General A perspective on specs

The Droid Bionic.

1.0 GHZ Dual-Core. qHD (quarter HD) pentile screen technology. (To me pentile is awful, to some it is fine).

Omap's 1.0 GHZ Dual-Core processor with 1 GB of RAM DDR2.

Motoblur Gingerbread 2.3 out of the box.
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The Droid Prime.

1.5 GHZ Dual-Core. HD 720P Super Amoled Plus.

Omap's 1.5 Ghz Dual-Core processor with 1 GB of RAM DDR2.

Stock Google Experience 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box.

The Droid Prime may not have 15 hours of battery life. However, it easily will be better than the bionic in so many ways. I can't stand pentile, and an HD screen would be absolutely gorgoous. I have the Droid X and it is still going strong. Sure I hate the slight lag and what not, but I can wait an extra month or two to get a phone that is nearly double the specs of the bionic. Especially since it is Ice Cream Sandwich. It'll take more than a few months after the Prime is released for the Bionic to get ICS. I'd rather just get the Prime and be set with a phone MADE for ICS.

 

Will it have LTE? i seriously doubt Prime will launch with LTE + 1.5 GHz and still have 15 hour battery life.

If i need more power, i will just root bionic and overclock CPU. it will sacrifice some battery power, but still end up as good as Prime or still better.

 

I have question regarding this optimized software and Cyanogenmod.

I've never had an android, so forgive me if this is a noob question.

but would this "optimized software" even matter if you are planning to install Cyanogenmod?

Once you have Cyano installed, you are not using that "optimized software...

 

Since the bionic will have a locked bootloader it'll be a long time in my opinion before a modder/hacker can get through it (2nd-init probably won't work) so new methods will have to be found that take a long time. Or until motorola allows / unlocks bootloaders.

Anyway once that happens cyanogenmod has to make a version for the bionic and with the first few builds the battery life usually is awful.

But yes once you use cyanogenmod that "optimized software" is gone unless you go back to stock.

 

I've considered this as well. The Bionic being delayed "should" provide a better, more refined experience. But also with the Prime being similar to a GS2 which has had much refinement overseas, it's a equal footing battle. EXCEPT the Bionic will be locked down and the Prime won't. That is simply huge,especially for those who want to tether!! I cannot go out and get the Bionic until this is remedied so I know I'm in for a wait, for either this to happen or the Prime,etc to come out ready to rock and roll right off the shelf.

 

Might want to read this - http://androidforums.com/bionic-all...-has-root-same-exploit-might-work-bionic.html

The fact that they reworked everything form the ground up, and the fact that they developed the LTE chip inhouse, makes me jump at it.

But, honestly, if I only had a single upgrade, I'd probably flash my phone back to FroYo, then try to figure out y WiFi issues, and finally wait for the Prime.

Since I have multiple, - Bionic is a sure go.

 

I think the Droid Prime will undoubtedly be the flagship Android phone when it releases. There was a major reason that Verizon decided to just pass up on the SGS2 and the reason is because of the Droid Prime. Obviously Verizon feels that it would be senseless to release SGS2 in mid Sept and then a far better phone 1 month later that would eat up all the sales from the SGS2. I'm sure it will have LTE on Verizon seeing that Verizon and Samsung have had all this time to work on the flagship Android phone to go against the iPhone 5. I highly doubt Google will want to go from a 4G Nexus on Sprint to a 3G Droid Prime on Verizon. It wouldn't make any sense for Google to step a big step backwards just to go on a different network.

Of course that's all depending if Verizon actually gets the phone but it seems with good certainty that it is.... or else Verizon would have no excuse on passing up a phone that has had HUGE success overseas.

The question is whether or not you'll be able to wait a bit longer for the Droid Prime.

 

So Cyanomod doesnt use stock android code??

Will cyano have better performance than the Bionic stock software?

 

Cyanogenmod does use some of the stock android code but motorola changes this software and adds to it. Cyanogenmod won't have motorola's improvements.

100% agree. 4G LTE definitely. I can wait for the Prime.

I was talking about the bootloader not rooting. Cyanogenmod needs more than just a rooted phone.

 

while it does seem likely, i was under the impression that all those prime specs have yet to be confirmed (?)

if i have any bones to pick it's with verizon and the fact that the gs2 just had a massive launch preview for 3 different carriers in which not only was there hands on the device but an actual freakin launch date. and oh btw it's $100 cheaper than the bionic.

meanwhile we have a slew of blurry pics, a single short video displaying a random bug, an abbreviated spec sheet (do we even know the battery size yet?), and still no 'official' release date...

and of course my OG has literally just started displaying the droid ghost touchscreen bug that's rendering it all but useless right now

 

Amen Brother!

 

The fact that Prime is coming relatively soon, in order to combat the iPhone 5, tells me all I need to know about what Verizon thinks of the Bionic. If the Bionic is the greatest device everyone thinks it to be, wouldn't that be enough?

Wouldn't the story be that Verizon passed up the SGSII because it was coming out with the Bionic?

But that's not the story. Verizon is coming out with what it believes to be more of an iPhone killer than the Bionic and SGSII could have been. That's a big reason I'm in for the wait.

As far as specs go, as has already been discussed, Samsung's SGSII is a huge hit all over the world. On average, it's been selling one phone every 3 seconds. And the reviews are phenomenal. So I highly doubt we will be dealing with random reboots, huge lags, etc. True, ICS will be brand new and will have a couple of bugs, but you cannot honestly say that Bionic won't either. If I have to have a few bugs, I'd rather it be on a handset custom made for ICS.

