Bionic vs. Samsung Charge??

[MsRed]

I have the OG Droid and have been eligible for an upgrade for some time. The battery is on its last leg, so I went into a Verizon store to check out a couple phones. I went in expecting to get a Bionic. The Razr is very cool, I just can't justify the extra $100 right now. I also like the idea of swapping out a second battery later down the road.

The rep was trying to sell me on a Samsung Charge. He said the battery life is much longer. Reviews I've briefly looked at don't seem to agree. The other thing that makes me hesitate is that the Charge has been out for some time. Might there be less action in terms of app development and OS updates?

Lastly, the rep tried to tell me the Bionic is $249, instead of the $199 I saw on VZW's site. What gives on that??

 

[1812dave]

You can get the bionic at Costco for $199 with a bunch of accessories AND a 90 day return/price adjustment period. I bought my wife's bionic there for $289. Recently they gave me a credit card credit for $90 due to the price reduction.

I like my Bionic. I passed on the Charge when it came out. Didn't like the screen or sound quality.

 

[MsRed]

I don't have a Costco membership, but a co-worker does. I take it VZW has a kiosk set up in there?

A friend has had Samsung and experienced quite a lot of trouble with hers.

 

[doogald]

IThe rep was trying to sell me on a Samsung Charge. He said the battery life is much longer. Reviews I've briefly looked at don't seem to agree. The other thing that makes me hesitate is that the Charge has been out for some time. Might there be less action in terms of app development and OS updates?

anandtech does fantastic reviews, and battery life measurements are part of it. This is from the Razr review, but compares that with the Bionic and the Charge, and the Bionic beats the Charge in every measure - check out the talk time in particular:

AnandTech - Motorola Droid RAZR Review - A Better Clad Bionic

If I was getting a Samsung LTE phone right now, I'd easily get the Galaxy Nexus over the Charge.

 

[1812dave]

I don't have a Costco membership, but a co-worker does. I take it VZW has a kiosk set up in there?

A friend has had Samsung and experienced quite a lot of trouble with hers.

Yes, they have a wireless kiosk.

 

[Stelv]

I am not trying to say the charge is bad...but its not good. My cousin has it. The technology in that phone is about a year behind the bionic. If you like lag, bad performance/memory management, poor gps, but awesome screen and ok battery get the charge. If you like super fast great performance, awesome accessories, good screen, good gps, good build quality, and future updates like Android 4.0 then get the Bionic. In other words get the Bionic.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[jcrome04]

Charge sucks... IMHO

check out the Rezound. It is amazing. Huge screen yet doesn't feel much bigger than original DInc.

Bionic is a great phone too.

 

[jcrome04]

Let me clarify. I have the bionic and absolutely love it. Powerful, fast, and I love the HD mirroring capabilities. After the last maintenance update the camera is amazing.

My sister just got the Rezound. Amazing screen, audio, camera. And free $100 headphones. This phone deserves MUCH more hype than it is getting. The new version of sense is awesome also

 

[Stelv]

Yea I like the Rezound too. I use to love Sense but don't like Sense 3.5. I ran it on my inc2 and there is too much animation for me. It was a little laggy in store when I tried the Rezound out. The Rezound is suppose to have great data connection though. I think I still like the bionic better.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[the53rdcard]

When my wife went to get her new phone and i had an upgrade ready, the verizon rep talked me into the charge, i just returned it for the bionic yesterday, i was holding out to see the galaxy nexus, but ended up getting the bionic because it was $200 cheaper for me, and will get ICS eventually. and to be honest, the nexus didn't really impress, it reminded me to much of the charge, and just didnt have a solid feel to it. (and when the back cover snapped off and the battery fell out as soon as i picked it up, and the rep said i was the first to look at it, that didn't inspire confidence)

The charge also lost all data near once a day, and i live in an area where 4g is available, my wife's rezound has not dropped it once, and at least as long as i have had the bionic it hasn't either. Battery life, they seem about the same really. Contacts on the bionic are handled MUCH better then on the rezound or the charge, as in you actual can have some quick icons on a home page, as a widget that groups them, and not just a bunch of individual widgets one for each.

