I have the opportunity to swap my Fascinate for a Droid Bionic +$150. I don't have 4g in my area yet but it is supposed to be coming in the next couple months. The phones are both perfect. I am in contract until march 2013 and have unlimited data. What do you guys think? I would miss AOSP but the Bionic is way more future friendly it seems like and I have to live with this phone for the next 14 months. Looking for your 2¥
I should also mention that I have another fascinate (with a broken screen) that I can revert back to.
Love my bionic after I flashed the 901ota leak data is solid the developement is not near as active here but if you have to pay 150 I would look for a little better phone like with a unlocked bootloader my 2 cents
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It's worth it. While the rom community isn't the largest, there are worse. The bootloader isn't really as big of issue as some make it out to be. I've had an unlocked bootloader before and had less rom development for the particular device.
The bionic is a very solid phone and has pretty decent battery life. Every Android has it's issues so there will always be complaints but its the best Android I've ever owned. Overall I've had 7 devices (5 phones + 2 tablets) and this one smashes them all.
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Coming from the Charge and only having the Bionic a couple of days, I'm definitely impressed. Even on stock it was pretty smooth. But I would try to talk the person down to $125. Seems more like a fair trade imo.
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Buy mine for $225 in fs thread and keep your fascinate. Check it out in my thread started section.
Thanks for the input everybody. I've had a lot of different phones and have modded the crap out of all of them. I had a droid X2 so I'm no stranger to locked bootloaders. Also had HTC incredible 2 which was probably the best phone I've ever had. Had the iPhone as well which sucked in almost every single way, even jail broken. I'm not afraid of the locked bootloader on the Bionic because I know exactly how I would mod it and can do it all with what's available.
As much as I love the fascinate, it is buggy. Major audio issues, poor call quality, questionable reception, flaky data, and all regardless of rom or kernel. I can tolerate it now but not for 14 months.
Lowered price to $200
3UR0TR45H said:
Thanks for the input everybody. I've had a lot of different phones and have modded the crap out of all of them. I had a droid X2 so I'm no stranger to locked bootloaders. Also had HTC incredible 2 which was probably the best phone I've ever had. Had the iPhone as well which sucked in almost every single way, even jail broken. I'm not afraid of the locked bootloader on the Bionic because I know exactly how I would mod it and can do it all with what's available.
As much as I love the fascinate, it is buggy. Major audio issues, poor call quality, questionable reception, flaky data, and all regardless of rom or kernel. I can tolerate it now but not for 14 months.
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You won't have poor reception or call quality, Motorola has the best of any manufacturer. They also normally have great data but the 4g through them off, however they have fixed it in the .901 update. I recommend doing the .901 update and flashing eclipse v2.1 found on the eclipse forums and you will be very content. Also, one problem with the bionic is when you flash a new rom you will wipe a lot of things saved on the internal memory (same with the X except most things auto saved to the actual SD card instead of internal like the bionic)
eraursls1984 said:
You won't have poor reception or call quality, Motorola has the best of any manufacturer. They also normally have great data but the 4g through them off, however they have fixed it in the .901 update. I recommend doing the .901 update and flashing eclipse v2.1 found on the eclipse forums and you will be very content. Also, one problem with the bionic is when you flash a new rom you will wipe a lot of things saved on the internal memory (same with the X except most things auto saved to the actual SD card instead of internal like the bionic)
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Click to collapse
That's the biggest thing I hate about the bionic. It keeps saving everything to the internal memory instead of the external SD card. I have more space on my SD card ans its barely being used unless I manually move things there. I also get messages saying there isn't enough available space when attempting to update certain apps such as Google+ and angry birds even though I do have the space.
Motorola does have one of the better reputations in the android world (even with a locked bootloader). They are one of the best at keeping their devices up to date with new versions of Android and typically continue to update their devices after other companies stop updating theirs. They also typically have some of the best battery life on android, least from my experiences (I can only speak on rooted phones, not stock right out of the box.)
Purchasing a Motorola Android is typically a good purchase (not a fan of the Droid x series though due to physical buttons and the positioning of the button that turns your screen on and off or power if a hard press).
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ms0chez said:
Coming from the Charge and only having the Bionic a couple of days, I'm definitely impressed. Even on stock it was pretty smooth. But I would try to talk the person down to $125. Seems more like a fair trade imo.
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Click to collapse
I also recently switched from the Charge. Bionic is much better, except for the camera and occasional data drop (just toggle airplane mode, no biggie). Much more responsive, fewer bugs, and sturdier hardware.
If I were you I would look for another deal. I had the Bionic for 2 months and ditched it for the Rezound. The camera and the screen on the Bionic are horrible. The only thing that helped with the Bionic were the developers, without them it would be even worse.
nrage23 said:
If I were you I would look for another deal. I had the Bionic for 2 months and ditched it for the Rezound. The camera and the screen on the Bionic are horrible. The only thing that helped with the Bionic were the developers, without them it would be even worse.
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Click to collapse
I highly doubt he will find a better deal. Maybe if he waits until spring and all the flippers grow tired of their nexus and ditch it, then he may get a better deal.
