Is the Bionic worth 200 dollars (+ 2 yr contract)?

[pnoozi]

I went to the Verizon store today and I must have played with the LTE phones for over an hour. I liked the Bionic, Revolution and TBolt.

But here's the thing... in the admittedly relatively short time I played with these phones, I didn't really like the Bionic much more than the Revolution or the TBolt. Sure, it performs better than the other two and has better battery life. But I have to say, the screen on this thing is HORRIBLE. With the brightness turned all the way up, it's still not as bright as the LG Revolution with the brightness turned almost all the way down. With the lights on in the store, and the brightness slid all the way up, the Bionic was just... an awful experience. The viewing angles were equally terrible. Even worse, the screen appeared to be comprised of a "patchwork" of a few hundred tiny squares which really stood out.

I'm not really one to care about display quality on a phone, but the Bionic was exceptionally bad. I'm not looking for SAMOLED quality, but the screen still has to be acceptable.

So, considering I can get the TBolt or Revolution for 1 cent + contract, is the Bionic really worth getting? I'm leaning towards yes because of the bigger battery, greater selection of accessories, and dual core processor. But I still wanted to hear others' thoughts.

 

[xjoshuax89]

Wow. I really can't understand people that have such a huge complaint about the screen. I have no problem with the screen and I stream HD videos/movies perfectly fine with it. I have no problems with the screen at all.

Up to you but I think you maybe being too much of a drama queen.

 

[greydarrah]

I think it's absolutely worth the asking price. I love the phone.

 

[CSI Guy]

I dont get all of the bad comments about the screen. It looks fine to me. I would never had even thought there was something lacking if someone hadn't said something. It is fine with me. IMHO

 

[pnoozi]

In low light conditions, compared to no other phones, it probably looks fine. It shouldn't be a problem But in the Verizon store next to the Rev and TBolt it looked dreadful.

 

[GBH2]

I think the screen if fine, but you are entitled to your opinion and you shouldn't get the Bionic if it bothers you.

Sure those single core phones seem fine now. I'm sure they perform fairly well. However, as we move forward ICS and all the Apps will be optimized to take advantage of the dual core CPU's. So, in a very short amount of time, 6 months to a year, those single core phones that perform decent right now will be like trying to use your pentium 4 pc to run the latest non-linear video editing software - in other words pretty useless. They are selling them for a penny for a reason - that is more then they will be worth in a year. The Bionic will be amazing for a year and then by the end of year 2 with it you are going to want to upgrade, just as all of us OG DRoiders are doing now.

 

[YourMobileGuru]

There is nothing wrong with the screen. Yes the others are brighter but honestly if you buy this phone and start using it and stop comparing it to others after a while it wont bother you anymore.

Revolution, Charge, and Thunderbolt all have amazing screens, among the best on the market. They also have abysmal battery life. The choice is yours, but I also have a Droid 3 which has the same screen and it does not bother me in the slightest.

EDIT: and to directly address your question -- yes the phone is worth every penny and then some.

 

[Mapex]

Bionic screen is plenty bright IMO. What's not cool is how disgustingly aliased everything else, no thanks to the Pentile technology. At least you had to kind of squint on a smaller screen to notice those pixels but dayummm the Bionic screen is just fugly. I fear for the Nexus Prime now because they will be using Pentile for the Super AMOLED HD and the huge screen size may make the fugliness very noticeable. Hopefully the res is high enough to hide it, however.

 

[xoomer1]

I dont know what your looking at, but I can only compare my bionic to my X, I wont compare phones in the store, there is not enough time and you dont get to actually use the phone. But compared ot my X, the screen is brighter, colors more vivid, grtaphics are sharper. I help them up side by side, open the same apps at the same time, birds rio and office jerk, reds are red, yellow is yellow, green is green, no patches, no squares, wicked fast, bright screen, very good upgrade from the X, but if you dont like it get what you do like. I like it, but I have also played with it almost 12 hours now.. not a few minutes like others are doing when complaining.

 

[starbiker99]

I went in to buy the Bionic today but after 15 minutes I decided to wait I have the Fascinate now plus an X on the shelf and have been due for an upgrade since Feb. Nice phone but not worth a 2 yr commitment. Got to love craigslist.

 

[sux2bu]

I dont know what your looking at, but I can only compare my bionic to my X, I wont compare phones in the store, there is not enough time and you dont get to actually use the phone. But compared ot my X, the screen is brighter, colors more vivid, grtaphics are sharper. I help them up side by side, open the same apps at the same time, birds rio and office jerk, reds are red, yellow is yellow, green is green, no patches, no squares, wicked fast, bright screen, very good upgrade from the X, but if you dont like it get what you do like. I like it, but I have also played with it almost 12 hours now.. not a few minutes like others are doing when complaining.

You must have a very crappy Droid X. I too moved up from a Droid X and there is definitely a big pixelation issue with the Bionic. The screen is just so much smother on the DX, the colors are more real looking. The colors on the Bionic just lookplain over saturated. Both phones on FULL bright the DX is just a hair brighter than the Bionic. So far the DX also takes better night pictures (I will try some day pictures tomorrow).

The Bionic obviously kills the DX on speed. I open web pages up and the Bionic winns 99% of the time at almost twice the speed.

All in all I am happy even if the screen sucks.

 

[xoomer1]

I have two X's, guess they are both crappy.. well.... they are now that I have the Bionic