And, even compared to my wife's rezound the call quality on the bionic is the best of the 3 phones mentioned here. The charge had lots of feedback

The bionic is superior to the charge in every way, even screen, in the store the screens brightness is turned down, and the charge screen looks better, but you turn them both up, then you can see that the on screen text and icons on the bionic are sharper then the charge, i think the charge has a lower res so everything is a bit bigger and easier to read, that is what makes the charge appear to have a better display, when you look close though you can see the difference. the other thing that makes the charge appear better (at least from someone who came from a droid x) is that it is colorful, motorola doesn't exactly make a colorful interface. and you have no idea how much i would love to change it

But that being said, there is one thing that my wife's rezound and the charge i had for near 2 weeks have that the bionic does not, on my droid x i always got a process.gapps has force closed, and i have not see that at all on the charge or the rezound in 2 weeks of heavy use, but i got my bionic yesterday and have seen it already 3 times, seems to be linked to my gmail app, but i have the sync on it turned as low as it will go, and only for inbox, still get it even after clearing all the app data. A buddy has a droid 3 that also gets this, so my guess is, it might have something to do with moto.

 

[Stelv]

If gmail if giving you issues you can try k9 mail. I use it cuz I have multiple email accounts. I am not sure what the gmail problem is cuz I don't use it. I would tell you to clear cache but its sounds like you did already.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[CarryMe]

Lastly, the rep tried to tell me the Bionic is $249, instead of the $199 I saw on VZW's site. What gives on that??

Bionic is $180, free 2 day ship from Amazon wireless for existing VZ customers eligible for upgrade. And no tax for most people except orders shipped to destinations in the states of Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota, or Washington are subject to tax.

Charge is 1cent.

The reason the phones cost more in the store is because the sales reps get paid a commission. If you are willing to buy directly from the website and wait to have the device shipped, you can save money.

 

[expertandrew]

unless they are paying you, do not take the charge.

i had the charge and after about 3 months i hate life while trying to use it. Finally after hours on the phone i was able to convince Verizon what a piece of junk the charge was and forced them to give me a different phone.

the gps lock on the charge even after the update was 5+ minutes for me. the bionic seems instant. in-terms of speed, build quality and battery life the bionic wins hands down. the only thing the charge has going for it is the screen, but after a few days you dont even notice the pixelation of the bionic screen.

 

[MsRed]

I went with the Bionic. Waiting wasn't too much of an option for me. I went to another store and had a much better experience. It's a beautiful phone and crazy fast. Love it!

 

[Stelv]

Congrats on your new Bionic!

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[jcrome04]

Congrats man you'll love it. Get on Newegg and order yourself a micro HDMI to HDMI cable

 

[cmgeek]

I had the Charge and had so many problems with it. Reboots, data drops (for 20-30 minutes / both 3G and 4G), the list goes on. Verizon sent me a Bionic and I have been fairly happy with it. The phone in general is awesome, but just a few minor complaints. First, the camera sucks. The picture quality is terrible. I have been using HDR+ and get great pictures, but doesn't work well inside with a 19 month kid. She just won't sit still long enough to get great pictures. The other thing I don't like is the screen. The quality is really poor compared to the Charge.

All that said, the battery life is better, I don't get lockups, the speed is incredible. In addition to that Motorola does a great job rolling out updates. The Charge has been out since May and JUST NOW got Gingerbread. If you don't want to put up the cash for a RAZR or Nexus I would highly recommend the Bionic over any other Android phone available right now.

 

[themagicm]

The Charge is a piece of crap. I had all sorts of issues...and its SLOW.

Is this a valid question? Bionic vs. Charge? LOL.

 

[junksecret]

I also came to my bionic from a charge, well three charges in 10 days actually. I totally agree with the previous poster cmgeek. The charge screen was superb and it was easy to root and rom but I had connectivity and call quality issues that were deal breakers.

The bionic handles the 4g handoffs much better for me, rarely a data issue and call quality is solid.

I do find it funny that I waited for the nexus and then read the forums after release and heard many of the same complaints I had with my charge, then vz offered to swap a bionic and I read these forums, which also had data complaints, etc. I guess it's diff for everyone but the bionic has turned out the best for me for now.