Thunderbolt vs Bionic

[SUB-dawg]

Key: TBolt: Thunderbolt, BIO: Droid Bionic

Display:
TBolt: Large 4.3 inch Super LCD Display with resolution of 800X480
BIO: Large 4.3 inch qHD Display with resolution of 540X960
Preference: Bionic

Carrier:
TBolt: Verizon with 4G LTE
BIO: Verizon with 4G LTE
Preference: Tie

Cameras:
TBolt: Back Camera: 8 Megapixels with 720p video and dual LED Flash
Front Camera is 1.3 Megapixels
BIO: Back Camera: 8 Megapixels with 720p video and dual LED Flash
Front Camera is 0.3 Megapixels
Preference: Thunderbolt

Software:
TBolt: Android 2.2 with The New HTC Sense UI
BIO: Android 2.2 with MotoBlur
Preference: Personal choice but mine is TBolt

Processor/RAM:
TBolt: 1 GHZ Snapdragon with 768 MB RAM
BIO: 1 GHZ Dual Core with 512 MB RAM
Preference: Bionic but Thunderbolt won't disappoint

Battery:
TBolt: 1400 mAh
BIO: 1930 mAh
Preference: Bionic

Other Cool Features:
TBolt: Dual microphones for noise cancellation, kickstand with Dolby and SRS Surround sound underneath, Compass sensor, G-Sensor, Proximity sensor, Light sensor, 3.5mm audio jack, MicroUSB, FM radio, WiFi up to 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR and 3.0 when available, GPS, 8 GB onboard memory with a 32 GB card pre-installed, notification light, DLNA support

BIO: G-Sensor, Proximity sensor, Light sensor, 3.5mm audio jack, MicroUSB, FM radio, WiFi up to 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR, GPS, notification light, DLNA support, HDMI port, compass, accelerometer

Preference: Thunderbolt

Overall Verdict:
With the perks of a Dual Core processor and better screen and battery then the Thunderbolt, the Droid Bionic is a truly amazing device. On the other hand, the Thunderbolt can really put up some competition with it's long list of features such as Dolby surround sound and HTC Sense which is the best Android skin on the market today. Both of these phones will not disappoint and are perfect for a user who wants power and speed in a phone. Of course, it comes down to personal preference but either of these devices will satisfy.

Tell me what you think!
SUB-dawg

 

[SpaceHippie]

I think the Ram in the TB is good enough to give the bionic a run for its money. Side by side. I think i would choose the Bionic. For a few reasons. The battery is good. I won't have to buy a new battery. The build quality of motorola phones are really good imo. I like Sense but i think gingerbread will be ok for me on the bionic. Also since the Bionic has such amazing technology inside, it will have have more of a chance to run honeycomb than the TB.

 

[CallerHoller]

Is the Bionic batt really better, since it has more pix to power? Maybe they had to up it just to be equal to other devices.

Didn't one of these have HTML 5?

 

[Bushido Brown]

I don't think RAM will make any difference. Has anyone successfully put a strain on 512 megs yet?

Bionic is easily more powerful. but Sense 2.0 is really nice. I'm running it on my Incredible right now.

 

[Tarpit_Carnivore]

If you're really into gaming on your phone and need to have the best experience with that than I'd say go with the Bionic. The bionic may also have a larger capacity battery but that doesn't mean anything. Hardware components can cause that battery to drain faster than the smaller TBolt.

 

[irishleo]

I'm a bit worried about buying the first of the dual core devices. The first of anything always seems to have more issues to work about as the ones to follow. I think that Snapdragon is refined and figured out, no more real testing on us. We have all been through that this past year. I will be going with the TB unless something other then the IPhone comes out that could compete with it. I have a Facinate right now (not stock) and really like it. The screen is CRAZY and I love the video recording on it. The Thunderbolt should be a nice upgrade that we all can break open.

