Are Samsung phones better?

[jstwondrng]

All,

I'm one of the many patient Bionic owners out there who is waiting for the new ICS operating system to hit the phone. I have read several posts concerning ICS, 4.0.5, etc... And to add, I am one of the OG Droid owners as well. I like Motorola phones and have had much fun with both handsets, however, I always hear great things about Samsung phones. They appear to get updates sooner than Motorola, the style/design appears to be more appealing than Motorola phones and their version of the "tweaked" UI is definitely nice.

So, my question is... Do you guys (objectively) feel Samsung is a better company and their phones are better than Motorola?

Your thoughts...

Jstwondrng

 

[Shadez]

I've never had any complaints with the Samsung phones I've owned. Albeit they were feature phones. I think it's coming down to 'flavor of the month' when it comes to what phone is considered the best at this point.

 

[aaf709]

My friend has a Samsung Fascinate (the only phones I've had were either by LG or Motorola without any problems) which he really likes, but really I don't want to tell you what phone to get. People complain that that Motorola extended batter, which adds 1/8" to the thickness, makes it feel like a brick while others won't be without one.

Each person has their own tastes. Some hate tbe locked bootloader on the Bionic while I don't even plan to root it.

Let me say that I bought Motorola because it made the Bionic rather than the Bionic because it was made by Motorola.

 

[CBMGGM]

Build quality on Samsung is average at best. Crappy radios too; just read the threads on the Samsung forums.

 

[CBMGGM]

If you want great build and voice quality go with Moto. It's the luck of the draw with the BIONIC though. Phones that were produced in 9/2011 thru early November was a 50/50 chance. Later production shipments fared much better. If I had to make a choice today I would go with the Razr Maxx. People complain about the sealed battery but who keeps their phones longer than the 2 year contract anyway? If you are not in a rush hold out until the Moto HD gets launched. The other VZW phones will drop in price at that time. I'm one of the lucky BIONIC owners; mine has been rock solid since my purchase last November.

 

[jstwondrng]

Thanks for all the responses! It appears most feel it's the preference of the buyer. I am impressed with the aesthetics of the Samsung phones, albeit, plastic bodies. They definitely look sexier than their Motorola counterparts... But, bottom line is, I want a phone that works! Period!

 

[Zregnier]

A co-worker of mine just got the SII Skyrocket this week from AT&T. I must say I like the looks and feel of the phone in my hands, and it seems very snappy. However, he is on AT&T's "4G" network and it is DEATHLY slow. So slow that he used my Bionic's wifi tether to down load a 200 mB file so he wouldn't have to wait 30 hours!!

I will say that his phone on VZW would be pretty kick-ass with an Otterbox case. When I upgrade next May I'll likely be deciding between the newest Moto phone and the SIII/SIV.

 

[brad92]

If you want great build and voice quality go with Moto. It's the luck of the draw with the BIONIC though. Phones that were produced in 9/2011 thru early November was a 50/50 chance. Later production shipments fared much better. If I had to make a choice today I would go with the Razr Maxx. People complain about the sealed battery but who keeps their phones longer than the 2 year contract anyway? If you are not in a rush hold out until the Moto HD gets launched. The other VZW phones will drop in price at that time. I'm one of the lucky BIONIC owners; mine has been rock solid since my purchase last November.

This post is a contradiction. "If you want great build and voice quality go with MOTO." Then you say the first batch was crap.

To me, Moto and Verizon go hand in hand. Locked boot loaders and diminishing data plans.

GUMMY

 

[CBMGGM]

I never said crap, you did. Handset integrity is only part of the problem. Those of us Bionic users have been frustrated since day one of launch. That depends on what road you want to go down. Locked bootloader, ICS delays, LTE outages, data drops, poor marketing,etc. The list goes on and on.... And don't forgot Moto dropped the Razr bomb 1 month after the Bionic was launched. I not here to split hairs with you just trying to help out a friend with a decision. In the end it's his decision to make.

 

[brad92]

I never said crap, you did. Handset integrity is only part of the problem. Those of us Bionic users have been frustrated since day one of launch. That depends on what road you want to go down. Locked bootloader, ICS delays, LTE outages, data drops, poor marketing,etc. The list goes on and on.... And don't forgot Moto dropped the Razr bomb 1 month after the Bionic was launched. I not here to split hairs with you just trying to help out a friend with a decision. In the end it's his decision to make.

To use the example you gave, 50/50 chance of having a good phone doesn't exude quality though. I don't get why people continue to support a manufacturer when that manufacturer has kicked them between the legs.

I don't disagree, the Bionic is the 4G red headed stepchild from Motorola, much the same way the D3 and X2 are for 3G phones.

X

 

[CBMGGM]

I'm with you Brad; the Red Headed Step Sister is becoming the new mantra for our loved / hated Bionic. If it wasn't for the few dev's that hung in there long enough to help; many of us probably would have found the highest bridge and chucked our phones by now. The Moto / VZW stranglehold is frustrating to say the least. With NDA's in both camps we will probably never know what the true root cause and possible fix (if any) is for Moto's equipment. I think we as consumers are the end product, lab rats of marketing / sales decisions made... good or bad. Take care and I hope you enjoy your weekend.

Craig

 

[brad92]

I'm with you Brad; the Red Headed Step Sister is becoming the new mantra for our loved / hated Bionic. If it wasn't for the few dev's that hung in there long enough to help; many of us probably would have found the highest bridge and chucked our phones by now. The Moto / VZW stranglehold is frustrating to say the least. With NDA's in both camps we will probably never know what the true root cause and possible fix (if any) is for Moto's equipment. I think we as consumers are the end product, lab rats of marketing / sales decisions made... good or bad. Take care and I hope you enjoy your weekend.

Craig

I agree completely. And thanks, I hope your weekend is great as well.

-Brad

X

 

[aaf709]

Thanks for all the responses! It appears most feel it's the preference of the buyer.

Very true.

I have a 2005 Prius, which I bought new. At that time the Prius was very hard to find on a car lot. Most of the time you got on a list. I'm on a Prius forum (just like here, complaints about this and that or the modifications done). Some posters would say that they hated the Prius' seats and were in pain after driving a half hour. After some discussion you'd find out that they were too large and/or too tall so they didn't fit as well in the seats. We'd also discover that they bought the car WITHOUT A TEST DRIVE! Myself, I driven over 4 hours at a stretch with no problems. So who was right about the seats? Well, we both were.

 

[CBMGGM]

Will do the same; trying to decide what beverage to start with....... something cold for sure!

 

[nomadh]

Its a good question. I bought the bionic and mine has been very good. So far any problem I had was caused by me and crap I loaded on it. Sometimes it only streams at work for 10 or 15 min before I need to hit play again in the radio app but other times driving I've stramed pandora for hours straight. The camera is a dud but it was much better after the update( but still mostly a dud). I would have been sorely tempted by the sg2 but my desicion was easy as the verizon didnt release the samsung. The big moto feature that pushed me to the the bionic was "concert mode" in the video cam app. I'm in a band and I go to lots of concerts so something that didnt crap out under load audio was important to me. Within 2 days of getting it I had my first test. IT was Judas Priest with an opening act of Black label society. I recorded BLS first and it was brutally viciously, brain beatingly loud. I couldnt get a clear recording of them because there was nothing clear to get. Still the phone did a remarkable job recording. Later was Judas Priest still very loud of course but controlled and clear and they turned out very well. I don't know if the SG2 could have done as well but I am still very happy with my bionic and that 1 feature has been great for me. Its my default sound recorder and the video isnt very special the sound has been perfect.