So, here I sit with 2 contracts available for renewal (via Big Red), one is mine and one is an elderly family member who is on our plan. I intend on using that upgrade then activating the phone on my line to preserve my unlimited data, except I can't come to a solid conclusion on which phone to buy. I browsed around the S4 and HTC One pages here as well, but the people of the Moto X page seemed the most welcoming and helpful, so I opted with posting here.
Anyways, I'm coming from a launch day GNex, so any phone that lasts 12+ hours, is a battery improvement. I've "narrowed" it down to the 4 flashships from Samsung, Moto, HTC, and LG, but can't decide from there. I like that the S4 has expandable storage, but I live with 32 GB right now... Correct me if I'm wrong, but the X is capped at 16 GB (as per VZW's site), and to me, that seems a bit slim. Both the G2 and One have 32 GB.
I'm not going to pay attention to the CPU spec war, as Moto deviated with great success, so I've heard. Can anyone absolutely confirm this, or do some of you have qualms about the dual core? Same goes for the screen... I'm currently sitting at 720, and albeit LG making fabulous screens and having seen the S4's lovely 1080 screen, I don't think I'd be hating myself with another 720 screen.
On another note, I like how both the G2 and S4 support the latest, yet to be activated, 4G spectrum, which should boast impressive speeds and far less load than the current network. While discussing networks, I use thethering often and would like to be able to do so with my new phone. Does anyone know if it works on any of these phones (I doubt the G2 will get much dev love like the S4 and X, but who knows)? I use it to circumvent university downloading policies as well as when networks (i.e., Starbucks, etc.) become over loaded.
Losing the G2 points is that it's made by LG, so in coordination with VZW, it'll never see timely updates, unlike the S4 may and X most likely will.
Battery life! This would be a nice thing to have, as I currently deal with battery expiration, enslaving myself to the micro USB charger gods (~1hr screen on time). I like the G2's 3000 mAh battery, but again, Moto went and did their thing off in the deviant corner, and are apparently reaping the benefits.
As for camera, it's just got to work. The GNex was never lauded for its camera, and as someone who knows at least their a$$ from their elbow about a camera, I'm not going to expect miracles to happen with a new phone. All of the sensors are small, the pixels are dense, it's a cell phone.
In conclusion, has anyone used the HTC One or S4, and can make a strong pro-con comparison to the X? The G2 is kind of an odd-ball, being that today is release day.
Ok. Here goes my suggestion:
I too came straight from a Galaxy Nexus on Verizon so we should have a similar viewpoint.
I recommend the Moto X because it is clean, blazing fast, and has features that I care about and none that I don't.
I have played with an S4 and the app tray was so clogged with Samsung apps that I felt like vomiting. Not to mention the infection of S-voice as a subpar alternative to Voice actions. That being said the phone felt snappy. The screen did not scream out to me as being so much better than my GNex either (even though I know it is).
I played around with an HTC One for a few minutes and so I'll give you my impressions. The thing that struck me was how much I disliked their custom UI. It was so cluttered and chaotic and ugly. The phone has a great reputation so this is probably the only major downside here.
Moto X has almost no bloat. The few additions Moto and ATT make are largely useful and/or necessary. This thing flies too. No lag at all. I've actually TRIED to get it to lag and can't do it. I can confirm that specs are NOT an issue with this phone. So much better than my GNex. The screen looks beautiful and I would be very hard pressed to tell the difference in pixels from this to an S4, if I even could at all. Coming from a GNex you will be more than satisfied. Battery life is great. I get ~12 hours heavy use with no charging and I love it. Also, this phone feels terrific in the hand. The plastic on the back just feels wonderful and when it sits in your hand you feel as if it is made to sit there. I really hate how the S4 feels both in material and shape.
tl;dr Moto X all the way. If you can't do that at least get an HTC One. I hate the S4.
---------- Post added at 10:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:32 AM ----------
Oh and the G2 I've never used (few people have) but again I take issue with a lot of their UI choices: FUGLY. Also, I really don't think I would like the controls in the back. Take this with a grain of salt though as I've never so much as seen one in person. Maybe if I used one for a while I would find I like it. But I remain dubious.
---------- Post added at 10:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:35 AM ----------
Some other thoughts:
Storage
This is going to have to be a personal choice. Look at your GNex. How much space are you using? How much space do you need? How important is it to you?
Camera
The camera has taken great pictures so far. No complaints at all. Definite improvement from GNex so you should again be satisfied.
Tethering
I don't think it matters what network you are connected to for tethering. It is just rebroadcasting the signal for other devices to connect to. I see no reason why the new upcoming 4G would not be able to do this.
You may have to root in order to tether (I'm not sure any more with Vzw what is going on with this). Root looks like it is going to be available within the next few days so it shouldn't be an issue either way.
Let me know if you have any other questions. I hope I have helped you in your decision.
I have the. HTC One and considering the move the Moto X. It says you get 50GB of storage from Google free.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
/u/Rubiksmoose, thanks for the huge, detailed reply. Lots to consider there... The VZW Moto X should be getting root in the coming days, eh? The S4 has it and the One can be s-off'd for $25 or so online. The G2 is a mystery. I went to the nearest VZW place today (a "Premuim Retailer"), since an actual store is a 2-ish hour adventure round trip, via bus. The people there weren't aware of an LG G2 and were hazy on the X, so I flicked around the screen of the One that had been activating since I walked in, then left. Maybe to VZW tomorrow...
Well, today I ventured to a VZW location and bagged out on work (it was a Friday afternoon! Pssh.) Anyways, I played with the G2, X, S4, and One. The One felt awesome, but seemed to be too much phone for the screen size. The S4 was just way too cluttered for my tastes. Now, that Moto X... The feel is INCREDIBLE. It was very snappy and felt natural in my hand. I really liked the G2 due to the gorgeous display and insanely fast everything. The lady working at the store was a bi*** from step one. I walked in, said I was looking to upgrade, and she immediately said I'd need the account owners permission to upgrade my line (I'm a college sophomore who admittedly looks a year or two less, depending upon how many days ago I shaved ), but, due to some bizzare circumstances with the previous account owner's line being transferred to a corporate account, I am now the account owner.