For me personally, the bionic is a great phone and I no longer have the issues it once. If you think your going to own an Android and not have any problems, your on the wrong mobile operating system as Android will have it's issues for a while yet. Crap, Samsung phones can't even run every app, including that new nexus. It has its problems also.
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Get the bionic, coming from the fascinate you will be extremely pleased. In my opinion, .901... camera is good, no more service drops... DO IT!!!!
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I'd go with the bionic. I had the facinate rooted now i have the bionic rooted. the facinate is no were close to being as good as the bionic
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Don't get me wrong, I love my phone, but I have had nothing but problems with it. Having an internal SD, continues data dropping no matter what framework. Ect you have, dying developer community (all that's left is DHacker's and his ics), and a bs stock core clock since all the new phones have the same core at 1.2 instead of the bionics 1.0. It has good specs, don't get me wrong, but just cause something has nice parts doesn't mean they all work flawlessly together.
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bigeddthemonk said:
Don't get me wrong, I love my phone, but I have had nothing but problems with it. Having an internal SD, continues data dropping no matter what framework. Ect you have, dying developer community (all that's left is DHacker's and his ics), and a bs stock core clock since all the new phones have the same core at 1.2 instead of the bionics 1.0. It has good specs, don't get me wrong, but just cause something has nice parts doesn't mean they all work flawlessly together.
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Click to collapse
Every Android has their issues. You're not going to get around that. The nexus has problems running some apps that we can run perfectly.
Not sure what your talking about with the internal SD card as it has both an internal and external. Unfortunately the default is set to save to the internal.
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My reference to internal sd is the sad to fact you just stated, your screwed useing the miniscule internal 1. And that's alot more than a few problems, plus there major issues, not a minor fault in an app, these are(mostly) hardware issues, not software. Oh, and the galaxy nexus runs on ics, of course its gonna be buggy, gingerbread has been out for a while so we can't blame it for bionics faults
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bigeddthemonk said:
My reference to internal sd is the sad to fact you just stated, your screwed useing the miniscule internal 1. And that's alot more than a few problems, plus there major issues, not a minor fault in an app, these are(mostly) hardware issues, not software. Oh, and the galaxy nexus runs on ics, of course its gonna be buggy, gingerbread has been out for a while so we can't blame it for bionics faults
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Click to collapse
All Samsung phones are buggy. I own an app development business and 80% of the complaints are from Samsung owners having problems running certain apps. Its not just the nexus that has the compatibility issues with some apps, but Samsung in general.
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Related
keep my Bionic or return it for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus?
it looks like an awesome phone but without the SD card I'm not sure if you can root it and install a custom ROM.
does anyone know if you can, or how good of a development community past phones like this have had.
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yes you should
cryptiq said:
yes you should
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Click to collapse
cryptiq is very cryptic
My established bias against Samsung mobile products, in combination with the lack of an SD card slot or HDMI output, lead me to say "meh".
I do like me some vanilla Android, but the probability is high that the Bionic will have AOSP-flavored ICS by the middle of next year, while the Nexus... will still have a Samsung radio baseband.
MillionManMosh said:
My established bias against Samsung mobile products, in combination with the lack of an SD card slot or HDMI output, lead me to say "meh".
I do like me some vanilla Android, but the probability is high that the Bionic will have AOSP-flavored ICS by the middle of next year, while the Nexus... will still have a Samsung radio baseband.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know what. I like you. I completely agree.
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I'm happier with my Bionic than I expected to be after yesterday. Given that right now, the Bionic is still the only phone out there with 48 (possible) GB of space and an extended battery, the bionic is still holding its own
what bias do you have against Samsung? talk me out of wanting this phone lol. can you instal a rom on a phone without an SD card?
also if you look at the pic of the galaxy nexus with the battery cover off the top right looks like an SD slot. but the specs don't say it.
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Keep the bionic it'll have ICS soon enough and you can flash custom roms without the sd card.
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richmelchr said:
also if you look at the pic of the galaxy nexus with the battery cover off the top right looks like an SD slot. but the specs don't say it.
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Click to collapse
That's the SIM card slot. You don't need an SD card to install a custom ROM. But you do need one to keep your application backups in a safe place. An SD card gives you a lot of flexibility for moving multimedia on/off your phone. Could I live without it...yeah, there are plenty of work arounds. Would I want to live without it, no.
I think it comes down to how you want to use the phone. Personally I like the docks available for the Bionic. I have the car dock and the HD dock and they were some of the reasons I waited to get the Bionic over the Tbolt....and I really really like HTC.
What matters most to you when when you're looking at a phone? Screen size, color saturation, thinness, battery life? Make a list of those factors, then objectively rank each phone on those factors, tally up the score and voila, you've figured out which phone is best for you.
The bootloader in the nexus is unlocked already
richmelchr said:
what bias do you have against Samsung? talk me out of wanting this phone lol. can you instal a rom on a phone without an SD card?
also if you look at the pic of the galaxy nexus with the battery cover off the top right looks like an SD slot. but the specs don't say it.
