Razr, lg spectrum, or free bionic

[mrdrh99]

Ok, my upgrade is tomorrow, this will be my final ne2, I'll get $30 since I'm on a family plan. With that I can get either a razr or spectrum for about $160, or get the cpo bionic for free since it's now $29!

My issues with the spectrum is the horrid product support and slow ota updates stories I've heard. I dont really have anything against the razr other than not bring able to remove battery I have endless sd cards laying around. But the bionic has the basic things I was looking for (4g, dual core), although that screen on the spectrum is rockin!

Anyone have an opinion? I'm updating from a cpo X, I have no issues buying a cpo?
Thanks

 

[rexboe]

Go with the Bionic I think it is the best phone out and free is always good.

 

[Lucidot]

Personally, after the issues I have been having with the Bionic (and I'm not alone) I would opt for the RAZR.

So you can't take the battery out. Whoopty Crap!!

IMO, the ones that think that is such a big deal are the ones that are anti-apple and it just makes them feel that much closer to an iPhone.

 

[hurricane630]

Personally, after the issues I have been having with the Bionic (and I'm not alone) I would opt for the RAZR.

So you can't take the battery out. Whoopty Crap!!

IMO, the ones that think that is such a big deal are the ones that are anti-apple and it just makes them feel that much closer to an iPhone.

I agree with this lol. The bionic is a good phone, but I've also had many problems with it. But I believe I am the minority of bionic owners. The update fixed most peoples problems, but i've been through 3 phones and still have problems. If non removable battery is a problem for you, then go bionic. If its not, then go razr

 

[wichita6]

The Bionic is a good phone. I really think the tower problem is the reason some go through 3 or more phones and still have problems. I am on my second bionic and since the update I have had no problems.
The razer's lack of removable battery would turn me away if I was looking at changing phones.

 

[Thom]

The Bionic and Razr are both great. I don't like the way the Razr "feels" when I pick it up. I like everything about the Bionic.

The data drops in the Bionic are a problem. They have been whittled down on both sides. The supposed next release (5.9.902) should get the remainder. How soon that will happen is not known. If you absolutely must have a reliable data connection today ... install the leaked 5.9.901 on the Bionic.

I suggest you compare the Bionic and Razr side-by-side and pick the one you like ... you'll be intimate with it for quite a while.

... Thom

 

[mrdrh99]

Thanks guys, anyone have any hands-on with the spectrum and that dual 1.5 or do you think that it's over rated?

 

[mbtech]

Don't forget about the RazrMaxx coming very soon and also the Droid 4(If you want an external keyboard) I personally love my Bionic since I put the leaked 5.9.901 on it. Just wish it had ICS like the Nexus.

 

[htceris]

Ok, my upgrade is tomorrow, this will be my final ne2, I'll get $30 since I'm on a family plan. With that I can get either a razr or spectrum for about $160, or get the cpo bionic for free since it's now $29!

My issues with the spectrum is the horrid product support and slow ota updates stories I've heard. I dont really have anything against the razr other than not bring able to remove battery I have endless sd cards laying around. But the bionic has the basic things I was looking for (4g, dual core), although that screen on the spectrum is rockin!

Anyone have an opinion? I'm updating from a cpo X, I have no issues buying a cpo?
Thanks

How are you able to get it for free? I am in similar situation, and when I try to upgrade to cpo bionic it is $29.99 even after $30.00 credit was apply toward it (according to rep. I chatted online).

 

[PowerBomb]

How are you able to get it for free? I am in similar situation, and when I try to upgrade to cpo bionic it is $29.99 even after $30.00 credit was apply toward it (according to rep. I chatted online).

Uh oh. I was under the assumption that I'd be able to grab a Bionic for free too once my loyalty credit finally kicks in this week, in combination with the $29.99 sale going on. I was even about to call in this evening and ask if they'd be willing to bump up my loyalty discount by a few days so I can make sure I place an order before things run out of stock. Maybe they won't combine discounts with the sale that is going on? If that's the case I'm perfectly fine getting a Bionic at $29.99 and not worrying about my discount, but so far I've been thinking free-is-free and was waiting to combine it with a loyalty credit.