I replied saying that I was the owner, knew the passwork, and the last 4 of the social on the account. Taken aback, she entertained the idea, and saw I had full access to the account.
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She asked which phones I was interested in, I gave her the list, she pointed me to them, and then began telling me things like, they all run on the 4G LTE network and that 3 have nicer screens than the Moto X... Then she tried pushing me into the Edge program because I exceed 2GB/month. Yea, $300/year for a phone + data + plan costs... No thanks. I said how I wanted to renew the second line, get the phone, and put it on my line to keep unlimited. She bluntly informed me that was illegal and a violation of my contract... No, the contract I currently operate under is the one from 2+ years ago, this is a-ok. She was having none of this "transfer the device" stuff, so I decided to leave there. I called up customer support, got a very helpful rep who said they could ship out a device and then I could call and have it activated on any line with no issues, F*** that woman at the store. After some consideration and searching about root-ability and whatnot, I actually landed with the G2, at $140, but I'm still holding on to that 2 week period... Thanks to those who replied and helped me out! The X is an awesome phone, and who knows, maybe a 5.2" screen is just too big and I'll wind up with an X.
redsox985 said:
Well, today I ventured to a VZW location and bagged out on work (it was a Friday afternoon! Pssh.) Anyways, I played with the G2, X, S4, and One. The One felt awesome, but seemed to be too much phone for the screen size. The S4 was just way too cluttered for my tastes. Now, that Moto X... The feel is INCREDIBLE. It was very snappy and felt natural in my hand. I really liked the G2 due to the gorgeous display and insanely fast everything. The lady working at the store was a bi*** from step one. I walked in, said I was looking to upgrade, and she immediately said I'd need the account owners permission to upgrade my line (I'm a college sophomore who admittedly looks a year or two less, depending upon how many days ago I shaved ), but, due to some bizzare circumstances with the previous account owner's line being transferred to a corporate account, I am now the account owner.
I replied saying that I was the owner, knew the passwork, and the last 4 of the social on the account. Taken aback, she entertained the idea, and saw I had full access to the account.
....................../´¯/)
....................,/¯../
.................../..../
............./´¯/'...'/´¯¯`·¸
........../'/.../..../......./¨¯\
........('(...´...´.... ¯~/'...')
.........\.................'...../
..........''...\.......... _.·´
............\..............(
..............\.............\...
She asked which phones I was interested in, I gave her the list, she pointed me to them, and then began telling me things like, they all run on the 4G LTE network and that 3 have nicer screens than the Moto X... Then she tried pushing me into the Edge program because I exceed 2GB/month. Yea, $300/year for a phone + data + plan costs... No thanks. I said how I wanted to renew the second line, get the phone, and put it on my line to keep unlimited. She bluntly informed me that was illegal and a violation of my contract... No, the contract I currently operate under is the one from 2+ years ago, this is a-ok. She was having none of this "transfer the device" stuff, so I decided to leave there. I called up customer support, got a very helpful rep who said they could ship out a device and then I could call and have it activated on any line with no issues, F*** that woman at the store. After some consideration and searching about root-ability and whatnot, I actually landed with the G2, at $140, but I'm still holding on to that 2 week period... Thanks to those who replied and helped me out! The X is an awesome phone, and who knows, maybe a 5.2" screen is just too big and I'll wind up with an X.
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i had the iphone 5, than gs3, than played for a while with gs4 and htc one, all i can say is that the moto x feels like what the iphone 6 should be
I had the HTC One, sold it and got an S4. Still have the S4 but will never use it again unless something catastrophic happens to my Moto X. The X is hands down the best phone I've ever owned, which says a LOT considering I buy a new phone every few months. Forget about the dual core, this thing runs smoother and faster than both the One and the S4. I have had it for 2 1/2 weeks and have yet to see so much as a stutter, and certainly not any lag. Can't say the same for the S4, and even the One had an occasional hiccup every now and again. 1 hour screen time you say? How about 6 hours screen time with the Moto X? Everything about this phone is amazing. Get it.
Edit: Didn't see your last post. Return the LG and get the Moto X.
Sent from my XT1058 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Related
Hi all, Im finally giving up on my old HTC Tilt and want to move to actual android device. Through my work i get amazing discounts from sprint and thats leading me to either get the Moment or Hero, I must admit im scared of ditching the hardware keyboard. I also get ok discounts with verizon and would be able to get the droid for just over $100, versus $30 for the moment or hero. Do you think the droid would be worth the extra 70? Im scared to not have XDA-dev anymore and dont know when rooting would be possible with the droid. any advice would be great. thanks all and sorry if the questions are dumb
The question is how much is the Verizon data plan? NOthing can beat the sprint plan I have( Family Plan).
Droid is the darling now and give it a month, it will be rooted. What would be nice is having the actual correct way to achieve root. There is no way the developer won't let themselves have root.
based on total cost of ownership, sprint is the way to go. the droid is faster, and has android 2.0 but the hero is going to be getting it soon and the moment is getting some type of upgrade as well. in my eyes the droid is comparable to the moment but with a bigger screen, but the moment has a much more crisp display. it is beautiful. my dad has it. i have a hero. ma b im biased but i say hero. lol!
I guess it is difficult to really say since I have and adore the Hero. Frankly, the new droid is too boxy and I like the software keyboard.
i prefer the hero because it has HTC and i love there designs on the software i have the touch vogue now the hero best choice i made
I went from a hardware keyboard on the Q, Mogul, and TP to the Hero. It took me about 30 minutes to get used to the SIP-only input, but I love it.
I guess it helped that I was using a modified SIP on my Mogul and TP, but software keyboard on the Hero is really not bad - I have the spell check and suggestion settings turned on, so even if my chubby fingers hit the wrong part of the screen, 9 times out of 10, it gets fixed before I'm ready for the next word.
My only complaint about the auto-suggest / correct on the Android over WinMo is that WinMo would suggest phrases that you've used in the past, and give preference to common words. Android makes no such distinctions (that I've seen).
