems like they shifted so much attention to the Razr/Maxx so fast that this one has been left behind. I wouldn't expect the official ICS build on the Bionic until way later than the Razr, if at all.
Aside from the apparent lack of love from Motorola, there's some goofiness on the Bionic with images not containing radio versions and such that cause some extra hoops to jump through if you got off the beaten upgrade path when messing around with it.
The screen on the Bionic isn't that good either in my opinion. Unless you're getting one for dirt cheap, don't.
Obviously, others may have a different opinion.
really how many people are going to post this every week just freaking search dude!! or try it out for a week or so and if you don't like it return it!!!
Dont get a bionic unless you find one for free...I'd def get Galaxy Nexus or RAZR.
I agree with Averix, do not get a Bionic even for free!
If you can find one around $200 I would. I had one, it's an excellent phone. never lagged, speedy, etc. personally I'd rather have a Bionic than a Nexus, with HDMI, a microS card slot, & much much better build quality. The phone's have identified specs (dual core lmao, 1GB ram, FCC, etc) besides the above. ICS will come, it's not even needed to make this phone great, as there aren't any problems with GB, and there are still several excellent ROMs a soluble if flashing is your thing. People just need to be more patient.
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk
I liked my Bionic now that I've rooted it. I'm not a fan of the stock OS. Currently I'm on Eclipse 2.2 because I had problems with Gummy.
-First post
Bionic with ICS here - I like it, but I think it's time to switch it up. If you're used to constant flashing...don't look for it here =/
Personally I have 2 bionics and find them to be very stable, good (not great) screen rez and can be purchased on eBay for a decent price (I got both of mine for around $180). RAZR's and GNEX are going to run a lot more, though I admit they are both superior devices. For me I simply wanted a dual core w/ very good LTE performance (Hotspot at home) and I get around 15-20Mbps-down, 12-16Mbps-up at home and on the road. ICS would be a plus but I would rather wait 4-5 months when VZW ships an update. I decided NOT to use my upgrade yet, I would rather wait for the next gen of phones w/ Tegra 3 or Exynos Quad processors and hang with the Bionic for the time being.
But if you want to be on a devices with regular ROM updates, yeah the ship has sailed on the Bionic.
DO NOT GET THE BIONIC. though i am still using it and toughing it out for the moment. Moto really screwed all Bionic users in 2 ways:
1. the phone in stock OS is terrible. it is slow, laggy, atrocious battery life (even with extended battery) and has many bugs that updates have not fixed.
2. Moto delayed its release for so long that they rolled out the RAZR (which has much better hardware and runs much smoother) a month after the bionic effectively stabbing all Bionic users in the back by killing further development of the bionic. A lot of developers have jumped ship from the Bionic to new phones. It looks like the RAZR will be getting ICS before the Bionic showing that Moto doesn't have much loyalty to the Bionic.
If you're gonna get a new phone, get a RAZR MAXX
Agree eclipse 2.2 on bionic is awesome excellent battery life ;-)
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium
If you can get a bionic for a price you like. Great phone. Not the most development for it, but its still better than most androids in users hands right now. If you like flashing a lot, go with HTC or the nexus. I've been.seeing people sell their nexus for cheap on Craigslist lately. I wouldn't get a nexus though. No HDMI and screwey 3 on screen button is a deal breaker for me. Android been using 4 buttons for so long, I see no reason to change that's up.
The majority of the complaints about the bionic can be found with any android. At this point, a lot of it is nitpicking.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA
Came from the Droid X and found a gently used bionic with an extended battery and door and the stock battery and door with the lapdock for 200 bucks. In less than an hour had it rooted and gave Gummy ICS, liberty 3.2 (radio didt work. I'm on 902.) and settled on eclipse 2.2. It's a major improvement over the X. And I still have something to look forward to when ICS matures or even Jelly Bean is released.
I'm happy
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
I just recently upgraded to bionic from an incredible 2 and love it. Plus I couldn't beat the deal Verizon gave me. Traded in the incredible, got the bionic, extended battery, shell and holster, screen protectors, headphones and a car charger and only spent four dollars.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
Bionic has some pros over Razr
I actually decided on the Bionic over the Razr/Razr Maxx for a few reasons:
1. Bionic fits very securely into the Bionic Lapdock. I can sit in bed, on train, plane, etc., with the Bionic in the Bionic Lapdock and it stays in securely. I much prefer this over the Razr and the Lapdock 100/500 which is a universal Lapdock that very loosely hold the Razr. I found unless you are sitting at a table with these Lapdocks and Razr, than it is going to be cumbersome to use with the Lapdock. Also, easier to just drop Bionic straight into Bionic Lapdock than having to fiddle with cable of Lapdock 100/500.