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In total, over the past year, I have used seven Galaxy S based phones, including a Captivate, two Fascinates, and four Droid Charges. I experienced:
Numerous and persistent issues with their radio software on every single phone, to the point where I would be missing texts and calls on a regular basis. Plus, the signal quality never matched phones I had with Qualcomm basebands, and the Charge in particular would lose 4g data (or data altogether) on an alarmingly regular basis. GPS issues that persisted on every phone- the Charge, as a whole, was the best, but it still took 30 seconds to lock with quarter-mile inaccuracies at times- compared to the Bionic or my old Incredible with 3-second pinpoint locks.
The other issue is with their customizations of Android, which are almost always unpolished and rushed. This won't be an issue on a Google Experience phone, but the radio issues alone are enough to put me off of buying Samsungs until they figure out they should be buying their basebands from Qualcomm like everyone else.
I'll wait for the Anandtech review and some in depth specs about who actually makes the hardware to make a final decision- there's a possibility that they are really doing things right with this phone- but I will take a lot of convincing.
MillionManMosh said:
Numerous and persistent issues with their radio software on every single phone, to the point where I would be missing texts and calls on a regular basis. Plus, the signal quality never matched phones I had with Qualcomm basebands, and the Charge in particular would lose 4g data (or data altogether) on an alarmingly regular basis
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Charge had these issues as well, as does my brother's, and my best friend's, and almost anyone I sell a Samsung phone to (I work in retail). I am a bit concerned with Samsung's baseband capabilities, but iirc with the Nexus series, the hardware is all Samsung and the software is all Google. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's always been my impression.
richmelchr said:
what bias do you have against Samsung? talk me out of wanting this phone lol. can you instal a rom on a phone without an SD card?
also if you look at the pic of the galaxy nexus with the battery cover off the top right looks like an SD slot. but the specs don't say it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My bias is the same as the previous comments, Samsung and LG have horrible radios, Motorola has the best. The galaxy nexus isn't enough to get me to consider another pos Samsung phone, but if that note comes to Verizon I'd be tempted by that 5.3" screen.
Your asking if you should get a galaxy nexus or bionic. In a bionic forum? I have a bionic. But the nexus is a superior phone. HD AMOLED, bigger screen
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I'm considering getting the nexus and selling my bionic. With this huge launch of a phone I'm sure they worked out a lot of kinks and fixed their radio issues
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BFirebird101 said:
I'm considering getting the nexus and selling my bionic. With this huge launch of a phone I'm sure they worked out a lot of kinks and fixed their radio issues
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I loled. Samsung makes sexy looking products for sure! If they work like they're supposed to , that's a different story. Also no external SD card = fail. Srsly ppl main thing this phone has over the bionic is just ICS. 200 mhz oh noes! HD super amoled 1280 x 720 yes it's a beautiful screen. But if I want to ohh ahh at graphics i'll watch **** on my 2 x 30 inch monitor setup at home . Lagfree camera cause I totally need to snap picture after picture on my phone 8). I'm sure the bionic can do it with the proper software derp. Ah Android always making people rage at their current device cause of minor hardware bumps. Hopefully ICS will set things right and fix what's really problematic, the software!
Display is garbage gen 1 just like I said.
http://tinyurl.com/3e59ffz
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bigsapz said:
Display is garbage gen 1 just like I said.
http://tinyurl.com/3e59ffz
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Click to collapse
Wrong article G, but I know what you're talking about. The "minus" one?
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BFirebird101 said:
I'm considering getting the nexus and selling my bionic. With this huge launch of a phone I'm sure they worked out a lot of kinks and fixed their radio issues
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seriously??!! Why would you think that?
Based on every other smart phone I have dealt with at launch, the end users are typically beta testers.
Just wait; I predict that there will be plenty of Nexus issues for all.
RMD
BFirebird101 said:
I'm considering getting the nexus and selling my bionic. With this huge launch of a phone I'm sure they worked out a lot of kinks and fixed their radio issues
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They never work out all the kinks. Thats why we have a development community. They usually work more kinks out than the manufacturers.
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Im not sure what all of the complaining I've read on here is all about cause this phone is amazing. I've had just about every Verizon android phone made and this byfar blows them all out if the water. It is so fast and responsive. Screen is completely adequate. Every other phone I've had has always had a major issue (except the droid x) but the bionic to me is flawless. I haven't dropped data, calls are clear, internet flies, etc. Just wanted to put my 2 cents in. I have an upgrade coming on dec 9th. Ill probably use it to by that stupid nexus samsung phone and resell it for double to have some extra christmas cash. Haha. Go Motorola...
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I agree. This phone has been great for me as well. While the camera wasn't amazing, the leaked OTA improved both that and the data drops for me. This is the only Android phone I've been happy with stock, which is saying a lot lol. This is also my first Verizon phone. Coming from Sprint, this network is far superior- and I have 4G nearly everywhere I go. I couldn't ask for more from a phone.