If you get good discounts with Sprint, then I'd suggest going that way. Sprint's EVDO is excellent and seems to be getting better all the time. I get 25% off my bills, which makes the already cheaper data plan basically free (not really, but compared to $35 - $50 from other carriers).
with sprint i would get 23% off a month, no activation fee and the hero or moment for 29.99. Its really hard to pass that up for so dang cheap, and my monthly bill would be roughly $24 dollars cheaper then verizon. So the droid would be really costing be $600 more then the hero/moment.
k2rolla503 said:
with sprint i would get 23% off a month, no activation fee and the hero or moment for 29.99. Its really hard to pass that up for so dang cheap, and my monthly bill would be roughly $24 dollars cheaper then verizon. So the droid would be really costing be $600 more then the hero/moment.
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Click to collapse
I went from a Samsung Instinct to HTC Hero - night and day difference. My wife is still using her Instinct, says she'll replace it when it breaks. There is so much more you can do with the HTC Hero than a standard phone, plus the widgets just make it awesome. I love the HTC Sense and 7 home screens. Coworkers with their "icon only" iPhones were amazed at how smooth all my screen transitions were. Plus, I've got it fully integrated (like everyone else) with Google contacts/calendar/etc., and Google Voice is awesome.
With the Android OS I don't really think you can go wrong with a phone, there will always be updates so long as the community is around. And by the time the community is dead, you'll probably be able to run a web server off your phone instead of just junking it
My path led me from normal flip phones to the iPhone (my first smartphone), iPhone 3G, Palm Pre (about the time the iPhone 3GS came out and I got sick of paying so much money for a device that didn't let me listen to pandora while doing other things), HTC Hero...and I love the Hero with it's customizability and the bit of multitasking. I love the software keyboard (I got spoiled on the iphone software keyboard and much prefer it to a hardware one) and multitouch support and I am loving the Sprint plan (saved me $20/month from AT&T which is like giving myself a $240/year raise!). And ever since I got into the smartphone market I want and love tethering...I jailbroke all my iphones to get it, I rooted the pre to get it and now I've flashed my hero to MoDaCo to get it. So far, the openness really speaks to the urge to tweak and experiment I have so Android will likely be where I stay for a while.
I'm happy with the phone but not completely satisfied. It has some issues which need to be resolved, particularly the ROM memory leak which occurs using Bluetooth. I can't use bluetooth at ll for now. The calendar issue and the mono headphone issue also needs resolving. I have not had an issue with dust under the screen (knock on wood) but that would definitely be a huge problem if it occurs.
Even with these issues this phone is the best phone I have ever owned. There are phones that are arguably better (iphone 3gs, droid) but imho this phone is the best value for the money by a long shot. I pay about $52 a month after my 25% discount. My plan is better than if I were with Verizon or ATT and paying $$100 or $70. Sprint coverage in my area is superb as well, ATT sucks. I also get to upgrade phones after 1 year at new costumer rates because of premier status so I get to enjoy this phone for now and a year from now I can get a Hero 2, Dragon, Iphone? on Sprint.
Sprint still has it's shortcomings though. I have always dealt with very courteous csr's but internal communication is really an issue with them. They all seem to know something different and particularly getting a targeted update date is impossible. Verizon on the other hand is amazing at this, within one week of the Droid and Eris launch they had many of the issues documented and disseminated the info to it's employees. There was even a "leak" so users have some idea update dates.
Hey guys How everyone doing?
I see that you guys dont got a Q&A Section over here, so I decided to drop this here. Today i'm heading over to the store to switch from Sprint to Verizon.Needless to say Sprint service has only gotten worse over the years. Been with them for almost 10 years now (be 10 yrs in Janurary). AnyWhoo, I got a couple of questions for you guys, pretty straight forward, and Sorry in advance if this was the wrong place for this. But basically im coming from the EVO 3D (EVO 4G Previous to that) and I understand that the Razor is being released in early November, But I need to switch today cause between the TErrible 3G, and Data and such, I need my phone for work. My Co-Worker has Verizon and tells me that his Data coverage is amazing. So im thinking of picking up the Bionic, seeing that its the latest and greatest out right now on Verizon, But Ive been reading around for the past 24hrs that alot of people have there 3G/4G signal just cut off. Now I dont really lose my 3G (5 miles north of Boston) here, but the data speeds are just so slow that I cant really do anything most of the time. I got ROOT and all of that good stuff of course, but trying all the different Tweaks and Radios and such can only help so much. So my Question is, Is the Bionic Plagued with losing its 3G/4G signal out of no where constantly? I figured I'd ask you guys before I did anything today. Thats the one thing that worrys the most. Of course im also worried about root and such, cause over at the EVO 3D DEV section we got some great DEVin going on right now, But I really gotta focus on more important things than that right now. Any advice would be great fellas! I really appreciate it, and once again SORRY if this was put in the wrong place
Jon
I refuse to read this until you break some of this up into paragraphs....this is ridiculous.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk
WOW.....Gee thanks for the help Brotha!!! that was so helpful in many ways. DO you really have that much trouble reading it? Jesus, DO you want me to add 10 periods between each word LOL?
I like my Bionic and all (and the coverage is certainly better than the ATT garbage I came from) but I would recommend seriously considering the Nexus Prime. (Screw the RAZR.) If you've been with Sprint for a decade, are you sure that you absolutely cannot wait another 2-4 weeks for a clean, unlockable phone?
Underwater Mike said:
I like my Bionic and all (and the coverage is certainly better than the ATT garbage I came from) but I would recommend seriously considering the Nexus Prime. (Screw the RAZR.) If you've been with Sprint for a decade, are you sure that you absolutely cannot wait another 2-4 weeks for a clean, unlockable phone?
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well that was my original intention. But the one thing i was worried about was AVAILABILITY for the galaxy nexus. I figured id would have to be a member of verizon in order to pre-order the nexus. So I thought maybe ill get the bionic for now until the galaxy nexus came out. But things with sprint has just gotten to bad lately. Its a tough decision, but now u got me second guessing LOL. that may be the best thing i think. Thanks for the feedback!!!
This is just my experience, but I have noticed the data has been dropping a lot lately. I lost data yesterday, but after I turned the phone on the off it came back.
My only issue with doing that is when I power down & restart I lose apps, which gets old. Then I have to download all again.