 

[SUB-dawg]

I'm a bit worried about buying the first of the dual core devices. The first of anything always seems to have more issues to work about as the ones to follow. I think that Snapdragon is refined and figured out, no more real testing on us. We have all been through that this past year. I will be going with the TB unless something other then the IPhone comes out that could compete with it. I have a Facinate right now (not stock) and really like it. The screen is CRAZY and I love the video recording on it. The Thunderbolt should be a nice upgrade that we all can break open.

+1 on that

 

[honex97]

i really like this post putting both of the phones together like that after seeing this i think i like the tbolt for me is the best choice because i really like htc sense

 

[PvilleComp]

As a DInc owner - I think this is a nice replacement/upgrade to the DInc for new users. Not sure I would waste an upgrade for it since I'm only 7/8 mo into my contract and something will surely be better by the time I'm eligible.

It's not the world-beater that everyone was hoping for, but it looks like a good device nonetheless.

Did we ever hear if it was a “world phone?” I’m not sure if I missed it or it’s just not.

 

[Droid800]

If you're really into gaming on your phone and need to have the best experience with that than I'd say go with the Bionic. The bionic may also have a larger capacity battery but that doesn't mean anything. Hardware components can cause that battery to drain faster than the smaller TBolt.

The entire point of dual core is better battery life but more processing power. The Bionic will have better battery life than the Incredible. (though their battery life will still suck thanks to LTE)

 

[Brett]

The entire point of dual core is better battery life but more processing power. The Bionic will have better battery life than the Incredible. (though their battery life will still suck thanks to LTE)

Not necessarily. Keep in mind that froyo and gingerbread are not designed to use dual core. Gingerbread may get the update to add the compatibility but that is not certain. You may need to wait for honeycomb for that.

Sent from my Droid Incredible because I'm too lazy to walk over to my computer.

 

[Bushido Brown]

Not necessarily. Keep in mind that froyo and gingerbread are not designed to use dual core. Gingerbread may get the update to add the compatibility but that is not certain. You may need to wait for honeycomb for that.

Sent from my Droid Incredible because I'm too lazy to walk over to my computer.

No having proper support from the OS hasn't stopped manufacturers from adding other features like video calling and multi touch. The Moto Atrix which runs nearly identical hardware is already benchmarking in the 2600 range. So the Tegra is definitely making some sort of difference.

 

[biff6789]

Quadrant scores are becoming less and less relevant since they are hardly an indicator of a device's true performance due to flaws in the way Quadrant calculates said scores.

Check out this post from a writer at AndroidSpin who was able to literally rape his quadrant score to over 3,000 by exploiting some of the significant flaws in Quadrant's algorithm (he goes on to say that the increase in score translated to zero increase in performance). These flaws with Quadrant have even been confirmed by the almighty cyanogen himself:

AndroidSPIN ? My Quadrant is bigger than your Quadrant

Just last week I worked on two different phones (an Incredible and a Droid X). One of those phones had a much higher quad score, but was much more sluggish during use. Which would you rather have - the higher score, or the smoother phone?

I'm not saying that the Atrix or any other dual-core phone will be slow (cuz they won't be). All I'm saying is that a quad score is not the final answer in whether a device is "faster" or "better". All I'm saying is that there are many other factors that go into the speed of a device besides the pure hardware (each manufacturers skin - sense, motoblur, etc - has a huge impact on this).

So again, which is more important - a quad score, or how fast the device actually feels during use? Personally, I care more about having a phone that feels smoother and acts quicker during use in my hand than I do about some number that a flawed program scores it as.

Again, I'm not saying that the TB will be faster than the Atrix. I'm only saying that Quadrant is a poor indicator as to how much faster/slower each phone is

 

[SUB-dawg]

Quadrant scores are becoming less and less relevant since they are hardly an indicator of a device's true performance due to flaws in the way Quadrant calculates said scores.

