Things I like and dislike thus far

[DROID11]

I recently got a bionic as an alternate warranty exchange for my thunderbolt (I miss certain things and don't miss others). What I like: the screen or the most part, it is way faster with the dual core, it feels so much lighter, and its a good looking phone. What I dislike or am not used to: every keyboard sucks on this thing. I've tried the stock, swype, ICS, and swift key x and testing on this makes me wanna throw it,( I cannot text any other way then portrait mode). I absolutely hate that the battery % shows up in 10% incriments for some reason, and the number one thing I hate hate hate is this thing does not stay connected to the network. On top of that you have to turn on airplane mode to disable and reenable data.
Just wanted to throw out my 2 cents to see what others said. Btw I'm completely stock but may root idk though with a locked boot loader there isn't that much rooting offers me. Plus my computer sucks ass

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[deduct]

Download the 5.9.901 update and your phone should perform almost perfectly. You can find it on the thread dedicated to the. 901 update.

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[DROID11]

Not to be lazy, but there are a ton of 901 update threads, which one? And if it requires a computer I may not do it since my computer is pretty much worthless. Also, does that update, by chance, update Swype? I want the features of the beta back with the new voice input and everything

 

[aaf709]

Not to be lazy, but there are a ton of 901 update threads, which one? And if it requires a computer I may not do it since my computer is pretty much worthless. Also, does that update, by chance, update Swype? I want the features of the beta back with the new voice input and everything

You can go to http://www.droid-life.com/2011/12/20/droid-bionic-receiving-mysterious-5-9-901-update/ and use the Mirror Link to get the file. While you can do this from the phone, it's much easier to do that with a computer. Here's the steps I used:

1. Go to Menu>Setting>Applications>Development and check "USB Debugging.
2. Plug phone into computer.
3. Press "Mass USB Storage" from the list of choices. Two drives will show up. One is MOT (Internal Storage) and the Removable Drive (SD-EXT).
4. Put the downloaded file on the root (ie main area) of SD-EXT (not internal storage). No need to change the name.
5. Eject both MOT and Removable Drive and disconnect the phone from your computer.
6. Power phone down
7. Reboot into stock recovery (adb reboot recovery) by holding Power and Volume Up/Down at the same time.
8. When the robot appears, press both volume keys in at the same time.
9. Select “apply update from sdcard” using the volume keys, then Power to initiate it.
10. Using the Volume keys, choose the file that you downloaded above, press Power and let it load.
11. When the install is done, press Power. It'll reboot, but it'll be longer than normal (a few minutes)

No, it does not update Swype. In order to do that you'll have to root your phone, remove the stock Swype and download the installer.

There are several battery apps and widgets that'll show in single digit increments. A free one is Circle Battery Widget. Very easy to read. Another free one is Battery Circle. It shows up on your Notifications Bar and when you pull the bar down you see voltage, how long unplugged and battery temperature.

 

[DROID11]

Thanks aaf I am about to be running .901. I should be able to just make due with Swype as is, as mentioned previously its simply going to be a learning curve which is nbd. I'm excited to get this thing tailored to my own wants and needs. going to hold off on root for several weeks (or days) to adjust to the phone overall.

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[aaf709]

You might want to try the free TouchPal keyboard. It's very similar to Swype and has voice input.

 

[DunDun]

One question, why can't you text in landscape?

 

[DROID11]

One question, why can't you text in landscape?

Good question and if I don't have an answer. Probably because I like to often hold the phone one handed. other than the physical keyboard on the original Droid I've typed in portrait on every touch screen phone i've had since the storm

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[DunDun]

Good question and if I don't have an answer. Probably because I like to often hold the phone one handed. other than the physical keyboard on the original Droid I've typed in portrait on every touch screen phone i've had since the storm

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LOL... my bad, I thought your virtual keyboard wouldn't auto-rotate between portrait and landscape!:biggrin:

 

[azdrifter]

I've had my Bionic for two weeks now and maybe it's just my luck or I get phones that are unique because I have had no problems whatsoever,.I had the Incredible and read and heard so many bad things about it and never had any of those problems myself and I had it rooted and bricked it several times and was able to bring it back to life.Then I went to the Droid X2 same thing read all the reviews with all the negative experiences still i never had but one problem with that phone and that was the battery would get really hot while using data or even talking on the phone that problem was fixed when i flashed a new rom and that was solved.

Now with this phone I have had no issues it's on the 5.5.893 build that it came with out of the box that very day it updated twice but I don't know to what because it still says 5.5.893 build so I'm not sure what was updated but it is working flawlessly. The phone is very fast compared to the Dx2 and sickening fast to the Incredible but that is the dual core difference and larger ram 512 opposed to 1gig makes a huge difference on speed.

I'm still running stock no root yet which anyone will tell you is a huge accomplishment for me i had both of my other phones rooted the same day and running different roms by weeks end,.The problem was with the incredible because I had never rooted a phone before and then i tried to flash a new rom right after it was rooted without doing a nandroid backup noob stuff. I'm not sure if I want to root just yet because I'm waiting for ICS to be perfected for this phone first, I hear it's really good but no data or audio and I need those to be working since I use my phone primarily for business.

 

[DROID11]

LOL... my bad, I thought your virtual keyboard wouldn't auto-rotate between portrait and landscape!:biggrin:

its hard to teach an old dog new tricks I guess haha.

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[DROID11]

I've had my Bionic for two weeks now and maybe it's just my luck or I get phones that are unique because I have had no problems whatsoever,.I had the Incredible and read and heard so many bad things about it and never had any of those problems myself and I had it rooted and bricked it several times and was able to bring it back to life.Then I went to the Droid X2 same thing read all the reviews with all the negative experiences still i never had but one problem with that phone and that was the battery would get really hot while using data or even talking on the phone that problem was fixed when i flashed a new rom and that was solved.

Now with this phone I have had no issues it's on the 5.5.893 build that it came with out of the box that very day it updated twice but I don't know to what because it still says 5.5.893 build so I'm not sure what was updated but it is working flawlessly. The phone is very fast compared to the Dx2 and sickening fast to the Incredible but that is the dual core difference and larger ram 512 opposed to 1gig makes a huge difference on speed.

I'm still running stock no root yet which anyone will tell you is a huge accomplishment for me i had both of my other phones rooted the same day and running different roms by weeks end,.The problem was with the incredible because I had never rooted a phone before and then i tried to flash a new rom right after it was rooted without doing a nandroid backup noob stuff. I'm not sure if I want to root just yet because I'm waiting for ICS to be perfected for this phone first, I hear it's really good but no data or audio and I need those to be working since I use my phone primarily for business.

I too had the incredible. It was my second phone that I rooted. I rooted the og Droid without a clue what a ROM was lol. I am by no means good with tech nor am I patient, so I take a shoot first aim later approach. Rommed my incredible and loved it. I loved my thunderbolt, too but for some minor inconveniences on each warranty replacement that I finally got sick of dealing with so I talked big red into the bionic . I had the thunderbolt running various ics roms which I loved. I am in the same boat as you about rooting this, though. I may wait for a solid working ICS build to jump the gun.

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[cybric]

Instead of putting your phone in airplane mode there is an app in the market called "restart connection" and is much faster. I still get some 3g data drops with 901 but it recovers much quicker now, especially with the restart app.

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[DROID11]

After updating to .901 its much better. Also I am now using the gingerbread keyboard from the market which worked a little less well on my thunderbolt than the ICS keyboard but on this it seems to be more responsive for whatever reason. I had today off so idk how the network issues are there (which is where I could hardly get or stay connected to the web) but it seems to work much better. Also, my otterbox commuter series case came today which I love. I never used to be a big case person and generally use my phone naked but I have every intention of keeping this phone nice until my upgrade in April so I can fund whatever quad core Kal El phone is best.

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[DROID11]

One more thing about this phone is the battery life is as bad or worse than my thunderbolt. I believe this is simply because the battery is not conditioned yet, and the fact that I tinker with it more, but my usage time according to the battery stats is similar. I am not too upset about this though I'm now used to having a charger near me at all times., so its OK.

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