Edit: I just called and asked and the rep claimed she was able to get the loyalty discount to stack on top of the sale price. The only reason I can't confirm this for myself is that my credit doesn't kick in until Saturday so I can't go test this on the website. But according to her this should work and still be able to get a credit in addition to sale prices.

 

[mrdrh99]

We're thinking the same way powerbomb, I got the idea and double checked with a rep before posting. I'm honestly not seeing anything worth the extra money with this being free! Esp since I can just return it if I hate it. What a way to use your final ne2, free 4g dual core droid!

 

[htceris]

We're thinking the same way powerbomb, I got the idea and double checked with a rep before posting. I'm honestly not seeing anything worth the extra money with this being free! Esp since I can just return it if I hate it. What a way to use your final ne2, free 4g dual core droid!

True, there is no reason not to get the 4g dual core for free! However, I have chatted with more than one rep online, and all of them claimed that I can't get it for free & $29.99 is the price regardless of loyalty credit of $30.00. I am going to be calling rep tomorrow to check it again, and hope I can use my loyalty credit of $30.00 toward this cpo bionic.

 

[htceris]

Just a little input to help with your decision. Before I saw this post about cpo bionic is on sale, I played with bionic, razr, spectrum & a few other 4g phones at local store, and I noticed a few interesting things: razr seem to have fastest 4g connection speed @ over 20 mbps while LG spectrum, bionic, & other 4g phones are just above 10 mbps (I tested a few times on each phones & they are all within a few feet of each other.) I know that 10mbps is more than fast enough for most people, but somehow razr is always faster at over 20mbps, I don't know how or why.
While LG spectrum has really nice screen i found one odd thing .... long pressing on spectrum home button doesn't seem to be working as it should. Just my observation base on testing out at local store. Hope it helps

 

[Lucidot]

The Bionic is a good phone. I really think the tower problem is the reason some go through 3 or more phones and still have problems. I am on my second bionic and since the update I have had no problems.
The razer's lack of removable battery would turn me away if I was looking at changing phones.

Again...IMO...This is complete misinformation.

I am on my 4th Bionic and 3rd new SIM card and I still have this issue.
My wife has a T-Bolt (4G phone) and while my data issues persist, her phone does not miss a beat. Her phone holds on to 4G constantly while my Bionic loses data completely. All of this happens while I have the phones directly next to each other.

So, to me, this is a Bionic issue, not a tower issue.

Who knows. Maybe you'll get lucky and get a Bionic that was made by foreign person living in China that they don't beat for not hitting their numbers and that cares about how your phone is put together and it was on a Wednesday so that he/she had plenty of time to recoup from the drunken weekend they had at the local tavern.

Hell, it's free. Roll the dice. The worst that could happen is that your stuck posting in here about your 8th Bionic you just received in the mail and it doesn't work either.

Best that could happen is that you realize it's a POS before your 14 days are up and you can take it back and get a different phone.

 

[Lucidot]

Update with my most recent replacement.

This phone is right out of the box. Nothing has been installed and the only thing done was activation.

Data drops galore and now a BSOD. Never had one of those before.

If I were you, I would stay as far away from this phone as possible. I might even go as far as saying that you may want to stay away from Motorola all together.

Admittedly I haven't lurked or read anything in the RAZR forum so I'm not sure if they have many issues or not.

 

[Thom]

Update with my most recent replacement.

This phone is right out of the box. Nothing has been installed and the only thing done was activation.

Data drops galore and now a BSOD. Never had one of those before.

If I were you, I would stay as far away from this phone as possible. I might even go as far as saying that you may want to stay away from Motorola all together.

Admittedly I haven't lurked or read anything in the RAZR forum so I'm not sure if they have many issues or not.

The recommended courses of action for the Bionic are ...

BSOD - BSOD (Black Screen of Death). If you run through that and get to the end you may be replacing the device (again).