Its frustrating paying $110+ a month for something that loses data & forces me to reinstall apps.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk
In. my opinion the bionic is a dirty phone and would recommend it to anyone the data is blazing fast and I very rarely have any data drops and I have to be in the middle of nowhere for that to happen. And with the fact that you can't add an extended battery to the razr this phone is just plain better.
Sent from my [R3] BLURR3D DROID BIONIC using XDA App.
bionicmonkey said:
In. my opinion the bionic is a dirty phone and would recommend it to anyone the data is blazing fast and I very rarely have any data drops and I have to be in the middle of nowhere for that to happen. And with the fact that you can't add an extended battery to the razr this phone is just plain better.
Sent from my [R3] BLURR3D DROID BIONIC using XDA App.
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But the data drops aren't from spotty network, they're from a goofy radio. So, to me that is a toss-up. You can live in a prime coverage area, like me, and still have issues. The upcoming patch is supposed to fix the problem on all phones, but I will believe it when I see it. MOT has already backpedaled on the bootloader issue, so I would not be surprised to see them do so on a 100% radio fix.
As I said, I would not even consider the RAZR. I replaced the battery on my iPhone six times (no kidding), so the idea of not being able to swap a batt without disassembling the handset drives me nuts, even if it does take less than 10 minutes.
If you are able to get a Bionic now and trade to a Prime when they come out, then you really have nothing to lose. For someone who does not have that option, though, waiting a few extra weeks would be advisable IMO.
Another vote for waiting for the Galaxy Nexus. I really like my Bionic, but Motorola has already said, by releasing the Razr, that the Bionic isn't its priority anymore, and given the number of issues many are having with the phone and the locked bootloader, I'm tempted to say that if you can wait and get the GNex, you should. My 14 days ran out before the GNex was announced, but otherwise, I would've made the jump.
Also, skip the Razr altogether. It's a slightly improved Bionic with no user-replaceable battery. Don't bother.
I made the switch from Sprint to Verizon in July (to lock in the unlimited data plan - had to pay an ETF for that but it was worth it - I had an Evo 4G). Service and speeds are amazing, but as other posters have stated, I get the data drops like once a day. Usually, a flip to Airplane mode and back fixes the problem. I am sure it is bad radio code, not a bad network.
I started with a Droid Charge through Costco with the hope of being able to swap it out for the Bionic. As luck would have it, Costco eagerly replaced the Charge with a Bionic for both me and my wife because the Charge had such crappy bluetooth that would drop all the time for many of their customers. There was no argument when we went back in.
Now Bionic: I love the Webtop mode and for that reason would probably stick with Motorola, but my work may be different than yours. I'm typically in an office setting that has a lot of network lockdowns. Having a 'second computer' over which my employer has no control is very nice.
My concerns regarding the Nexus are two-fold: 1) I don't know if they will use the same crappy file system that they used on the Charge or if Google had complete control over the software down to that level of detail. It could also be that ICS uses a whole new file system - I just don't know - I am only pointing it out as an area I would research if I were making the same purchase decision as you are.
2) Development for the Charge was limited. With Google's impending purchase of Moto, I expect accelerated development on Moto products.
Finally, with regards to the Razr: Cool, but no replaceable battery means no battery pulls when things go wrong. I stand taller than 4'8" so an extra 5mm of phone thickness in my pocket is not an issue.
Hi Jon,
I've had EVERY carrier over the past few years, and I can say, Verizon is by far the best. In todays day in age where data is everything... Verizon brings it. Even 3G I would still sometimes get 1.5mbps, and now with LTE 4G, its amazing.
The price of Verizon is kind of "Eh" but, when I'm sitting on the Naval base (which gets horrific signal) and I can still pull 10-15mbps down, I can say I'm one happy guy.
The only thing that concerns me about Verizon is their policies on things, ie: Bootloaders, Rooting, etc. If I were you. I'd wait until the Nexus becomes available. If you go on craigslist, there are people willing to sell their old phone PLAN to you, as in those old unlimited data ones. HIGHLY suggest going there. I have had friends do that recently with NO issues.
Either way, As much as I love Sprint's phones (EVO 3D being OC'ed to 1.8Ghz) Verizon's reception is incredible nationwide If you have any questions, PM me!
I just realized that I neglected to address your real question. I recently switched from AT&T to Verizon, and the difference in network has been night and day. I went from getting 100kbps down on a good day with AT&T to consistently getting 500kbps+ with 4GLTE, and I've only dropped one call in the month+ I've had the phone. Switching to Verizon was among my better decisions I've made lately.
wanderfowl said:
Another vote for waiting for the Galaxy Nexus. I really like my Bionic, but Motorola has already said, by releasing the Razr, that the Bionic isn't its priority anymore, and given the number of issues many are having with the phone and the locked bootloader, I'm tempted to say that if you can wait and get the GNex, you should. My 14 days ran out before the GNex was announced, but otherwise, I would've made the jump.
Also, skip the Razr altogether. It's a slightly improved Bionic with no user-replaceable battery. Don't bother.
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I believe the Bionic is still a priority. They're advertising it during NFL games that it comes with free NFL network. The average user doesn't really care about a lot of what we talk about on here. Some people will prefer the bulk of the Bionic, and others will prefer the Razr.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
I would definitely recommend waiting for both the razr and galaxy nexus to be released, then going to the store and giving 5 minutes to each phone. I like my bionic, but I regret not examining it more closely before buying it. But with that being said, the battery life on this is amazing with the extended battery, and that is a critical factor for most. How would you like to have a droid razr that only lasts half a day? Sure it looks pretty, but what's the point if it's off half the time. As for the galaxy nexus, samsung is on fire now, so I have no doubt that it'll be the best phone you can have.
reverepats said:
Hey guys How everyone doing?
