Bought a Bionic to compare

[KWP1911]

I really like my phone, I don't like the AT&T service.

Since I have a couple of weeks yet to return the phone and end my contract with AT&T, I've signed up to get a Bionic from Verizon so I can do my own dogfight for a week or so.

Anyone else done this or is thinking about doing it?

 

[myoo2182]

I have a Bionic from Verizon that I have on demo for work. It is FAST. Amazingly fast actually. Verizon service seems to destroy AT&T in terms of speed. I have had AT&T since 2000 but I am contemplating making the switch now.

Coincidentally I just got an Infuse 4g and Atrix 4g today from AT&T to demo for 30 days.. both were extremely disappointing in terms of network speed. I know LTE is faster but i thought HSPA would at least do better than my 3G iphone 4... I couldn't break 1.5MBPS download speeds even once, in 6 tests at different locations, all with full or almost full bars.

My Droid Bionic which i have until the 15th of October regularly broke 11mbps down and at its peak with full signal, I reached 25mbps down and 10mbps upload speeds. This device is blazing fast... I really want the AT&T Galaxy SII but if their "4g" network is that slow.. I dont know..

 

[631735]

I have a Bionic from Verizon that I have on demo for work. It is FAST. Amazingly fast actually. Verizon service seems to destroy AT&T in terms of speed. I have had AT&T since 2000 but I am contemplating making the switch now.

Coincidentally I just got an Infuse 4g and Atrix 4g today from AT&T to demo for 30 days.. both were extremely disappointing in terms of network speed. I know LTE is faster but i thought HSPA would at least do better than my 3G iphone 4... I couldn't break 1.5MBPS download speeds even once, in 6 tests at different locations, all with full or almost full bars.

My Droid Bionic which i have until the 15th of October regularly broke 11mbps down and at its peak with full signal, I reached 25mbps down and 10mbps upload speeds. This device is blazing fast... I really want the AT&T Galaxy SII but if their "4g" network is that slow.. I dont know..

You're comparing the networks more than phones. You're right though, Verizon is faster with LTE. But with AT&T flipping the switch on LTE now in certain markets, they are seeing the same blazing speeds. I'm assuming you're grandfathered in to AT&T Unlimited data being with since 2000. Switching now to Verizon you would be on a Tiered plan and by it's own example on website, 1hr a day of video streaming = 11+GB of data usage a month. That's ridiculous, you'd be paying Verizon watching a few movies on a 2gb plan. Unlimited is peace of mind to us that have it. And every wireless provider has its own setbacks, consumers will never be satisfied.

 

[KWP1911]

I agree about the network. While sitting at home, I'm only getting 2-3mbps download and less than 1 up on the Infuse. I have to be sitting, literally, under a cell tower to get 6-7mbps download speeds.

In addition to the faster network, it won't hurt to have a faster phone with the Bionic. I also want to compare the Bionic screen to the excellent SAMOLED screen on the Infuse.

 

[KWP1911]

Droid Bionic Wins! Took the Infuse back today.

After 2 days of comparison, here are the results:

Item Winner
Screen: Infuse
Overall Size: Infuse
Gingerbread: Bionic
Network: Bionic (no surprise to anyone about Verizon's 4G speed; also works better in my home and office)
Charging: Bionic (doesn't take nearly as long as the Infuse to charge)
Toggle Widgets: Infuse (toggle widgets for airplane mode, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS. You have to add them to the Bionic's home screen)
App size: Bionic (the app icons were unnecessarily massive on the Infuse)
Dual Core: Bionic
Price: Bionic (even though it's more expensive, the package from Costco with all the add ons (std dock, extra battery and chargers, case, car mount, and car charger) was a great deal!)

And last, but not least, as I was streaming Formula 1 practice from Singapore this morning on SpeedTV.com, the Infuse constantly struggled with the stream of data while the Bionic showed almost no video choppiness.

 

[leeshor]

I use the Infuse on the road but when I need to get serious I power up my Verizon 4G hot spot and connect it. Best of both worlds. Plus I can connect my other phones, my ASUS Transformer and my laptop all at the same time at Verizon 4G speeds.

 

[aapold]

I use Wifi 95% of the time (at home and at work) so its not that big an issue to me.

At one point for a couple months I lived with no data plan (had data shut off and used wifi-only) because I was fed up with paying the $30/month for it. Then I couldn't get it back when I decided I needed it on occasion for trips. So the unlimited data is not a factor.

FWIW the wifi connection problems (having to turn off wifi and back on again when arriving at home or work) I was having vanished with the last update.

Even so... during a brief 3-day outage of my home internet I used it to tether and try to use my computer via it. The browsing speed worked well enough. But I used 60% of my 2GB data cap in "normal" usage during that time. I'd hate to think how fast I'd reach the limit with a faster connection. As it was I turned it off once I got the text. And going back to normal usage it didn't get exceeded.

If I had the unlimited back I might do more things like stream pandora or spotify in my car. But its not that big a deal (my daily commute is all of 15 minutes).

At any rate locked into AT&T for 2 years. I'm happy enough with the phone. I figure by then we'll see their LTE network properly up and can make a decision then. One thing I learned from reading this site is even if you get the latest and greatest you only got a little window before something newer and shinier comes along. Unless you can afford to swap out every month, you just gotta deal with it. I suppose you could keep doing 30-day purchases endlessly unless they cap that at some point...

FWIW I get about 4-5 mbps down and 1 mpbs up on average where I live (West Palm, FL). I just ran speedtest again at my home to check and got a 4.55... so to me at least that is considerably better than I was getting on my previous 3G phones. Not that I use it much.