Major Bionic Issues, Anyone else?

[JustLeft]

As long as you are within 15 days (which you obviously are) then it should not be a problem as long as you get another of the same phone. Switch models and you would (likely) pay a restock fee.

I thought with vzw you could exchange the phone for a new one within 30 days? I thought the 15 days was for canceling the line and returning the phone.

 

[beracing]

No real operational issues for me, but just annoying stuff like my contacts are getting duplicated, triplicated, etc when I add an account to one my emails, FB, etc... New to Droid, so I'm scratching my head how to de-dupe my contacts!! I delete entries and then is sync's them right back!!

 

[D1andOnlyOmen]

I think I may have had a similar issue to the OP.....got my phone on Thursday, didn't have any issues that I really noticed that day, unless the very activation of the phone was an issue. When I first turned it on (didn't have this done at Costco when I bought it, wanted to do it myself), when the first screen popped up to go through the phone setup, when I would hit the Android logo to start the process, it give me a weird message like it couldn't proceed or something, can't recall exactly what it said. I shut down the phone and restarted it and then it seemed to act fine from that point, no other issues the rest of thursday, used it pretty heavily.

Was at work Friday, we didn't have internet access which I need to pretty access anything I need to work on, so spent the entire time practically from 8am - 1pm (when I left early because we STILL didn't have internet connection) on the phone still working on getting familiar with Android (newbie) and setting it up to my liking. I don't have access to WiFi at work and my 3G (no 4G here yet) data connection just was kind of gone (no icon in Notification bar, only could see signal strength meter). not really even sure if I was getting/sending txt msgs or not...didn't try a phone call. Restarted the phone and that seemed to fix it......

Yesterday we were tailgating and I got separated from my fiancee and daughter and my fiancee said she tried calling me a couple of times when we found each other. I should have been able to hear my phone but when I checked it, I had no record of any missed calls or voicemails or txts.....3G icon was showing, signal strength was only at one bar which seemed odd, normally pretty good signal where we were. I tried making a call myself, screen seemed to look as though it was calling, but no call actually went though, was just like "dead air" and then when I tried to press the end call, it came up with a phone dialer message and a force close. Reset the phone and it worked after that, new voicemail message popped up that I missed from earlier....

Wondering if I could have a lemon or what the deal is. Really like the phone for the most part so far....nothing else VZW has right now is anything I want.....


EDIT: adding to the issue from tailgating yesterday - I think whatever the issue may have been with the phone dialer/or voice signal....that maybe have really drained on the battery too.....I didn't really use it too much, my daughter played Angry Birds a couple of times for like maybe 30 min total and my battery seemed to run down much quicker than I would have anticipated for the kind of use it had yesterday, compared to how it lasted on Friday when I was on it almost non-stop for 5hrs with minimal down time.....

 

[stockandroidguy]

My phone did this yesterday. On my way home I picked it up to check my email and it was off. I tried repeatedly to power it back on with the power button, but no joy. Pulled the battery and it powered back up. I think it may have shutdown while transitioning from 4g to 3G. My Thunderbolt never handled that transition well.

Until 4g is 100% in my area I'm likely to set the phone to CDMA-only. We'll see if it occurs again.

This is exactly what happened to me too and mine also transitions between 3g and 4g a lot too. Have you decided to return it.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[Latteart]

No real operational issues for me, but just annoying stuff like my contacts are getting duplicated, triplicated, etc when I add an account to one my emails, FB, etc... New to Droid, so I'm scratching my head how to de-dupe my contacts!! I delete entries and then is sync's them right back!!

You need to go into the sync settings and disable contact syncing.

 

[Fernie O.]

