Anyone else considering the Droid Bionic?

[brizey]

The comparison doesn't look favorable for me considering I hate the TB's poor battery performance. Definitely makes me want to stay with the TB.

I wish I had two weeks to not use my phone. I really doubt the TB can go 13 days even in deep sleep in airplane mode.

I get good enough battery life and the rest of the differences are not enough to justify going off contract. I blow enough money on this crap.

 

[Liquid Shadow]

I blow enough money on this crap.

I feel ya man. Between my TB and a bunch of accessories, I don't want to spend more money on this crap. Love my TB and won't even think about getting a Bionic.

 

[CaptainObvious]

NO. I honestly don't even think caps emphasize how serious that is. I need to make my font 1,000 point before it really comes across. NO

How anyone with a perfectly working bolt could ever consider the bionic an upgrade is so far beyond me i honestly don't know how we're from the same planet.

Maybe if it had at least a 1.5 ghz dual core, a gig of ram, new optics for the cameras and an HD resolution screen, sure. Even then. As awesome as even that would be, why ditch the phone i got when it works so well for me?

Still thick, from what i hear a worse camera, the pentile screen sounds like a great screen to go pixel hunting and even the quadrant wasn't noticeably better in a significant enough way to warrant an upgrade. 2150? I got 1860 last night on my bolt. And with the way blur has run down phones from the droid 2, 3 and x2, i don't feel confident enough that it'll feel any different even with slightly more power.
Then again, I got a solid working bolt so the problems you speak of obviously don't matter to me. Just speaking from experience though...

This personal habit we tech heads make of leaping from phone to phone every few months hoping the next one is gonna blow our pants on is dying down. If you had an og Droid or an Eris sure upgrade away. But a phone that's so current its still being sold? Selling that? Ouch. Maybe your needs are more than mine.

But judging from the reviews so far of the bionic, alot of people aren't impressed. Still laggy, battery life sucks even with the slightly bigger battery and there have been complaints about everything from the camera to the software.

If that's the greener pastures you hope to move to, hey. Good luck. But having made the switch many times myself only to be disappointed in my upgrade, I'm not getting rid of this baby until I have a solid reason to. My bolt either has to break or it has to be next year when phones finally come out that I feel are really a step up. A big step. I'm gonna run with this til the wheels fall off.

Take the end of engadgets review "But you should know that this isn't a world-conquering device, the kind of thing that will leave you walking tall and proud for months and months to come. If you're okay with that, then buy with confidence."

 

[scotty85]

But judging from the reviews so far of the bionic, alot of people aren't impressed. Still laggy, battery life sucks even with the slightly bigger battery and there have been complaints about everything from the camera to the software.

If that's the greener pastures you hope to move to, hey. Good luck. But having made the switch many times myself only to be disappointed in my upgrade, I'm not getting rid of this baby until I have a solid reason to. My bolt either has to break or it has to be next year when phones finally come out that I feel are really a step up. A big step. I'm gonna run with this til the wheels fall off.

Take the end of engadgets review "But you should know that this isn't a world-conquering device, the kind of thing that will leave you walking tall and proud for months and months to come. If you're okay with that, then buy with confidence."

i personally predict folks are going to be just as disapointed with the bionic as they have been the TB. its been every bit as long from the leaks to the release,and ill be surprised if its able to hold up to peoples built up perceptions of what it should be.

well said,sir. i agree on all points.

 

[Dex]

I don't want the bionic either. I'm with scotty85, I love HTC phones.

If you're curious, here's a link to some of the bugs that have started popping up on the Bionic:

http://androidforums.com/motorola-droid-bionic/410289-any-buggyness-bionic.html

I have enjoyed HTC for a long time, but the fact that the batter in my TP2 was better than in my Incredible pissed me off. The Thunderbolt and it's long list of design flaws and minor issues is unsettling, to say the least. While the Charge may not be much to look it, it seems to be a better experience overall. No odd GPS syncing issues, better battery life, light leakage at a minimum, better looking screen. And that's just a competing phone.

While I like the Thunderbolt, I'm not in love with it like I was my Incredible. Now that I look back on the Incredible... I'm not sure I was as in love with it as I was determined to not be screwed over after waiting so many months for it to come to fruition.

I'm not going to get the Bionic right this second. I want to see what issues it has of it's own. I am not really loving the experience on my Thunderbolt and I am just testing the waters. When it comes to powerful phone that may have potential... the Bionic seems like a very obvious first choice. I'm sure just like the random restarts, light leakage and horrible battery that got tons of Thunderbolts sent back (none of that bothered me enough to send it back), the same will happen with any phone.

I'm waiting on the Nexus Prime.

Doubt we'll see that on Verizon and when we do finally get the Verizon version... it'll be months late (Nexus One and Incredible sharing eerily similar specs).