Heck yeah. I haven't rooted or done a leaked update yet because my laptop is currently down... don't know if I actually will though. Other than the camera focusing a tad slow I see no reason not to wait for the official ota.
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I know this thread is a bit old, but wanted to comment. Like with my Thunderbolt, I'm reading every thread that's interesting.
I got my Bionic on Thursday and I'm loving it. I loved my Thunderbolt, and loved it even more after rooting. The Bionic is running very smooth for me, with only a few data drops yesterday, that I'm not so sure was related to the building that I was in. I'm not sure I want to root it. Nandroid backups and Titanium are the only things I sort of miss at the moment. I know it'll come, but will be a while. Like my Thunderbolt and Xoom were.
I have to agree too! However, this is technically my first smartphone, so I would be happy with any Android device, I believe. I did have the LG Revolution for 1 week before my Bionic. I always wanted the Bionic first, but there was a mix and I got the Revolution instead. The Bionic certainly blows the Revolution out of the water. I was also hesitant to root my Bionic because I didn't see the reason for it other than tethering. But I did root it and have had no issues, except some that were due to my inexperience with smartphones an rooting.
Root it to freeze bloat and block ads if anything. Plus make a backup.
I loved my bionic too, but wait until the data drops happen enough. You'll edit your post. It made me bonkers.
Glad you're happy though.
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My first 2 set of Bionic's had battery draining issue, data dropping out of the blue, phone going into sleep and not waking. After 2nd replacement and 5.5.893 update, no issues not so ever. My 4g was out of service few times but that was due to Verizon network NOT the phone itself. I rarely drop data, if any and battery life is great (I have extended battery).
So far so good
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RockyC33 said:
I have to agree too! However, this is technically my first smartphone, so I would be happy with any Android device, I believe. I did have the LG Revolution for 1 week before my Bionic. I always wanted the Bionic first, but there was a mix and I got the Revolution instead. The Bionic certainly blows the Revolution out of the water. I was also hesitant to root my Bionic because I didn't see the reason for it other than tethering. But I did root it and have had no issues, except some that were due to my inexperience with smartphones an rooting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went from an LG 800g Tracfone to the Bionic. So it was a big leap outta the 19th century for me too. But even compared to other phones I've seen, I love my Bionic. I rooted about three weeks after purchase, Titanium BU, froze a few apps, got used to the phone, and over time have downloaded over 100 apps. Don't use half of them! LOL! But this little computer is awesome!
Now it is time to 4ever root, and go to 893. Not sure about 901 yet. I might be patient and wait for Moto to send it out. But a lot of folks like 901!
My B-i-o-n-i-c! My precioussssssss! Ooops! Sorry 'bout that . Kinda slipped off into that insane part of my mind.
I agree 100%. I actually very much like the stock user interface, and this phone FLIES. I live in an area where there is no 4G (yet) and I browse the internet faster than some of my friends with AT&T HSPA+ phones. This phone is freaking amazing.
The people who complain about the bionic, will complain about any phone they get. Many of them are just looking for an excuse to get a newer phone such as the razr or the galaxy nexus. Some of them need to be slapped around and told "your acting like an apple fanboy".
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smokedkill said:
The people who complain about the bionic, will complain about any phone they get. Many of them are just looking for an excuse to get a newer phone such as the razr or the galaxy nexus. Some of them need to be slapped around and told "your acting like an apple fanboy".
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Click to collapse
Lol. Not true for me. I like the bionic, but have noticed FAR less data drops on my razr.
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Hey guys, I am currently the owner of a Samsung Charge with a cracked screen. While still functional, its a little annoying. I am thinking about getting a new phone off eBay as contract renewal isn't an option. While I would love a Nexus, Rezound or Razr, the prices are way too high. I noticed the bionic is reasonable at $200-250 on ebay used. Seems like the only reasonable LTE dual core actually. How is the bionic? Sounds like people like them, community pretty strong with the development of ROMs? Any reasons to avoid it?
The Bionic is a good phone itself, crippled by a locked bootloader. Because of that Dev has slowed down quite a bit. If I were you, I'd save for the Galaxy Nexus.
Dont take my word on this, but I read somewhere that you could still use LTE phones with bad ESNs just by putting your sim card in them so maybe you can get one on the cheap.
Initially, I HATED the bionic because of the lack of development going on and that it had a locked bootloader and the wifi tethering couldnt be used even though rooted.
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One month later....
I absolutely LOVE the bionic! There aren't as many devs out there for it BUT P3droid and dhacker29 absolutely rock the living crap out of the phone and they work almost fulltime with it. With the 5.5.893 update manually installed(its a ***** to install if you used safestrap even once) the phone doesn't have a buzzing anymore and is fast and smooth! I came from being a hardcore HTC product fan(see name) and I don't honestly mind the bootloader being locked right now as Blur is actually nice.
My suggestion... Buy the Bionic, learn about it and enjoy having a phone that is able to keep up with new phones(nexus and razr) without overclocking or kernal swapping. The sheer knowledge of the devs and the ingenuity that they exhibit is MORE THAN ENOUGH to keep me with this phone for several more months. Once the bootloader is unlocked, it will be a contender for the next year or so.