I see that you guys dont got a Q&A Section over here, so I decided to drop this here. Today i'm heading over to the store to switch from Sprint to Verizon.Needless to say Sprint service has only gotten worse over the years. Been with them for almost 10 years now (be 10 yrs in Janurary). AnyWhoo, I got a couple of questions for you guys, pretty straight forward, and Sorry in advance if this was the wrong place for this. But basically im coming from the EVO 3D (EVO 4G Previous to that) and I understand that the Razor is being released in early November, But I need to switch today cause between the TErrible 3G, and Data and such, I need my phone for work. My Co-Worker has Verizon and tells me that his Data coverage is amazing. So im thinking of picking up the Bionic, seeing that its the latest and greatest out right now on Verizon, But Ive been reading around for the past 24hrs that alot of people have there 3G/4G signal just cut off. Now I dont really lose my 3G (5 miles north of Boston) here, but the data speeds are just so slow that I cant really do anything most of the time. I got ROOT and all of that good stuff of course, but trying all the different Tweaks and Radios and such can only help so much. So my Question is, Is the Bionic Plagued with losing its 3G/4G signal out of no where constantly? I figured I'd ask you guys before I did anything today. Thats the one thing that worrys the most. Of course im also worried about root and such, cause over at the EVO 3D DEV section we got some great DEVin going on right now, But I really gotta focus on more important things than that right now. Any advice would be great fellas! I really appreciate it, and once again SORRY if this was put in the wrong place
Jon
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Click to collapse
The radio CAN go wonky, but it seems to be only when you are in a mediocre LTE area or otherwise are switching between LTE and CDMA connections. If stability is more important to you than speed, I've found that if I set my radio mode to CDMA only, the connection is rock solid. As an added plus, the battery lasts MUCH longer without the LTE radio going!
EDIT: Also, the speed is very acceptable, even on 3G/CDMA. I had a Sprint Photon 4G and 3G throughput often didn't break 200Kbps in either direction. With my Bionic, i regularly get 600Kbps+.
Dude I've had the same dilemma. After my fiasco with Epic 4g Touch with terrible reception and slow internet (where my EVO was doing just fine) I left Sprint and signed my soul out to Verizon.
I also couldn't wait for Galaxy Nexus which I'm gonna get eventually.
Now. I didn't want to get an expensive temporary phone so I went for LG Revolution. God I'm glad they have that 14 days exchange policy. What a piece of junk.
So now I've got Bionic and I'm temporarily happy.
Now the important stuff.
I drive truck all over the country and all I can say about Verizon coverage is wow. I don't know what a dropped call is and I can watch Hulu almost everywhere.
The infamous LOS happened to me every now and then on that POS Revolution (Stock unrooted). Now I read that this is happening on Bionic too. So it must be the network problem then. Nothing we can do about that I'm afraid.
It didn't happen yet on my new Bionic but I've gotten it 2 days ago.
Rooted and de-bloated today so we'll see.
BTW. I don't believe Galaxy Nexus will come out according to leaks. (11.10)
Similar leak said Motorola Razr will come before (10.27) and now it's for pre-order on VZ website saying "Will ship by 11.10.11.
I think Galaxy Nexus will follow that pattern and it will go on pre-order 11.10 and will start to ship 2-3 weeks from that date.
But I would be more than thrilled if I'm being wrong.
reverepats said:
Hey guys How everyone doing?
I see that you guys dont got a Q&A Section over here, so I decided to drop this here. Today i'm heading over to the store to switch from Sprint to Verizon.Needless to say Sprint service has only gotten worse over the years. Been with them for almost 10 years now (be 10 yrs in Janurary). AnyWhoo, I got a couple of questions for you guys, pretty straight forward, and Sorry in advance if this was the wrong place for this. But basically im coming from the EVO 3D (EVO 4G Previous to that) and I understand that the Razor is being released in early November, But I need to switch today cause between the TErrible 3G, and Data and such, I need my phone for work. My Co-Worker has Verizon and tells me that his Data coverage is amazing. So im thinking of picking up the Bionic, seeing that its the latest and greatest out right now on Verizon, But Ive been reading around for the past 24hrs that alot of people have there 3G/4G signal just cut off. Now I dont really lose my 3G (5 miles north of Boston) here, but the data speeds are just so slow that I cant really do anything most of the time. I got ROOT and all of that good stuff of course, but trying all the different Tweaks and Radios and such can only help so much. So my Question is, Is the Bionic Plagued with losing its 3G/4G signal out of no where constantly? I figured I'd ask you guys before I did anything today. Thats the one thing that worrys the most. Of course im also worried about root and such, cause over at the EVO 3D DEV section we got some great DEVin going on right now, But I really gotta focus on more important things than that right now. Any advice would be great fellas! I really appreciate it, and once again SORRY if this was put in the wrong place
Jon
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The 27th was always the pre-order date for the RAZR, a few sites got it confused.
Stank0 said:
Dude I've had the same dilemma. After my fiasco with Epic 4g Touch with terrible reception and slow internet (where my EVO was doing just fine) I left Sprint and signed my soul out to Verizon.
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Same for me with the Samsung epic 4g touch. Just crap of a phone samsucks when it comes to udates on their firmware even my wife has the nexus s great software updates. Horrible firmware and software fixes from Samsung. Galaxy nexus will suffer from samsungs lack of updates for fixes and issues. Look at the Droid charge. I just switched from sprint 2 weeks ago and took over someones unlimited plan and bought my bionic happy now
Sent from my DROID BIONIC
Also have HTC rezound coming too
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
MillionManMosh said:
The 27th was always the pre-order date for the RAZR, a few sites got it confused.
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Click to collapse
The leak shows the release date for Razr as 10.27.11 (Engadget) and it became available for pre-order that date. (or was it 29th?) the same way it shows release date for Galaxy Nexus as 11.10.11.
By way of extrapolation, Galaxy Nexus will be availale for pre-order 11.10.11.
And again, I'd LOVE to be wrong.
So I was all ready last week to pull the trigger on a Droid 4 with Verizon, despite being with AT&T, until realizing that...
I have really inexpensive unlimited data with AT&T, while Verizon wants me to wear leather and vasoline for the pleasure of data
The Droid 4 is a Motorola… and it took like nine months of promises for the Backflip to get updated.
I'm not sure I want to buy a phone today with a glimmer of hope of ICS next November, rather than waiting a few months for something else.
Has this factored into anyone else's actions?