I think I may have had a similar issue to the OP.....got my phone on Thursday, didn't have any issues that I really noticed that day, unless the very activation of the phone was an issue. When I first turned it on (didn't have this done at Costco when I bought it, wanted to do it myself), when the first screen popped up to go through the phone setup, when I would hit the Android logo to start the process, it give me a weird message like it couldn't proceed or something, can't recall exactly what it said. I shut down the phone and restarted it and then it seemed to act fine from that point, no other issues the rest of thursday, used it pretty heavily.

Was at work Friday, we didn't have internet access which I need to pretty access anything I need to work on, so spent the entire time practically from 8am - 1pm (when I left early because we STILL didn't have internet connection) on the phone still working on getting familiar with Android (newbie) and setting it up to my liking. I don't have access to WiFi at work and my 3G (no 4G here yet) data connection just was kind of gone (no icon in Notification bar, only could see signal strength meter). not really even sure if I was getting/sending txt msgs or not...didn't try a phone call. Restarted the phone and that seemed to fix it......

Yesterday we were tailgating and I got separated from my fiancee and daughter and my fiancee said she tried calling me a couple of times when we found each other. I should have been able to hear my phone but when I checked it, I had no record of any missed calls or voicemails or txts.....3G icon was showing, signal strength was only at one bar which seemed odd, normally pretty good signal where we were. I tried making a call myself, screen seemed to look as though it was calling, but no call actually went though, was just like "dead air" and then when I tried to press the end call, it came up with a phone dialer message and a force close. Reset the phone and it worked after that, new voicemail message popped up that I missed from earlier....

Wondering if I could have a lemon or what the deal is. Really like the phone for the most part so far....nothing else VZW has right now is anything I want.....


EDIT: adding to the issue from tailgating yesterday - I think whatever the issue may have been with the phone dialer/or voice signal....that maybe have really drained on the battery too.....I didn't really use it too much, my daughter played Angry Birds a couple of times for like maybe 30 min total and my battery seemed to run down much quicker than I would have anticipated for the kind of use it had yesterday, compared to how it lasted on Friday when I was on it almost non-stop for 5hrs with minimal down time.....

It too about 24 hours for my Bionic to even activate and after that all I get is 3G for about 30 seconds and drops off.....all I get is a red circle with a line through it over the signal bars and my wifes D3 had full signal in the same area. Verizon's sending a new unit and I should have it Tuesday. I hope the new unit doesn't have the same problem or I guess I'll have to wait for a different phone to come out. It sucks because I at least managed to get wifi set up and I like the way it runs.....

 

[TerrorTodd]

Most of these sound like network issues or derivatives of network issues.

1. Power down the phone
2. Remove the batter door and battery
3. Remove the SIM card
4. Keep the SIM card out for a minimum of 30 seconds but I would suggest at least a minute
5. Put the phone back together and power it up

See if that helps.

You mentioned it crashing during activation. You didn't do a *228 on the Bionic did you? You should never do that on a 4G phone, The steps above accomplish the same thing (forcing the phone to disconnect and re-register with the network).

Why would you never do a *228 on a 4G phone?

 

[TerrorTodd]

I just had my data drop out tonight and had the triangle you speak of. It just dropped 3G in the middle of a download. Had to reboot to get it back on and it has been fine since. I am not in a 4g area, so I have mine set for CDMA only.

The other issue I have had that is more bothersome to me is my phone often does not activate the bedside program when I insert it into the home dock. I use it as my alarm clock and I often have to plug it in and out several times to get it to activate. Seems to activate fine in the car dock though, so it might just be the dock. Anyone else experiencing that issue?

I thought the same thing when I put mine in the home dock. You have to select how you want the phone to behave when you dock it and to see that there is a selection you have to have the phone on and pointed to home so you can see the message. I had mine on the lock screen and didn't see it until I had docked it a few times. Hope that works for you...

 

[kca2000]

Why would you never do a *228 on a 4G phone?

Im sure if verizon would let it happen it could do something wrong to the programming of the phone. You dont need to do it because the phone runs activation and programs the phone off the Sim. So no need to call the number. Once the sim ID goes through the phone is ready to use.