P.S. The 5.5.893 update actually gets rid of headphone buzzing and the data drop issue!
As someone who has owned both Samsung and Motorola handsets,there is no comparison when it comes to build quality. The last Samsung I had, I retired it early because I had to. It was literally cracking and falling apart and I am not rough with my phones. My last Motorola (OG Droid) I retired it because I wanted to go to 4G and it still is being used on a daily basis today. I just hope that all of the people who went for the GNex are still as happy with it 6 months from now. I'm pretty sure that I will still be happy with my Bionic. JMHO.
htcdesirezgeorge said:
Initially, I HATED the bionic because of the lack of development going on and that it had a locked bootloader and the wifi tethering couldnt be used even though rooted.
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One month later....
I absolutely LOVE the bionic! There aren't as many devs out there for it BUT P3droid and dhacker29 absolutely rock the living crap out of the phone and they work almost fulltime with it. With the 5.5.893 update manually installed(its a ***** to install if you used safestrap even once) the phone doesn't have a buzzing anymore and is fast and smooth! I came from being a hardcore HTC product fan(see name) and I don't honestly mind the bootloader being locked right now as Blur is actually nice.
My suggestion... Buy the Bionic, learn about it and enjoy having a phone that is able to keep up with new phones(nexus and razr) without overclocking or kernal swapping. The sheer knowledge of the devs and the ingenuity that they exhibit is MORE THAN ENOUGH to keep me with this phone for several more months. Once the bootloader is unlocked, it will be a contender for the next year or so.
P.S. The 5.5.893 update actually gets rid of headphone buzzing and the data drop issue!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to droidbionicroot.com. It is a great resource for the Bionic including wireless tether. The guy shows you how to do different stuff via you tube video. I played a coulple of games of Battlefield 3 on Xbox 360 with it. I had no lagging issues.
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lol exactly! I changed the entitlement check(super easy) and havent been busted by verizon for the month and a half Ive used it.
I don't know why anyone would ever get the Bionic now with the Nexus and Razr available. This phone is insanely disappointing with the locked bootloader.
--
Sent from my Droid Bionic.
I see brand new Razrs on Craigslist for $300 all the time. Comes down to preference and whether you want to shell out the extra $50. I think the Razr is a little bit better build quality but the internals are all but identical. Running current firmware they're both reliable, quick phones. I prefer daylight visibility and a swappable battery to the AMOLED and slightly more rigid frame. YMMV.
MillionManMosh said:
I see brand new Razrs on Craigslist for $300 all the time. Comes down to preference and whether you want to shell out the extra $50. I think the Razr is a little bit better build quality but the internals are all but identical. Running current firmware they're both reliable, quick phones. I prefer daylight visibility and a swappable battery to the AMOLED and slightly more rigid frame. YMMV.
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Click to collapse
On ebay the Razr is going for $400-500, $300 would be a steal. Anyway, I got the bionic, was able to pick one up for $230 including the car dock and extended battery. I am sure its better than a Samsung Charge with a cracked screen.
I had VZW trade me a razr for my bionic because of 4 diff devices having the same problem with connectivity. Other than that I loved it, good solid phone. Invert I got past the Pentile screen which isn't that bad as others say it was like my dx on steroids. I'd still have it if nor for my problems with it, but like others say price wise might as well look at a razr. Whatever feels best
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If you enjoy tinkering with your phone, I would advise against the Bionic. The locked bootloader sucks, and I don't see it being unlocked anytime soon, if ever. Although there is some dev support, it's not much. Motorola has great build quality, but as long as they keep locking their phones down, I don't think I'll be buying anymore of their products. The Nexus has massive support, already, and the Rezound got unlocked, today, so expect to see dev support take off for that. If I were you, I'd stick it out with the Charge until you can afford one of those.
Edit-Sorry, I missed your post about getting it.
I just came over from using a charge. The charge has a better screen but the bionic is so much faster and more reliable. The charge did best for me with stock roms. Every custom rom i tried there was something wrong with it. So now that i have the bionic i took the latest ota update and i rooted it. Couldnt be happier. It was a good purchase as i sold my charge for 200 and got a mint bionic for 215 on swappa.
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I've had the bionic since release. When the droid razr and galaxy nexus came out and all the devs moved, I was disappointed and pissed off. But after enabling webtop2sd and webubuntu along with dhacker's fabulous rom, I think it's safe to say that I'll be staying here for the next 2 years. Droid razr and galaxy nexus may be newer phones but they are both missing either the sdcard storage or the external battery. The Bionic has it all!
Ooh whats webtoptosd or whatever
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If you are a Sam's Club member (or know someone who is) you can get the Bionic for $120.00 with the Renew/Upgrade option or $50.00 with the Add More Lines to My Account option. But if you buy it as a Replacement Device, it'll cost you $570.00. I bought mine from them about end of October for $150.00 and added a line to my wifes' account. They have come down since then.
Hope this helps.