Not having ICS really doesn't bother me that much. GB is pretty nice IMO. It looks like ICS will come eventually. Third quarter maybe. But I would be surprised if we don't have an ICS ROM to flash long before then. I don't plan on running stock for long anyways, so for me, dev support is more important that what version of Android it ships with. Judging by the dev support for the Droid 2 and Droid 3 I am pretty sure that we should have pretty good support for the Droid 4 as well.
Support is already there for the Razr as well. Since they are so similar I would not be surprised to see some ROMs ported from there which could help speed up the process.
True enough, but the Backflip left an unpleasant taste in my mouth for Motorola upgrade support and for relying on open ROMs. I'm happy writing embedded software, but my phone is also a business tool and needs to be pretty solid.
I wasn't too concerned either, my archos tablet was maxed at 1.6, and GB is a lot nicer. ICS will get around when it does, and this phone does everything I could want. If I need something it doesn't offer, then I'd look into new ROMs.
It would be fun to tinker with ICS, though.
Wotta said:
So I was all ready last week to pull the trigger on a Droid 4 with Verizon, despite being with AT&T, until realizing that...
I have really inexpensive unlimited data with AT&T, while Verizon wants me to wear leather and vasoline for the pleasure of data
The Droid 4 is a Motorola… and it took like nine months of promises for the Backflip to get updated.
I'm not sure I want to buy a phone today with a glimmer of hope of ICS next November, rather than waiting a few months for something else.
Has this factored into anyone else's actions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was using a RAZR up until last week when I got my D4. I LOVED the RAZR, awesome phone, but the lack of a keyboard was killing me.
That was GB, and I've played with a Nexus for 2 weeks while I was trying to figure things out, and honestly, ICS is great and all, but there's really nothing on the Nexus I couldn't do on a GB phone that I was like "I gotta have this".
It's a great operating system, but it's not the "end all be all" for mobile computing.
I also was not very happy with the build quality of the Nexus. it just wasn't nearly as nice.....period. You cannot convince me otherwise, as I scratched the hell out of that thing in the 2 week time that I had it. My RAZR after 3 months of solid use, still looked basically brand new, and was rock solid.
The GB implementation on both the RAZR and the D4 is AWESOME. Blur is so minimal these days, it's hardly noticeable, and the only FC's I've had on this thing have been with Bank of America's stupid app, that FC's on every device. (I dropped BofA for banking recently....so goodbye crappy app)
So from personal experience, I can honestly give you a straight up review of both OS's, and tell you, it shouldn't factor in your decision at all.
Hardware is WAY more important in the long run, because I would hate to have a phone that had the latest software, but looked like a piece of crap after 6 months. Also, without a keyboard, I have learned I just can't live that way yet. Speech to text is only "so" good, and it won't replace my keyboard until they can figure out how to make it better. I also cannot for the life of me figure out swype, so forget that hot mess.
The one thing that I really truly miss on my D4 that the RAZR had, is the screen That 4.3" beauty on the RAZR was ridiculous. It was the best AMOLED that I've ever laid eyes on. I haven't seen the 7.7" Samsung Galaxy Tab, that is supposed to be even better than that, but if it's even 1/3 of what the RAZR was, it's going to be awesome.
The D4 screen is bleh.....it really is the only weakness that I can see in what is otherwise a rock solid, applications monster, that helps my productivity everyday.
So that's my $.02.
As for the idea of leaving an unlimited data plan on AT&T, if I were you, I would call Verizon, not go into the store, and haggle. Tell them the only way you leave your AT&T contract is if you get unlimited to replace it.
They do have special offer codes, that can get you the unlimited data plans, but you have to demand it. It may take talking to a manager, so don't be shy about it.
ICS/CM9 will be coming sooner than expected
see link
ICS INFO
Garlick, thanks. I'm not actually very concerned about the unlimited data. I have WiFi in most places so my "unlimited" has averaged about 250MB, below any of the limits anyhow. But AT&T is great for Euro-travel also; Verizon is more expensive in the places it works. If it's that great a device, I may jump soon anyhow.
phrir1 said:
ICS/CM9 will be coming sooner than expected
see link ICS INFO
Click to expand...
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Yes, but I was saying that I tend to avoid the custom ROMs for stability reasons.
phrir1 said:
ICS/CM9 will be coming sooner than expected
see link
ICS INFO
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for posting this.... I had been wandering since the RAZR and the D4 have the same innards if the roms could simply be ported back and forth with some minimal optimizations...
Someone installed this ROM on their Droid 4 without issue
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1385428
I've had the bionic, which I thought is a solid phone yeah it had some connectivity issues but other than that its solid, then I had my Samsung Galaxy Nexus and don't get me wrong ICS is awesome on it but its a Samsung it had just as bad data drops as my bionic if not worse. Which by the way is for sale. Then I got my DROID 4 and have been back in heaven yeah I miss the bigger scree but everything else it makes up for it.
i will wait for ICS/CM9, but it seems like i wont have to wait too long!
that, and the big screen are the only things i miss about my DX
Wotta said:
Garlick, thanks. I'm not actually very concerned about the unlimited data. I have WiFi in most places so my "unlimited" has averaged about 250MB, below any of the limits anyhow. But AT&T is great for Euro-travel also; Verizon is more expensive in the places it works. If it's that great a device, I may jump soon anyhow.
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Honestly... I have unlimited data from verizon, grandfathered from before they put the cap on. BUT, looking at my usage, i never exceed 2gb. And i stream music every day on my commute (1 hour each way).
as far as international travel goes.. i would NEVER pay for verizon (or any carriers global roaming) i have a quad band GSM phone that i take with me anywhere i go and and just buy a local pre-paid sim and pop it in.
OK, with the exception of the HTC One X, there has been, as far as I know, -0- new high end phones brought to market, at least here in the USA. Why is that? In 2 more weeks half the year will be over with nothing new. I have a Galaxy Nexus on VZW right now, and I have to admit, its pretty underwhelming. Ive had it since December and its had no official updates at all. I have the newest 404 leak, but it still gets poor reception, and drinks the extended battery like its a marathon runner drinking Gatorade.
It is funny to me that you are on Verizon and complaining about "underwhelming" phones. When have they ever had a phone to be excited about? Of course you haven't received an update. Verizon takes forever to push anything out!
