Talk me into, or out, of a Bionic

[3rdpig]

I'm currently using a Droid 2 and I want a larger screen phone, I want LTE and a dual core processor. I want a phone with a quality build. I also want a removable battery and a screen I can see well outside. And I must, and I mean MUST, have a phone that's capable of making quality voice calls even in low signal strength areas. Oh, and I want a phone that's going to get ICS.

I don't care about thin, light or sexy. I don't care about a super hi res screen.

Tell me why the Biionic wouldn't suit my needs. And if not the Bionic, what? My contract was over August last year, I'm tired of waiting.

 

[WebOS Refugee]

The Bionic would seem to meet all of your criteria, with the possible exception of the dual processor (present in hardware, but my understanding is that it won't be fully used until ICS comes out sometime later this year). It was a heck of a phone when it was announced, was then badly introduced several months later, as a result of which the price has ramped down sharply over the course of the last couple of months. The upside for cheapskates like me is that the bang-for-buck ratio, which was pretty fair at its original price point, has skyrocketed with that price drop.

Like you, I ran without a contract for several months, waiting for the Next Big Leap in smartphone evolution. That hasn't arrived yet, but the Bionic will fill in nicely until it does.

 

[bbycrts]

I love my Bionic. It is FAST - the fastest download speed I've seen with speedtest.net is 32MBPs. That's faster than my home network can manage. Call quality has been great, I've had zero problems. Love it love it love it.

 

[bear_lx]

was on ios with an iphone 4, swithced to a windows phone ( which is really fast and smooth too) and decided to come back to android for my own reasons... i too searched long and hard about which phone to get. i needed reliablity and something that i knew would get future updates, primarily ICS. so i landed on the bionic, and couldnt be happier. not too mention it IS the best bang for the buck out right now, period. this phone is very fast, and surprisingly smooth compared to ios and wp7. 1 gb of ram is also very nice! there is a 902 update right now which fixes data drops, and other than that i dont know of any major issues with the phone? this is also the first android phone i didnt want to root, because you dont need to! everything works exactly like it is supposed to. camera quality is nice, speakers are nice, screen quality is also nice with the pentile display (super bright), and has 16gb of onboard memory and will support 32gb sd card.

so i recommend it!

 

[Lee_Bo]

+1 to all the comments above.

 

[conanbarb]

As a little incentive, Costco has it on sale for $59.99 and are throwing in a battery charger and vehicle nav for free

DROID BIONIC by MOTOROLA - 32GB (Verizon Wireless) | Costco Wireless

 

[gmonkey88]

I have had my bionic for a month, and I can tell you its a solid phone. The .902 update brought many needed fixes. Data connection is solid, battery life is much better than some other LTE phones, and the build quality is very nice. I would give it an A-.

Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

 

[3rdpig]

Thanks for all the replies, I think I'm going to pull the trigger on this tomorrow. Still deciding on where to buy. Amazon has it for $49, Wirefly for $49 and a $30 VZ gift card, and Costco for $89 with an accessory kit.

Maybe I'll swing by a VZ store and see what they'll do for me but honestly I don't expect much.

Oh, and I've got to make sure I don't lose my unlimited data.

 

[conanbarb]

The 16GB version has a deal for $.01 at Amazon right now. The 32GB version is $29.99.

Like everybody else, the 902 update has made a drastic difference in performance/stability and I haven't had a Black Screen of Death since the update

AmazonWireless: Motorola DROID BIONIC 4G Android Phone, 16GB (Verizon Wireless)

 

[Zorro1]

I have had a RAZR since it popped, my wife went for the Bionic last week, and I have to say that I'm impressed. It's actually sized MUCH better! in the hand, screen and speed are the same to me. The only differences that I can find is that you don't get SmartActions (but folks say Tasker is even better in the market), and you don't get Files that I can see, where you can access your pc files with the phone. Otherwise, maybe I like it better.

 

[bear_lx]

upgrading might cause you to lose your unlimioted data? i doubt they will keep people grandfathered forever... if so and you want to keep it, i bought mine off contract on ebay for 199.00 in mint condition

 

[3rdpig]

upgrading might cause you to lose your unlimioted data? i doubt they will keep people grandfathered forever... if so and you want to keep it, i bought mine off contract on ebay for 199.00 in mint condition

Everything I've read says that when you're upgrading from a smart phone to another smart phone you don't lose unlimited data.

I guess I'm about to find out. :-\

 

[3rdpig]

The 16GB version has a deal for $.01 at Amazon right now. The 32GB version is $29.99.

Like everybody else, the 902 update has made a drastic difference in performance/stability and I haven't had a Black Screen of Death since the update

AmazonWireless: Motorola DROID BIONIC 4G Android Phone, 16GB (Verizon Wireless)

Those deals are only for new VZ customers, if you're a loyal customer for many years like I've been, you have to pay $49. While I understand the reasoning behind it, it's still annoying.

 

[Arelunde]

... and you don't get Files that I can see, where you can access your pc files with the phone. Otherwise, maybe I like it better.

But you can get Splashtop Remote Desktop that does this.

 

[DrDiff]

do you have to be a costco member to get that price?

 

[fkfmfz]

go to swappa they have bionic like new for $240 and extended battery.

R3Ds Themes

 

[DrDiff]

Costco moble The web site doesnt give you the option of keeping your grandfathered unlimited data plan. :'(

 

[conanbarb]

Costco moble The web site doesnt give you the option of keeping your grandfathered unlimited data plan. :'(

You do have to be a Costco member to buy anything from Costco. I don't know about the website, but I was able to keep my unlimited data when I purchased my Bionic at a Costco store.

 

[3rdpig]

I went ahead and bought the Bionic from Tiger Direct for $29.95. Their web process had a choice for "keep my current data plan" but I'll check with VZ after I activate the phone to make sure it doesn't get changed. The phone is scheduled to arrive on Friday via FedEx.

Thanks for all the replies, you guys really helped me get off the pot and make a decision.

 

[jimdibb]

Everything I've read says that when you're upgrading from a smart phone to another smart phone you don't lose unlimited data.

I guess I'm about to find out. :-\

This is correct. You do not lose it.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk