Prospective Bionic owner, few questions

[Jonpwn]

Hi guys i'm coming from the original droid running 2.2.1 with cyanogenmod 6.1.2. I've been long due for an upgrade and have considered the bionic. The razr does not have the option for an extended life battery and i honestly do not like a phone that thin.

A few things; i plan on rooting my bionic on the first day (if i get it) for tethering, overclocking, and possibly installing another rom. I'm used to my droid's interface and don't really like the motoblur or whatever the new crap is called, is there a rom or anything i can do to make my bionic run using the original droid interface?

any cons of this phone? i see a lot of people complaining about battery life and i do intend on getting an extended life battery. I've seen some threads on extreme shutter lag when using the camera.

thanks in advance!

 

[DoctorV]

As far as I know the Bionic has the best battery life of all the 4G LTE phones. An extended battery would make it a non issue. The camera shutter lag is crummy and the camera is not all that great to begin with anyway. The shutter lag issue will be corrected with an update that will be pushed out in the next couple of months. The biggest concern about this phone is the data drop issue when switching back and forth from a 3G area and 4G area. Some people don't have a problem with it and other people installed a leaked update that fixes the issue. All lot of people installed the leaked update and still have the issue including me. Honestly if I were you I would hold off until the Nexus comes out just because of the potential data drop issue. I actually have some regrets buying the Bionic because of this

 

[Speeding Wheels]

if you want a phone you can overclock and ROM then wait for the Nexus, the Bionic bootloader is locked so no OC or custom kernels here... which to be honest isnt an issue as there is NO need to overclock this beast.

 

[bluezdawg]

I'd wait for the pending ota update for Bionic, rumored to be this month, then check out the chatter on this forum. If the ota fixes the identified issues the Bionic can be a huge player. Think you will find some initial issues with most phones, I must admit, the Bionic has had it's share.

 

[Jonpwn]

i assume you're talking about the nexus prime/galaxy nexus, i see rumors of it being released in late november, as is the release of the ota update for bionic. Maybe i'll wait till christmas and see how things play out.

do you guys have any idea if i can still have the old school droid interface on my new phone be it a nexus or a bionic?

 

[mikespe]

I have a Bionic, rooted...I never really had too many issues with the data even before rooting. Battery was not great on the stock battery but the extended will give me almost 36 hours on a charge...which for me is darn good for a smartphone these days! I did the leaked update and it did make the camera faster...pictures are fine for my tastes but I did purchase Camera Zoom FX at the recommendation of those on this and a few other forums I frequent. AWESOME pictures with this app...but it IS a $5 app.

As for roms...I was using the stock Blur which to be honest wasn't all that bad...I had an OG Droid as well before this and liked the stock as well (I don't think that was Blur though?)...However I just started using Go Launcher and love it a LOT! For right now a ROM won't give me any real benefits over rooted "stock" rom...but that's just me...Overclocking isn't an issue since this phone FLIES!!! It is SOOOOO fast stock...I couldn't imagine overclocking and making it faster!

 

[Jonpwn]

thanks for that, as you well know the droid is only 550mhz and i overclocked mine to 800.. since adw launcher is part of cyanogen mod, i often find my phone lagging and freezing up. sounds like that is not an issue with the bionic.

I guess the major factor now is this signal issue.

 

[dalegg]

This phone is great except for the data connection issue. I installed Green Power and I haven't had a problem since then. Data connection goes away for a couple of minutes when it switches from 3G to 4G but that is no big deal.
I don't trust Samsung products anymore because I had a DVD player I just gave away. A year ago they delayed an update so they could sell a newer product. I also don't like the cheap plastic they use in their phones. They should charge a few dollors more and make a better case.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[illmatic636]

i assume you're talking about the nexus prime/galaxy nexus, i see rumors of it being released in late november, as is the release of the ota update for bionic. Maybe i'll wait till christmas and see how things play out.

do you guys have any idea if i can still have the old school droid interface on my new phone be it a nexus or a bionic?