Well, when I jumped on the Nexus bandwagen, I had hoped for something with a little more, the phone got good reviews. I guess I should have known better with its specs and all. But still, I want to make up for it, but theres nothing out there!
I agree nothing has really made me say "wow" lol, so I'm still sticking with my HTC Inspire 4g untill then. Which of course HTC snubbed by not giving us ICS.. oh well I put it on anyways
Honestly, as long as we're on VZ this will probably continue to be the case. They have a hard push for Moto phones with their oh so lovely locked bootloaders as their main devices. They carry HTC and Samsung, but with the exception of the Rezound get nothing of worth from either manufacturer.
Sony has some great devices dropping later this year, but there's no promise of any of them coming to Verizon.
Depending on what the upcoming cycle holds I may switch to AT&T and get the unlimited data plan on an unlocked phone.
ATT has unlimited data again?
Well it's a story known all to well. I had the bionic. Every time I would call Verizon they would tell me to wait for the new update that was around the corner or they would just replace the phone with another Bionic. The new. 905 update just made the phone unusable. I finally broke down and called verizion yet again not expecting any real help. I was very kind and basically killed em with kindness. After explaining that I have had issues since day one and that I required a working smartphone for work and there was a history of me calling all the time, they finally moved me to what they called level 2 support. Had to explain the whole process from day one to now again. The man was very kind, as was I and offered me a thunderbolt. I asked him if there was any way to change out to a different dual core 4g phone cause the thunderbolt was a step backwards. He then said he could give me a razr. OK I guess but I then asked if he could do any dual core 4g that wasn't a Motorola. He said no at first cause phone companies are cracking down on the exchanging phone issue. As I started to say OK send me the razr, he asked if I would hold for about 10min. I said sure. When he came back he said I can tell you are not happy with Motorola at all and in general not happy with the way things have been handled. He said he asked his boss if something could be done and got approved the Galaxy Nexus for me. Now I am waiting on it to arrive. (If you are willing to take a total of an hour and a half and be extra kind and not demand stuff they will work with you. Key is to keep talking till they offer a phone and never say no if they offer a phone you don't want. Just ask if its possible for something else in an indirect way) So I can't wait to start being part of the nexus forum and am very excited to be getting a phone with an unlocked bootloader again. My Incredible was just that. Incredible. I am hoping the nexus will be the same.
Sent from my POS DROID BIONIC
Congratulations, but the "big mistake" is unnecessary and kind of insulting. I've never had any problems with mine unless I was on one of the GB-based ICS ROMs.
Sorry if offended. I have had nothing but trouble from this phone. It has been so unreliable its not funny. Even with the ics leaks I still had issues. It would had been a great experience if it was reliable. I am not the type that likes to offend so I will remove that part. Apologies my friend.
I was just being a baby. Maybe it's just me being jealous. Seriously Congrats on the S3. My brother just got one (I made him pre order to not screw up our family's unlimited plans) and I want to make love to it.
I thought the op got a galaxy nexus not a s3
Too bad you been having problems with your bionic, I haven't have any problems with mines even on the ICS leaks from 2231-235
Hope you enjoy the gnex more than I do bc for me the bionic have a better reception/data connection than the gnex I had
It is a nexus that is on its way indeed. Thanks and I am not too worried about reception as I am stability. The bionic just would not stay connected to data for nothing except on .902 and even with that I had to battery pull about every 2-3 days cause of no data. Even with the ics leaks. 3 bionics and all have had the same problem. It would have been a great phone just if data was a solid connection and an unlocked bootloader. Maybe for those still with the bionic maybe you will get an unlock tool one day. Saw a tweet from Motorola about a week ago saying they were working on one but of course its been said for a year they were going to unlock the bootloaders.
Nexus, my bad. Too many Galaxy devices going on right now! the Galaxy Nexus is a piece of sheer beauty though. Someone came with with the GSM variant on 4.1.1 for me to root, and I was amazed at just how smooth JB is.
I would not ditch a Bionic for a Nexus now.
I ditched the bionic for any dual core 4g phone they would give me. Just so happened to be a nexus.
I just got off my 3rd phone call with VZW.
1st call- Told them some of what I had tried to do to fix the data dropping. (All of which I read about here or elsewhere on the interwebz) Removed battery, adjusted nighttime settings.
Result- New Sim Card, no data drops for 2 days, then they came back with a vengence
2nd call- They asked me to factory reset my phone. I'm a little bit pissed at this point but I tried it. They are the expert in this conversation and I figured refusal to waste my time would result in me wasting more time before anything was actually resolved. Also I didn't want to end up yelling at some poor soul in a call center.
Result- Data drop within 3 hours of resetting the phone.
(less than 10 minutes ago) 3rd call- Samsung Galaxy Nexus is being shipped to me. I was leaning towards the razr but they told me that the razr was having some data problems as well. I'm really sick of this and just want a working 4g smartphone. 4g is the greatest thing before or after sliced bread, I can watch youtube with no buffering at any time. I loved the bionic so very much visible screen in direct sunlight ftw, good build qualify, fits well in my hand, ect. I didn't have to hint or argue with them to get the nexus, I asked what phones were available to me and they said the Nexus and the Razr. I hinted about the S3 and they shot that down without missing a beat, probably knew I was going to ask before I started. Also I'm getting the extended battery because they are out of the regular batteries.
Result- Oh please merciful spaghetti monster let phone work out.
If you're having data trouble call them and follow the steps. I'll see you in the nexus forum, I'll be the one lurking.
Never
Never ever have I had problem with my Bionic. I would never of traded, no way Jose. With ICS its the best thing out. Strong casing, not that plastic thin stuff. Love my Bionic but if you happy and it is what it is. Good luck with the Nexus. Reading all posts here seems like people feel the same way. In the past I never waited that long for an exchange lol.
---------- Post added at 07:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:20 PM ----------
Surlock said:
I just got off my 3rd phone call with VZW.
1st call- Told them some of what I had tried to do to fix the data dropping. (All of which I read about here or elsewhere on the interwebz) Removed battery, adjusted nighttime settings.