2. Bionic Lapdock's build is much better. Bionic Lapdock is aluminum and feels more sturdy than plastic of Lapdock 100/500 used with the Razr.
- theses reason were more specific to use with Lapdock obviuosly, which for me was a deciding factor. however, Bionic has another pro I feel is overlooked, and that is its removable battery...
3. Bionic has removable batteries. Though everyone goes on about battery life of Razr Maxx, it is still not removable. Granted, it last a long time, but when it runs out, then what? Unless u got charger with you, you are out of luck. With Bionic I can easily carry a couple of extra batteries with my Lapdock to keep me going as long as i need. And I do not have to be tied down to a charger cable and outlet if Razr Maxx runs out of juice. I am often on Bionic with Lapdock in coffee shops, web browsing on LTE, streaming Pandora, editing files, the whole works. Even the Razr Maxx cannot keep up with me. And I never get a seat by a power outlet. With Bionic, I carry a extra battery and extra battery wall charger and usually have this extra battery charging on wall while i work across the room. When one battery runs out, i simply walk over, switch out batteries, and while I'm using up the new one, I still got one charging and I do not need to be tied to a cable. Works great. Razr Maxx cant do that and LTE is a killer.
Raxr Maxx = 3300mah
Bionic Batt = 1760mah....get 2 of them and swap one out while another is charging with a extra battery wall charger and you got = unlimited battery life = unlimited mah!!...for cheap!!
The extra bulk, updates of Bionic, dont compare to this nearly inexhaustible battery life with removable batteries that everyone seems to overlook with Razr Maxx. Plus I got my Bionic, extra batteries, extra battery wall chargers and other accesories for less than what Razr Maxx costs. Bionic all the way for me! Now just give me ICS with Webtop 3.0 tablet mode and I do not see a phone in sight for the price that has this many features.
Well if anyone wants a Bionic with a silicone case, extended battery, and charger let me know
Time for me to move on
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ROB281 said:
Well if anyone wants a Bionic with a silicone case, extended battery, and charger let me know
Time for me to move on
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium
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Are you looking to get cash for it or donate it so I have a plaything to program on and not risk bricking my actual phone =)
saintsdx said:
Are you looking to get cash for it or donate it so I have a plaything to program on and not risk bricking my actual phone =)
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would like to get cash to help buy the replacement phone
Just got my Bionic at Best Buy for Free.
Nice phone.
Better than the Pantech Breakout I returned for it.
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've had a rooted S4 since it came out last May, so over a year and a half, which I love, besides a few problems, and I was looking at the Moto X. I have read a bunch and I see that there is no root for the Verizon version. Has anyone made the switch from a rooted device that they loved to the unrooted Moto X? Curious if it is worth it or not as there are some Xposed modules I use quite a bit.
I came from the S3 on Verizon, which I had unlocked and rooted the whole time I owned it. Prior to that I had the OG EVO on Sprint, which was unlocked and rooted as well. I had a blast on the EVO and gained a lot of value from unlock/root then plus it was just exciting and enjoyable tinkering with it. The S3 experience was good in that I had AOSP ROMs, but I basically kept ending back on CM. While CM provided the latest version of Android, I was so tired of the problems that never seemed to go away-- SMS/MMS, bluetooth, GPS and more. It was to the point I would be reluctant to flash any update knowing a new problem would surface. I eventually just moved to a TouchWiz ROM and left it to avoid the problems. TWRP was buggy too, so I had to bounce around recoveries as well. That obviously is a part of using a rooted phone and messing with it, but I guess I got a little burned out with that. If you have free time and enjoy that whole process of testing things and tinkering, you would probably miss root/Xposed. For me, I wanted stock Android that worked. I think Moto's customizations are very smart and useful like a custom ROM. I miss cf.Lumen, which required root, but otherwise I like this phone and like having the latest Android. The Nexus 6 was too big for me. If you can handle that size (and price until there is a on-contract option), that could be an option. I also really enjoyed building a custom Moto with a leather back. You could write down everything you use root/Xposed for and see what alternatives exist in an unrooted world and go from there. If there are no deal breakers, I think it is a great phone with great software.
