Work is supplying me with this phone on Monday, I am relatively sure they will update it before giving it to me. So no root for now.... Even if it isn't I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the current root methods.
Anything I should know about the phone?
Sent from my DROID RAZR M using XDA Free mobile app
It's pretty fast and powerful.
Root situation:
I'm an owner of this phone for about two months now, coming from the Droid Razr Maxx HD and the Droid Razr before that. As someone who has owned those phones and has used, rooted, and ROMed other phones for friends, I can tell you that the root and bootloader unlock situation situation is terrible. The short answer is there will likely never be a rock solid root method (Mofo is lame) and certainly no ROMs coming this way. My previous phones have had amazing ROM support over the years and a reliable root method as well as an amazing bootloader unlock on the HD. Using the Turbo, initially I craved having root but that feeling subsided after some time (stock ROM is somewhat nice on this). When I finally realized I wanted to use Tasker and Titanium Backup to remove the bloatware, I felt high and dry by Verizon and now let's say I'm super pissed at the situation and really want root.
Verizon bloatware and updates:
Originally, I didn't care considering I love Motorola's implementation of Android but it wasn't long until I realized this isn't just a Moto phone, but a Droid one as well. The bloatware is unreal and needs to be disabled ASAP. The Command Center widget that some people have been going nuts over is actually really bad and uses a little fortune of your battery reserves. The Circle widget from the previous Droids is actually way superior; it is more attractive, just as useful, and is smooth unlike Command Center (4FPS animations). Let's just say I wished I had a Moto X 2014 over this strictly because of the Verizon situation on this phone. This doesn't just include bloatware, but updates as well. This was a struggle for me to wait for Lollipop on this thing because I've used Cyanogenmod 12.1 on my Razr Maxx HD. When Lollipop actually came, I was bored of it instantly because I've already used it in the past. When Android M comes out, I'm scared to see the wait for this phone. The Moto X 2014 will probably get it in a week or two and we will be waiting until at least March. Also, it is worth noting that some features are completely absent on this phone like User profiles. Thanks Verizon.
Moto software:
The custom Moto stuff on this phone is another story though. It is the reason to use a Motorola phone. Touchless control is handy, camera and flashlight gestures even handier, and being able to text and drive without looking at the phone is a nice touch. Moto Display is probably the crowned jewel of the software though. As a design critic, the interface is actually kind of ugly, but it is so damn useful and battery friendly. I seldom ever hit the power button. It was the only reason I could deal with Kitkat on this phone, it was the stuff that kept me intrigued coming from my Razr Maxx HD which never got the same Moto love.
Build quality/hardware:
The build of the phone is disappointing, even on the ballistic nylon variant. I doubt there is any metal on the outside of the phone, if so it is just metallic paint over plastic. The ballistic nylon is fun for a week but then you wish you still had a kevlar back. Don't get me wrong, I prefer this ballistic nylon WAY more than plastic and about as much as metal construction, but I have never enjoyed a material like I have kevlar. Kevlar is smooth and provides the perfect grip, as well as surprisingly good protectiveness. I doubt this phone will withstand many drops like my Razr Maxx HD, that phone took multiple screen-first asphalt drops. This was due to it's front edges that extended slightly over the screen. This is ALMOST absent on the Turbo, the screen edges extend only very slightly to protect the screen. Speaking of the screen, the screen is quite good. It is very clear and colorful although not as color accurate as I would have liked. AMOLED burn is present on this phone but only barely. Also, I MISS ONSCREEN BUTTONS SO MUCH. The camera is really excellent at taking pictures of still moments in good lighting. In low light, it is slightly above average and takes pretty grainy shots. The weak point of the camera is the speed of it; not the wait after you take the picture but the speed it can handle. It cannot take a moving picture to save its life. As a final point, the speaker is absolutely terrible. It is front-facing but it is so damn quiet. I digress with MKBHD, "It's not the best front-facing speaker but I'd take it over any rear-facing speaker". I'd take the extremely loud rear-facing speaker on my Razr HD Maxx over this quiet one any day. I've never realized how important speakers are to me on a phone until now. The only redeeming quality is that because it is so quiet, it has decent nuance and hardly ever distorts.
Performance:
I think this is easily the fastest phone I have ever used. It was pretty fast on Kitkat but I'm pretty damn sure it's even faster on Lollipop. This thing is a speed beast and it really shows. I thought nothing could ever be faster than the G2 on Cyanogenmod but this phone proves that notion wrong. It puts every other phone to shame, even the Galaxy S6 and the iPhone 6. Maybe this phone is on par with the S6 in performance or slightly worse, but this phone still came out way earlier. It also scores 54,000 on Antutu in case you were wondering. It was 50,000 on Kitkat.
Battery Life:
This is a mixed bag. It's better than other phones but I've been spoiled by some other phones that I've used. I got anywhere between 2-5 hours of screen-on-time with Kitkat. With Lollipop, I'm getting 4-5 and it's been somewhat consistent. Most people on forums have been posting battery stats of this phone and they have been getting 5-7 consistently. It doesn't help that this phone has terrible standby time. I can go to sleep with 15% left and it will be dead when I wake up. My case may be irregular so take this with a grain of salt. I may perform a factory reset in the future and see how that fares. However, the Turbo charger is truly glorious and charges this phone really fast. It has been a life saver countless time and I'm happy it came in the box. It also supports wireless charging. I've used it a few times but I prefer the faster Turbo charger.
Overall:
I've mentioned the Razr HD Maxx many times, I know I know, but in my experience with the Turbo...it hasn't been that good when compared to my old phone. The reason I don't go back is because of the speed, fantastic camera (in good lighting only), "actual" AMOLED screen that is also much clearer (the older Droid phones don't seem to be true AMOLED), and added Moto features. And also because I gave the old phone to my girlfriend...
Recommendation:
If your work phone is going to also be your daily driver, I might suggest getting a personal phone as well. The Moto X 2014 is really appealing to me. Strangely enough, owning the Turbo has made me crave the Nexus 6 like something fierce, and I have small hands which is strange. The Nexus 6 has better build quality, better software and updates (excluding Moto goodies) , much better speakers, possibly better battery life, and most of all ONSCREEN BUTTONS; it's just a matter of adjusting to size and having a slightly worse camera albeit kind of faster camera. If you actually do enjoy the Turbo with its awesome speed, nice camera, great Moto additions, pretty screen, above average battery life, mediocre build quality, slow updates, lack of root, and lame speakers then I have another recommendation. Install Google Now Launcher and activate it as your default launcher. The latest Google Play Music update added free music stations so I would use that as a music player. Use Google Keyboard (should be default keyboard already) and set the appearance to Material Dark. Activate Hangouts as your default SMS app. Go into settings and configure the Moto software. Deactivate the lock screen (set it to none) because you don't want to unlock your phone twice. Activate developer options and set transition animation scale to .5x. Finally deactivate the Verizon bloatware: Amazon, Amazon app suite, Amazon Kindle, Amazon Music, Appstore, Audible, Caller Name ID, Cloud, Command Center, Droid Zap, Email, Family Base Companion, IMDb, Message+ (actually not a bad app), Mobile Hotspot, Motorola Flip Case, My InfoZone, NFL Mobile, Quickoffice, Slacker Radio, Support & Protection, Verizon Location Agent, and VZ Navigator.
