On the fence with Bionic

[orihc]

So, heres my dilemma, Ive waited all yr long for the Bionic and Im coming from OG. Im up for an update. I believe the bionic is what ive been looking for but....
1. Data issues plague the phones... Ive been reading different stories... prob w verizon network... small batch of bad radios... which and what is it. Does the OTA even have an effect? Im in a strong LTE area.
2. Will this phone get the bootloader? Does anyone know or follow other motorola phones and see if most phones eventually get bootloaders? Simply because I feel the bionic can definitely last for 2 yrs and keep up w the hardware if the rooting and kernals are possible. Is the bootloader and eventuality or maybe never gonna happen?
3. I know Gnex is coming out and i think ill wait for it but some things about it doesnt appeal to me.... No HDMI, MHL cables might not be compatible w my tv....5 MP cam w no shutter lag, not too impressed... faster cpu?
Im sure this is issue has been beaten to death already but mainly, im more concerned w the bootloader.

 

[ex0rcist]

So, heres my dilemma, Ive waited all yr long for the Bionic and Im coming from OG. Im up for an update. I believe the bionic is what ive been looking for but....
1. Data issues plague the phones... Ive been reading different stories... prob w verizon network... small batch of bad radios... which and what is it. Does the OTA even have an effect? Im in a strong LTE area.
2. Will this phone get the bootloader? Does anyone know or follow other motorola phones and see if most phones eventually get bootloaders? Simply because I feel the bionic can definitely last for 2 yrs and keep up w the hardware if the rooting and kernals are possible. Is the bootloader and eventuality or maybe never gonna happen?
3. I know Gnex is coming out and i think ill wait for it but some things about it doesnt appeal to me.... No HDMI, MHL cables might not be compatible w my tv....5 MP cam w no shutter lag, not too impressed... faster cpu?
Im sure this is issue has been beaten to death already but mainly, im more concerned w the bootloader.

Bionic ftw!
Currently. Gnex isnt released.. has bugs.. ics has no flash support yet...and will be 16 gb.. 2 of which u wont see. No sd card access ... Ive had no radio issues n i love this phone. And patch is sooon. As far as the bootloader.. it may be unlocked tom or never.. rlly up to moto.. or our cheese cake team. But nothings impossible.

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[GiovanniTheToker]

I've had my bionic for about a month and a half. Had no problems at all so far. Occasionally a drop in data when switching from 3G/4G. But since I've updated to 5.7.893, I've had no more problems with the connection... I absolutely love my Bionic and wouldn't trade it for any other phone. Newer phone = newer problems. But that's jus my opinion.

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[GiovanniTheToker]

And there is a forum in the galaxy nexus section that lists alot more problems with it other than the ones you've posted... I would check it out or wait before buying..

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[Speeding Wheels]

My Bionic is pretty much rock solid.
I'm in a strong 4G area thus no network issues.

Moto has an update thats just about ready to be pushed out to us.
If you're on the fence I say BUY BUY BUY!!!

 

[rayr0d]

Go with the Bionic - You will not go wrong.

It is what you are looking for - something that is going to last 2+ years. Just like the OG Droid, eventually there will be many ways to update your phone.

At the end its for you to decide - Good Luck!

 

[markwebb]

I am in the same dilemma. I am now seriously considering the Bionic. Price, of course, is a consideration and expect further price drops Black Friday and later. This phone should keep me satisfied for another 2 years as long as ICS is delivered next year. The fact you can read screen in daylight is a major selling point for me.

Nexus is not making me all warm and fuzzy. I prefer Moto's build. Razr is OK but Bionic seemed a bit brighter. RAZR seemed too thin for me.

 

[MightyT01]

I am in the same dilemma. I am now seriously considering the Bionic. Price, of course, is a consideration and expect further price drops Black Friday and later. This phone should keep me satisfied for another 2 years as long as ICS is delivered next year. The fact you can read screen in daylight is a major selling point for me.

Nexus is not making me all warm and fuzzy. I prefer Moto's build. Razr is OK but Bionic seemed a bit brighter. RAZR seemed too thin for me.

Well, I pulled the trigger and bought a used Bionic without a Sim card. I bought the Sim card separately on Amazon, so we'll see how it turns out. I got the used one for over $200.00 cheaper then a replacement Bionic brand new on Wirefly, plus it's coming with the extended battery.

I got sick of the GNex, ICS hype and the ridiculous rumors. Since I'm getting the Bionic off-contract I can still upgrade later on whenever the GNex and ICS have all the bugs worked out. For now, I don't want to be an early bird beta tester and I want my favorite 2.2 apps to work with ICS.

Besides, my kid brother loves his Bionic and has had no issues with it at all. Plus, the Bionic is slated to get ICS sometime. So, I'm willing to let Moto work out their bugs for ICS. Moto was always good about updating my OG Droid and I never had issues with their upgrades.

