Choosing the right Droid - Bionic's worth?

[Danoumas]

Hey everyone, sorry to skip the welcome thread with my first post but this looks like a great forum. I can't quite make up my mind about the Bionic though, so I figured I'd toss my questions out to a community here that seems well equipped to answer it.

As as I presume will be displayed under my username, my current phone is a state of the art Audiovox CDM8940 from 2005. I've been mulling the smartphone craze since the original Droid, and I think I'm about ready to take the leap. Verizon's offer to exchange my pile of rusted dumbphone circuits for $100 makes me want to pull the trigger by 9/30.

I like to make my phones last and clearly can be content without bells and whistles. However, I love technology and tinkering. So here's my question.

The idea of LTE + full web, dual-core, a decent camera and decent battery life all in one package makes me think I could be really happy with the Bionic for a long time. But I am just deluded by marketing? I mean, I'm upgrading from a clamshell... am I a fool to pay upwards of $250 (upgrade price) when I could get the Charge for half that much, or even the (sorry, non-droid) Pantech for free? Or any of a number of 3G phones?

I assume many of you have used a variety of different smartphones and Droids. I know it comes down to personal taste, but that's what I'm asking about. Anyone recently in my shoes? Or when you upgraded from a basic phone to something way worse than the Bionic in the past, were you blown away? Or is getting the Bionic a smart way to future-proof my phone, so that it can stay relevant for years longer than these other phones?

People often use the relative-costs argument, so I'll add that I'm on a family plan, meaning that a smartphone will add $720 to my bills in the next two years... and the up front $250 vs $100 or free makes a dent.

Thanks for your help and thoughts!

 

[Infiniti87]

In all honestly you should definitely take the leap. I feel that the Bionic is far better than the charge. I would bite the bullet and go for the Bionic. There are a couple phones coming out in the next few months that could be worth a look but I feel my Bionic is more than good enough to last me the next two years no question. The only draw back for you would be the data plan. Since your coming from a feature phone you most likely have to go to a tiered data plan. 4G Lte eats data like its going out of style . However, if you've been with Verizon for a long time you MAY be able to convince them to give you an unlimited data plan when you upgrade. I would do this over the phone though with customer service and not in a store. If you tell them you have been a loyal customer and want to stay with them but your thinking about switching companies to get unlimited data elsewhere they will probably be willing to work with you. If the person you talk to won't do it then hang up and call and talk to someone else until you get what you want. All they want is for you to sign another contract so they will work with you but u might have to be persistent. I think it would be a good jump for you and you won't go wrong with a Bionic.

Sent from the rocket in my pocket, my all powerful DROID BIONIC.

 

[SSHGuru]

I love my Bionic have no regrets.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[mikeinctown]

An original Droid user here... I have found that while one thinks that the new phone should last the next 5+ years, you will find that you will want to upgrade after your two years is up. The Droid is my first smart phone and while it worked great at first I have noticed the performance diminish as apps get updated and more come out that I use. They start using more and more memory and resources and I find that my dinosaur is moving way slow sometimes.

I am currently looking at the Bionic as my 2 years is up at the beginning of December and like you I am torn with the $200+ price tag, only I won't get any rebate from Verizon. To me, every other Droid phone is inferior compared to this one based on what I have read. The 4G and syncing to your computer is really sweet, and you get the dual core as well as the memory. Unless something new comes out in the next two months from Motorola, this will be my phone for the next two years.

 

[Danoumas]

Thanks for your responses everyone - appreciate it! Still got a day or two to mull, and then perhaps you'll see me back here...

 

[Infiniti87]

*waves hand slowly in front of you* Charge is not the Droid your looking for.

Hopefully there's some star wars fans in here that get that reference.

Sent from the rocket in my pocket, my all powerful DROID BIONIC.

 

[alucard9114]

I was waiting for the Bionic for months coming from an og droid the performance on the Bionic was great.But there were several issues that a 300 dollar phone should not have here is a list of my problems that led me away from this phone and back into verizon to return it.

1.Sound worst sound i have ever heard on a device of this price my first $10 mp3 player had better sound.Speakers were bad but the headphone jack just awful

2.Black screen of death would cause phone to freeze and your alarm wont go off and make you late for work.

3.Camera quality was garbage video is ok just slow frame rate.

4.Price $299.99 more deals now so not much of a problem now Amazon has it for $150 plus $50 gift card.

5.Vigor will be here in weeks with beats by dre, 720p hd 4.3in screen,1.5 dualcore,and LTE also nexus will be here in a month with ICS dancedroid just wait and be one of the first to post in my Bit the bullet with the Bionic thread!

 

[Jungle King 76]

An original Droid user here... I have found that while one thinks that the new phone should last the next 5+ years, you will find that you will want to upgrade after your two years is up. The Droid is my first smart phone and while it worked great at first I have noticed the performance diminish as apps get updated and more come out that I use. They start using more and more memory and resources and I find that my dinosaur is moving way slow sometimes.

I am currently looking at the Bionic as my 2 years is up at the beginning of December and like you I am torn with the $200+ price tag, only I won't get any rebate from Verizon. To me, every other Droid phone is inferior compared to this one based on what I have read. The 4G and syncing to your computer is really sweet, and you get the dual core as well as the memory. Unless something new comes out in the next two months from Motorola, this will be my phone for the next two years.

Just wanted to touch on a couple of things. Droids will last forever if you take care of them and clean them up. My wife was complaining about her OG Droid acting up so I simply backed up her apps and did a complete wipe and she was amazed at how much better it worked. Just didn't want anyone to think that a smartphone will slow down and they will be forced to upgrade.

Also, the sync feature with your computer to play music and view files its very cool but don't let the commercials fool you. This is done with the zumocast app that is in the market and is available for you to use with any other phone, not just the Bionic.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[tjk629]

If you want a phone NOW go Bionic. If you want to wait go with Prime over Vigor.

IMO HTC phones never live up to their hype and the high end ones suffer from awful battery life. The CPU speed also is just for show. It really isn't going to blow away anything.

 

[liftedplane]

I upgraded from the d2g and I've never looked back... the ONLY possible thing that could make me get another phone is if they announce an exact version of the bionic, with a slide out keyboard such as the Droid 4 AND it was coming out by christmas that's about it.

I love this thing, and I'm glad I can't see the issue in the pentile screen everyone else can, I'd say go check and make absolutely sure you can't and then take the leap... unless you're crazy you will most likely be happy.

 

[tgyberg]

There are a lot of people holding out for these perfect super phones. They will have their share of bugs as well..

 

[alucard9114]

There are a lot of people holding out for these perfect super phones. They will have their share of bugs as well..

I agree if you keep waiting you will never buy a phone or be happy.With the Bionic the audio is a huge issue with me and i went through two of them had the same problem with both so im getting the Prime.Sure it will have some bugs but audio wont be one of them.:blink:

 

[mznurseheather]

*waves hand slowly in front of you* Charge is not the Droid your looking for.

Hopefully there's some star wars fans in here that get that reference.

Sent from the rocket in my pocket, my all powerful DROID BIONIC.

Oh lordy! I guess I'm a Star Wars nerd then.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[jcardona1]

I spent about an hour in the Verizon store last night playing with all the latest 4G devices. The Bionic was my favorite, and the quickest.