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Any questions about the Motorola Droid Bionic?
Motorola gave me one to check out for a few days, post your questions below and I'll try and answer them!
I feel like I've been waiting for this phone forever. I've still got the original Droid and have been completely unable to decide what to upgrade to. The Bionic is one of the few phones that has come out that really seemed to have promise (and is on Verizon).
I am curious how you find the battery life to be... beyond that I think my other questions have been covered in this thread already.
I am curious how you find the battery life to be... beyond that I think my other questions have been covered in this thread already.
My sense is that they delayed it because they didn't want to release something that wasn't ready yet. If I had to guess, the main culprit was probably battery life, they talked a lot at our briefing yesterday about how big the battery was and how they'd improved performance with LTE.
I guess I should ask what kind of battery life it gets then. Better than the Thunderbolt? How many hours of 4G surfing do you get? How long does it last when acting as a 4G mobile hotspot?
To be honest, I think 4G matters more for Verizon and Sprint because EVDO was at a dead end., capped at 1Mbps down. AT&T and T-Mobile's 3G can hit 3-5Mbps on a good day, which are respectable "tethering to laptop" speeds.
To be honest, I think 4G matters more for Verizon and Sprint because EVDO was at a dead end., capped at 1Mbps down. AT&T and T-Mobile's 3G can hit 3-5Mbps on a good day, which are respectable "tethering to laptop" speeds.
Just depends. I like my Motorola Photon because it is a world phone (although last time I was out of the country was 10 years ago on my honeymoon with 'da wife in Mexico). I also picked it up because of all the "the Galaxy S2 is coming!", "no it's not", "it's coming!" "no it's not" I was hearing on the blogs and I was tired of waiting. I'm glad I picked it up - fantastic phone. Engadget stated it was the one phone out that could challenge the GS2.
It looks like a Moto Atrix clone except for Verizon. Solid, innovative, yet the design looks similar to Moto's line of somewhat boring devices since they all do the same thing. The docks look cool, I am just curious how well they actually work since Motorola is known for crappy user experience.
I know this sounds dumb, but as we hear more about 4G, is the speed legit right now? I am hearing that 4G is going to be faster than many home connections, yet I only see boring commercials promoting it similar to Best Buy's lame buyback program. In my book, if a company isn't promoting something it's likely not very good or not completely rolled out.
Living outside of Boston I have one friend who is on Sprint and swears by the 4G. However he also says his phone's battery dies very quickly when he's on it and I hear similar things from other websites. If 4G is now and legit, I see phones like this being very popular as long as people still like Motorola phones (HTC is a clear better choice in my mind).
It also looks a lot like the Droid 2, not sure if that's a problem though. From looking at the Engadget website the phone looks really cool and the app to let you stream media from your home pc/mac makes sense to compete is iCloud. The review says it's the thinnest 4G phone, how is the weight?
I know this sounds dumb, but as we hear more about 4G, is the speed legit right now? I am hearing that 4G is going to be faster than many home connections, yet I only see boring commercials promoting it similar to Best Buy's lame buyback program. In my book, if a company isn't promoting something it's likely not very good or not completely rolled out.
Living outside of Boston I have one friend who is on Sprint and swears by the 4G. However he also says his phone's battery dies very quickly when he's on it and I hear similar things from other websites. If 4G is now and legit, I see phones like this being very popular as long as people still like Motorola phones (HTC is a clear better choice in my mind).
It also looks a lot like the Droid 2, not sure if that's a problem though. From looking at the Engadget website the phone looks really cool and the app to let you stream media from your home pc/mac makes sense to compete is iCloud. The review says it's the thinnest 4G phone, how is the weight?
Speeds are real. I've easily gotten 15/5 on my Verizon 4G Mobile Hotspot and it feels that fast too. Web videos load in seconds. And these are in some pretty crazy places like 30 feet underground of an industrial complex. However, we're still dealing with first generation chipsets, so you are trading speed for battery life. Honestly, if you aren't tethering your phone and are just randomly browsing the web, I'd stick to a 3G phone for now because you get few benefits for the cost (money and battery life) you end up paying.