smelkus said:
I came from the S3 on Verizon, which I had unlocked and rooted the whole time I owned it. Prior to that I had the OG EVO on Sprint, which was unlocked and rooted as well. I had a blast on the EVO and gained a lot of value from unlock/root then plus it was just exciting and enjoyable tinkering with it. The S3 experience was good in that I had AOSP ROMs, but I basically kept ending back on CM. While CM provided the latest version of Android, I was so tired of the problems that never seemed to go away-- SMS/MMS, bluetooth, GPS and more. It was to the point I would be reluctant to flash any update knowing a new problem would surface. I eventually just moved to a TouchWiz ROM and left it to avoid the problems. TWRP was buggy too, so I had to bounce around recoveries as well. That obviously is a part of using a rooted phone and messing with it, but I guess I got a little burned out with that. If you have free time and enjoy that whole process of testing things and tinkering, you would probably miss root/Xposed. For me, I wanted stock Android that worked. I think Moto's customizations are very smart and useful like a custom ROM. I miss cf.Lumen, which required root, but otherwise I like this phone and like having the latest Android. The Nexus 6 was too big for me. If you can handle that size (and price until there is a on-contract option), that could be an option. I also really enjoyed building a custom Moto with a leather back. You could write down everything you use root/Xposed for and see what alternatives exist in an unrooted world and go from there. If there are no deal breakers, I think it is a great phone with great software.
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I appreciate you taking your time to write that up. I am almost 100% on buying it, but I just noticed the Droid Turbo. My real main reasons for not getting it already is the Non removable small battery and the camera. I have heard both sides of the fences with some saying they are fine, and some saying they are horrible. The Droid Turbo seems to have better camera and battery, but then again, I have heard both sides of the fences again, with people saying it isn't that much better, if even better at all. But the Moto X is so sexy compared to the Droid Turbo. The Non removable battery just really annoys me though. I go to a lot of conventions, and I like with the G4 having a spare battery to switch and instantly be at 100%.
I just can't wait until they come out with the PERFECT phone.......if that ever happens.....
Every time I'm at phone decision time I feel the same way. This one is too big. This one has an older chip... different resolution... AMOLED.... LCD... SD card on and on. I passed on the Turbo because I didn't like the back and old navigation bar icons. Spec-wise it is solid. This Moto X is my first non-removable battery and non-SD card phone. I got past the battery thing because I'm a working stiff. Most weeks I'm at the office then home. On weekends I use the turbo charger at home to give me the boost for the evening and I always have a couple of external battery packs for insurance and convenience. It is surprising how nice an external battery pack is even if you are just outside or somewhere away from a charger. Don't have to power down and get to keep on going. When I travel for work, I've noticed there are built in breaks where I can let my phone charge on a pack, e.g. airport security, checking out of hotels, catching rides, meeting suppliers at places, so I haven't found the battery to be an issue. We'll see how I feel about the SD card thing a year from now or so. I got the 32GB for $50 in hopes of at least making it manageable. The Moto X is a good looking phone though that is for sure.
I had the original Moto X (with unlocked bootloader), loved it. Then I got a new job that have me the S4 (which I rooted). Didn't really like it but still have it. Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to upgrade to the 2nd Gen Moto X, so now I'm carrying with me the S4 and new X (just to give some reference).
I liked the size of the old X, and wish I could have retained that. But I didn't want to get left behind by not upgrading. I do miss root, mainly for a few xposed modules like gravitybox, Moto tether, and exchange bypass. But since I have my work phone I can tether in a pinch (not frequently needed at all).
There are sacrifices to all changes. For me, owning the non-rootable 2nd Gen X was worth the tradeoffs. I think you would be happy with the transition if you don't mind sacrificing root (I'm hopeful a method will be released!). I like the feel of it more than the S4 (physical handling, plus the coolness factor of designing it), the speed (S4 just feels more bulky and stutters quite a bit more), and the Moto features. I've found the radios (esp wifi) better on the X. I have the 32GB and haven't run into a problem yet. Though I can't fairly compare batteries since I use the two for very different purposes throughout my day.
Good luck!
Thanks to both of you. I ordered a 32gb last night as well as the Turbo Charger. Can't wait! Hope it comes in fast.
About 4-5 days (including shipping)
NRGZ28 said:
About 4-5 days (including shipping)
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Did it say the box where its made/shipped from? I remember them making the first one in Texas.
Looking to upgrade from my Moto X (2013, Gen 1) to the Motorola Droid Turbo (VZW).
my primary reason is for the better battery. my moto X no longer lasts all day despite all my efforts (root, greenify, etc).
I looked at the Turbo 2, but that device was too big - looking for a reasonably smaller device.
so I'm curious to see how the battery as fared thus far for y'all (understood that different usages bring about different results).
also, I believe I read that this turbo has the Moto voice app (you can speak and the device responds even when locked)?
any other thoughts/recommendations?
thanks!
jco23 said:
Looking to upgrade from my Moto X (2013, Gen 1) to the Motorola Droid Turbo (VZW).
my primary reason is for the better battery. my moto X no longer lasts all day despite all my efforts (root, greenify, etc).
