Want to upgrade to Droid 4, are issues still bad?

[Fredo_p]

Hey everyone.

I'm coming up on my upgrade with Verizon and have been looking at the Droid 4 for some time now. But recently I have seen a massive out pour of negative reviews with the JB update. From back light issues to screens locking and not waking back up requiring a reboot, battery usage increasing, and an overheating issue that locks the phone up.

I currently use the original Droid (yup, still use it). Sadly, I dropped it a while back and killed the screen. The phone is pretty much on life support and is still usable, when the random screen jumping from the cracked screen stops.

I am a big slide out/QWERTY pad user and hate having to use the phones screen to type. I know I missed out on the Droid 2 and 3, so I don't know the way Motorola has been heading regarding the Droid line. With these current issues that are plaguing many users, is it still safe to get the Droid 4 as my upgrade phone? The only smartphone that I know and have ever used was the Droid 1 so I have a hard time trying to look at other brands of Android phones with a slide out keyboard.

From what I can see, I may be disappointed and have to look elsewhere. These OS related bugs seem to have been ongoing long enough for Motorola and Verizon to try and get them resolved, yet I don't see anyone posting about one being released and working. Also, Google's recent change to their Play system has killed what little memory I had left.

So give me your thoughts on the Droid 4. Is it worth the risk? Is it working better now? Can you live with the random bugs that JB has brought on? Are their any other brands that you could recommend I look at?
:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

 

[kittenhawk]

I just got my Droid 4 this week, and I have to say I love it so far. (I upgraded from a Milestone 1, which I think is pretty similar to a droid 1).

My only complaint is that the buttons are smooth instead of matte, so when i press the keys with my fingernails they start to slide off.

With the phone itself, and CM 10, I haven't had any weird software/lighting issues, everything is really smooth and working great.

 

[taylorz_412]

Honestly unless you absolutely need a full physical keyboard there are many better options of Verizon than that. Phones like a droid razr hd/maxx, galaxy s3 and s4, droid DNA.

 

[Fredo_p]

It is not really a requirement, but I can not stand placing the phone in landscape, then selecting a field to enter text, and have the screen turn into a keyboard and a line for text. I like to be able to see the screen/app as I type, just in case I needed to scroll to look for something as a reference.

As for my other issue, my wife is the only one who is employed and I am currently a Stay-at-home-Dad (or house ***** as my wife puts it ), so money is always an issue. I just realized that I read the date wrong and am up for an upgrade and can only look for a phone with an upgrade price of $99. The Droid 4 is one of the only phones that I see which fits the price and features I seek. What really sucks is that I am still being grandfathered into my wife's half of our family share plan with unlimited data. So when I get my new phone, I will lose the unlimited data. That really sucks. ***SIGH***

 

[Fredo_p]

Kittenhawk,

That is great to read that your Droid 4 is working for you. I would like to know if your Droid 4 has the latest update installed before you rooted it with CM 10? Or did you get it, update it, and then install CM as soon as you got it?

I have seen those few owners that claim to have never had any issues ever. But something tells me they might not be legit reviews. It took me a while to figure out what CM was. Now that I have had a look at the sight, I think I might consider following your choices. How are you liking CM 10?

 

[add119]

i have droid 4 rooted without custom rom....
it very smooth some of these comment are silly this phone is basicly droid razr or bionic w/o super amoled and removable battery.

this guy who owned atrix hd,droid razr,bionic and 3 and other previous own dual core phone. moto make the best hardware and decent design.

 

[Fredo_p]

Well, I bit and got the Droid 4. I used the transfer trick and managed to keep my unlimited plan so double points for me. As far as the issues with the Droid 4 goes, I have seen nothing wrong with mine. The battery does drain fast and the phone almost wants to catch on fire. But I can see how this is possible with the amount of apps running and the processor clocked at what it is.

I've been able to tweak with standard apps and have managed to keep the heat down and have battery use last me almost 12 hrs. But it's dropped down today as I left the background updates running and its at 53% after being unplugged for 7hrs.

I'm now getting ready to check out CM 10.1.2 and see if I really want to install it. Still 50/50 on it.

 

[markathome99]

I've had the Droid4 for a year now. I love the phone. After the upgrade to Jellybean, 4.2.1, just do a factory reset to ensure everything applies correctly and prevent those odd keyboard issues.
If you expect to use the SMS text messaging, hands free, with other devices, such as Ford Sync, Garmin, etc., the 4.2.1 update breaks this functionality on the Droid4. Do not get this phone if you want to use Bluetooth MAP. If you have this phone, and needed that to work, and it stopped working with 4.2.1, contact Motorola for replacement of your Droid4.
If you don't need hands free text messaging with a system such as Ford Sync, this is an awesome phone!

