Keeping or Returning?

[GoBigRed79]

I am keeping it. I am about 90% happy with the phone. Small deductions for the screen and battery life.

The browsing experience is fantastic on this phone compared to the OG Droid and my wifes iPhone 4. Everything loads fast on 4G or Wi-Fi and this phone handles flash with no problems.

The phone quality has also been outstanding.

The display is good, not great. The display on my wifes iPhone 4 blows it away. But it honestly is nothing that bothers me that much.

Battery life is ok. I am currently at 6h 46m since unplugging and I am at 60%. This is with a mix of 4G and wi-fi use. I think I am going to pickup a standard dock for my desk at work to keep it plugged in during the day. I really don't want to get an extended battery as I like the form factor the way it is. At this current point in time, if you want LTE, the battery life issue appears to be a price of admission.

I don't think I could own this phone if I did not have my unlimited data plan. 4G makes a 2G cap dicey. If I was on a capped plan, I would be more worried about my data use than the battery life.

ZumoCast is great! And I love that it is playing nice with my MacBook Pro. No problem streaming videos.

Overall, I am very happy with this phone. No phone is perfect, and I doubt the perfect phone is coming anytime soon. I did think about waiting for the prime, but I have personally never had great experiences with Samsung phones, and I was ready to move on to something new. The only thing that would really make me regret not waiting would be a dramatic improvement in battery life, but I have my doubts that the prime will be much better in that regard. I was thinking about going to the iPhone 5 because I did not think we were going to have 4G here in Omaha anytime soon, but they flipped the switch last month and there was no way I was locking into a 2 year contract with a 3G phone.

 

[Tom in Bristol]

I'm keeping it tho admit haven't any LTE here (till next week?) to see how battery does with that.

I have one secret option in hand...wife loves it and there's still another upgrade on the account if I get all in for the Prime or___?___ later on!

 

[ManBearPig618]

To be quite honest, I think I'm going to return it. I was so excited about this launch, especially to switch over from iOS, but my battery life is bordering on terrible. I've had very light use on wifi/LTE today, and I'm already at 30% after 8 hours and 40 minutes of basically being in my pocket/light Internet usage. I'm sorry, but in my experience, a smart phone sitting I my pocket, screen off, just should be eating through battery.

I wanted to love it and I'll miss using Android for a few months, but I just don't think this is the phone for me. Hopefully Nexus blows me away.:'(

 

[johnnyshinta]

Battery life isn't very good. Camera is absolutely horrible compared to my incredible 2. It's going back.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk

 

[ChuckG73]

Sadly with a heavy heart I am returning the Bionic and going back to my X2. The screen did me in and so I guess I will wait. I have never seen the pixels on my X2 or my wifes Droid 3 and it really just made my eyes hurt. It sucks because I have been waiting over a year for this phone and I loved everything except the pixelation. :'(

 

[anicholas7]

I am probably keeping it since the small problem I have had (hissing sound with headphones listing to music) doesn't really affect me because I rarely ever listen to music on my phone. As far as the battery life goes I think most people will be disappointed in the near term with any phone coming out that has a 4.3" screen and 4g. The batteries have not kept pace with the technology and can't really keep a charge for too long. Rooting can definitely help so in short time when it kicks into high gear with the Bionic people will see better battery life.
Now I have to add my 2 cents into the screen issue that so many seem to complain about (pixilation).
I have read that people feel they are looking through a chain link fence its so bad. I have yet to see any pixilation on my phone. The screen to me looks perfect. I know some people have more sensitive eyes then others but if it looks like a chain link fence you have a defective phone IMHO.
I will tell you one thing about this screen that I love is the fact that I can see it in the sunlight. I could never see my AMOLED screen on my Incredible in the sunlight and the screen quality to me is no different.
Pictue quality appears to be more based on the person taking the picture and how they set it up for the shot then the phones camera quality. I for one have never taken great pictures with phones. Some pictures are surfacing now in the threads and some look absolutely fantastic. You just need to learn how to set up the camera and have a steady hand(or two). You cant just turn on the camera and snap a picture and expect SLR quality. Lighting, Distance, Focus ect.. all play a big part in quality pictures.

 

[JustLeft]

Sadly with a heavy heart I am returning the Bionic and going back to my X2. The screen did me in and so I guess I will wait. I have never seen the pixels on my X2 or my wifes Droid 3 and it really just made my eyes hurt. It sucks because I have been waiting over a year for this phone and I loved everything except the pixelation. :'(

I thought the X2 had the same qHd screen as the bionic? You are saying the X2 has a better screen?

 

[ChevyNovaLN]

I am probably keeping it since the small problem I have had (hissing sound with headphones listing to music) doesn't really affect me because I rarely ever listen to music on my phone. As far as the battery life goes I think most people will be disappointed in the near term with any phone coming out that has a 4.3" screen and 4g. The batteries have not kept pace with the technology and can't really keep a charge for too long. Rooting can definitely help so in short time when it kicks into high gear with the Bionic people will see better battery life.
Now I have to add my 2 cents into the screen issue that so many seem to complain about (pixilation).
I have read that people feel they are looking through a chain link fence its so bad. I have yet to see any pixilation on my phone. The screen to me looks perfect. I know some people have more sensitive eyes then others but if it looks like a chain link fence you have a defective phone IMHO.
I will tell you one thing about this screen that I love is the fact that I can see it in the sunlight. I could never see my AMOLED screen on my Incredible in the sunlight and the screen quality to me is no different.
Pictue quality appears to be more based on the person taking the picture and how they set it up for the shot then the phones camera quality. I for one have never taken great pictures with phones. Some pictures are surfacing now in the threads and some look absolutely fantastic. You just need to learn how to set up the camera and have a steady hand(or two). You cant just turn on the camera and snap a picture and expect SLR quality. Lighting, Distance, Focus ect.. all play a big part in quality pictures.