There is no way I would opt out of contract and pay full price for a phone now a days. So I am going to wait until discounts next year. Plus there are going to be newer phones next year.

I won't be opting out. It'd simply be an upgrade to on another line. I am eligible for an upgrade every 10 months, so I'd be able to upgrade this line again in 6 months or so anyway.


I was just wondering if anyone else had any thoughts on the subject. Especially Thunderbolt owners. Most of you seem pretty happy. I guess that's a positive thing.

 

[brizey]

...No odd GPS syncing issues...

There is a thread in the Charge section of XDA of people complaining that the Charge GPS is less precise than the Thunderbolt (and HTC devices in general). I think the charge is at best an equal to the TB. It has a lot of flaws, too (plasticky, bad packaging--it is too big for the screen size, mediocre GPS, etc.). I just think the Charge's flaws are more apparent, so people don't buy it in the first place, and therefore never whine about it on forums.

 

[mdeblaz]

While I enjoy and am keeping my TB until it doesn't work anymore, there are 3 things that would make me think about switching phones:

***Please refrain from arguing any of these points because we all know them to be true and no matter what resolution you suggest, they've all been tried and have little affect on the outcome***

1. Battery life
Fine on 3G, horrible on 4G. It's supposed to be a 4G phone, need I say more?

2. GPS
I'm in NYC and can never get a quick lock on GPS when I use navigation. Plus, no matter where I am in the country, the navigation takes 20 minutes plus to lock onto GPS.

3. 4GLTE connectivity
I'm in NYC with complete 4GLTE coverage and when I turn 4G on, I'd say 50% of the time when I pick my phone up to use it, I don't have a data connection. The battery also drains ridiculously fast with 4G on (100% to 25% in 5 hours with barely any use... seriously?). I use 3G almost all the time because of this.


Like I said above, I do enjoy the TB and will be keeping it for a while because the 3 things above are manageable. But if a phone comes out that works the way it's intended to work on 4G, I'd give it serious thought (but probably stay with the TB for a long time after it's released)

 

[jacko1]

While I enjoy and am keeping my TB until it doesn't work anymore, there are 3 things that would make me think about switching phones:

***Please refrain from arguing any of these points because we all know them to be true and no matter what resolution you suggest, they've all been tried and have little affect on the outcome***

1. Battery life
Fine on 3G, horrible on 4G. It's supposed to be a 4G phone, need I say more?

2. GPS
I'm in NYC and can never get a quick lock on GPS when I use navigation. Plus, no matter where I am in the country, the navigation takes 20 minutes plus to lock onto GPS.

3. 4GLTE connectivity
I'm in NYC with complete 4GLTE coverage and when I turn 4G on, I'd say 50% of the time when I pick my phone up to use it, I don't have a data connection. The battery also drains ridiculously fast with 4G on (100% to 25% in 5 hours with barely any use... seriously?). I use 3G almost all the time because of this.


Like I said above, I do enjoy the TB and will be keeping it for a while because the 3 things above are manageable. But if a phone comes out that works the way it's intended to work on 4G, I'd give it serious thought (but probably stay with the TB for a long time after it's released)

I would return it mine does not have any of tthose issues
but I am getting the bionic cause i could I'm a phone whore
but my bolt is great last all day on 4g GPS locks in secs.

 

[AustinTech]

The Bionic looks nice, but I am still happy with my bolt. I don't see the bionic as a significant upgrade at all and I am not even rooted.

Maybe when the 1.5 Ghz processors come out I'm might think about it. Maybe.

 

[nyrmetros]

I played with the bionic for 20 minutes at a Verizon store today. Looks exactly like a Droid x. The penntile screen is noticeable when I compared it next to my tbolt. However I suspect you can get used to it quickly. Majors issue was the heat from the touchscreen! Omg that thing gets hot!

 

[TCM]

My TB was developing a little rust.. Any of DroidTh3ory's ROMs will shake ALL of it out, give it a new paint job, tune the engine, and slap some slicks on it. (And give you better gas mileage)

This.

 

[snuggles]

Not a fan of moto products

 

[redraider1]

I am going to wait and check out the vigor I don't like how moto locks down their phones and how htc is pretty much the opposite. Also much easier to install leaked roms and updates rather than always relying on OEM's.

 

[jdk2]

While I enjoy and am keeping my TB until it doesn't work anymore, there are 3 things that would make me think about switching phones:

***Please refrain from arguing any of these points because we all know them to be true and no matter what resolution you suggest, they've all been tried and have little affect on the outcome***

1. Battery life
Fine on 3G, horrible on 4G. It's supposed to be a 4G phone, need I say more?

2. GPS
I'm in NYC and can never get a quick lock on GPS when I use navigation. Plus, no matter where I am in the country, the navigation takes 20 minutes plus to lock onto GPS.