Now I think that is all you possibly need to know about the Droid Turbo.
Thanks, the turbo was my pick, I had very few higher end options. Basically just the turbo, s5 and the note 3. I've been a Samsung fan boy for a while now, but I owned the razrm and enjoyed the experience. Mind you I waited over a year for root. But the happiness of boot loader unlock came with it.
Root seems to be rare in all phones these days. And my next phone may have to be bought out of pocket. But for now this one looked like it deserved a try. From the razrm to this will be an amazing speed increase and from 700 megs to 3000 megsnof ram Motorola has room to grow. My razrm could barely handle kitkat. Could not handle lollipop.
Sent from my GT-P3110 using XDA Free mobile app
mrkhigh said:
Thanks, the turbo was my pick, I had very few higher end options. Basically just the turbo, s5 and the note 3. I've been a Samsung fan boy for a while now, but I owned the razrm and enjoyed the experience. Mind you I waited over a year for root. But the happiness of boot loader unlock came with it.
Root seems to be rare in all phones these days. And my next phone may have to be bought out of pocket. But for now this one looked like it deserved a try. From the razrm to this will be an amazing speed increase and from 700 megs to 3000 megsnof ram Motorola has room to grow. My razrm could barely handle kitkat. Could not handle lollipop.
Sent from my GT-P3110 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think you'll be disappointed. Although LOLLIPOP does have some glitches that people are a little upset about, this phone is the top of the line by far. My friend has the note 4 and we both ran benchmark tests. My turbo was on kitkat and his on lollipop and still this phone won by about 7,000 . I would definitely recommend this phone to anyone, even with the glitches of lollipop which will hopefully be addressed soon.
Related
My main usage of the phone will be as an USB modem for my laptop and for SIP, Skype calls.
Anyone try WIFI tethering and USB modem for the whole day long?
and does that stable enough? (heat, disconnection, reboot...)
Can anyone talk about the experience of making a SIP or Skype call. (handfree, loudness, volume adjustment...)
Anyone experience any stability problem? (freeze, reboot...)
=================================================
My review model of the Droid 3 seemed to have reception issues. . . Call quality on the Droid 3 also had its share of problems. . . The phone also does a poor job at filtering out background noises.
mages taken on the 8-megapixel camera came out dark, and all had a blue tint to them.
I've never seen a dual-core phone take so long to open apps or had so many preinstalled applications just crash on me
<from PCWorld review>
It seems to get warm even though I'm not running any apps and I would assume the battery life suffers since it's warmer than it needs to be.
<pekosROB>
Camera Tint? Blue?
<Izeltokatl>
My only major gripe is the batterylife, with all of my social streams, twitter, gplus, facebook, and a couple other i go through the battery in about 10 to 12 hours.
<androidphan88>
I love my droid 3....it crushes my previous phones hands down....and it isn't a weak list.....D1, D2, D2G, X, and X2....all rooted and none compete
Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk
Trust yourself. Go to the store and mess around with one.
Heelfan71 said:
Trust yourself. Go to the store and mess around with one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What he said. I got mine Day 1 without any real reviews. I love it.
People here will give you real-world reviews as well as feedback to any questions you have so I trust the feedback.
As already noted the best thing to do is try before you buy.
I got mine about 3 days ago. The first day I had a few problems to start off on. After a little tweaking here and there everything is working great.
Pentile display on the Droid X2 made me wonder about the Droid 3. The Droid 3 is MUCH better imho.
I had a problem with was sliding the keyboard open. Felt really really tight, but playing around with it loosened it up nicely. The keyboard is one of the best I have used. The Epic keyboard is the other.
The device is SOLID. Feels like a well built phone, and doesn't have the light plastic feel to it. I actually love the feel of it better than the Droid X2 which I also own.
Blur - It not so bad... I actually kinda like this "version" though we really don't have it. Some features of blur I wish I had though. remote wipe, and find your phone. Not that I can find similar in the market... I just don't like loading them, and the blur version CAN'T be removed with a factory reset. So you can track them regardless of where they go.
As the people before me will told you it's always going to be based on YOU and not some review. Each person has different tastes and following a review based on not knowing what the reviewer preferences are what get people into trouble. Test it out yourself for a few hours in the Verizon Store.
Phone Arena has a good review of it,
http://www.phonearena.com/reviews/Motorola-DROID-3-Review_id2786
For the keyboard check the back of the diisplay when sliding it out for a plastic covering. This was something I had to deal with on the Droid1 and the Droid3 also has it. Removing it helps the keyboard slide a bit. Still quite stiff but nothing that bothers me.
<My review model of the Droid 3 seemed to have reception issues. . . Call quality on the Droid 3 also had its share of problems. . . The phone also does a poor job at filtering out background noises.>
<Images taken on the 8-megapixel camera came out dark, and all had a blue tint to them.>
<I've never seen a dual-core phone take so long to open apps or had so many preinstalled applications just crash on me.>
<Quote from PCWorld review>
The basic phone function sounds worrying?
That's what I can't play with in the shop and why I ask.
abnoob said:
<My review model of the Droid 3 seemed to have reception issues. . . Call quality on the Droid 3 also had its share of problems. . . The phone also does a poor job at filtering out background noises.>
<Images taken on the 8-megapixel camera came out dark, and all had a blue tint to them.>
<I've never seen a dual-core phone take so long to open apps or had so many preinstalled applications just crash on me.>
<Quote from PCWorld review>
The basic phone function sounds worrying?
That's what I can't play in the shop and why I ask.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to me call quality seems good. Better than my incredible. I don't think the pictures are blueish or dark. I've had no apps crash. I really like this phone. Its already super fast stock. Never lags. Even with pandora going and using handscent popup and on the internet. Its a super solid phone. My only complaint is the power button is almost to stiff.
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
Just for reference, here are my last smartphones since the "BlackBerry era":
Touch Pro/Fuze, Nokia N85, EVO, DX2, D3.
Also, I switched to Verizon to get unlimited data (but more than 30 days before the D3 came out) so I had a DX2. I am much happier with the D3. The primary reason is for the keyboard. If you must have a keyboard and Android device, THIS is the device to get, hands down.
My only nitpicks? It seems to get warm even though I'm not running any apps and I would assume the battery life suffers since it's warmer than it needs to be. Battery life isn't that great, but can probably get through your day. Screen is better than the DX2. Keyboard takes a little getting used to but is awesome.
Edit: since I got my D3 more than 30 days after the DX2, no return was done. I bought the D3 off contract (almost $500 with tax) and sold my DX2 with Otterbox case for $200. I still don't regret spending over $300 for this phone.
Does anyone try wifi tethering or as an modem via USB cable WHOLE DAY?
and does that stable enough?
I need the function everyday at work.
From my experience, many reviews out there are made with such high expectations. Half the time, they are made by humans - and we know humans aren't always perfect. There typically is biasing involved. If the unit is defective in some way, that screws it up entirely.
Honestly, the best consensus is from us here in the forums. We own the phone, many of which are happy with it. Some have had problems, either from incorrect settings and/or a defect in the device (it's possible).
So here is a proposal for you. Compose a list of questions that concern you the most - allow us to justify the answers to those questions based on our needs, usage, background, experience, etc. (Which, you've already posed some questions..)