Tony
I recently came from the Fascinate which had a solid dev community, but the device was crippled with its lack of RAM. I am very happy with my Bionic on stock rooted. The screen isn't as vibrant add the SAMOLED but the device itself is fast and it has a ton of features. The build quality is far better than the Fascinate and hopefully the Droid branding will mean quicker updates (even though we are still on 2.3.4).
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I had the Bionic for nearly a year and was pretty happy with it except for the bootloader issue. Flashed the ICS leak and it was like a brand new phone. But for some reason it started having data drop issues. I couldn't live with that. So after my third Razr replacement they gave me a HTC Resound. Having a phone with an unlocked boot loader for the first time has been a real eye opener. I happily bode Motorola goodbye. (they are liars anyway with the empty promise of unlocked bootloaders on their devices. To date they still have not honored their promise.) The Razr was a dog. No battery life and majordata drop issues.
So I am a HTC fan now. So far so good. Hopefully this phone will last a while. I don't plan on renewing my contractwith big red so I can keep my unlimited plan. Don't need the newest phone just data with options.
Sent from my HTC Rezound
Unlocked Bootloader
Rooted with S-Off
using Tapatalk 2
The bionic is a GREAT phone! 1.2Ghz dual core (rated at 1Ghz but the ICS update bumps it up .2) 1GB DDR2 RAM. Don't worry about the locked bootloader, they have a work around figured out on that now (its called Kexec) and dhacker29 is developing CM10 (Jellybean 4.1) for the bionic right now. I have used the alpha version and it is smooth as butter. It is alpha so there is a few bugs but it will be a usable daily driver eventually and that is what the SGS3 and Nexus is running (Jellybean). I have used the Samsung Charge before and the Bionic is leaps and bounds ahead of that phone. If you keep it stock on ICS (the official update is out soon or you can run the leaked version for the time being) or load roms it truly is the best bang for the buck out there in the 4G world. There's a good reason why this is the phone I chose to use. My $0.02
this thread is 9 months old, y'all
Basically, i'm fed up with waiting around until "fixes" are released for the Nexus(web browser crashes, 720p ac3 .mkv video crashes, etc) & miss the Rezound i used to have. Someone though has offered me $300 cash + a Bionic for my Nexus. I'm tempted, but would like to know a few things first. I see the Bionic's been rooted, but what about switching out kernals/radios? Can you overclock the Bionic?
voxigenboy said:
Basically, i'm fed up with waiting around until "fixes" are released for the Nexus(web browser crashes, 720p ac3 .mkv video crashes, etc) & miss the Rezound i used to have. Someone though has offered me $300 cash + a Bionic for my Nexus. I'm tempted, but would like to know a few things first. I see the Bionic's been rooted, but what about switching out kernals/radios? Can you overclock the Bionic?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not able to switch kernels at the moment, radios can be flashed but once you do it you risk being off the ota path since Moto wants to be *****es about it
you can overclock to 1.2 ghz, but it's not worth it imo since the gains aren't that noticeable
ROB281 said:
not able to switch kernels at the moment, radios can be flashed but once you do it you risk being off the ota path since Moto wants to be *****es about it
you can overclock to 1.2 ghz, but it's not worth it imo since the gains aren't that noticeable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmm.. i guess you're right there. when i overclock this Nexus, it improves the 'benchmark scores' a bit but actual system performance doesn't seem to change at all. i think i'm gonna check out this dude's Bionic & make sure everything checks out ok(esn especially) & go from there.
Damn that's a good deal. I say do it.
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That is a damn good deal.
I have both devices and the Bionic is superior to the Gnex is many important ways, like radio performance and battery life, to name to big ones.
Then there is Webtop, which is a very cool and unique feature of Motorola devices.
ICS is very slick and the Gnex is a very enjoyable device to use but definitely suffers from some pretty severe issues and shortcomings.
Your buddy is nuts! That is a ridiculous deal and you could probably make money even reselling it.
cellzealot can attest to it - a lot of people have been testing long and hard, and he and P3 have summed up a lot of info from the forums and from personal testing to give a nearly bulletproof method of putting you back on the OTA upgrade path even if you decide to take a walk on the wild side.
I was *****ing and moaning 6 months ago about a locked bootloader, and then I started looking at the hardware - and I realized that this thing really is a diamond in the rough. Now, I couldn't be happier.
6 months from now when ICS is pushing to our phones, you're going to be amazed at the capabilities of this device.
Also, think about it - Motorola almost always has really good chips - and they developed the LTE chip in the BIONIC in house. I'm betting on that chip. And I think they are too, because if it turns into an eventual success, then they'll have a template on how to start developing other chips as well, and thereby have a nearly proprietary device within 10 years, is my guess.
---------- Post added at 01:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:11 AM ----------
cellzealot said:
I have both devices and the Bionic is superior to the Gnex is many important ways, like radio performance and battery life, to name to big ones.
Then there is Webtop, which is a very cool and unique feature of Motorola devices.
ICS is very slick and the Gnex is a very enjoyable device to use but definitely suffers from some pretty severe issues and shortcomings.