3. 4GLTE connectivity
I'm in NYC with complete 4GLTE coverage and when I turn 4G on, I'd say 50% of the time when I pick my phone up to use it, I don't have a data connection. The battery also drains ridiculously fast with 4G on (100% to 25% in 5 hours with barely any use... seriously?). I use 3G almost all the time because of this.


Like I said above, I do enjoy the TB and will be keeping it for a while because the 3 things above are manageable. But if a phone comes out that works the way it's intended to work on 4G, I'd give it serious thought (but probably stay with the TB for a long time after it's released)

I don't want to argue with you, but we all don't know these points to be true.

I'm in a 4G area exclusively and have not had the battery drain issue of which you speak. I easily last the entire day with battery to spare. With the extended battery, I can go almost two days. I'm not streaming videos or constantly searching the internet as I have a job that requires me to work and don't have the time to be constantly using the phone.

GPS locks on instantly, and is accurate to 3m. I use it constantly on my days off and find it as functional as my Garmin and a lot easier to manage. I use Chrome to Phone to send directions from the computer to the phone. I can't do that with the Garmin nearly as easily.

The dropped data connection does happen but that seems to be location dependent. It was happening with alarming frequency several weeks ago. It seems to have gotten much better which I attribute to VZW making changes to their system.

I can find no reason to upgrade at this point as others have pointed out. The Bionic looks like a nice piece of equipment but I can't justify the expense anymore. Spending $1000's on phones just doesn't make sense in this economy. If the phone wasn't working or it had insurmountable software/hardware issues, I'd dump it in a minute. But for what it is and does, there's no reason to move to anything else.

 

[dguy]

I bought a Thunderbolt the morning it launched and it worked about as well as Thunderbolt could work. I made the switch on launch day to a Droid Bionic and it was a great decision. The Bionic is so much better than the Thunderbolt in every regard(hardware and software) that it can't be emphasized enough. They are a completely different class of phone, I can't think of an analogy that would do the comparison justice. Maybe Droid Eris to Thunderbolt would do it.

I could easily write a long essay detailing point by point everything the Bionic does unsubjectively better but it wouldn't make a difference; the people who are anti-moto/saying the Thunderbolt is the best device ever have their minds made up, and have them made up based on irrational fanboyism, they can't be convinced by any number of facts once their mind is made up.

 

[irwinm]

I have no fan boy allegiance - just looking for the best phone and network so would appreciate your thoughts dguy on the comparison of the 4G/3G radios to the TBolt - I have the constant problem of the 4G showing connection but getting absolutely no data and having to always reset the radio to get data back. I'm in LA so should have great 4G coverage most places but unless I'm stationary and locked on a 4G signal the switching on 3G/4G is terrible on the TB.

Wondering if the Bionic radios are any better - that's the deal killer for me with the TB - may as well go back to an iPhone if I'm only going to get reliable 3G anyway.

 

[atrain311]

A few days ago I was up in the air about giving up my TB to my wife who wants it since her (my old) Dinc is fading and was going to get myself the Bionic. After hearing about the possible release of the Vigor, AND playing with the bionic yesterday, I'm going to hold off and wait. The Bionic felt boxy, awkward and most importantly cheap. The volume rocker literally wiggled and rattled. I know this may not bother some, but for an OCD guy like myself, it would never work.

 

[WhenForever]

I switched to the Bionic but I hated the camera on it and that was a deal breaker for me, I switched back to my bolt. I really liked the Bionic though, really nice phone and I wanted to keep it but I personally thought the camera on my bolt took way better pics and I use my camera a lot so like I said, deal breaker.

Im gonna wait for the Vigor

 

[Dex]

I switched to the Bionic but I hated the camera on it and that was a deal breaker for me, I switched back to my bolt. I really liked the Bionic though, really nice phone and I wanted to keep it but I personally thought the camera on my bolt took way better pics and I use my camera a lot so like I said, deal breaker.

Im gonna wait for the Vigor

I think they have figured out the focus issues for it already. Something to do with the stock camera app not focusing properly. There was an entire thread about it in their forums the other day.

 

[xeno2011]

I don't want to argue with you, but we all don't know these points to be true.

I'm in a 4G area exclusively and have not had the battery drain issue of which you speak. I easily last the entire day with battery to spare. With the extended battery, I can go almost two days. I'm not streaming videos or constantly searching the internet as I have a job that requires me to work and don't have the time to be constantly using the phone.

GPS locks on instantly, and is accurate to 3m. I use it constantly on my days off and find it as functional as my Garmin and a lot easier to manage. I use Chrome to Phone to send directions from the computer to the phone. I can't do that with the Garmin nearly as easily.

The dropped data connection does happen but that seems to be location dependent. It was happening with alarming frequency several weeks ago. It seems to have gotten much better which I attribute to VZW making changes to their system.