I have had a the D3 since last wednesday and i love it.
I owned the OG droid and the DX then i moved to this.
As for the questions about call quality. I personally think that is moto's stong point even back to the days of the razr moto to me always has the best call quality and signal of any of the other manufactures.
The new blur is acutually nice. I hated blur on the dx and had it romed as soon as it was available but the blur on this is nice. There really isnt any lag there are a few instances where it does for example. The camera app takes a while to load, and if you get out of a full screen app it seems to take a second to redraw the home screens. But that is it so far much better than previous blurs.
The keyboard is amazing miles ahead of the d1 keyboard and one of the best i have ever used. I will say the screen is not the best if you are looking for color accuracy but it is still good.
My only major gripe is the batterylife, with all of my social streams, twitter, gplus, facebook, and a couple other i go through the battery in about 10 to 12 hours.
I would say go for this phone, deffently the best droid phone i have owned so far
im debating switching to the D3 from my Inc2. i love the devlopment of the Inc2, but i miss a Physical keyboard...allot...
do you still love/hate yours? looking for opinions on D3 owners...
Thanks
dvigue said:
im debating switching to the D3 from my Inc2. i love the devlopment of the Inc2, but i miss a Physical keyboard...allot...
do you still love/hate yours? looking for opinions on D3 owners...
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still love my D3 despite the "sticking" keys, finicky battery life, and failed Alt key presses that cause me to type things like "dualvcore processor." From what I've read, a leaked update fixed all of these issue and that leak may be released shortly.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium
i also was a little concered with the low RAM..is that an issue for anyone?
I like it a lot better now than when I first got it. The screen will always suck, but I'll live.
why does it suck? the pentile display you mean?
Silly question.
-smc
Yes, enjoying my D3 tremendously. I still have my old Droid and that phone now frustrates me with how slow (even overclocked) it is in overall use.
As for the screen, love the screen. I can actually use my phone outside in full sunlight/daylight conditions.
I came from my old Droid as well. I agree even overclocked, it just didn't have the hardware to run 2.3 very well. I love my new Droid 3, its got everything I liked about the original only better. The few quirks in the phone now I don't worry about, they'll all hopefully be fixed via updates. The only thing that has me concerned at this point is the whether we'll be able to get what we need to unlock this thing to get custom rom's going. After running Cyanogen and cyanogen based roms for years, going to any stock phone just seems bland. I've made my decision to stick with the D3 and see were it goes (if they unlock it like they alluded that they would), but for me it'll be a deciding factor as to whether I buy a Moto phone in the future or not.
Lemme break it down, moto cliq robbed me of the android Xperience, ran like crap, was promised and update that never appeared, and overheated like a mother! So I upgrade to Mytouch slide for a couple days, felt cheap, screen sucked, and wasn't much of an upgrade to my cliq as the cliq felt more solid and ran just as good when deblurred and Overclocked. So finally I upgraded to SGS Vibrant. I loved it! It was practically unbrickable! Unfortunately Samsung was slow to give updates or support. To have upgrades or updates of merit came with a heavy cost of potentially killing the phone. RFS filesystem sucked and made it run way slow compared to EXT3/4 filesystem phones and required a filesystem conversion (dangerous) ! And of course swype is nice, but in my hands a hardware keyboard is better.
Now for the D3, THE ONLY DUAL-CORE TI-ARM proc, with KEYBOARD, Front Facing Camera, 8MP 1080p Rear Camera with LED flash, mini-HDMI port, SGX540 video card (same as SGS Vibrant, but evidently better scores), great battery life (after update), with guarantees of updates and upgrades on the best service provider in the US! And Moto has given promise to unlock bootloaders.
Needless to say, I love my D3. Its the best phone I have EVAR had and it has crazy potential. Can't wait to OC this thing, deblur it and turn it into the android power hungry demon that it was meant to be!
Great posts guys...Keep em coming!!!!
Darksurf said:
Needless to say, I love my D3. Its the best phone I have EVAR had and it has crazy potential.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed.
Can't wait to OC this thing, deblur it and turn it into the android power hungry demon that it was meant to be!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cannot wait for the day that we can run vanilla android! I'm already tired of moto blurs Grey-blue, blueish-grey, grey, cyan colored theme.
The Droid 3 exceeds on almost every one of my criteria. I love everything about it except for two things. The awful screen and the Motorola crud. Thankfully there's something that can be done about the later. The former is just a sad decision on Motorola's part. It would have been absolutely wonderful if they just increased the size because even though it has a higher resolution, the droid 2 and 1 still beat it out in terms of clarity. Pathetic. Everything else is upgraded but the screen is downgraded. That's all I have to say.
I love my D3, and I work hard every day to make it even better.
I came from the OG Droid, which I loved dearly until it started to physically fall apart (battery door started getting loose, USB jack was almost unusable, headphone jack started shorting out), at which point I then reimaged my wife's OG Droid (that she retired for an iPhone 4) with my nand backup, thus successfully performing the proverbial "brain transplant". I used that phone for a few months, just long enough to get me to the D3 release.
I was originally waiting on the Bionic, but (a) I got tired of waiting, (b) I didn't want to put up with the notorious LTE battery life issues that were seen on other devices and (c) I wasn't too keen on the $100 premium I was sure would be included in the Bionic price tag (as will all the other newly-launched VZW LTE devices). So, I came to love the D3 and picked one up at lauch via web order.
I LOVE this phone. The keyboard is clearly in a class of its own (better than my old Blackberries, which are generally considered the "gold standard" of mobile keyboards). I'm OK with the Moto BLUR (or whatever they call it now) stuff on there, but I really don't use it. I gave the homescreen a try for a while, but missed the scrolling dock from Laucher Pro+, so I went back to LP+ recently.
The phone has always been fast enough for me (no more disappointment from my overclocked, overly-warm, OG Droid that still can't run heavy stuff smoothly). I was never really concerned about the RAM size, and it hasn't been a problem for me. Now that my D3 is rooted and I've frozen on the bloatware, even more RAM stays available, the phone runs even faster and the battery life improved, marginally.
Ultimately, battery life was the only thing I was a bit disappointed about on this phone. I instaleld the leaked update and now that has been fixed to my satisfaction. So, overall, I am quite happy with this phone. As long as the hardware holds up, I'll likely be keeping this one full-term.
-SR-
PS: I even like the floppy plastic battery cover that some people complain about. I just enjoy messing with it, for some reason. I think I like how it fits so well when I snap it back on, and the texture is good in the hand. Call me crazy (you wouldn't be the first).
dvigue said:
im debating switching to the D3 from my Inc2. i love the devlopment of the Inc2, but i miss a Physical keyboard...allot...
do you still love/hate yours? looking for opinions on D3 owners...
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My DROID3 seems more awesome everytime I use it. GO PENS!
Yes, I very much love my Droid 3. The keyboard is out standing and I have not had any problems with sticking keys or missed alt presses whatsoever. The screen can look **** some times but as stated before it does view well in sunlight so I guess it's a trade off. The phone is very fast and responsive. Stock launcher looks awesome and has great widgets, but it's laggy. It flies with ADW. All in all, I just want AOSP Gingerbread/Ice Cream Sandwich and I'm good to go.