Real world speeds are insane - in areas with good signal, I get faster uploads and downloads than my cable modem at home. Verizon Wireless' LTE network is significantly faster than Sprint's WiMAX or AT&T's HSPA+ networks. Also, the faster network speeds do translate into faster web browsing on the phone; that holds true both for single core phones and dual-core phones like this one.
Supposedly the real life speeds for VZW 4G are legit as dagamer34 said. I had heard that one of the main focuses on the Bionic was to improve battery life while using 4G, it was one of the (many) reasons the phone was essentially redesigned since CES. So I guess we will have to see when full reviews come out doing some battery life tests.
I have the Photon 4G (essentially the Bionic) on Sprint and I can get through the entire day and into the next day no problem. The secret is to use the Battery and Data Manager built within Android 2.3 (not an inherently Motorola thang). It allows you to *...change their behavior to conserve data". You can do this for the: Browser, Gallery, Music, Email and Market.
So for example it will postpone downloads of large files until you are near an available WIFI network to conserve your battery. That is just one example of how the Data Manager can help conserve your battery life. I don't remember ever having that with the EVO, that's for damned sure.
As far as looks? I think the Photon is the best looking Android device out there. I'm just talking about before you turn the device on, you know it's a winner:
- Angular cut corners
- External Camera button
- Volume rockers & camera button have textured finish (nice touch)
- Soft-touch black and side finish
- Kickstand (how on earth did HTC forget that on the EVO3D?)
- Kickstand can stand in portrait or either position of landscape (to allow charging)
The Photon just looks like a world-class business phone, not like some teenager with multiple personality disorder like the HTC EVO3D. I should know - I traded in my EVO3D during the 31-day trade window for my current Photon.
One of the best tech decisions I ever made.
So for example it will postpone downloads of large files until you are near an available WIFI network to conserve your battery. That is just one example of how the Data Manager can help conserve your battery life. I don't remember ever having that with the EVO, that's for damned sure.
As far as looks? I think the Photon is the best looking Android device out there. I'm just talking about before you turn the device on, you know it's a winner:
- Angular cut corners
- External Camera button
- Volume rockers & camera button have textured finish (nice touch)
- Soft-touch black and side finish
- Kickstand (how on earth did HTC forget that on the EVO3D?)
- Kickstand can stand in portrait or either position of landscape (to allow charging)
The Photon just looks like a world-class business phone, not like some teenager with multiple personality disorder like the HTC EVO3D. I should know - I traded in my EVO3D during the 31-day trade window for my current Photon.
One of the best tech decisions I ever made.
Do you have a feel for the likelihood that this phone will be able to OTA to Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS)? If not - any Verizon Droid options out there (or soon to be, or rumored to be) that will have, or be upgradeable to ICS?
Which version of android will it launch with? Pure experience or Motoblur?
Thanks for the great site and thread!
Which version of android will it launch with? Pure experience or Motoblur?
Thanks for the great site and thread!
New handsets are already in development and soon to be announced for the fall. After all the delay, the Bionic is only comparable to current devices like the DX2 and not setting any bars. Is this really something to consider buying (for enthusiasts) who are considering trend setters like the Galaxy Note?
I've like to know this as well. I'm tired of seeing sample pics of stationary objects in bright daylight. I'd love to know how it does with a moving child in indoor lighting.
My only question, is one that you probably can't answer yet: Trade in my DX for a Droid Bionic, or wait for everyone's unicorn, the Prime? (Have you heard anything on this coveted Prime?) I have a strong desire to finally make the jump to 4G, but want to make an informed jump!
I heard you can "easily disable" Moto Blur. Are you running it 'Gingerbread Classic' now? I'm currently running Droid 1 with Gingerbread (Cyanogen) and can't wait to get rid of it as it's now painfully slow. I'd really love a phone with 4x the processor of my current Droid running stock Gingerbread (plus 4G).
No, you cannot disable the don't-call-it-MOTOBLUR interface. As Peter stated, you can use a different launcher, and you can also disable the animations entirely, which speeds the phone up a bit.
How soon will Motorola get Android updates given the new acquisition by Google
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