If you try *228 on the bionic, it tells you the phone has been activated via sim and the call is not needed.



UPDATE TO ISSUES.

Updating everyone on my problems from the OP. Yesterday was a complete nightmare with the data. Dropped all connection for about 30 minutes. No calls/Text came though. Rebooted the phone. Just 3g came back in a known 4g area. Went to use google music yesterday after a reinstall. Data dropped as soon as i opened it. Anyone else having issues with streaming google music???
Phone app crashed and kept force closing when trying to make a phone call. Had to reboot 6 times total yesterday to fix that.
Another thing that was really ridiculous. Friend of mine wanted to see/play with the phone. I told him i was having issues but said i would reboot and let him toy around, figured he would get 30 min.
As soon as it rebooted and i gave him the phone he saw the launcher/phone/data shutdown within 5 minutes. Never saw LTE light up either, once again in known good 4g area.
Now i see the blinking triangle more then the 3g symbol.

Phones going back tomorrow (Monday). Ill keep that one for a week. If there is not SIGNIFICANT improvements ill be returning the phone, For GOOD.

 

[YourMobileGuru]

I thought with vzw you could exchange the phone for a new one within 30 days? I thought the 15 days was for canceling the line and returning the phone.

No it hasn't been that way in a couple years. You have 15 days to return the phone (restock fee will normally apply) and 3 (that's THREE) days to return the phone and owe them nothing (ie they wont charge you for your usage, activation fee, etc)

 

[YourMobileGuru]

Why would you never do a *228 on a 4G phone?

Because they use a different activation system than the older CDMA devices even though they are backward compatible to CDMA. As the post ahead of me said the phone is programmed via the SIM card like GSM and iDEN (Nextel) phones are.

 

[Jude526]

Like I had mentioned earlier it could be the signal. I would try it on 3G and see if keeping it on CDMA works better than having the device choose which signal to use. Some areas of the network may not be perfect and the phone is trying to find the best signal to use. I don't have 4G in my home area and keeping it at CDMA does make it work better for me.

 

[kca2000]

Like I had mentioned earlier it could be the signal. I would try it on 3G and see if keeping it on CDMA works better than having the device choose which signal to use. Some areas of the network may not be perfect and the phone is trying to find the best signal to use. I don't have 4G in my home area and keeping it at CDMA does make it work better for me.

I do have 4g in my home and everywhere around for the most part.
Im sorry, but i have no interest in having an LTE device just to turn the LTE off all the time. Yesterday i had the signal drop from a 3 bar LTE connection to a triangle immediately in a park while listening to pandora while my buddies charge doing the same thing kept chugging along. Plus i dont see the signal having anything to do with the random reboots, launcher crashes, and black screens after unlock on boot up. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Podz]

Thought i would share some of major issues with the Bionic and I figured this couldn't be normal to have the device with this many issues happen but here is the list:

Battery Life with heavy use is like 2 hours if that....

The Device tends to get hot when using/looking for LTE in none 4G areas.

Market, Browser and other apps then to close with NO force..

Tends to tell me there is no LTE/3G service in area with 3 bars of 3G signal in the none 4G area and will cycle from triangle to 4g and back..

Poor building of LCD screen when pressing on screen and back cover you can break the LCD from inside out when there is no support in back other then sharp chips with EMI shielding plates..

Screen Coating failed on the device i cant for the life understand why they put coating on the glass if it so poor that it flacks off the gorilla glass in 2 days of use "Rubbing your fingers all over the glass plate and check for black spots is the way u can check for this issue"..

When holding the Device it will make noises like its about to fall apart due to the poor clipped in plastic and cheap cover that they used like HTC puts in there phones ....

Browser is shuttering like crazy feels like its running at 4-10 fps when scrolling and so do market and other apps feels like its not a dual-core device... maybe issue with OMAP...