Your buddy is nuts! That is a ridiculous deal and you could probably make money even reselling it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BTW, I'm quoting this post over at AF lol
I have a Galaxy Nexus and a Bionic...The bionic is my daily driver (I use the micro sim with an adapter so I can switch between the two.)
I was ready to throw my Bionic out the window a short while ago, but since I've been on a rooted .901 there is no going back to the nexus!
voxigenboy said:
Basically, i'm fed up with waiting around until "fixes" are released for the Nexus(web browser crashes, 720p ac3 .mkv video crashes, etc) & miss the Rezound i used to have. Someone though has offered me $300 cash + a Bionic for my Nexus. I'm tempted, but would like to know a few things first. I see the Bionic's been rooted, but what about switching out kernals/radios? Can you overclock the Bionic?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will personally take you a new Bionic with case and holster right now. Pm me <MOD EDIT>. Thanks
voxigenboy said:
Basically, i'm fed up with waiting around until "fixes" are released for the Nexus(web browser crashes, 720p ac3 .mkv video crashes, etc) & miss the Rezound i used to have. Someone though has offered me $300 cash + a Bionic for my Nexus. I'm tempted, but would like to know a few things first. I see the Bionic's been rooted, but what about switching out kernals/radios? Can you overclock the Bionic?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds like one hell of a deal, I'd go for it. The full 5.5.893 stock restore fastboot files just leaked so restoring is no problem, I just used it myself.
I've been dealing with the Android OS battery life drain bug ever since I applied the last update and I'm hopeful reflashing the stock image fixed it but otherwise I love my Bionic and it'll only get better once the ICS update becomes available.
What you mean I didn't know the galaxy nexus uses a micro sim card
mike91t said:
I have a Galaxy Nexus and a Bionic...The bionic is my daily driver (I use the micro sim with an adapter so I can switch between the two.)
I was ready to throw my Bionic out the window a short while ago, but since I've been on a rooted .901 there is no going back to the nexus!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
denpad2010 said:
What you mean I didn't know the galaxy nexus uses a micro sim card
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He said hes got an adapter....
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The Galaxy Nexus does use a micro SIM...you need the adapter to put the microSIM back into the Bionic. I cut my Bionic SIM down to fit the Gnex and cut another old SIM to be an adapter to use in the Bionic. Works great.
All new lte phones will be micro sim
Sent from my DROID BIONIC
I was wondering where we bionic owners came from and also what we like / dislike about our old phones and our bionic.
I came from the OG Droid to the Eris to the Droid Incredible to the Bionic. I really miss the development of the og, Eris, and incredible. There was just so much available. And I really miss the simplicity thoes 3 had. And I miss ICS on the Droid Incredible (a fully working 3g data camera working ICS).Didn't like the lack of ram on the Eris and og. Now to the Bionic, I love the omap4, 4.3in screen, front camera, 1gb of ram. What I don't like is blur, the lack of development, and I really hate the way this whole thing is set up with safestrap and having 2 systems. Its just crazy! And having to make sure you come from .893 or .901 before you flash a rom.What ever happened to root, cwm, format the whole system, boot, data, ect. then flash away. Bionic is root, safestrap, and hope you don't screw up cause there is no way to cwm from a bootloop.
Sorry for rant but its just how I feel. And don't think for one sec I don't appreciate what the developers have done cause without their safestrap/bootstrap and roms, this phone would be so locked down it wouldn't even be funny. I have just never seen it like this. Now lets hear where you came from and your likes and dislikes.
I came from the charge which I loved the light feel of the phone however hareare as well as software was lacking but I loved the impossibility of brick unless you are retarred before that it was a epic whitch was nothing special on a side not the charge had a a lot faster 4g speeds I lose about 30 percent of speed on the bionic
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I came from the Nexus S 4g on Sprint, loved the phone, but the reception was absolutely terrible I would go on international roaming inside my own house
I cam from Nextel to Motorola Razr to Iphone 3 3gs 4 then Droid Samsung s2 then
Samsung Galaxy S2 SKY i727.
Like the android brighter and bigger screen. Apps are similar but battery drain is definitely worse on the SKY.
Almost returned to Iphone 4s but just didn't see and advantage.
Learning curve for the Droid took about a week to learn, root, cook rom, brick un brick break and now I think I got it almost right. 60 days on droid.
bfitzpatrickd2d said:
I came from the charge which I loved the light feel of the phone however hareare as well as software was lacking but I loved the impossibility of brick unless you are retarred before that it was a epic whitch was nothing special on a side not the charge had a a lot faster 4g speeds I lose about 30 percent of speed on the bionic
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1, loved my old Charge.
I started with the Droid Eris in the early days of Android. Loved the rom community very much. HTC should have.had better quality control on production because most of my issues were physical. Went through 5 of them before Verizon sent me a Droid 2.
Used the Droid 2 until I was eligible for upgrade. Got HTC thunderbolt and used it for 2 weeks then traded it in for LG revolution. Loved thunderbolt but had random reboot issues.