With regard to the chain link fence reference, I will say that so far I have not yet complained about it at all, and I'm not even going to do that now. I will say that I can confirm that chain link fence look, but i REALLY have to look for it. I am VERY happy with the display and I do believe its not quite as good as the OG Droid display, though it is bigger at least. Am I dissatisfied? Not one bit. I love it.

 

[bberrynewbie84]

Im going to give it a week to see if the battery settles in first,if it dont then I will return it. The screen is a small issue for me,its not a deal breaker or nothing but its going to take some time getting used to it. If by next friday im not satisfied by the performance,then it's going back.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[Keekeegottadroid]

Keeping. I guess I have been lucky. No chainlink fence. My screen looks great. I must admit, my daughter's charge screen seems to look better. Her charge also takes pretty good pictures. I came from a crackberry Storm that took awesome pics so I may be disappointed in this camera but haven't tried it yet. My battery is also pretty good. I charged it yesterday afternoon. Even with playing around with it off & on for a few hours, I didn't have to charge it again until about 12 hrs later. That was with it being on 4G. I bought the charger with the extra battery as well as the extended battery, so between 3 batteries, I would hope to be ok. LOL. I had to resuscitate my Storm numerous times while I was waiting on this dang phone so I will def be keeping.

 

[ChevyNovaLN]

Keeping. I guess I have been lucky. No chainlink fence. My screen looks great. I must admit, my daughter's charge screen seems to look better. Her charge also takes pretty good pictures. I came from a crackberry Storm that took awesome pics so I may be disappointed in this camera but haven't tried it yet. My battery is also pretty good. I charged it yesterday afternoon. Even with playing around with it off & on for a few hours, I didn't have to charge it again until about 12 hrs later. That was with it being on 4G. I bought the charger with the extra battery as well as the extended battery, so between 3 batteries, I would hope to be ok. LOL. I had to resuscitate my Storm numerous times while I was waiting on this dang phone so I will def be keeping.

I should clarify the chain link fence statement. Thats just a way of saying you can see the pixels in a chainlink pattern. Its microscopic, but if you look closely at anything on the screen. Battery meter for example.. look REAL close and you can see 'dots' all over it, depending on how good your eyesight is. Its not like you could see it from 2 feet away, but if you look close its there. I can still tell 'somethings up' from about a foot away from my face but i can't see any fine detail.

 

[Keekeegottadroid]

I should clarify the chain link fence statement. Thats just a way of saying you can see the pixels in a chainlink pattern. Its microscopic, but if you look closely at anything on the screen. Battery meter for example.. look REAL close and you can see 'dots' all over it, depending on how good your eyesight is. Its not like you could see it from 2 feet away, but if you look close its there. I can still tell 'somethings up' from about a foot away from my face but i can't see any fine detail.

I guess I'm lucky. I can see some slight pixilation on the blue background of the text screen but nothing that is really noticeable. I have to really look HARD to see it. Maybe it's one of those things like rolling your tongue or being able to taste the chemical PROP. Some people are more sensitive. Thanks for the clarification though. I'm new to droid so still learning.

 

[ferniesp]

I think it's pretty clear that the Bionic is sinking faster then the Titanic. The camera issues, battery and medicore screen is starting to build up steam. What I see here is a highly anticipated phone getting knocked out in the first round. Here is the deal, you take away 4G from this phone and it sinks to the bottom. The only reason and I mean the only reason this phone will outsell the Droid X2 is because of 4G and nothing else. Single core, dual core, triple core, whatever....the Bionic does not deliver the goods. Sorry to burst some folks bubbles but as others have said, the truth hurts sometimes.

 

[Jasper]

It may be your opinion but its only an opinion. Some people love the charge, others think its horrible, some love thunderbolt, some don't and so on and so forth. I for one like the bionic better than the thunderbolt or charge, however im left feeling slight dissapointment, and im coming off a two year stay with the OG DROID. I think the bionic will do just fine. Im going make a prediction and say that the prime will not please everyone either, nor will any phone ever. But its nice to have options and choices.

 

[ChevyNovaLN]

But its nice to have options and choices.

What u think this is... America or something? he he

 

[S281]

returning mine. I listen to music 8 hrs/day at work, i cant handle hissing. The camera sucking just as bad as my droid 2 is also a deal breaker. I know its mainly a phone , but when so many other phones out there have great camera's, why cant the bionic which has been in development all year, have a better camera than the original droid. I'm gonna wait for the Prime, i dont think motorola is making a quality product

 

[mjamidon224]

1st full day with my bionic.
battery @ 37% after 16 hrs of moderate (txting, phone, tweaking, and app downloads) which far exceeded my expectations. Carried around xtra battery from Costco package (best place to buy a phone!) but never needed it.
Screen isnt as bad as people make it out to be. Granted if you hold the phone an inch from your eye and look at certain things you can see pixelation. Every day use: cant tell
100% keeping

 

[Noble.Four]

I'm keeping mine. Until the vigor comes out. Then I'll sell it for more than I paid for it.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[Droid800]

Definitely keeping. It has it's quirks, but it's incredibly smooth and powerful, and the battery life on it is freaking amazing.



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[leopard2lx]

returned the bionic!
waiting for the next thing to come out!