And the battery life is up for debate on either phone, because it hasn't been confirmed yet. Everyone uses their phone differently. Yoda says that the Bionic has a 1735 mAh battery and it lasts him 15 hours +. The battery duration will be hotly debated, obviously. For some, who barely use their phone, it will be even more. For others, who tether and download and watch movies like it's their last day on earth, it will be considerably less. And 1735 isn't huge. The Prime is rumored to have 1850 mAh. That is quite a jump. And if I have to buy an extra battery I'll do it, just like a lot of Bionic buyers will be doing at Costco.

 

Hi guys. I'm on an OG Droid that my husband gave me when he traded up to a Charge, and I can't say I know anything about rooting, ROMS, or whatnot. My husband occasionally takes it from me, updates it, and gives it back, lol.

But I did have a question after reading about the Bionic and Prime (I'm due for an upgrade next month, yipee!), when there is an update, like with ice cream sandwich, is there normally a ton of quirks and problems?

 

Agreed. There are usually some bugs and quirks that go with a new software upgrade, including freezing, inconsistent battery life, etc. But they are usually remedied, meaning, your phone won't be useless.

Colts78, it seems like you don't like the idea of rooting or flashing ROMS. If that's the case, Bionic might be the best for you, given that it will have a very stable OS and will be locked down. If you're willing to go through the usual quirks of a newborn OS upgrade and the display is of paramount importance, I suggest you wait for the Prime.

 

Thanks, bluefire and yoda.

Yes, I'm not a fan of hacking and customizing. The iPhone would probably be perfect for me, if only it had as big a screen as the Bionic or Prime.

If the Prime has an HD screen and is thin, that will be the one for me, I think.

Oh well. Maybe when I'm up for my upgrade (October 17) it will all be sorted out. *fingers crossed*

 

If it is thin that suggests to me one of two things. No 4G LTE or battery life will be compromised with a dual core processor. Neither of those will be acceptable to me.

 

What everyone seems to be forgetting is the Droid Prime has not been confirmed. Everyone is speculating off of an article that BGR posted. An article that by no means is confirmed. You also need to take into consideration BGR has had few "exclusives" that they jumped the gun on, trying to scoop everyone else, and retracted later. Even if the source is correct the article says "The DROID Prime is EXPECTED to be the first smartphone to launch with Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich,” and "the phone SHOULD launch sometime in October". So it may have ICS and it may drop in October but then again, it may not. The article also states it's the DROID Prime, not the Nexus Prime. So that could mean that Verizon didnt want a Nexus device and it will probably have bloatware and locked/semi locked bootloader.

I could be completely wrong on all points, or I could be spot on, there is no way to know until it is confirmed by Verizon or Samsung or at the very least someone other than a single anonymous BGR source.

 

Verizon does not want to combat the iPhone. Before the iPhone came to Verizon they did, but now the iPhone is one of Verizon's greatest allies. Verizon does not care one bit about any phone beating any other phone as long as they sell as many of them as they can.

There is no such thing as "enough" in any kind of technology market. Innovation and competition are huge. It does not matter what specs any device has, something better will always be in development from every company in the market that wishes to survive.

There is nothing special or weird about a better device coming out after the Droid Bionic. The same exact thing is going to happen to the Droid Prime and the phone after that and the phone after that. Waiting because something better is coming out in the future is always a bad idea because you can wait forever with that mindset. People need to wait until a phone they want comes out and just get it, don't waste your life away worrying about something better coming out later that you should wait for. For me, that phone is the Bionic.

 

And this is what I've been waiting to see. As much as I have loved my OG, it wasn't perfect. I've been hoping that Android could refine itself the way iOS has, as I want my phone to work each and every time. When I'm in my car and try to make a call or quickly check an email or whatever at a traffic light, I need my phone to work right there and then. When I pull out my phone to show a customer how Android works and how you can truly make it yours (as we have very few live units), I need it to be reliable.

Yoda, if the Bionic is as good as you've claimed and this refined, then I'm very confident in saying that this is the phone I've been waiting for: a worthy successor in every way from my beloved OG.

 

I couldn't agree more, and I think this is something that has really held Android back from being utilized more by businesses.

 

Gotta agree with this. Now that its on Verizon, they're not trying to compete with it. Verizon could care less which phone you choose....as long as you choose one. They want you to pay that bill once a month. To me, in Verizon's eyes, more phones to choose from... more chances to get subscribers. Either upgrades or new.

Like last year, the Droid X had heavy Droid marketing. The Fascinate also had heavy marketing. Some folks even said the Incredible had decent marketing...even tho I rarely saw a commercial for it in my area..lol

Using the Droid X and Fascinate as an example, Verizon wasnt having them compete with each other or favoring one over the other as far as commercials. To them, Fascinate comes out a couple months after the Droid X, new phone to entice folks with.

If anything, they are competing with the other carriers for your business. And having the Bionic, Prime, Vigor, Droid HD, iPhone 5, Revolution 2 come out one after the other...they are trying real hard to make sure folks want to choose Verizon.

There have been rumblings over the past few months in forums that Verizon doesnt have the best Android or phone line up anymore. With that line up mentioned above....they are trying to take that title back.....

 

Choice is a simple one for me. A completely open Nexus handset with no manufacturer bloat (Blur/ WebTop/Sense/TouchWiz) will get my money as soon as it goes on presale. Matter of fact I'd order it today sight unseen if there was such a list. Nothing compares to a Nexus (in my opinion)