I'm getting bionic envy with the larger screen and LTE but in the end, I like the keyboard so I know the D3 is the right phone for me.
Before root and OTA? No
After root and OTA? Yes
Why? Purely because of the obvious bugs that went out that weren't properly QC'ed (serious, serious problem with almost all carriers and mfg's these days), poor battery life, and too much of Verizon's forced bloat that should be uninstallable.
Post OTA,battery life is great, performance is snappier and even better when rooted and freezing the bulk of bloat ware.
I started on the OG Droid the day it was released. Then when the Droid 2 came out, I upgraded to that. I now own the Droid 3, and I can honestly say that they pretty much got it right this time. If it was Blur-less, it would be the perfect phone.
I've since rooted to remove all the crap, and put Go Launcher on it. Now it really performs the way it should, and the battery performance has been night and day since I made those changes.
I'm pretty happy with it right now.
dvigue said:
i also was a little concered with the low RAM..is that an issue for anyone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tiny ram is a pain only because the bloatware fills it up. If the phone were running AOSP, it would fly.
Here are my initial impressions on Motorola's Droid Bionic in comparison to every other HTC phone I've had (EVO, G2, myTouch 4G, ThunderBolt).
The Good
Best speced phone on Verizon
Fastest phone I've ever had (thank you Dual Core + 1GB RAM)
Absolutely lag free browsing
Motorola's 4G chip is quite a bit faster than even the ThunderBolt
Very thin
Very light
Gingerbread 2.3.4 (with Google Talk video) straight out-of-box
Call quality is stellar (actually sounds like talking to person in real life)
Camera and video quality is quiet amazing
Stereo speakers are loud and very good sound quality
Vibration (Haptic Feedback) feel is really effective and different
Notifications light is very useful (I was originally a BlackBerry user)
Talk and Web simultaneously on Verizon (just like the ThunderBolt)
Motorola's Application Platform UI looks really sweet
Easiest root method I have used
Lots of great ringtones and notifications (especially the DROID ones)
I can actually tell it's a Verizon device now (for some reason I couldnt feel it with the ThunderBolt)
Extended battery is very thin
Tons of accessories on sale right on launch date
Free overnight shipping if buying online
The Bad
The display quality is terrible (even though it's higher resolution than every other phone I had)
I can see the jagged edges clearly and black between the pixels
Also unsure if it's the UI or the display but colors look very dull/distorted
True yellow looks like mustard yellow
True orange looks almost brown
Motorola's Application Platform UI (previously known as Motoblur) is no HTC Sense
It is a very unique look and feel but I already miss the smoothness of HTC Sense
There are so many things locked down from modding to the point where apps that are supposed to work have compatibility issues
Now Facebook can only sync ALL my contacts and not just the ones existing already on my phone (like it did with HTC)
Corporate E-mail doesn't have option to sync more than 30 days
E-mail accounts cannot have separate notification sound/vibration settings
No unread e-mail number displayed on the E-mail account shortcut icons
Market Apps on my account did not sync down to the phone upon first login like most HTC devices normally do
Storage defaulted to internal storage and no option to change to SD card as default
The reception is a bit worse than on my ThunderBolt
When traveling I get switched over to 3G a lot more frequently
Camera auto-focuses too often
Tethering takes too long to give an IP address to devices (sometimes 2-3mins)
Volume randomly overdrives speakers and crackles when sound is playing (very rarely though)
Phone gets very hot, very fast, especially when in use
Battery life for out-of-box condition is not much better than on the ThunderBolt
Official OEM Matte screen protectors are not full surface of the glass (just the display) (Fix)
Additional OEM holster/shell combo feels very cheap and uncomfortable texture (also pricey)
No kickstand (Fix)
No FM radio (Fix)
No flashlight app (Fix)
Activation process can be a bit tedious
Additional Comments
I'm willing to let the display quality slide
Motorola has invested into this Pentile technology quite hard
Battery saving reasons - Link 1 + Link 2 + Link 3
They arent changing it anytime soon
Its not really a specific to the phone issue since it has been used before in other Droid devices
It definitely looks better than other Droids I compared at the store
I am willing to accept the flaws of Motorola's Application Platform since they are still somewhat acceptable
Although reception is generally worse, the stability of the signal is much better and faster in lower signal areas
Will not judge battery entirely yet because it has not been cycled to full condition yet
A few apps are not fully supporting the phone entirely yet (although I will wait for app updates)
The Facebook sync existing contacts only issue
No option to sync IM contacts (like for AIM)
Can't get Skype video to show my camera (just black) - (Fix)
SpeedTest app doesn't support qHD resolution and shrinks the app (Fix - Latest Update)
Other very minor apps don't support qHD or missing features
Overall Opinion
Still testing prior to completing this section
Talk and Web simultaneously on Verizon (just like the ThunderBolt)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're just talking about LTE + Talk, correct? From what I remember from the FCC filing, the Bionic does not do SVDO on CDMA like the HTC Thunderbolt, since that was something special with the Thunderbolt's radio not present in the Bionic.
I am usually only a lurker but I logged in just to say, fantastic review! I like the bullet point approach as opposed to an essay.
Great review. I came from a Thunderbolt and the only thing I really miss is the kickstand. It's a pretty cool convenience.
Nice review, I'm thinking of getting the Bionic myself.
I totally forgot there's no FM radio on the Bionic.. Not that I ever used it on my Tbolt. I might have used it more if it didn't require headphones to be plugged in on my Tbolt.
My son has my old Thunderbolt, and one thing we checked out is what kind of signal we were getting in the same place. The Bionic consistently got two bars more than the Tbolt. I understand bars are relative, and therefore don't put a lot of stock in them. I'll try to find some app that actually measures the signal strength.
I haven't gotten around to looking at Exchange client apps yet, but just like with text messaging, I dislike depending on manufacturer apps for critical functions. I wonder if there is a client out there that does everything you want, and if that isn't the better approach? Even if it is a paid app, the price would have to be irrelevant compared to the benefit.
When I tether using Easy Tether Pro, the "connected" bubble comes up instantly on my laptop. What are you using? I'm hearing that wireless tethering doesn't work because Verizon has found a way to block it. There was an exploit that someone on the D3 forums found from elsewhere on XDA that provided a work-around. Are you using that?
Flashlight app can be downloaded. There are many. I am currently at 23hrs/70% battery with light usage, which is somewhat better than I remember doing with my Thunderbolt with dasBAMF. Also, I believe that the auto-sync of market apps was a function of the ROM rather than a stock feature of the Tbolt. For the case, you might want to consider the Otterbox Commuter. It was available day 1 but not offered by Verizon. The Defenders are huge and I can't see anyone who isn't in a rough-and-tumble occupation putting up with the size.
I don't remember Tbolt having Skype working. I went to a D3 when they came out, so it must have happened after that. I believe that a lot of what's bugging you now are things that will shakes out over the next few months, as they did with the Tbolt. I don't have faith that we'll get the kind of robust ROM'ing environment that the Tbolt enjoys unless someone defeats the encrypted bootloader. That, to me, is the real disadvantage to the Bionic and all other current Moto phones on Verizon.
I've had the Thunderbolt, Droid Charge and now the Droid Bionic.
