Motorola Droid Bionic
Phone Scoop Review
Sep 9, 2011 by Eric M. Zeman
Motorola and Verizon Wireless have finally brought the LTE-packing Droid Bionic to market after a prolonged nine-month delay. Was the wait for Motorola's first LTE 4G smartphone worth it? Phone Scoop tells you in this full review. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Great phone but not perfect
Pros:
-Great Battery life for a 4G LTE device
-Great Signal and Call Quality
-Very fast. This phone is smooth
-Pretty light and thin
-Great build quality
Cons:
-Camera Software needs to be updated.
-Speakerphone is a little low but not a big issue.
-Expensive. Look for better deals if you can
-Too much unwanted apps
Bottom line:
Still a great phone but yes it's not perfect. People have issues with the display but it's not that bad. I think people over exaggerate but I do agree that SAMOLED is a better display. If you are a VZW customer this is a great choice for you if you have been waiting on a 4G device. You can wait a little longer but if you choose this device, I'm sure you'll be happy.
Too Little, Too Late
Returned and re-powered Thunderbolt!!
Had problems with rebooting and thought is was just a bad phone until I went to Bionicforums.net inside General Discussion and it wasn't just my phone.
TAKE THE TO CHECK FORUMS FIRST!!!
Was hoping for better
I have the habit of switching phones every 4-6 months and have had some experience with android phones on Verizon. I started with the Droid, then to the incredible, then to the X. My X was rooted, over-clocked and very customized and I have been waiting for a better phone to take its place. I've looked at all of Verizon's offerings because I like using fresh phones, but I haven't found any with enough of an improvement to change out my phone. I first heard about the Bionic in a report from CES 2011 and have been awaiting its release impatiently. I really want to love this phone after waiting for it so long!
I picked up my phone on its release date and here are my initial opinions after 5 days of using it:
PROS:
*This phone is very responsive.
*4G is blazing. (Averaging about 11 down and 5 up in Orange County, CA)
*1080 video seems better than the 720 it is replacing.
*Call quality very good and speaker phone doesn't disappoint.
*Dial pad quite nice.
*Touch sensitivity seems a little improved.
NEUTRAL:
*Battery life is alright.
*Size and weight are a little more substantial than the X.
*Feels a little more slippery in my hand than the X (I don't like using phone covers/cases)
*Shutter lag seems comparable to the droid X.
CONS:
*The 960x540 pentile display feels very grainy compared to my same size 854x480 that it is replacing.
*No dedicated camera button.
*The 4 keys on the bottom are soft keys that are probe to lag or acting up when the display acts up; plus if the lock key ever breaks, there is now way to look at your anything on your phone.
*5 home screens as opposed to 7....My home screens are completely full, common Moto!
*Flash/Flashlight is brighter.
*Front facing camera (though I have yet to test it with Skype)
*Can not set alarm sound to grow in volume.
*Does seem to restart itself about once a day or so, hopefully rectified with software updates.
Conclusion:
Possibly best new choice from Verizon. Wait for better if you can.
Droid Bionic - One big limitation
I have spent some time testing the Droid Bionic and think 95% of the features including call quality, reception hardware, applications are excellent.
Motorola was not thinking when the used a HALF-DUPLEX speakerphone on this device which severely limits the use of this device for Business conference calls as half-duplex is not acceptable during a call with multiple attendees.
The Half-Duplex speaker phone is a show stopper for me.