I looked at the Turbo 2, but that device was too big - looking for a reasonably smaller device.
so I'm curious to see how the battery as fared thus far for y'all (understood that different usages bring about different results).
also, I believe I read that this turbo has the Moto voice app (you can speak and the device responds even when locked)?
any other thoughts/recommendations?
thanks!
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Click to collapse
I love my Turbo. The battery life is great. I can get the advertised 48 hours with low usage. Even when I don't get 48 hours, the quick charge feature totally makes up for it. I plug it in to the charger before I take a shower in the morning with the phone at 15-20%, and by the time I'm ready to leave for work it's at around 70-80%. The phone is super fast and powerful. Everything I do with it is buttery smooth. I haven't used Moto Voice, but I think it does do what you described. The other Moto features work really well. All of this, combined with the unlockable bootloader, makes this phone absoutely perfect in my opinion. If I could go back in time to when the Turbo came out, and all of the 2016 flagships were available to me, I'd still buy the Turbo.
The Turbo 2 is not only bigger, but it has a lower capacity battery. It also contains a CPU that is notorious for overheating. Unless you really need an SD card slot or an "unbreakable" plastic screen, I would stay far away from it.
I got mine in the mail (bought used - like new) on 12/30/15... unlocked the BL and rooted it and I am liking it so far. I came from a Samsung S6 Edge, and I wasnt really liking it. Ive always had Moto phones since they were dumb phones (RAZR, KRZR, etc), and smart phones... the OG Driod, Droid 3, RAZR MAXX HD. So far this is running nicely, and as TheSt33v said... the turbo charge is awesome. _Plan on keeping it till next year this time and seeing whats available at that time to upgrade to. Was thinking Turbo 2, but I wasnt aware of the issues TheSt33v mentioned so I may have to rethink that, although I liek the idea of an SD card slot.
thanks for the quick feedback.
I plan on rooting the device and then would prefer to stick with a stock ROM and custom kernel (as well as installing xposed). i did not see a custom debloated stock ROM out there.
Is there a custom kernel for stock?
i see there are few different methods to root/unlock bootloader - looking at one thread, I presume that the preferred method is via sunshine app (unlocks and roots all in one shot)? then flash TWRP via fastboot?
I've been enjoying my Turbo every day since I purchased it in November 2015.
For starters, the battery is a champ. I could easily see it lasting the advertised 48 hours if your usage is light. My usage, however, is moderate to heavy (4-6 hours of screen-on time, much of which consists of web browsing) - yet the Turbo still makes it through the day without needing a mid-day charge. On lighter-weight usage days, I have finished with around 70% of the battery left.
Secondly, the specs are more than reasonable. Even with the stock ROM, this thing has handled almost everything I've thrown at it with aplomb. Typical usage never feels sluggish. Gaming might not do quite as well, though, as the 1440p screen is a lot for the 2014 GPU to draw on. (Most games I've played run well enough.) Screen casting/recording also causes some frame drops here and there, but as long as you're not doing anything super-intensive, it's more than tolerable.
The phone does feel a little big - but then, I keep it in a case, and my last (daily-driver) phone was the comparatively tiny Droid RAZR M, which I'm still more used to. One-handed use is sometimes a little tricky, but not intolerable.
About my only regret on this phone is that it has no microSD slot. I purchased the 32 GB model (it was all Verizon had on hand when I made the purchase), so keeping TWRP backups and a decent selection of music on the internal storage constrains things a bit. If you're all-in with cloud storage and have good data service everywhere you usually go, it's not as big a deal (and you can always use OTG USB flash drives), but it's worth noting.
(Another quirk is that the Turbo has only one cellular radio, so if you're in a phone call that's not VoLTE, you cannot use mobile data until the call ends. This has affected me exactly once so far and hasn't been an issue since; but I feel that that, too, is worth mentioning.)
tl;dr I really like my Turbo, despite some quirks. By all means get one!
jco23 said:
thanks for the quick feedback.
I plan on rooting the device and then would prefer to stick with a stock ROM and custom kernel (as well as installing xposed). i did not see a custom debloated stock ROM out there.
There is one very good one by Computerfreek. Visit the droid turbo android development forum and check it out.
Is there a custom kernel for stock?
Same answer as above.
i see there are few different methods to root/unlock bootloader - looking at one thread, I presume that the preferred method is via sunshine app (unlocks and roots all in one shot)? then flash TWRP via fastboot?
That is the preferred method for sure.
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jco23 said:
thanks for the quick feedback.