So far the Bionic wins in every respect except for the screen. 4G connectivity on the Bionic is much more stable than on both the Thunderbolt and Charge. I frequently am in areas where there is no 4G, and the Bionic is the only phone I've used that seamlessly returns to 4G when it's available again. The Bionic may show fewer bars than the others, but when I go into Settings > Phone Info > Status, the signal readings are quite a bit better than I've seen on others.
For example, my Thunderbolt would range from -87 to -92 db in this one location, while the Bionic ranges from -83 to -89.
I came from the evo (rooted) and the sensation (had for 29 days then returned it). The sensation was by far the best device I have ever used or had. Battery life on that was amazing. The sensations qhd screen was almost perfect imo. The weight and feel of the sensation was perfect. Super slim and light. Only issue was T-Mobiles crappy service and wannabe 4g. Oh and I can't forget... sense 3.0 was great.
Now for the bionic. I picked it up on Thursday and also got the extended battery for it cause it was half price. I always hated the stupid lump on the back of the DROID x's. But with the bionic its not as bad. And the extended battery doesn't add much thickness either. Makes it feel right in the hand. My biggest complaint is the vibrate on this thing. Sounds like a 5 year old phone with a loud annoying vibrate. Especially the keypress vibrate. Crackles everytime i text. Now I don't know if I got a lemon but im gonna go to the Verizon store and see if there's do the same. Other than that... service is amazing. Call quality it great, speaker is loud and clear. The screen is where i need to stop being picky but im getting uses to it. It could be worse. Although some colors aren't just there. MOTOBLUR or whatever its called is different. But it works for me. Nothing like sense 3.0 but can't have everything. The bionic is fast. Very little lag with some apps. Not bad. Battery life with the extended battery is lasting me about 20hrs of heavy use. We will see how long I can keep the bionic knowing their is a new Htc device coming to Verizon. I don't think I will ever have another carrier again. Verizon has me now Haha.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium
Well I just went to the Verizon store and after playing around with the Bionic I decided to make the purchase. The Bionic is a really nice device.
First impressions
Experience: 3 hours
Previous devices to compare with: iPhone 4, Nexus S, Nexus One
The pros:
- Speed: the Bionic is quite fast and snappy despite the Moto-Blur or whatever they call it now, and the bloatware.
- The screen: what most people seem to knock it for I actually find it to be a plus. The screen is plenty bright, the colors look good, and this is coming from someone used to Retina, and Super AMOLED. Compared to the Droid Charge (Super AMOLED Plus) sitting next to it in the store I thought the colors though less vibrant looked more realistic. As for the pixelation people complain about with these Droids, I personally don't really notice it at all unless I look really close at the battery indicator. But I normally do not hold the phone that close to notice it anyway.
- Call quality: is excellent, voices come through loud and clear. The first call I took on it the volume was only up about half-way yet it was still plenty loud to carry on a conversation in a mall full of people.
- Light weight: despite its size the Bionic is surprisingly light weight. It's noticeably lighter then the iPhone and maybe even a hair lighter than the Nexus S.
- Size and form factor: I find the screen to be a nice size, its not too large and not too small. Compared to the iPhone 4 and Nexus S, I find using the keyboard on the Droid Bionic much easier thanks to the bigger screen. Also the form factor of the Bionic is nice, it feels nice in my hand, and FYI it is not as thick as it looks on Youtube or pictures you might have seen. Its thinner than the Nexus S but thicker than the iPhone 4.
- Coverage: while spotty with 4G, the coverage is excellent with 3G and the device does not seem to suffer much from the "grip of death" like my iPhone 4 did.
The cons:
- Build quality: The reason the Bionic is so light is probably due to the fact that it is made mostly of plastic. The Nexus S got knocked for being plastic but the plastic on Nexus S seems more solid and less flimsy.
- Slow 4G: This is likely due to where I live and not the device itself seeing as I get about 2 bars of 4G in my house. I'm only getting about 8 mbps down which is not bad but nothing like the 12-18 mbps I've seen in some reviews.
- Bloatware: Though it doesn't seem to slow the device down much, there are quite a few Apps I'll probably never use that I'll be looking to get rid of in due time.
- Camera: The camera is decent, the pictures look good but not as good as they did from the iPhone camera.
Undetermined
- Battery life: the battery only had about 40% left with the initial power up, and is down to about 30% after activation which took like 10 minutes, set up, and some playing around which no doubt drained the battery quicker than normal.
Conclusion:
If you are currently using an iPhone 4 or you are an Android owner looking to jump to Verizon from another carrier and you can't wait for iPhone 5 or the next Nexus, the Droid Bionic is not a bad choice. It's plenty fast, its got excellent call quality, good coverage, and a nice screen.
nedu09 said:
I am usually only a lurker but I logged in just to say, fantastic review! I like the bullet point approach as opposed to an essay.
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I wanted the TB for a while but could not find anyone wanting short of a mortgage payment for one. My wife and I ordered two Bionics and can always take them back within 14 days (should be here either Monday or Tuesday). Droid Eris was a decent little phone once it was FIRST released, wife had Motodroid, I have Droid X right. THE pattern tends to be better workmanship/part quality on Moto devices but better software on HTC. I will need to try the screen out before I judge it.
This was an excellent review. Amazing details....
Thanks everyone for the compliments. I'm still in the process of testing more things out and I will be using this phone very actively this week for work so I will update this review very soon. I'm hoping I can get the battery properly conditioned now. Plenty more details coming soon.
Just wanted you guys to know that it does have an FM receiver, just doesn't have the App. Infact, if you have TitaniumBackup installed you will notice an FM radio driver installed on the system.
P3Droid posted on twitter that you can install the D3's radio apk on the Bionic.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk
Btw I'm coming from a DROID Charge, and prior to that a DX. I've only had the phone for a couple hours, so I'm not privy to say much, but so far, so good.
Screen is not as bad as people say it is. For one thing its much much more visible outdoors than it is on the Charge. Battery life seems more robust than my Charge running stock roms and kernels.
On the negative side, I find it to drop from 4g to 3g and back again as much as the Charge did which is very disappointing considering that was my only beef with the Charge and one of only two reasons I got the Bionic.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk
For those not liking the missing FM radio, check out Tunein Radio.
It gives you'll the radio stations and it's streaming.
First Day of Work
Battery life on 4G is still on par with the ThunderBolt
Not having separate E-mail account notifications is really an issue (constantly checking my device if it's work related or not)
For some reason my phone seems quieter now than when I first got it and seems to have a softer version of this bug (Link)
Device switches between no reception and signal much faster than my ThunderBolt (ie. when coming out of the subway stations onto the street)
Also according to the battery manager this display is not consuming as much power as it did on the ThunderBolt (no longer #1 in power consumption percentage list)
I added a few fixes to the OP and an explanation to how the battery saving works on Pentile displays, see links.
open1your1eyes0 said:
First Day of Work - Battery life on 4G is still on par with the ThunderBolt; not having separate E-mail account notifications is really an issue (constantly checking my device if it's work related or not); for some reason my phone seems quieter now than when I first got it and seems to have a softer version of this bug (Link); device switches between no reception and signal much faster than my ThunderBolt (ie. when coming out of the subway stations onto the street); also according to the battery manager this display is not consuming as much power as it did on the ThunderBolt (no longer #1 in power consumption percentage list).
I added a few fixes to the OP and an explanation to how the battery saving works on Pentile displays, see links.