Data Drops - install the leaked 5.9.901 or wait for 5.9.902.

... Thom

 

[Lucidot]

The recommended courses of action for the Bionic are ...

BSOD - BSOD (Black Screen of Death). If you run through that and get to the end you may be replacing the device (again).

Data Drops - install the leaked 5.9.901 or wait for 5.9.902.

... Thom

So for data drops the fix is to install a non-official version of the firmware or wait for God knows how long for an official release?

I find it a little hypocritical of you to suggest a fix that your not willing to do since it's not official. I think I recall when people updated to the 5.7.893 (unofficial) and then found themselves screwed at that moment you made comments to the affect of that is why you were staying stock on your phone, so you didn't find yourself in a situation like that. I could be mistaken though.

 

[Thom]

So for data drops the fix is to install a non-official version of the firmware or wait for God knows how long for an official release?

I find it a little hypocritical of you to suggest a fix that your not willing to do since it's not official. I think I recall when people updated to the 5.7.893 (unofficial) and then found themselves screwed at that moment you made comments to the affect of that is why you were staying stock on your phone, so you didn't find yourself in a situation like that. I could be mistaken though.

You reported the two major problems with the Bionic with your new phone and indicated you had never had a BSOD before.

The first reference is the accumulation of a lot of experience with people having BSOD problems that includes people who had defective devices. I pointed you to it in case you had not reviewed it.

I am running 5.5.893 with the original SIM card that came with my Bionic. Consistent with what I wrote, I have chosen to wait for 5.9.902. I can absorb the data drops. If you absolutely cannot absorb the data drops then many people have had success with 5.9.901.

5.7.893 was a leaked version that came out the back door someplace. It had some really strange problems and was a challenge to remove and get back. When it came out it was obvious that it was very risky.

5.9.901 was not released. There is some risk attached to getting back to stock if you install it. The risk seems fairly low. The reason is that unlike 5.7.893 Motorola pushed 5.9.901 directly to end user phones (apparently those that had formally reported the data drop problem). The assumption is that you will be able to upgrade from 5.5.893 or 5.9.901 to 5.9.902. That is not known for sure. That is the reason for recognizing there is some risk.

My recommendation to people about to upgrade to a Bionic is to stay on 3G a while longer and wait until 5.9.902 is released.

The most conservative approach (with guarantee) is the one I am taking ... wait for 5.9.902.

... Thom

 

[Lucidot]

I thought you were on 5.5.893? As per another one of your posts.

 

[Thom]

I thought you were on 5.5.893? As per another one of your posts.

Typo ... corrected ... thanks.

... Thom

 

[PowerBomb]

True, there is no reason not to get the 4g dual core for free! However, I have chatted with more than one rep online, and all of them claimed that I can't get it for free & $29.99 is the price regardless of loyalty credit of $30.00. I am going to be calling rep tomorrow to check it again, and hope I can use my loyalty credit of $30.00 toward this cpo bionic.

Let us know what you figure out about that. As I mentioned above, a phone rep told me she was able to get the discounts to combine and make the phone free, but others are telling you the opposite.


Other than that, interesting debate going on in this thread. I'd hate to finally upgrade to a newer device and walk into a world of faults and complications. The Ally suffered from enough problems and was a bit of a pain sometimes. I even wondered if it's a bad sign that the Bionic is even part of this 4G sale promotion, I can understand them wanting to get rid of some Revolutions and other 4G devices, but Droid Bionics being given away at $29.99? Makes me think there must be a huge stockpile of CPOs from all the returns.

I'm not sure what I want to do now. Almost feel like not upgrading at all!

 

[amazinz5]

Let us know what you figure out about that. As I mentioned above, a phone rep told me she was able to get the discounts to combine and make the phone free, but others are telling you the opposite.


Other than that, interesting debate going on in this thread. I'd hate to finally upgrade to a newer device and walk into a world of faults and complications. The Ally suffered from enough problems and was a bit of a pain sometimes. I even wondered if it's a bad sign that the Bionic is even part of this 4G sale promotion, I can understand them wanting to get rid of some Revolutions and other 4G devices, but Droid Bionics being given away at $29.99? Makes me think there must be a huge stockpile of CPOs from all the returns.