And yes, even with all the *****ing about the Bionic screen, whenever I held it and compared it to the Razr or even the Rezound, the Bionic was much brighter, just like my OG Droid! Also, the Razr was too damn wide for my taste.

 

[llt_droid]

Love my Bionic. Haven't had any real issues (since I don't have 4g yet where I live sigh). And as Markwebb said, it sure is nice to be able to read your screen outside!

 

[dpw2atox]

I caved in and installed the leaked OTA (5.7.893) a few weeks ago and I'll answer these as best as I can.

1 - Data issues are greatly improved though not totally resolved. They fixed the long reconnect time, false data connections, 3/4G switching was improved, overall radio stability was improved. That said I still have to toggle airplane mode every 1-2 days but this is greatly improved from the 2-3 times per day with the stock radio.

2 - The bootloader is locked and it is totally up to Verizon/Motorola as to if it will ever be unlocked. Now there is progress being made in porting CM over to the Bionic via 2nd init so that will help a lot but again its not as good as a totally unlocked bootloader.

3 - The leaked OTA does improve the camera speed on the Bionic as well as improve performance, update webtop, etc.... That said the Galaxy Nexus is still faster than the Bionic (TI Omap 4460 @ 1.2Ghz in the Galaxy Nexus vs TI Omap 4430 @ 1.0Ghz in the Bionic). We wont really have a valid comparison though till both devices are running Ice Cream Sandwich which will take a few months.

My own 2c is that I love my Bionic and bought it day 1. If I had to pick now it would be a harder decision, with the extended battery I can go for all day easily with medium to heavy use and not have any issue. It isnt perfect but I feel that it is a solid device and 1-2 more OTA updates will make it amazing. I'd say see which features you need and if you want a stock UI or dont mind a modified UI.

 

[bluezdawg]

I caved in and installed the leaked OTA (5.7.893) a few weeks ago and I'll answer these as best as I can.

1 - Data issues are greatly improved though not totally resolved. They fixed the long reconnect time, false data connections, 3/4G switching was improved, overall radio stability was improved. That said I still have to toggle airplane mode every 1-2 days but this is greatly improved from the 2-3 times per day with the stock radio.

2 - The bootloader is locked and it is totally up to Verizon/Motorola as to if it will ever be unlocked. Now there is progress being made in porting CM over to the Bionic via 2nd init so that will help a lot but again its not as good as a totally unlocked bootloader.

3 - The leaked OTA does improve the camera speed on the Bionic as well as improve performance, update webtop, etc.... That said the Galaxy Nexus is still faster than the Bionic (TI Omap 4460 @ 1.2Ghz in the Galaxy Nexus vs TI Omap 4430 @ 1.0Ghz in the Bionic). We wont really have a valid comparison though till both devices are running Ice Cream Sandwich which will take a few months.

My own 2c is that I love my Bionic and bought it day 1. If I had to pick now it would be a harder decision, with the extended battery I can go for all day easily with medium to heavy use and not have any issue. It isnt perfect but I feel that it is a solid device and 1-2 more OTA updates will make it amazing. I'd say see which features you need and if you want a stock UI or dont mind a modified UI.

Great overview, appreciate it.. debating on taking the plunge. Figure i'll wait through this weekend to see if the alleged soak test really does happen and what bubbles up as a result. Not setting high expectations on that whole thing. On the data issue, I'm starting fall into the camp that feels it is more of a Verizon infrastructure issue than a phone issue.
Cheers,
Dawg

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[Stelv]

Data issue is resolved by toggling airplane mode on and off right? I just bought a bionic off swappa. I tried the bionic, razr and rezound out in store. Compared them all side by side. Bionic and Razr were fastest imo. Side by side with my girlfriends razr i didn't notice a speed difference on the bionic. The bionic seems pretty solid to me although i am installing camera zoom fx right away as we did on my girls razr. Moto needs camera software that doesn't suck saturation out of photos.

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[MECHANO]

I am a little worried about the data issues... but i am pretty sure i am going to make the jump to the bionic on 12/1. I have very strong 3g in my area... but no 4g. Hopefully it will work out.

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[maxwellag]

My dad has had his bionic for 3 months. He loves it. He makes fun of my droid and says "im twenty times faster than you! Hahaha"

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[ex0rcist]

I am a little worried about the data issues... but i am pretty sure i am going to make the jump to the bionic on 12/1. I have very strong 3g in my area... but no 4g. Hopefully it will work out.

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When in high 3g.. i never loose data and ive gotten 312 kbyte/s dl speeds.. did 712mb in 45min... faster than my gfs father straight 3g hotspot and he pays 60 a month for 5gb... im rlly diggin my bionic lately. If this ota is solid.. imma be satisfied

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