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Click to collapse
I have separate ring tones for my email accounts uusing the Gmail app.
The newly updated Gmail app has the ringtones buried deep into the settings. It's like that on Honeycomb too.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk
cdf3 said:
I have separate ring tones for my email accounts uusing the Gmail app.
The newly updated Gmail app has the ringtones buried deep into the settings. It's like that on Honeycomb too.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My main accounts are my work e-mail (Corporate E-mail) and I have two personal and professional Yahoo mail accounts. It's really quite bizarre that Motorola would overlook something as obvious as separating Corporate E-mail and Yahoo E-mail notifications. I still can't get over that.
Second Day of Work
Battery life is still terrible and I'm forced to stick to 3G for the majority of my day just like I did on the ThunderBolt (can pretty much confirm now it's not getting any better)
The notification issue is still a problem but getting used to checking my device more often now
The volume bug is beginning to be an issue now, I often miss E-mail notifications when I'm outside because it's too quiet
My biggest problem however is this Shell/Holster I purchased. This thing is terrible for protection and the holster is atrocious. The nice and shiny top and bottom of the phone is exposed to scratches and nicks in the shell and the holster barely holds the phone in place (While travelling in the subway and it fell out several times onto the floor when shuffling between people), already have a few nicks
Decided I am purchasing the extended battery now, however, it is more important for me to get this thing protected at all costs so I am buying the OtterBox Defender case. Unfortunately, this is not going to work with the extended battery as OtterBox refuses to account for them therefore I'm going to have to set aside the extended battery until Seidio releases their case.
I just wanna ask the people who have run out and bought this phone if its really all that? I have read reviews watched them talk about it on android central and looked at the specs and compared it to the other phones that are out. I just want to know expierences so far
Well the scary thing to me is... I don't feel the need to root at the moment... It's smooth, battery life is amazing, active notifications are AWWWWESOME. once bootloader is figured out I may change my tune but my phone is in a very comfortable state. I LOVE IT!
Sent from my XT1058 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
This phone changes the game. The spec sheet race is kind of silly when you think about it. I've never held a phone in my hands that feels as good as this one. I'm very happy with it
Simple answer. Yes. X8 core processors system is the way of the future.
Sent from my XT1058 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
totally worth it
i truly prefer this over my year old s3
Love it! Switched from my S4GE and love the smaller size and feel in hand. Im only looking forward to root for tethering capabilities.
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk 2
What is the call quality and speakerphone like?
I picked this phone over my s4 and I think I've made the right choice.
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk 4
re
kstone2274 said:
I just wanna ask the people who have run out and bought this phone if its really all that? I have read reviews watched them talk about it on android central and looked at the specs and compared it to the other phones that are out. I just want to know expierences so far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i went to the att store today and played with this phone and i can say im definately not impressed at all. i compared the screen side by side and the difference in the 2 screens is really noticable. Also it so reminds me of a iphone i dont know why but it just does. i know alot of people are gonna argue my opinion but as for a phone guru as myself i can pretty much say its not any kind of a flagship device. only thing that may be good about it more than my HTC One is battery life. I al really hoping the hanami is gonna be a great phone and be my next purchase
i think you meant to start a new post that said "i saw this phone for 5 minutes, i'll answer all my own questions!"
I think the more you use this phone the more you will appreciate the innovation and little things. I now love this phone.
Sent from my AT&T Moto X
lensgrabber said:
What is the call quality and speakerphone like?
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Click to collapse
I came from the N4, which totally sucked. I had to strain to hear people. The X has excellent call quality, earpiece and speaker volume.
Well worth the cash:beer:
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk 2
People crying over the dual-core processor...Motorola decided to choose what mattered more, which is battery life over "raw computing power". without increasing the size or the weight of the phone by adding a bigger and bulkier battery. Our phones just need to be fast and smooth enough for our every day tasks such as watching videos, playing games, browsing etc. We're not using these things for high end computing or folding proteins etc. Just like a computer with a 12 core processor won't matter if you're still using HDD and not SSD. Or people who only care about the "horses" on a car and disregard the weight of the vehicle or its transmission etc. I don't think people understand the software possibilities of having hardware designed for "always-on" mode besides the touchless google now feature. I've tried installing a voice assistant like the one on Moto X from the play store and my battery died within a couple hours with the screen off. The X8 system is really redefining how conventional smartphones would work in the future once people realize the possibilities that can bring. Now whether or not you agree that your smartphone should always be on and listening/aware is a different debate.
Droyyd said:
People crying over the dual-core processor...Motorola decided to choose what mattered more, which is battery life over "raw computing power". without increasing the size or the weight of the phone by adding a bigger and bulkier battery. Our phones just need to be fast and smooth enough for our every day ta"qsks such as watching videos, playing games, browsing etc. We're not using these things for high end computing or folding proteins etc. Just like a computer with a 12 core processor won't matter if you're still using HDD and not SSD. Or people who only care about the "horses" on a car and disregard the weight of the vehicle or its transmission etc. I don't think people understand the software possibilities of having hardware designed for "always-on" mode besides the touchless google now feature. I've tried installing a voice assistant like the one on Moto X from the play store and my battery died within a couple hours with the screen off. The X8 system is really redefining how conventional smartphones would work in the future once people realize the possibilities that can bring. Now whether or not you agree that your smartphone should always be on and listening/aware is a different debate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone isn't underpowered. Its GLBenchmark results are better than the SGS4 and HTC One. The CPU is two Krait 300 cores (which is the same as what's in the Snapdragon 600). With two cores disabled on the Nexus 4, the device runs just fine. If I can get this device for a good price, it will be my next phone.
I'll be the first to admit I wrong (there I said it). When I first heard the specs and price point, I figured Moto was doomed and their marketing gurus priced them right out of a comeback. Again, I was wrong.
Friday I picked up a Galaxy Mega 6.3 from AT&T and I took it back on Saturday afternoon. Very laggy (not as much as the S4 though), it was huge (and I'm a big guy at 6'3" 330lbs), the only thing I can say was good was the typing experience because I had so much room on the screen. But the phone was just too big, probably a great device in the end but just not for me.
Saturday afternoon I picked up the Black AT&T Moto X and this phone is fantastic and I don't say that about a lot of phones at all (I think the last time I said it was in 2007 when the first iPhone came out (yes I've used and respect all of the OS's, each has their own pluses and minuses) and before that, when the Moto Razr came out.
The phone feels perfect (IMO) in the hand, like Moto took the time to actually do the research with actual customers and see what they liked and didn't like and made change until they got it right. The 4.7" screen, in the same space as the iPhone 5 claims to only be able to fit 4", is great. Battery life is phenomenal (I'm not a heavy user but I never charged it out of the box and the charge that came on it lasted until it hit 4% this morning (Monday) when I got to the office at 6:30am. Build quality is great and believe me I have a mild case of OCD so I checked it out, buttons are nice with a definite tactile click to them (unlike the HTC One's power button that's almost always sunken in), buttons don't rattle (like they do on the S4 and the i5), soft touch material is great, screen is bright and not quite as SAMOLED'y as the S4 (again IMO) but marginally less impressive than the Super LCD3 on the HTC One. Focusing on day-to-day use and user experience, I have to admit I think it was the right way to go for a change.