Check out this post from a writer at AndroidSpin who was able to literally rape his quadrant score to over 3,000 by exploiting some of the significant flaws in Quadrant's algorithm (he goes on to say that the increase in score translated to zero increase in performance). These flaws with Quadrant have even been confirmed by the almighty cyanogen himself:

AndroidSPIN ? My Quadrant is bigger than your Quadrant

Just last week I worked on two different phones (an Incredible and a Droid X). One of those phones had a much higher quad score, but was much more sluggish during use. Which would you rather have - the higher score, or the smoother phone?

I'm not saying that the Atrix or any other dual-core phone will be slow (cuz they won't be). All I'm saying is that a quad score is not the final answer in whether a device is "faster" or "better". All I'm saying is that there are many other factors that go into the speed of a device besides the pure hardware (each manufacturers skin - sense, motoblur, etc - has a huge impact on this).

So again, which is more important - a quad score, or how fast the device actually feels during use? Personally, I care more about having a phone that feels smoother and acts quicker during use in my hand than I do about some number that a flawed program scores it as.

Again, I'm not saying that the TB will be faster than the Atrix. I'm only saying that Quadrant is a poor indicator as to how much faster/slower each phone is

great point there. my guess is that the incredible has smoother navigation but the x had a higher quadrant right?

 

[Johnly]

The Bionic (from a seasoned hardware junkie) is far superior, fin. The security of it will be like fort knocks. You will not hack the bionic with ease. If you want to exploit your device, the HTC will foot the bill, and is a fast phone, and will likely be friendly to hackers at XDA and beyond. Don't let the veyron detour you from a good Audi, but then again, if you are looking for hardware dominance, better pass on the Audi and get a bugatti.

This vs that, moot. Get what form fits the function and be happy. I would like a morphology of both devices, but that is just the wish of a dreamer.

 

[Cyber Warrior]

The Bionic (from a seasoned hardware junkie) is far superior, fin. The security of it will be like fort knocks. You will not hack the bionic with ease. If you want to exploit your device, the HTC will foot the bill, and is a fast phone, and will likely be friendly to hackers at XDA and beyond. Don't let the veyron detour you from a good Audi, but then again, if you are looking for hardware dominance, better pass on the Audi and get a bugatti.

This vs that, moot. Get what form fits the function and be happy. I would like a morphology of both devices, but that is just the wish of a dreamer.

+1 ....well put. If the Bionic does get hacked.. I will be all over it. Either way I'm still liking the bionic better as for now. Will have to see when both devices get released.

 

[Johnly]

Not necessarily. Keep in mind that froyo and gingerbread are not designed to use dual core. Gingerbread may get the update to add the compatibility but that is not certain. You may need to wait for honeycomb for that.

Sent from my Droid Incredible because I'm too lazy to walk over to my computer.

I would ask you to divulge. From my experience Linux is a humble OS, but throw bad *** hardware at it, and it will use it happily, suspending less apps, allowing for more true multitasking. The duel core Tegras use less voltage so there is inherent advantages to the battery life as well. I assure those that think Motorola and Nvidia dumbed millions into an OS that couldn't utilize their hardware are severely mistaken. I am willing to bet that if you put froyo on a optimized bionic, you WILL see enhancements. Will they take FULL advantage of the bus speeds, and GPU 3D graphics? No, but that doesn't mean the framework of the OS can't stretch its legs with better hardware, because it can and WILL. Why else do we root and over clock our phones and under volt them? Because of the benefits. Is there a line where these benefits stop? Say at DDR2 Ram and Dual cor chips? Certainly not good sir. This phone WILL stand out, right off the shelf, and will outperform phones running old 1Ghz chips and old flash ROM.

 

[biff6789]

great point there. my guess is that the incredible has smoother navigation but the x had a higher quadrant right?

I purposefully left that part out as I didn't want to start a flamewar

The Bionic (from a seasoned hardware junkie) is far superior, fin. The security of it will be like fort knocks. You will not hack the bionic with ease. If you want to exploit your device, the HTC will foot the bill, and is a fast phone, and will likely be friendly to hackers at XDA and beyond. Don't let the veyron detour you from a good Audi, but then again, if you are looking for hardware dominance, better pass on the Audi and get a bugatti.

