Bionic Ownership = Bittersweet... more bitter than sweet.

[saltysteve]

I have to disagree with so much about this post. Why would you guess people are fanboys just because they aren't having prodlems with their phones? I'm not guessing people are haters just because they are having problems. Everyone had their own expectations for the phones. If they feel these expectations have been met or exceeded, that doesn't make them fanboys.
A lot of people are coming from the OG Droid to the Bionic. For many(including myself) the OG is the only smartphone we've ever used. So of course we're going to compare the 2. And in my opinion, the Bionic compares very very favorably, I feel like I'm way beyond were I was a few days ago and the Bionic is far beyond the OG.
The OP is upset, and maybe he has a right, but we don't know how many of his problems are from being rooted and whatever he did after he was rooted. You can't blame Verizon for that.

I'm coming from the og Droid myself but if you had kept up with the last few phones out you'd understand where this bionic should stand as far as it being a 2011 flagship phone.

Crapy Sprint should not have better phones then Verizon!!

When you are the best network "in general" you should really have the best for your customers and I understand where the og poster is coming from if he's having this much trouble as are others I see.

I hope to love my bionic and not have these issues. Im able to except that even though I paid $300, pay a little higher with my network compared to others and that I should have a all around better Bionic than was released...
Well its the best we have for now. Ill love it like it was my child.
For me and some others not used to such newer phones it'll be great and for those who been keeping up monthly with cell technology, well it'll probably be just okay.

So like I said, its understandable why some might be disappointed

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[asianguy335]

I'm going to address everything all at once.

@mapexonly, definitely give it a whirl. you may absolutely love it and have no problems. in reality my rant was just that, a rant. i honestly have not been cut a friggen break with this phone and seeing as i paid the full $299 + accessories rather than wait and get all the deals from amazon or costco for the joy of having it on launch day, i felt like i was that one customer getting f*cked without lube. some might even call it loyalty. but to give you some perspective i've been a verizon customer for over 10 years, had all motorola phones and one LG chocolate.

the post was meant to be merely an entertaining read of an unfortunately bad experience on the other side of the tracks from everyone whose phones have been perfect and flawless. it certainly is not an objective view of the phone. i just started writing about what bothered me and surprisingly found that there was so much ****. that's it.

now of course i didn't expect the thing to be perfect and coming from an OG that i also purchased on launch day not only did i not have huge expectations, but for the first couple hours i was really enjoying how much of a massive step up it was. but i mean come on, do some of you really expect me to be happy and understandable of having SO many issues with a brand new phone that i've essentially waited two years to upgrade for? and while i definitely notice it, i don't even mind the pentile screen which is most people's main complaint. call me crazy but I'm pretty sure that while it was maybe a little buggy at first, the galaxy s2 hasn't divided people the way the bionic has. i'm pretty sure i don't remember ever reading about any consistent major hangups with them. i call it attention to detail and yes it obviously makes a difference seeing as every other phone carrier in the US picked it up.

i don't want the charge or the tbolt of the droid3. for the record i love the concept of this phone. and i actually LIKE motoblur on it. i just want the ones some of you have. the ones that work really well like they're supposed to. is that asking too much?

i had no illusions the post would effect the opinions of anyone whose device is performing well, as it should. just trying to see if anyone else is having these issues to commiserate.. if anything you all have me feeling much more hopeful now because clearly i've got a f*cking lemon and this situation can and will be resolved.

 

[tdizzel]

I'm coming from the og Droid myself but if you had kept up with the last few phones out you'd understand where this bionic should stand as far as it being a 2011 flagship phone.

Crapy Sprint should not have better phones then Verizon!!

When you are the best network "in general" you should really have the best for your customers and I understand where the og poster is coming from if he's having this much trouble as are others I see.

I hope to love my bionic and not have these issues. Im able to except that even though I paid $300, pay a little higher with my network compared to others and that I should have a all around better Bionic than was released...
Well its the best we have for now. Ill love it like it was my child.
For me and some others not used to such newer phones it'll be great and for those who been keeping up monthly with cell technology, well it'll probably be just okay.

So like I said, its understandable why some might be disappointed

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

I agree that its understandable if people are disappointed. Everyone has their own expectations and opinions. But to me, this is the best phone available right now, and that is a very subjective opinion. Yes, I have read other people's opinions of other phones, but I haven't used those phones for more than a few minutes in stores. So the only phone I can really compare it to is the OG Droid which I've owned for almost 2 years. And to me the Bionic blows the OG away and I'm not having any of the issues people are complaining about(so far, its only been 2 days, so who knows what the future will hold)(and I'm not counting Motoprint which is something I can't see ever using other than to show off to my friends) I can't compare my experience to other people's subjective opinions.

 

[schizrade]

I just played with one. Nice phone.... except that screen.

Holy balls that is bad with my eyes. It is actually hard for me to look at. My DX is so much sharper and easy to read. The pixelating/forced dithering (best description for it really) in text and images is so bad, it makes the screen appear to constantly refresh and looks like a badly calibrated CRT.