There's more but I'm sure those of you that have one know what I'm talking about and those that don't, go try one out (at least if you're on AT&T for the moment here in the US), if you don't like it, return it but you might find yourself pleasantly surprised. I've only had it for two days but as right now, barring anything major popping up before the end of the next 10 days, I think this one is a keeper. And if this one develops an issue, I don't think I'd be getting anything else, I'd have this one DOA'ed and get another, it is really that good.
Excellent Job Google and Motorola on this one; very, very impressed.
A-Gon said:
I came from the N4, which totally sucked. I had to strain to hear people. The X has excellent call quality, earpiece and speaker volume.
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Click to collapse
That's really good to know. I had a N4 for a week and absolutely loved it. I had the ticking sound in the earpiece when on a call and buzzing whenever the screen was on. I couldn't justify the money for such obvious design flaws. It is comforting knowing the X is better in this regards.
Jeff199 said:
I'll be the first to admit I wrong (there I said it). When I first heard the specs and price point, I figured Moto was doomed and their marketing gurus priced them right out of a comeback. Again, I was wrong.
Friday I picked up a Galaxy Mega 6.3 from AT&T and I took it back on Saturday afternoon. Very laggy (not as much as the S4 though), it was huge (and I'm a big guy at 6'3" 330lbs), the only thing I can say was good was the typing experience because I had so much room on the screen. But the phone was just too big, probably a great device in the end but just not for me.
Saturday afternoon I picked up the Black AT&T Moto X and this phone is fantastic and I don't say that about a lot of phones at all (I think the last time I said it was in 2007 when the first iPhone came out (yes I've used and respect all of the OS's, each has their own pluses and minuses) and before that, when the Moto Razr came out.
The phone feels perfect (IMO) in the hand, like Moto took the time to actually do the research with actual customers and see what they liked and didn't like and made change until they got it right. The 4.7" screen, in the same space as the iPhone 5 claims to only be able to fit 4", is great. Battery life is phenomenal (I'm not a heavy user but I never charged it out of the box and the charge that came on it lasted until it hit 4% this morning (Monday) when I got to the office at 6:30am. Build quality is great and believe me I have a mild case of OCD so I checked it out, buttons are nice with a definite tactile click to them (unlike the HTC One's power button that's almost always sunken in), buttons don't rattle (like they do on the S4 and the i5), soft touch material is great, screen is bright and not quite as SAMOLED'y as the S4 (again IMO) but marginally less impressive than the Super LCD3 on the HTC One. Focusing on day-to-day use and user experience, I have to admit I think it was the right way to go for a change.
There's more but I'm sure those of you that have one know what I'm talking about and those that don't, go try one out (at least if you're on AT&T for the moment here in the US), if you don't like it, return it but you might find yourself pleasantly surprised. I've only had it for two days but as right now, barring anything major popping up before the end of the next 10 days, I think this one is a keeper. And if this one develops an issue, I don't think I'd be getting anything else, I'd have this one DOA'ed and get another, it is really that good.
Excellent Job Google and Motorola on this one; very, very impressed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What device were you originally coming from? I'm coming from the HTC Vivid (I'm torn between trading it in for cash and shooting it out of a cannon)
ShamanicEnzan said:
What device were you originally coming from? I'm coming from the HTC Vivid (I'm torn between trading it in for cash and shooting it out of a cannon)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Recently I've had the SGS4, HTC One, iPhone 5 and the Optimus G Pro. User experience and build quality, the X wins and like I said in my post, I was not a believer of the X when I first heard about it but after trying it I'm am very pleasantly surprised. My suggestion again would be to try it and if after a week you aren't at least partially sold on it, take it back. There are definitely a lot of good choices out there right now, it's all about what works for you.
Jeff199 said:
Recently I've had the SGS4, HTC One, iPhone 5 and the Optimus G Pro. User experience and build quality, the X wins and like I said in my post, I was not a believer of the X when I first heard about it but after trying it I'm am very pleasantly surprised. My suggestion again would be to try it and if after a week you aren't at least partially sold on it, take it back. There are definitely a lot of good choices out there right now, it's all about what works for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I plan on going motomaker, doubt there are refunds on that one.
Hello,
I have the HTC One M8 and a MOTO X. I know the X provides the Nexus like experience, but the One seems to be faster and better constructed and generally faster. From what I can tell the screens are about equal thought the X is warmer. They both have 32 GB storage but the One has Micro SD. I did not have the original X but I am not blown away by the user expereince of the X, what am I not understanding about how great this phone is supposed to be?
Thoughts?
Thanks,
aaronc_98 said:
Hello,
I have the HTC One M8 and a MOTO X. I know the X provides the Nexus like experience, but the One seems to be faster and better constructed and generally faster. From what I can tell the screens are about equal thought the X is warmer. They both have 32 GB storage but the One has Micro SD. I did not have the original X but I am not blown away by the user expereince of the X, what am I not understanding about how great this phone is supposed to be?
Thoughts?
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't say about the new one yet. But I know by the old one. I left my nexus 5 for dead once I started using this phone made me go from a nexus 5 32gb to a 16gb motox I still won't switch back and I have one gig of storage left.
I haven't felt the new one yet. But this phone just feels right in your hand. But I've heard the m8 is sort of like that too.
Might sound stupid but the touch less control is something that becomes the way it should be. Would be weird to not have it but I see Google doing this eventually in all phones.
The one thing that I would really go crazy with is ..this phone wakes up when you pull it out a your pocket. I haven't touched the power button to wake in 8 months. I grab my wife's Iphone expecting to wake.
Really I think how apple amazes millions with some great features, design with low specs and great feel and usability of hardware and software is what the moto x has that maybe other androids do not. You just have to use it for a while and you will see. I hope th new one isn't to large for the feel factor or that will be negated and the software will not be worth it. It is the whole package combined that makes this phone great. Only the voice recognition is the best of any phone otherwise it does nothing the best but everything combined it is the best overall.....oh yeah in my op lol
the X is about just "refining" Android.
I also had a Nexus 5 and once I played with an X I bought one and put my Nexus 5 up for sale. I just got a new 2014 and software wise find it more refined. The only issue I have is that the 2013 was already so good and smooth the 2014 does not really add much, if anything, to it.
The X is for those that want Nexus experience, flagship specs, and great hands free controls. I get by with an 8GB device, if i could but 16 is as small as you can get. I feel that ANYONE that uses an SD card is just poor with data management. Odds are most of your music you load up you don't actually listen to regularly. if you are keeping FULL TV seasons on your phone to watch unless you are traveling thats pointless, you can just load a few eps to get through that day. Same with multiple movies with high bitrates.
I have all the apps I need, and I still have 10GB left. I have 3GB Data, that I pay $64/mo for and I NEVER go over it and I stream Google Music and Pandora in my car when driving to clients all the time. I also get company email and Gmail. I update apps over Mobile Data, and download Podcasts. My photos auto upload to g+. I tether my laptop on occasion. I can not see how anyone can go over 3GB unless you are also torrenting or doing a LOT of social media videos and photos. The closest I have come is 2.7GB in the last 18 months.
People say they need storage because they don't have Unlimited Data. You don't need unlimited data. You just need to not be stupid with your data. I know people that pay more than I do (by like $25-30) and don't get the same amount of data I do just because they refuse to show around carriers.