This vs that, moot. Get what form fits the function and be happy. I would like a morphology of both devices, but that is just the wish of a dreamer.

The Bionic will get rooted, just like every other Android device. Question is: Will a user be able to load a custom ROM onto the device, load custom themes, remove bloatware, get rid of motoblur, etc... Only time will tell

But your point is correct: Want bleeding edge performance from your hardware? Get the Bionic. Want to make use of all the hacks and customizations? Saddle up the to TB.

Pick whichever you want and it's a win either way

 

[Brett]

All of you make great points but here is another great argument. When you pick a device to purchase which do you want bells and whistles or do you wasn't functionality?

if you look at both manufacturers history regarding their device skins, who had a standing record with adding features that are functional and easily used and who doesn't? Sense had always been on top when it comes to including useful and nice looking new features and extending the features built into android. Motorola had a tendency to try to make things look nice but they don't incorporate it into the OS smoothly. 2 cores are great but if that's the only thing that makes the hardware and software run fluently, is it really much of a bonus? Games will run better but is all that power really needed? If HTC devices have been running with ease with a single core processor and it seems like motorola has been making their device "get by" with the same power processor (i know the processor manufacturer create processors differently), will dual cores add that much to a an alright customized UI running on android? Or will a better quality 1 ghz processor powering a UI that has been maintaining its reputation in speed and performance be able to keep up with the best of them? I'm basing this whole argument solely on each manufacturer's track record.

I am not in anyway an HTC fanboy because original Droid is still my favorite device hands down. Its just that motorola seems to be forgetting why that device sold so well. Marketing was part of the reason but it was also because that device read built like a tank and was a power house in its day with a great operating system. Here is a car analogy (since somebody already used one). Would you prefer a car with all of these extra performance features and hardware that are not fully functional and are not currently designed to work in harmony with each other (ex. Mitsubishi Lancer EVO) or do you want car where the manufacturer created it with the intent to make sure that everything works together with optimum precision and efficiency (bmw M3)? Which one of those two cars has a higher tendency to have issues? Not the M3.

Sent from my Droid Incredible because I'm too lazy to walk over to my computer.

 

[TreyDaPrince]

All of you make great points but here is another great argument. When you pick a device to purchase which do you want bells and whistles or do you wasn't functionality?

if you look at both manufacturers history regarding their device skins, who had a standing record with adding features that are functional and easily used and who doesn't? Sense had always been on top when it comes to including useful and nice looking new features and extending the features built into android. Motorola had a tendency to try to make things look nice but they don't incorporate it into the OS smoothly. 2 cores are great but if that's the only thing that makes the hardware and software run fluently, is it really much of a bonus? Games will run better but is all that power really needed? If HTC devices have been running with ease with a single core processor and it seems like motorola has been making their device "get by" with the same power processor (i know the processor manufacturer create processors differently), will dual cores add that much to a an alright customized UI running on android? Or will a better quality 1 ghz processor powering a UI that has been maintaining its reputation in speed and performance be able to keep up with the best of them? I'm basing this whole argument solely on each manufacturer's track record.

I am not in anyway an HTC fanboy because original Droid is still my favorite device hands down. Its just that motorola seems to be forgetting why that device sold so well. Marketing was part of the reason but it was also because that device read built like a tank and was a power house in its day with a great operating system. Here is a car analogy (since somebody already used one). Would you prefer a car with all of these extra performance features and hardware that are not fully functional and are not currently designed to work in harmony with each other (ex. Mitsubishi Lancer EVO) or do you want car where the manufacturer created it with the intent to make sure that everything works together with optimum precision and efficiency (bmw M3)? Which one of those two cars has a higher tendency to have issues? Not the M3.

Sent from my Droid Incredible because I'm too lazy to walk over to my computer.

Well put sir. I know which one I'm getting.