Of course others I was looking at it with didn't seem to notice or be bothered with it. It must vary with eyes and certain eyeglass/contact prescriptions.

Guess I will have to use this 50%is defective X a bit longer.

 

[2defmouze]

Someone needs to get laid.

 

[asabino]

Those of you giddy about awesome battery life, 'beautiful' screens, and super snappy bugless programming are one fortunate or very lucky bunch.

to say that owning a bionic has been a less than pleasant experience would be an insult to understatement.

now did i think upon my first impressions holding the device that it was a beautiful snappy performing device albeit with an honestly lousy screen? absolutely.

in fact i never was of the pentile hating group. i legitimately believed that those jokers were all exaggerating the way audiophiles think anything other than FLACC isn't worthy of gracing their delicate eardrums. hell i even remember seeing my friend's charge and thinking, "that's the samoled? that's what people have been creaming themselves for?" and then holding it side by side to my OG and actually having more respect for the old beaten up warrior for remaining so relevant 2 years after it's release. but to be brutally honest, those of you that don't notice the honeycombclusterf*ck AT ALL need to get your eyes checked. like right now. because speaking as someone who works in the medical field i think you may be developing glaucoma.

now i don't hold my phone up to my nose but even without my contacts i'd be annoyed by those pixely-to-**** call photos, any and all shades of yellow or green that have been butchered to hell, etc etc. i mean i can understand some of you that notice it but don't mind it, but you can't honestly tell me you can't see that big f*cking chain link fence in front of the screen. and yet sometimes it can look very vibrant and impressive. like in pitch black darkness. and while it's no slouch outdoors i can't for the life of me believe they'd market this display as an impressive notch on the spec sheet of a 2011 flagship device.

oh that's right they never really did market the bionic did they.

screen aside, at least the thing still looked very beautiful and felt great in the hand and yeah it certainly was snappy! that is of course until i started noticing that i was literally unable to make calls for about 3 hours, after which my phone was finally activated. that is just absurd. i guess it's too much to ask that the one feature that really would appear to be important in a new phone is the least reliable. and i say that not simply because of the activation delay but has anyone else realized how low the call volume is? maybe i'm just deaf, but ive never had this issue with ol OG'. maxed out sounds like nearly a whisper when you're walking down a busy street with cars and people providing their own soundtrack and i could hardly judge call quality based on what i can't even hear.

well at least motoblur looks pretty. hell yeah it does. when it's not randomly rebooting the phone. or when it's not constantly yelling at me for having insufficient free space to install a 40mb app. nothing of course more gutting than realizing that in the day of dual core, 1gig ram phones, mother-effing redraw still exists. maybe it has something to do with that 35% cpu usage that absolutely murders my supposedly awesome battery.

yeah and as for it at least being pretty and light to hold? well i'll be honest nevermind the aesthetics i was simply jazzed to know that no longer would i have to worry about my battery door falling off everytime i took the phone outa my pocket. oh that's right, moto's not going to let me forget that one, they mustve known how much i'd miss that so they decided to make that battery door so nice and snug and just ensure that it doesn't sit flush on one side so that i get to enjoy that nice sharp edge of metal that i've been missing with this new sleek design. thanks moto! your sentimental sense of nostalgia and design sensibilities have done it again as i am as speechless as the day the verizon guy told me, "a new phone isn't going to fix that battery door, they all come like that." not that that left power button just didn't thrown me over the moon and back again.

Anyway i've written far too much already (and there's already another post detailing my battery woes) but seeing as i was such a champion for the damn thing after initially only seeing the light of the gs2, it really makes this all the more soul crushing; 3 upgrades left be damned.

Now for the joy of unrooting and attempting to return the phone to stock so i can try to convince verizon that their half baked, under marketed, flagship phone is about to cause me to stroke out if i don't get a quick replacement.

oh by the way, before i forget, for those of you that hope this phone to be your one-stop multimedia end all be all, i'm happy to report that motorola has even included the sound of popcorn to accompany your video/music whenever your headphones are plugged in. talk about an immersive theater experience.

Sigh...

seeing as lots of ppl love and have no issues with their phones and many of us have gotten what appears to be buggy hunks of low-res glossy plastic, this is clearly inconsistent product quality control at it's worst.

OBVIOUSLY, those holding out for prime know something we don't...

What a big baby

Sent using Droid Bionic

 

[ninjataint]

There seems to be alot of negatives about the phone for some. Others I'm guessing are just fanboys.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

I know that I am late in quoting this but I think you are being narrow minded.

Some people are happier with things than others, some people manage their expectations, some people don't compare phones out to phones not even announced yet and some people don't expect everyone phone to be a monumental leap.

I loved my OG Droid even though I saw it's limitations and it got outdone by the Nexus One fairly quickly. I am happy with my Bionic and will still be happy with it when something better arrives on Verizon.

 

[Jet300]

I just played with one. Nice phone.... except that screen.

Holy balls that is bad with my eyes. It is actually hard for me to look at. My DX is so much sharper and easy to read. The pixelating/forced dithering (best description for it really) in text and images is so bad, it makes the screen appear to constantly refresh and looks like a badly calibrated CRT.