/rant
I agree with that too about storage. I've felt the M8 and it does feel very nice in my hands but I hate HTC Sense. It ruins the Android experience for me.
aaronc_98 said:
Hello,
I have the HTC One M8 and a MOTO X. I know the X provides the Nexus like experience, but the One seems to be faster and better constructed and generally faster. From what I can tell the screens are about equal thought the X is warmer. They both have 32 GB storage but the One has Micro SD. I did not have the original X but I am not blown away by the user expereince of the X, what am I not understanding about how great this phone is supposed to be?
Thoughts?
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how is the One M8 faster than the Moto X? both use the same chipset. i feel the Moto X is just as fast or faster than most of the skinned Android phones. for the screens, both are using different technologies. each will have their pitfalls
Moto X is mainly for those who want some added (useful) functionality on top of stock Android. if you like Sense, then stick with the One. if you want stock with some added things, Moto X. if you want just stock, then Nexus is the way to go. choices are good :good:
0.0 said:
how is the One M8 faster than the Moto X? both use the same chipset. i feel the Moto X is just as fast or faster than most of the skinned Android phones. for the screens, both are using different technologies. each will have their pitfalls
Moto X is mainly for those who want some added (useful) functionality on top of stock Android. if you like Sense, then stick with the One. if you want stock with some added things, Moto X. if you want just stock, then Nexus is the way to go. choices are good :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do like Sense- it has gotten so much better. I also love Nexus because of the all the development, so maybe I will give it a few more days to make a decision. I have the bootloader unlocked and root, so I know some good thing will be coming from the talented devs.
As someone who has owned both my opinions differ.
I find the Moto X 2014 much much faster and smoother than the M8. Even with the M8 running AOSP. ActiveDisplay is just awesome, its a little thing but it really is useful. The Moto X 2014 is easier to hold/use, and doesn't have a ridiculous power button located in a ridiculous spot. (My biggest dislike of the M8). While the M8 structure is beautiful and feels great, I didn't find it comfortable to hold/use. Sense 6 is beautiful but I didn't find it offered any actual value or features that I cared about or ever actually used.
Not that it takes much but the Moto X camera, while still lagging behind, is still far better than that crap 4up camera that HTC loves so much.
The Moto X does not really shine in any one way, it doesn't leap out in the crowd, its just a great phone to use.
Motorola seems to be the only Android manufacturer who actually cares about user experience. I downgraded from a Nexus 5 to the 2013 Moto X last year because it offered a much better experience. I upgraded to the 2014 Moto X this year and am not waiting for the Nexus. If you've never owned a Moto before you won't realize everything you are missing.
Moto X offers the following improvements for me:
-Active Display - HUGE plus if you've never used it
-Touchless Controls - I use this constantly in the car and at home when I'm working
-Moto Assist - great for when I am in meetings all day to silence my phone and auto reply
-Shake to activate camera - very underrated feature but if you're trying to take photos in a snap it's extremely handy
-Wave to wake phone to check notifications and silence calls - again underrated but works beautifully
-Bluetooth unlock when my 360 is connected so I don't have to type in my PIN
-Moto Migrate to keep all of my existing data seamlessly
-As close to stock as possible with these helpful additions
Also other considerations:
-Exceptional build quality - although M8 also has extremely good build quality
-Motorola is one of the only companies that actually pays attention to cell signal and reception and is superior, my Moto X 2013 hands down had better signal than my N5, 2014 is great for signal too, HTC Notoriously bad for signal
-Audio noise cancellation - the sound quality when recording and on a call is much better than other phones I have used. Moto X 2013 was FAR superior to N5 in this regard, I don't have a M8 to compare but consider it
-FAST upgrade time, we will be one of the first to get Android L - This is huge for me
I suppose a good answer will be when android L comes out, X should have it quick (of course lenovo taking over and Soni gone could change that) whereas HTC will probably be 6+ months behind because they have to retro fit the junkwear onto the new OS.
Who the hell wants skinned android L????! Not me!
Previous phone: Nexus 5
Current phone: Pure version Moto X on T-Mobile network
Comparison:
Con: touch sensitivity does not seem as good. Using swipe gestures in Nova Launcher I never had to repeat a swipe on the Nexus 5, but I occasionally do on the Moto X. I noticed there seems to be more of a lag when scrolling the screen on the Moto X. I set the phone to use ART instead of Dalvic and it seemed to help some, but the touch response still has a perceptible delay.
Pro: Voice command works well, even in noisy environments
Reception is improved
Speaker phone loudness and clarity is multiple times better. It is good and plenty loud.
IR sensors and software work great.
Screen is a little bigger, which I like.
Voice command to toggle silent mode is handy.
Battery life seems the same, or maybe slightly better.
UPDATE: I switched from Nova launcher to the Google Now Launcher, and the touch lag I mentioned in the Cons section above is no longer noticeable.
Con: I think the handoff from WiFi to cellular is not a smooth transition. The phone tries to hang on a weak WiFi signal to long before it switches to cellular, and I do have 'avoid poor connections' selected in the WiFi advanced options.
Sent from my XT1095 using Tapatalk
Thanks for all the comments. I had not given the X a real chance so I did, and I do love the active display and voice commands- very unique, good expereince, but HOW could Moto put a 2,300mah battery in this? The battery was flat by 2:30 under moderate use. I guess we need a UV kernel and some good battery tweaks ASAP.
I do really like the screen too, the blacks are so black, and the colors pop, almost too much... And it does just feel good in your hand.
I will give it a few more days to see how battery life occurs...
thanks,
I just picked up the new x an I also have the m8. I'm really liking the x so far never had anything besides HTC I still have my m8 tho.
Edit I been on mine all day now it has not got hot at all. Running real smooth
To comment on the battery life. Yes it's not AMAZING, probably my only complaint with the device, but it works as advertised. With fairly heavy use my first full day of charge, everything turned on, here was my usage pattern:
-Bluetooth, Wifi, and Location On
-Approx 11 hours connected to Wifi and about 8 hours using 4G
-Google Now On
-Brightness Auto
-Streaming music for approx. 1.5 hours
-GPS in use for approx. 20 min
-Screen on time just over 3 hours
-Total time until battery died almost 19 hours
That for me is much better than my original X. I have to charge the phone once a day anyway. That type of usage pattern is moderate to heavy and lasted from when I woke up to when I went to bed.
prosive said:
To comment on the battery life. Yes it's not AMAZING, probably my only complaint with the device, but it works as advertised. With fairly heavy use my first full day of charge, everything turned on, here was my usage pattern:
-Bluetooth, Wifi, and Location On
-Approx 11 hours connected to Wifi and about 8 hours using 4G
-Google Now On
-Brightness Auto
-Streaming music for approx. 1.5 hours
-GPS in use for approx. 20 min
-Screen on time just over 3 hours
-Total time until battery died almost 19 hours
That for me is much better than my original X. I have to charge the phone once a day anyway. That type of usage pattern is moderate to heavy and lasted from when I woke up to when I went to bed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is promising to me. I have been only htc flagship phones since day 1. On my m8 I can got 26 hours heavy use from full to dead. An I was worried bout battery on this phone but everything else I read made me jump ship an try the new moto. I'm really liking the phone since I picked one up yesterday...