Result- New Sim Card, no data drops for 2 days, then they came back with a vengence
2nd call- They asked me to factory reset my phone. I'm a little bit pissed at this point but I tried it. They are the expert in this conversation and I figured refusal to waste my time would result in me wasting more time before anything was actually resolved. Also I didn't want to end up yelling at some poor soul in a call center.
Result- Data drop within 3 hours of resetting the phone.
(less than 10 minutes ago) 3rd call- Samsung Galaxy Nexus is being shipped to me. I was leaning towards the razr but they told me that the razr was having some data problems as well. I'm really sick of this and just want a working 4g smartphone. 4g is the greatest thing before or after sliced bread, I can watch youtube with no buffering at any time. I loved the bionic so very much visible screen in direct sunlight ftw, good build qualify, fits well in my hand, ect. I didn't have to hint or argue with them to get the nexus, I asked what phones were available to me and they said the Nexus and the Razr. I hinted about the S3 and they shot that down without missing a beat, probably knew I was going to ask before I started. Also I'm getting the extended battery because they are out of the regular batteries.
Result- Oh please merciful spaghetti monster let phone work out.
If you're having data trouble call them and follow the steps. I'll see you in the nexus forum, I'll be the one lurking.
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Won't see me there. Never had data drops and since everyone is in 4g there is no 3g traffic so 3g is very smooth. Also the fact that they gave u the fat battery means they will send u the back also which when connected, it will be heavier. But if you're happy thats what counts/
---------- Post added at 07:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:30 PM ----------
The reason they're running out of Bionis is because people are re-buying them. G o to Swappa and see that price has not dropped and that the demad is high. The Bionic is back.
Getting a new Bionic and sim card sent to me. Hopefully it works better than this one.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
For those being sent a Nexus, what about your Bionic? Did they want it mailed back to them? Did they say keep it?
vzw
my bionic's headphone jack started going bad about 5 months in, called vzw and they sent me a new phone for free being it was under warranty. I love the bionic, if it's broke, just fix it.
To those who haven't had any trouble with the bionic, I envy you greatly. I think I've given the phone more than a fair shake at this point and it gave me a white 4g signal of doom in return.
rlewis312010 said:
For those being sent a Nexus, what about your Bionic? Did they want it mailed back to them? Did they say keep it?
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Click to collapse
They want it back. I'd like to keep it, perhaps one day, when cars fly, moto will fix it and I'd have a valuable backup, or maybe the nexus would be the back up. Or I could use it like a tiny tablet for....something.
The Bionic could have been a great phone if it was not for the LOCKED BOOT LOADER, and the monsterious level of bloatware(I blame Verizon/Motorola, and not android for this issue). My experience with pure google phones has been outstanding(I own a Nexus S 4g), heck most of the modder's/developers on XDA are in essence trying to actually enjoy the greatness of simply pure google. Why else would I install a custom ROM, because most of the custom rom's are faster and bloatware free. I have what cellphone carriers have done to great phones, quite simply they turn them to ****.
My Verizon contract just ran out and I traded my Bionic for an unlocked GSM Galaxy Nexus. I never had any problems with my Bionic and loved it, but the Nexus is a better phone. It's amazing how much faster and smoother it seems, and the build quality is very good. It's not cheap feeling at all. I think the Bionic's flimsy back actually made it feel a little cheaper. I do miss the Bionic's super bright screen outside, though. That thing is just amazingly visible in direct sunlight. The Nexus' screen can't hold a candle to it in that regard, at least.
I am curious to know if anyone here, that has switched from the Bionic to the Nexus, actually used ICS on their Bionic first. When I switched over to ICS from GB on my Bionic, it WAS like having a whole new phone, and responsiveness was amazing. Probably the same experience I would have gotten if I had upgraded from a .905 Bionic to a Nexus.
Well, that was my thought last night, so I called VZW and after about 10 minutes the conversation got to the point where they were offering me a replacement. No yelling or any arguing was required - it was very nice. They offered me any 4G LTE phone except the HTC 1X, Galaxy SIII or new Incredible (for free and no contract extension). They said that the Galaxy Nexus and Razr MAXX were probably the best that were available. After much deliberation, I opted for the Razr MAXX since I think it barely wins out due to the awesome battery life. Plus, ICS is officially released for it, so it's an upgrade from the Bionic any way you look at it. It should arrive in 2-3 days. I have no idea what the development community is like for the MAXX; I was just kind of hoping there was something out there.
Worst case scenario - I don't like it, sell it on eBay and buy a Nexus with the sale money.
crobs808 said:
I am curious to know if anyone here, that has switched from the Bionic to the Nexus, actually used ICS on their Bionic first. When I switched over to ICS from GB on my Bionic, it WAS like having a whole new phone, and responsiveness was amazing. Probably the same experience I would have gotten if I had upgraded from a .905 Bionic to a Nexus.
Well, that was my thought last night, so I called VZW and after about 10 minutes the conversation got to the point where they were offering me a replacement. No yelling or any arguing was required - it was very nice. They offered me any 4G LTE phone except the HTC 1X, Galaxy SIII or new Incredible (for free and no contract extension). They said that the Galaxy Nexus and Razr MAXX were probably the best that were available. After much deliberation, I opted for the Razr MAXX since I think it barely wins out due to the awesome battery life. Plus, ICS is officially released for it, so it's an upgrade from the Bionic any way you look at it. It should arrive in 2-3 days. I have no idea what the development community is like for the MAXX; I was just kind of hoping there was something out there.
Worst case scenario - I don't like it, sell it on eBay and buy a Nexus with the sale money.
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I never rooted my bionic and my reading lead me to believe that the dev community hadn't fixed this particular issue with the data. You can buy a 4k battery fro the nexus for $20 so that wasn't a big issue to me. They didn't offer me a maxx just the regular razr.
Yeah, I've seen that 4K battery...Yikes. It could power a boat. The biggest appeal to the Nexus is unlocked bootloader and slim profile. Everything can have ICS these days, with the right hacks, so the "always get the latest updates from Google" tagline never swayed me. I still don't see how it beats the MAXX. I guess I'll find out soon enough if I made the right choice. I never had any complaints about the screen on the Bionic, and the MAXX is supposed to be the same if not a little better. I sit in front of an HD display all day at work to compare it to.