Market when downloading app will tell me it has no connection with 4 Bars of 3G and will get stuck in loading screen and sit there...

The Mobile Hotspot works good when u can turn it on other wise i get "Please Order Hotspot from Verizon Error"

Mobile Hotspot will tell me Unknown Device when trying to connect the device to the Bionic... only fix is rebooting the Bionic to fix it.....

Screen on the bottom were the keys are is bleeding light also.....

The Handset when plugged will have an added buzzing noise in the background..

LCD Screen Brightness on loading logo will have this flickering going on if u look at the device from top down....

When pulling the battery out of device is a real pain and can damage the sim/sdcard due to the battery being so flush with the plastic and hard to pull out if u need to reset it..

From the looks of it this is definitely defective after calling Verizon many complaints about the issues have been reported will be taking it back to store sometime today......

 

[tank4gunner]

I am haveing the same problem with the data connection. I have my bionic sitting here next to my wifes Droid X and the x has full signal and 3g where the bionic has no data connection at all. I called Verizon this morning but their system is down so they said they cant help me. I may just take the thing back this afternoon.

I finally got an answer from VZW and I feel like an idiot. I just needed to turn on DATA roaming. It can be found at Settings>Battery & data manager>Data delivery. Then just check the box next to data roaming and say ok when it asks you if you are sure.

 

[corymcnutt]

@Podz - I'm sorry, but you couldn't possibly have a Moto Bionic...your one post gives you away; take your hatred somewhere else...PLEASE!

 

[Droid800]

@Podz - I'm sorry, but you couldn't possibly have a Moto Bionic...your one post gives you away; take your hatred somewhere else...PLEASE!

As I posted earlier, the screen temp is oddly off.

http://forums.androidcentral.com/droid-bionic/117888-screen-temperature.html

 

[finfan365]

I've been looking around forums for the past few days to see if anyone else was having these problems. I have to say, mine aren't nearly as bad as the OP's. I realize, I tend to be a bit picky, so I wasn't sure if it was my own OCD that was the issue or the phone. I've been having the data loss issues with mine, but no random reboots, or locked screens.

Most of my trouble has been with moving back into a 4g area from a 3g. I'll often have to go in and out of airplane mode to get it to find 4g, or even data, again. Even then the signal strength is nowhere near as strong as my wife's Charge. She's always a couple of bars stronger than my Bionic.

I think I'll take mine in for exchange today, and see if a different phone resolves the issue, but if not, I plan on returning and waiting for the Revolution2, if it comes Bingless, or the HTC Vigor.

 

[bbaker5678]

I picked up my Bionic first thing Thursday morning from my local store in NC. Shortly after that my daughter and I took off for a weekend trip to IL. The phone is fantastic and I've had none of the rebooting issues that I've seen mentioned. Battery life is decent - although I did buy the spare battery & now think that I was a genius for doing that.

I have only had the following two problems:

1) Apps tend to uninstall themselves - the app is on the home-screen, but when I try to launch it shows that it is not installed. Checking the app list shows that the app is not on my phone and I have to go to market to re-install.

2) Data Connectivity Issues - as a few others noted I've had the problem with switching from 4G to 3G and losing signal in the process. After a few minutes I get it back. Also, when in a roaming area I have no data. All settings are correct and data roaming is turned on. I saw this over the course of my trip and also noticed that when roaming I would have people tell me that they tried to call or text but when I checked my phone there were no missed calls/texts.

I live in a 4G market and the phone is great at home. Unfortunately, I work an hour north and I spend my day roaming. Switched to Wi-Fi while I'm in the office.

Guess I'll be making a trip past the VZW store by the house tonight.

 

[gdad]

The only issue for me is not being able to keep apps installed on the SD card. Seems to randomly uninstall apps. Not necessarily the same apps each time. I wonder if the SD card is defective? 4G is not available in my area yet, so I hope that will not be a problem as others have described when it's turned on in a couple of months.