[Quick Review] Droid Bionic

[WenWM]

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The Droid Bionic has been making all the headlines since being released, so let's take a look at this bad-boy and see if it's worth it. Motorola really did something amazing with this new device. They pushed it back for months because it wasn't "good enough." Now, 6 months later, it was good enough to get released and good enough to win my heart.

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Overview:

The Droid Bionic has been in my hands for weeks now, and here are my thoughts. The device is fairly hefty, but has a premium feel rather than the "wow, this is chunky" feel I get with the Droid 3. The appearance of the device is not very sexy IMO, but that huge screen in the front makes everyone ask about it. The camera in the back is pretty amazing, I used it for the Droid 3 review, and it takes great picture and videos.

The software on the Droid Bionic is not perfect, but it is very smooth. Going through pages, menus, and lists is as smooth as butter thanks to the Dual-Core processor. There are quite a few glitches with some apps, and the camera gets slow when you go to panorama mode.

Here's the breakdown:

Good:

• Premium feel
• Fast processor
• Nice screen
• Fast 4G
• Development community backed (Droidforums)

Bad:

• Not that attractive (HTC, Samsung knows sexy better)
• Glitches
• No hard camera button
• Battery life is not great thanks to LTE (dies in 5 hours with moderate-heavy use)

Ratings:

10/10: Speed and Multitasking
8/10: Camera Quality
8/10: Browsing Experience
8/10: Music Playback
10/10: Network
8/10: Pricing
9/10: Overall Rating

this is considered a low speed for this phone.
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Would I buy it?
Yes. The phone is amazing! The device's hardware is as near to perfection as modern day technology can allow --aside from the screen technology. Everything about the phone is pretty awesome, and having the speed that Verizon's LTE network allows is like going on a joy ride every time you take your phone out of your pocket.

Recommend it?
Yes; if you are in the market for a device that's fast, has a large screen, and don't mind charging it quite often, you've found it. This takes the top spot on my list of best Verizon devices.

 

[tgyberg]

Nice review! I'm not sure why your battery life is bad? I get 23-24 hours on wifi and or 4G with moderate use.

 

[djkms]

Battery life is good for me as well. Unplug at 7:30 am stream google music on my way to work (30min) - moderate use through the day, texts, emails, gaming during lunch, texts emails - stream on my way home. Play a little more, surf, text emails. Battery at 15% around 9pmish give or take.

I have had other 4G phones and this ones battery life wins hands down. Great phone. LOVE IT and I think its sexy :heart:

 

[gmorgan056]

Nice review! I'm not sure why your battery life is bad? I get 23-24 hours on wifi and or 4G with moderate use.

Did you freeze apps or running juice defender? that's pretty amazing for moderate use.

 

[DroidXDoes4G]

21MBPS is considered a low speed?
I get 6MBPS where I live...

 

[Arkbird]

Finally a review that doesn't revolve around Engadget or future phones. This is a nice quick review of the actual phone, thank you!.

 

[silverfang77]

You love your Bionic so much you put it on the railing of a high staircase from whence it might fall and break into sundry pieces. Oh, the irony.

 

[JoDroid]

Thanks for the review WenWM!

My battery life stinks as well under regular use. Also today my Bionic just shut off for no reason. I couldn't get it back on, had to take the battery out and put it back in again then it would come back on. Do you think my battery is bad?

Other than that I really like the Bionic! Maybe I will get an extended battery.

 

[Arkbird]

21MBPS is considered a low speed?
I get 6MBPS where I live...

I feel your pain. I get 12mbps or less when I'm actually in DC but when I'm at home (DC suburb), I get around 22mbps.

 

[JerseyFirefighter]

I feel your pain. I get 12mbps or less when I'm actually in DC but when I'm at home (DC suburb), I get around 22mbps.

@ least you get it :biggrin: I only get 4g when I head up north. No love for the jersey shore. Youd think the over saturation of horrible reality shows based in NJ would give VZ a nudge in the right direction = )

 

[Arkbird]

@ least you get it :biggrin: I only get 4g when I head up north. No love for the jersey shore. Youd think the over saturation of horrible reality shows based in NJ would give VZ a nudge in the right direction = )

This is true. But besides living in a DC suburb, the entire state of Virginia doesn't have 4G. There's a giant space on Verizon's 4G for Virginia...that makes no sense being that we are on of the more populated states on the East Coast and have basically no 4G except in once place.

 

[rwking]

Speedtest Photo

Am I reading this correctly? You clocked 21.1 mb down / 19.6 mb up on speedtest?!

 

[Deeerrroooiiid]

I was amazed today when I did a speed test, and got 35mbps down and 19mbps up. Truly awesome power.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[regkilla]

@ least you get it :biggrin: I only get 4g when I head up north. No love for the jersey shore. Youd think the over saturation of horrible reality shows based in NJ would give VZ a nudge in the right direction = )

It's a Jersey thang! lol

 

[tgyberg]

Did you freeze apps or running juice defender? that's pretty amazing for moderate use.

Yep, counted 58 bloat items frozen in TiBu!