Hated the revolution. Hardly any rom development for a phone with unlocked bootloader. Even had messed up boot animations that prevented anyone from having a custom boot animation for months after it was released (used some funky rle files instead of the standard bootanimatio.zip or other common boot animations found on Android).
Finally got.fed up with the revolution and paid $600 for the bionic. I love my bionic but admit that Motorola totally screwed it up when you consider that this was the most hyped android ever released.
In the future, I'll probably stick to HTC because they have the best rom development communities. The battery life isn't as good as it is with Motorola but the selection of roms can get me past that, especially when the roms will improve their battery life.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
I hate Samsung nor will I ever own one. For what can be said about the bright screen and everything, Samsung phones have some of the most issues.running apps from the android market. I'm always reading comments on 4 star apps from Samsung users having problems with the app. As an app developer, the majority of complaints come from Samsung users. I'd have to say 80% of the problems are coming from Samsung users. They are having issues that owners of other androids aren't having. In many cases, lot of app developers are having their apps rated down because of an issue that is Samsung's fault because the user doesn't realize the problem is with Samsung. With as many devices that are available, most app developers cannot ensure compatibility among every single device as its not possible for us to own every single one to test on. The majority of android app developers are independent and in many cases, are working from home. Since they're not being financed by major billion dollar corporations, they don't have the budget to buy additional devices. This is also a major reason many app developers for the iPhone won't come over to Android even as Android continues to outsell the iPhone. There is also an issue about Android owners being known for being too cheap to buy apps (not sure how true this really is, but it is a real perception. The majority of people who are downloading pirated content never would buy it anyways so the damages you hear about are greatly over exaggerated) .
While Samsung may have some of the sexiest phones, they're like having a Porsche running with bad spark plugs.
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This is good guys. Keep it coming.
It also sounds like people that have owned HTC prior are like me and miss it.
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dragon droid said:
This is good guys. Keep it coming.
It also sounds like people that have owned HTC prior are like me and miss it.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a thunderbolt, and that's the reason I'll stay far away from HTC from now on.
Here's my response to the rootz thread
" I had a Droid X, and a Thunderbolt before. I loved my X and only got a t bolt for 4g, what a mistake that was. I rarely ever saw 4g with the t bolt, I thought my area had poor coverage and then I got the bionic and realized it was a problem with the bolt. My t bolt also had horrible sound quality, the mic and both speakers sucked. That phone had so many problems (I went through 6) that I won't be getting another HTC anytime soon."
Come on guys. I know there is more stories on where you came from. Keep it coming.
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I started with the htc hero than palm pre then htc evo then htc evo 3d then the DROID charge and finally DROID bionic. The bionic has been good to me ....but I feel like I need a little bit more. Im running eclipse 2.1 on 901 but im used to having the development like the evo. There were so many options. Im tempted to get the razr maxx but im afraid something else will come out that's better...even tho it will always happen
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Hold off on the razer. They are releasing a developers edition razer with unlocked bootloader. Makes me wonder if any previous phones will ever get their bootloaders unlocked since they are releasing developer editions now.
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Really I thought it wasn't coming to the US...
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I read something last night about it. Ill see if I can find it again and post a link later this afternoon.
Lets hear more on where you came from and why you like/dislike the phones guys.
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The one thing I can say I miss about the thunderbolt is sound profiles. It saved different profiles for the built in speaker and headphones, this is a feature that should become standard on Android.
adlzian said:
I started with the htc hero than palm pre then htc evo then htc evo 3d then the DROID charge and finally DROID bionic. The bionic has been good to me ....but I feel like I need a little bit more. Im running eclipse 2.1 on 901 but im used to having the development like the evo. There were so many options. Im tempted to get the razr maxx but im afraid something else will come out that's better...even tho it will always happen
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your going to find a better rom development community with HTC phones. Its pretty much standard that HTC gets the rom development. If you're looking for the type of community that you had.with the evo, you will have to stay with HTC or get a nexus.
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Started with the Eris, then the Incredible, and now the bionic. This is not a bad phone by any means. But I am glad my DINC is still alive and kicking.
Again the phone itself I love. Just as others have said though, the locked bootloader and lack of dev support just ain't what I'm used too.
But I have raging fast 4g for only $50
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My roots are simple. Smartphone-wise, I started on Windows Mobile and used a few different HTC phones(8525, Tilt, Tilt 2) over the course of my early experience. Definitely easy to mod. However, I didn't like where Windows Phone was going(still don't), so I made the switch to android with the Droid X. It will always be special to me. I could have picked a phone without a locked bootloader, but I wouldn't have had the same raw power. Only 2 months ago, I upgraded to the Bionic. I wanted to hold out for the Droid 4(missed the keyboard), but Verizon made me a deal I couldn't refuse.
Will be more specific soon.
Wow, I forgot about windows phone. I had the Motorola q and q9m and actually liked em. I didn't like what came after windows mobile 6.1 and 6.5 which is what windows mobile is now.
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I came from a T-Mobile G1.
...yeah. So you can imagine the nature of the Bionic upgrade for me. It was literally an exponential upgrade in terms of everything. Lol.