I plan on rooting the device and then would prefer to stick with a stock ROM and custom kernel (as well as installing xposed). i did not see a custom debloated stock ROM out there.
Is there a custom kernel for stock?
i see there are few different methods to root/unlock bootloader - looking at one thread, I presume that the preferred method is via sunshine app (unlocks and roots all in one shot)? then flash TWRP via fastboot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, sunshine is the way to go. Not really sure there is another way for perm root. Follow the directions in the thread and it was easy as pie. Installed TWRP via flashify, and just a little bit ago installed xposed.. Im not sure I want to venture off the stock rom, but would like to be able to lower the voltage for better battery and debloat, tho debloating I can do with Titanium.
To the best of my knowledge, all quarks can run the same roms, so if theres one for say the Moto MAXX, they should also work... tho I would make sure before doing it.
great stuff!
i'm looking at buying used on e-bay and swappa. most do NOT come with the "turbo" charger. do I need this, or will my moto cables suffice? I'm guessing that the "turbo" charger enables the fast charging, but I've read that the OEM charger is best for the device.
thanks...
jco23 said:
great stuff!
i'm looking at buying used on e-bay and swappa. most do NOT come with the "turbo" charger. do I need this, or will my moto cables suffice? I'm guessing that the "turbo" charger enables the fast charging, but I've read that the OEM charger is best for the device.
thanks...
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Click to collapse
You can charge it with any charger. If you want fast charging, get a charger that is compatible with Qualcomm quick charge 2.0.
jco23 said:
great stuff!
i'm looking at buying used on e-bay and swappa. most do NOT come with the "turbo" charger. do I need this, or will my moto cables suffice? I'm guessing that the "turbo" charger enables the fast charging, but I've read that the OEM charger is best for the device.
thanks...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im using my Samsung Edge charger at home, and just bought another quick charger for work (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017XLNEZ6?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s02) that seems to be working pretty well. I would think the regular charger would take forever with this big battery, tho i havent really done any testing.
I've had it for a few days now and I love it. I can't put it down. My friends think I hate them! =) I was hell bent on a phone with a swappable battery and an SD card but I gave this a shot and the battery is great. The storage is more than enough for my offline gplay music, vr apps, and games! I still have 9gb after downloading about 20 albums installing tons of vr apps. Installing Asphalt 8, Modern combat 5, Dungeon hunter 5, and other big games. I am running cm12.1 just to avoid accidentally or impulsively taking an ota. It's been perfectly stable for me to. My biggest complaint is that it's slippery and small. People say it's big but I feel it could be bigger. I have trouble holding on to it. Maybe my hands aren't that small just a little feminine looking. Lol. I have huge feminine hands. =P
s4shield said:
I've had it for a few days now and I love it. I can't put it down. My friends think I hate them! =) I was hell bent on a phone with a swappable battery and an SD card but I gave this a shot and the battery is great. The storage is more than enough for my offline gplay music, vr apps, and games! I still have 9gb after downloading about 20 albums installing tons of vr apps. Installing Asphalt 8, Modern combat 5, Dungeon hunter 5, and other big games. I am running cm12.1 just to avoid accidentally or impulsively taking an ota. It's been perfectly stable for me to. My biggest complaint is that it's slippery and small. People say it's big but I feel it could be bigger. I have trouble holding on to it. Maybe my hands aren't that small just a little feminine looking. Lol. I have huge feminine hands. =P
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Agreed on the feel/size. I got one with the nylon ballistic, and really enjoy the grip. It's not as sturdy as having a case, but I enjoy a slimmer profile. So far, so good for me - but still on stock (rooted though).
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I'm running Resurrection Remix on my sweet Blue Ballistic Nylon edition Turbo. I absolutely love it. My only big complaint for the first few weeks was the lack of any modification, but sunshine fixed that and since then this is the perfect phone within my budget.
I would buy it again. Or the nexus 6.
Thanks all. Got it last week, so far, so great! Unlocked bootloader and installed xposed.
Attached is my screenie.
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jco23 said:
Thanks all. Got it last week, so far, so great! Unlocked bootloader and installed xposed.
Attached is my screenie.
Sent from my XT1254 using XDA Free mobile app
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Sweeet. For mad amounts of customization, a custom kernel, and amazing speed I would give Resurrection Remix a try.
Latiken said:
Sweeet. For mad amounts of customization, a custom kernel, and amazing speed I would give Resurrection Remix a try.
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not sure how much faster this device can get. my lag time is zero and the battery exceeds my expectations.
Guys, how good is the droid turbo's Camera??
Its okay. Despite being 21 mp, its not much more than run of the mill for a smartphone camera. Its not horrible, but low light pics are bad.
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