 

[Fredo_p]

I've had the Droid4 for a year now. I love the phone. After the upgrade to Jellybean, 4.2.1, just do a factory reset to ensure everything applies correctly and prevent those odd keyboard issues.

You mentioned 4.2.1 is this what you have on the Droid4? I just checked and i have 4.1.2 installed. I also checked with Motorola and it states that the latest release is version 98.72.18.XT894.Verizon.en.US. I checked and for some reason mine states build 9.8.2O-72_VZW-18-2.

If you expect to use the SMS text messaging, hands free, with other devices, such as Ford Sync, Garmin, etc., the 4.2.1 update breaks this functionality on the Droid4. Do not get this phone if you want to use Bluetooth MAP. If you have this phone, and needed that to work, and it stopped working with 4.2.1, contact Motorola for replacement of your Droid4.
If you don't need hands free text messaging with a system such as Ford Sync, this is an awesome phone!

I don't plan on using hands free text messaging with any system. I rarely, more never use, any hands free/motion detection/voice command, software/apps.

But I am still looking into CM10, but I have no clue where to find a user manual or a decent review on CM10 with the Droid4.

 

[wabyrd]

What is the transfer trick to keep unlimited data? My wife's phone is on the way out and we were looking at buying on eBay to replace it so we don't lose unlimited data.

Well, I bit and got the Droid 4. I used the transfer trick and managed to keep my unlimited plan so double points for me. As far as the issues with the Droid 4 goes, I have seen nothing wrong with mine. The battery does drain fast and the phone almost wants to catch on fire. But I can see how this is possible with the amount of apps running and the processor clocked at what it is.

I've been able to tweak with standard apps and have managed to keep the heat down and have battery use last me almost 12 hrs. But it's dropped down today as I left the background updates running and its at 53% after being unplugged for 7hrs.

I'm now getting ready to check out CM 10.1.2 and see if I really want to install it. Still 50/50 on it.

 

[Fredo_p]

What is the transfer trick to keep unlimited data? My wife's phone is on the way out and we were looking at buying on eBay to replace it so we don't lose unlimited data.

I think it will only work from a Verizon upgrade purchase. I don't know if it will apply to a purchase made outside of Verizon.

In regards to the transfer trick, here is the post on how its done:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/verizon/227608-instruction-how-keep-unlimited-data-verizon.html

Here is the exact post on how exactly its done:

How to Keep Unlimited Data-Currently in a Family Share Plan-with this method, you must meet 2 criterion. First, you must currently already be on a Family Share (not Share Everything) plan and second, you need to have an upgrade available on a basic line that is currently on that plan.

(1)Figure out which lines are available for upgrade within your plan. DO NOT use an upgrade that currently has unlimited unless you have no other choice because you will lose unlimited data on that line. Example: You have a family share plan with 3 lines. 2 are smartphones both with unlimited data and 1 is a basic phone with no data. You would want to use the basic phone line for the upgrade. If you only currently have 2 lines and both are smartphones with unlimited data, using this method, you will have to lose unlimited on one of the lines in order to upgrade but you can switch the newly purchased phone over to the unlimited line.

(2)Use which ever line you chose for upgrade, ideally a basic line, and purchase the new phone at the subsidized price making sure that you are using the basic line upgrade and not your unlimited line upgrade. You will have to temporarily add data(choose the 2gb $30 plan) to that line and you'll see why in STEP (3).

(3)Once you receive your new phone, activate it onto the line that you used to upgrade which will deactivate the current phone on that line. <--This is very important. You CANNOT just activate the newly purchased phone directly to another line because you must first activate it on the line you used to upgrade to complete the upgrade and subsidized price process. If you were to activate directly to a line other than the line you used to upgrade and that line had unlimited data, you would lose unlimited because Verizon would think you used that unlimited line to purchased the upgrade.
(a)In order to be able to purchase a smartphone using an upgrade of a basic line, you will have to temporarily add a data plan that will be removed almost immediately. Verizon will most likely charge a prorated data plan cost at $1 provided you selected the $30 2gb plan stated in STEP (2)<--This is a cost that I have not been able to verify yet but I have been told you may have to pay a little more or nothing at all.

(4)Now that you have activated the new smartphone onto the basic line, it's time to free that nice new phone up to be used on your unlimited line. In order to do that, you have to reactivate which ever phone was originally on the line that you used to upgrade. This will deactivate the new phone and free it up for activation and use on your unlimited line and it will also drop the data plan that you had to add provided you reactivated a basic phone back to its number. I would still call VZW and make sure that the data plan has dropped but it should do so automatically.

(5)Congratulations!! You are now free to activate your new subsidized phone onto any of your unlimited lines. You can activate online or in store no problem!!

WARNING: It is advised that you do not activate the phone in store. Many have reported that when attempting to activate in store, employees told them that they had to update their plan, ending thier unlimited data. So at any cost, perform the activation from home.