I'm not sure what I want to do now. Almost feel like not upgrading at all!

There are faulty Bionics, that's no secret. But what the haters want to keep from you is the countless Bionic owners that haven't had a single issue. Don't let anyone tell you they're certain the problem is this or isn't that....some Bionics are faulty, while others are perfect. Sometimes 4g goes out nationwide, for all phones. Maybe the people complaining were too eager to try to turn other people off of a great device to realize there is absolutely no risk in the first 30 days....if you don't like it take it back and get a rezound or whatever. I honestly believe the bionic haters are just jealous of the people that got (really really) good ones and want to keep other people from doing so. Otherwise they'd be telling you try it out, some are great, if not you can return it within 30 days.

We should start compiling info on where/how people are getting good and bad bionics, like costco/vzw store/internet, region of the country, etc

 

[PowerBomb]

Yeah I know no device is perfect (unfortunately). I think in the case of a certified preowned, you may only get 14 days of a return/exchange window instead of 30, but still, it would provide enough of a safety net if I get a Bionic and hate it, I can get rid of it. I'll likely end up giving it a try. Unlike OP I'm not even considering anything like the Razr or Spectrum because I'm not looking to spend that much, so my choices are either Tbolt, Charge, Revolution, Bionic, or choosing to stick with 3G devices. I think I'll try out the Bionic and go from there. I'm gonna be annoyed if I wait for my loyalty discount to start on Saturday and then find out the rep was wrong and I can't stack the discount on top of the sale price lol.

 

[Thom]

There are faulty Bionics, that's no secret. But what the haters want to keep from you is the countless Bionic owners that haven't had a single issue. Don't let anyone tell you they're certain the problem is this or isn't that....some Bionics are faulty, while others are perfect. Sometimes 4g goes out nationwide, for all phones. Maybe the people complaining were too eager to try to turn other people off of a great device to realize there is absolutely no risk in the first 30 days....if you don't like it take it back and get a rezound or whatever. I honestly believe the bionic haters are just jealous of the people that got (really really) good ones and want to keep other people from doing so. Otherwise they'd be telling you try it out, some are great, if not you can return it within 30 days.

We should start compiling info on where/how people are getting good and bad bionics, like costco/vzw store/internet, region of the country, etc

We tried that survey in the past and the results were not conclusive.

There was one really bad batch of Bionics turned back by Radio Shack and a couple more that were not disclosed.

The people who are happy with their Bionics are not typically visiting here so assuming anything about happiness/unhappiness from visitors here is going to be an error.

The biggest problem that I see is that many people want a simple label to apply to something so they can bitch about it. Here that is BSOD and data drops. Both of these are the result of multiple causes and are all clumped together so complainers can have a warm fuzzy feeling.

There is a recommended course of action for BSODs at ... http://androidforums.com/motorola-droid-bionic/421050-post-your-tips-bionic-here.html#post3507953.

The data drops on the tower side seem to be mostly corrected and 5.9.901 or 5.9.902 seem to solve the remainder on the Bionic side.

It seems likely that if it is a defective device it will be weeded out by the referenced BSOD evaluation.

... Thom

 

[doogald]

Maybe the people complaining were too eager to try to turn other people off of a great device to realize there is absolutely no risk in the first 30 days .... if not you can return it within 30 days.

Yeah I know no device is perfect (unfortunately). I think in the case of a certified preowned, you may only get 14 days of a return/exchange window instead of 30, but still, it would provide enough of a safety net if I get a Bionic and hate it, I can get rid of it.

I'm not sure if certified pre-owned is different from new sales, but Verizon's return policy for new devices sales is 14 days, not 30 days, with a $35 restocking fee. There is no 30 day return policy at Verizon for new handsets, and I imagine CPO is the same. I would definitely ask about that ahead of time.