Of course others I was looking at it with didn't seem to notice or be bothered with it. It must vary with eyes and certain eyeglass/contact prescriptions.

Guess I will have to use this 50%is defective X a bit longer.

I just spent an hour playing with the Bionic last night at a Verizon owned kiosk at my local BJ's Wholesale Club.

I was very excited to have a chance to try it out. My upgrade has been due since this past February and I'm itching to replace my DX which has a big black spot on the screen from when I dropped it the wrong way one day. The DX has also become a laggy mess with the redraws, slow dialed, etc. Regardless I still like my DX if it wasn't for the lag and the screen damage I would have no reason to replace it.

Anyways. I think the OP is spot on about this phone. My overall impression of the phone was "Meh". I was so disappointed.

The screen is truly horrible. Just as bad as my wife's D3 and the DX2. But after using her phone a while I sold myself on it being just OK and something I could live with if it gave me awesome performance.

About the screen.... It truly is not impressive. Put a Bionic up to an X and OG Droid, a Charge, TBolt and unless you are truly blind you will see the colors are washed out and totally not vibrant at all. Just the same as DX2 and D3. Don't even think about comparing it to that shiny iPhone 4 sitting on the display next to it because it's not even close. A true embarrassment at $299.

Now about peformance. I figured I would try some real world testing. With both phones running on 3G I loaded DOZENS of web pages simultaneously on the Bionic and my DX and I was shocked that the browser on the Bionic was barely faster than the DX. In fact, it was slower in many cases. Then I went to YouTube and opened about two dozen videos. You know what? The DX got the video up and playing faster every time. Shocking. Yes my laggy old DX running stock Gingerbread surfed the web as fast at the vaunted dual core monster Bionic and blew it away on YouTube performance.

The only thing the Bionic had on my DX last night was that I didn't see the screen redraw lag. But now that I am reading some reviews I see that problem is still alive and well. I guess its not surprising. My wifes D3 is already starting to do it now and then too. I never owned an Android phone other than a Moto, but they all do it. I'm not sure if it's an Android thing or a Moto thing but it's ticking me off for almost two years now. I'm sure loading the Bionic up with 150+ apps will make things much worse.

My final verdict = PASS This phone is not worth the premium price in my opinion. I'm sure if you are coming from a OG Droid it would be. And without a doubt it's a beast coming from a Storm 1 or 2. I had that junk too ,)

Good luck to all those who bought one. I truly hope you enjoy it.

Here's to hoping that Prime is gonna be the real deal! Till then it just me and my laggy DX. I think I may root it and install a custom ROM... I can use the money saved on the Bionic to get the screen replaced. A shop in my town will replace the LCD panel for 60 bucks.

 

[Syounger64]

I just got the Droid Bionic an hour and half ago. Im happy with it and LIKE the screen. I've no negatives and would rather wait before posting anything. Not to insult anyone but if there's any negatives ofc we want to know but PLEASE try to work it out yourself before posting. Too many ppl start whining about the battery after just getting the Bionic when its a fact that the battery needs to be drained and charged several times before it works to full potential. I think everyone has diff tastes but also need to understand FIRST what they can do with a phone or device before instantly posting rants online.

 

[gene1138]

For me personally, I'm ready to take this phone back because of a high pitched whine coming from the headphone jack. .

Oh thank god I'm not the only one that noticed it. I only use the headphone jack to listen to music occasionally so it's not quite a deal breaker. I'll just hope that a software update eventually fixes it.

 

[Forgetful]

I think part of the reason so many are very satisfied with the Bionic is they are coming from the Droid 1. It'd be like coming from a 1980 pickup truck to a 2010 truck.

But some are coming from phones that have been released in less than the last year. These people are going to be harder to please.

Of course there are many acceptions to this but duh, not everything is black and white. Just the vocal ones get heard.


Sadly this phone should have been released may or June.

 

[ninjataint]

I can see that, you could say the same thing for almost any phone you will ever buy.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[pnoozi]

I never thought I'd say this but since Verizon just shipped mine last night which I ordered on the 7th for overnight fed ex which got sent priority 2 day postal service instead and after reading about all the problems I will probably refuse the package and wait on something else. I appreciate the rant because I actually got to see what's wrong g with it. I played with one at Verizon and the screen does look horrible the market app was the most noticeable since its green I guess but my og screen blows that away. Ive been the die hard bionic fan for around a year now from Etna to targa I've been there preaching its awesomeness. I hate Samsung and I hate HTC ... what am I going to do now Droid HD? If that ever happens or when it does... its pretty much the same thing but thinner with a better screen... maybe a better screen... this whole situation sucks ... anyone have any advice on what I should do at this point?

LG Revolution is 1 cent on Amazon

 

[leopard2lx]

I'm coming from Thunderbolt and needless to say I am return the Bionic as we speak and keeping the TB until something else comes out.
Buying the Bionic I was looking for a better display, camera, UI and dual core. Well, the Bionic delivered only the dual core and nothing else over the TB.
Oh well, looking forward to the next best thing on Verizon. Nexus Prime?