I can find no reason to upgrade at this point as others have pointed out. The Bionic looks like a nice piece of equipment but I can't justify the expense anymore. Spending $1000's on phones just doesn't make sense in this economy. If the phone wasn't working or it had insurmountable software/hardware issues, I'd dump it in a minute. But for what it is and does, there's no reason to move to anything else.

I agree, I have had a great experience with my Thunderbolt as well. I especially love the GPS - I can't believe how much better it is compared to the dedicated GPS units I have owned. Gets me there every time. Speaking in your destination instead of typing it is also great feature.

 

[RDKamikaze]

After reading this thread I realized that I may be the first one on here to say maybe. I love my TB and have nothing bad to say about it's performance, reliability, etc. but I do have a qualm with a few features.

First, the TB doesn't have HDMI out. Well, for a guy who loves mobile media, that was a huge disappointment. I was torn between the Charge and this phone and I'm happy I got it on every point except the HDMI.

Second is of course the battery life, but we have chargers for a reason and I'm not on 4G all the time so it's not even a complaint.

The reboot issues were an issue, but when MR2.5 got pushed out I never saw that again, which put the TB on my favs list. Of course, this is coming from a dumbphone haha!

Back to the Bionic: I love the HDMI out, webtop feature (which will be hacked so you don't need an expensive dock like the Atrix), and some other capabilities which are really pushing me toward getting it. However, it is a new phone and we all know how new phones are... lol! I think it comes down to personal opinion as I love HTC but am just missing features.

 

[jroc]

The comparison doesn't look favorable for me considering I hate the TB's poor battery performance. Definitely makes me want to stay with the TB.

The usage times is something to pay attention to:

Thats 10 hours, 50 minutes for the Bionic, 6 hours, 20 min for the T Bolt.
Stand by times is when the phone isnt in use. 8 days, 7 hours for Bionic, 13 days, 8 hours for the T Bolt.

Like with the Droid X1 and the GS1 phones last year. Droid X1 had more rated usage time, but less standby time.

So it depends on what you want more of: to be able to use your phone longer or for it to last longer between use. The battery that comes with the T Bolt is 1400, the Bionics is 1700. So its not just the battery size thats giving the Bionic the longer rated usage times.

And I think that should be for talk times. Just putting usage might make ppl think they can surf the web for 10 hrs...lol. But usually rated talk times give a somewhat indicator of overall battery life.

It all depends on what you want more of tho: use/talk time or stand by time. Goes to show dual core isnt necessarily a battery drainer too.

 

[paigow]

i've had my thunderbolt since release and now i have the bionic, well i bought it for my wife since she was using the first android D1. Its only been a few days but already i've been disappointed by this Bionic.

with low light the camera is total garbage. very grainy both video and pictures i mean so bad even the $50 flip 480p camera takes better video with low light. the thunderbolt in low light still looks very good.

the camera on bionic should work faster, once you click the icon for pictures expect to hold the camera still for another few sec before it even flashed and takes the pic. the thunderbolt is almost instant here.

front camera on bionic is only 0.3mp 1.3mp on TB, since skype is so ******ed to not use the front camera on TB we used tango. obviously the picture from my TB looked better then what i was seeing from the Bionic. i mean really why did they not at least go with 1.3mp front camera?

the Bionic has a higher resolution screen but when i was watching youtube videos or playing games i found myself leaning toward my TB once again. its not the problem in resolution i dont like about the bionic but the color. the TB just has a much nicer richer color tone that i prefer. if i were to place both phones side by side i would say the bionic has a cooler blue color tone.
on a 4.3in screen the 1080p isn't really gonna make a difference from 720p but when you connect the phone to a big screen tv the 1080p makes sense.

obviously the bionic out performs the TB in many areas, dual core clearly, quadrant runs 2600 on bionic and 1600 on TB. i just dont understand why they made so many good things about the bionic then took so many steps back on other areas

oh and btw, the battery on the bionic isn't that much better then the TB, im mean you guys need to realize these are 4.3in screens with 4gLTE so all this processing power eats up batteries. its just not a big deal to me, im always near a power outlet when i need charging.

i could go on and on with side by side comparison from the TB and bionic but ill just say for a $300 phone i think they should have made every major feature better or the same as the thunderbolt not less.

and the most important feature i love about my TB is the kick stand. the phone just fits in my hand perfectly with the kickstand open. when i play my favorite racing game i find that without a kickstand i just don't have a comfortable hold so to me LOL this was the main reason i still love the phone.

if the bionic did everything better then the TB i would have probably kept it for myself and gave my wife my TB but since i've found so many dislikes im gonna let my wife have the bionic and ill the next upgrade later.

either way, if you have either phones you can't go wrong, you will still have the best phones on the market with 4GLTE. what i find funny is still now people buy 3g phones... hell no i will never go to 3g after using 4gLTE.