What your asking for is a Vanilla Rom for the Bionic. Not sure that there is a Vanilla Rom out there yet for it. As far as overclocking, no good cause the kernel is stock an will be stock until the bootloader is unlocked.
I myself am thinking of getting the Bionic over the Razr. The price being dragged down by all the phone releases lately is what is the main driver for me.

Your going to want to put CM9 on it in a few months anyway.

 

[unbesorgt]

do you guys have any idea if i can still have the old school droid interface on my new phone be it a nexus or a bionic?

Any custom launcher (LPP, ADW, GO, etc.) will replace the Blur interface and give you something close to stock Android. Blur will still run in the background, but with the Bionic's hardware it's not an issue as far as performance is concerned.

My previous phone was an OG Droid as well (running CM7 and LPP, @800MHz) and let me tell you, the Bionic is like night and day. The biggest hardware difference is the amount of RAM. Going from 256Mb on the OG to 1Gb is life-altering. :biggrin:

Personally I have not had any of the data-drop issues, nor has my wife who also has a Bionic (we live in a good 4G area). The only issues we've had are the minor bugs that should be fixed in the update (apps not installing properly on SD card, shutter lag). I agree that you might as well wait for the update and see how it plays out, since many Bionics do seem to suffer from the data drop issue. It's a great phone though, I would highly recommend it if you're not interested in the Galaxy Nexus.

 

[jeffe65]

I'm in a similar position, I've had an OG Droid since release date, and it's been rooted over a year and a half. I've looked at the RAZR and Bionic, and haven't seen the Rezound but it looks like a good phone, just don't know anything about HTC. I'm more comfortable holding the Bionic as the RAZR is too wide & thin, and while I was holding out for the GNex, it's similar dimensions to the RAZR, only longer. It seems the Bionic is being gradually ignored since the latest three (on Verizon) have been coming out, yet it sounds like the only real issue (assuming the updates fix the few bugs) is the screen which I haven't seen -- All the stores here carry are dummy phones; what's up with that?? The Phoenix Metro area is ~5M people, you'd think someone could spring for working phones!

Okay, I feel better, thanks for letting me vent. Now it's back to the forums... :blink:

 

[unbesorgt]

It seems the Bionic is being gradually ignored since the latest three (on Verizon) have been coming out, yet it sounds like the only real issue (assuming the updates fix the few bugs) is the screen which I haven't seen -- All the stores here carry are dummy phones; what's up with that??

The screen is more of a preference than an issue, as some people actually prefer it due to higher visibility in sunlight. Personally the qHD PenTile effect doesn't bother me at all, but I can see why some people are put off by it. Try to get your hands on one and see if it bothers you. The Droid X2 and Droid 3 have basically the same screen if you know anyone who has one of those.

 

[Jonpwn]

Yeah i agree, the bionic is dropping in prices which is what makes me want it more and more. my father has the charge and albeit light, it does feel flimsy. I just hope this data drop issue is fixed because i have that same problem with my droid right now. If i'm at home (where the reception si horrible), i may drop to 1x and end up staying there with no wireless capability.

the rezound looks promising but im not a big audiophile, nor do i really use media on my phone (got an itouch)

any of you guys miss the physical keyboard? i know i almost never type with the onscreen keyboard and definitely wish for a physical keyboard on my next phone (the stratosphere isn't on par with the bionic or anything new).

 

[unbesorgt]

any of you guys miss the physical keyboard? i know i almost never type with the onscreen keyboard and definitely wish for a physical keyboard on my next phone (the stratosphere isn't on par with the bionic or anything new).

I don't miss the physical keyboard at all. When I first got the OG I thought I would use it, but I quickly got used to the on-screen keyboard and started to prefer it (using SwiftKey X now for better prediction). One of the things that started to annoy me about my OG was how the keyboard would partly slide out in my pocket, activating the screen and causing all kinds of mayhem to ensue. I love not having to worry about that with the Bionic.

If you really want a hardware keyboard, you might want to look into the Droid 4 which is supposed to be out early next year I believe.

 

[LegalAmerican]

I honestly LOVE my Bionic. I have kept it stock as I have no use for all the Rooting, and aftermarket altering. I love this phone. Mine has had it's share of connection issues, but I still love it.