Droid Bionic or Samsung Galaxy S II?

[jinwons]

Though slim, the SG2's 4.5" display support makes the device "near-awkward" unless you have big hands (or long fingers). A thicker device would add to the handling issue. Folks will see what I mean when you hold the device and try operating with one hand.

I would prefer a 4.3" device that is thicker (more battery), rather than a super-slim 4.5" device, since same total size.

Isn't SGSII 4.3" (4.27" to be exact)? Looks like you are talking about Infuse 4G. Rumors indicate Bionic will be 4.5" large and pretty thick device. I hope it's not 4.5" qHD as that and LTE won't bode well for battery life.

Also I don't get the slim form factor argument on SGSII about LTE. Adding just a few millimeters to fit LTE into it isn't big deal for most folks. Still it's fairly slim, very likely thinner than Charge. And who knows if Sammy already engineered smaller LTE chip into it? LTE phone will get slimmer, more efficient eventually.

 

[rushmore]

Isn't SGSII 4.3" (4.27" to be exact)? Looks like you are talking about Infuse 4G. Rumors indicate Bionic will be 4.5" large and pretty thick device. I hope it's not 4.5" qHD as that and LTE won't bode well for battery life.

Also I don't get the slim form factor argument on SGSII about LTE. Adding just a few millimeters to fit LTE into it isn't big deal for most folks. Still it's fairly slim, very likely thinner than Charge. And who knows if Sammy already engineered smaller LTE chip into it? LTE phone will get slimmer, more efficient eventually.

Yep. I tested several newer devices and got them confused. There are quite a few devices I have not seen or heard of. Thanks to US carriers, we are waaaaay behind.

Phone Warehouse seems the most prolific retailer in the metro area.

 

[Great1]

Just found this article on perhaps a S2 July release.

Verizon Samsung Galaxy S2 Release Date Set For July | Headline News

 

[rushmore]

Just found this article on perhaps a S2 July release.

Verizon Samsung Galaxy S2 Release Date Set For July | Headline News

The "Function"... hmmm. Let me guess- there are supposed to be three different versions and the VZW one will have little to no internal media storage. The version in Europe and the At&t version have 16gb (though 3gb is taken by the OS apps and app storage).

Just going by how VZW has always gotten the gimped versions of Samsung devices. I am hoping I am wrong, since Samsung lists the options as 16gb or 32gb.

 

[jinwons]

The "Function"... hmmm. Let me guess- there are supposed to be three different versions and the VZW one will have little to know internal media storage. The version in Europe and the At&t version have 16gb (though 3gb is taken by the OS apps and app storage).

Just going by how VZW has always gotten the gimped versions of Samsung devices. I am hoping I am wrong, since Samsung lists the options as 16gb or 32gb.

Well, I don't think Verizon would have gut to do that unless they are told to do so by Apple. Most folks waiting on SGSII here are well aware of its great spec on international version. If they ridiculously cripple it like they did to Fascinate, they would risk many android fans switching to other carriers including me.

 

[rushmore]

Well, I don't think Verizon would have gut to do that unless they are told to do so by Apple. Most folks waiting on SGSII here are well aware of its great spec on international version. If they ridiculously cripple it like they did to Fascinate, they would risk many android fans switching to other carriers including me.

jin, you may have provided additional perspective that makes me assume 95% that it will be crippled. My perspective is because as mentioned a zillion times, VZW seems to be leveraging their network coverage and pushing mid level devices for premium prices (why have 16gb internal if they can get away with lower and charge the same price?). Just look at the Charge- $300 for an 18 month old chipset and no internal storage.

Factor in Apple's $political$ pull and new hate for Samsung- we may just see a cripped SG2 ....

 

[jroc]

Is this gonna be LTE?

Samsung Galaxy S II 4G is offically coming to Bell; no word yet on pricing or release date - Phone Arena

If so there is hope the one for Verizon will be LTE too. I've been checking and I dont see anything actually saying its LTE.

EDIT: nevermind...I checked Bell's site. Its not LTE. So ppl are making a distinction between 4G and LTE? I always thought it was the same, and LTE, HSPA and WiMax were the different names for it.

This gets so confusing sometimes....I guess if it doesnt say LTE than it isnt LTE...lol So Wimax and HSPA are 4G then?

Confusing....

 

[Asterdroid]

Is this gonna be LTE?

Samsung Galaxy S II 4G is offically coming to Bell; no word yet on pricing or release date - Phone Arena

If so there is hope the one for Verizon will be LTE too. I've been checking and I dont see anything actually saying its LTE.

EDIT: nevermind...I checked Bell's site. Its not LTE. So ppl are making a distinction between 4G and LTE? I always thought it was the same, and LTE, HSPA and WiMax were the different names for it.

This gets so confusing sometimes....I guess if it doesnt say LTE than it isnt LTE...lol So Wimax and HSPA are 4G then?

Confusing....

LTE, WiMax, and HSPA+ are all different 4G protocols. LTE is just a newer 4G technology with faster DL/UL speeds.

 

[jinwons]

jin, you may have provided additional perspective that makes me assume 95% that it will be crippled. My perspective is because as mentioned a zillion times, VZW seems to be leveraging their network coverage and pushing mid level devices for premium prices (why have 16gb internal if they can get away with lower and charge the same price?). Just look at the Charge- $300 for an 18 month old chipset and no internal storage.

Factor in Apple's $political$ pull and new hate for Samsung- we may just see a cripped SG2 ....

If you believe so, then the same argument applies to Bionic as well. We all know what happened to DX2, which could have been much better if it had larger RAM, gingerbread, refined firmware, etc. If Verizon keeps doing this, then they might end up losing a lot of android fans.

 

[Great1]

The "Function"... hmmm. Let me guess- there are supposed to be three different versions and the VZW one will have little to no internal media storage. The version in Europe and the At&t version have 16gb (though 3gb is taken by the OS apps and app storage).

Just going by how VZW has always gotten the gimped versions of Samsung devices. I am hoping I am wrong, since Samsung lists the options as 16gb or 32gb.

Man I hope this isnt true, I didnt even realize that both the Galaxy I and Charge have only 2GB on board storage. I hope VZW doesnt act retarted this time and hopefully keep the 16/32 GB on board storage. I would be fine even with 8GB, but 2GB with this type of a phone would be a joke.

 

[jinwons]

Man I hope this isnt true, I didnt even realize that both the Galaxy I and Charge have only 2GB on board storage. I hope VZW doesnt act retarted this time and hopefully keep the 16/32 GB on board storage. I would be fine even with 8GB, but 2GB with this type of a phone would be a joke.

Fascinate was Samsung's first major entry to android phone on Verizon after Moto, HTC. So they probably accepted whatever modifications verizon asked for like loading Bing, reducing storage, etc. And Charge is basically refreshed Fascinate plus LTE radio. So it's no wonder that its spec is close to Fascinate, save for improved camera, display. It was probably developed from last Fall in rush to get their first LTE phone out.

But I think it's different situation when it comes to SGSII. It's making record early sales oversea and Galaxy name is now well established in android world. Also the AT&T version (Attain) will be very close to the global version as radio is compatible. So given all this, Sammy/Verizon wouldn't make such compromise in Function as done to Fascinate. This is my opinion of course as opposed to rushmore's. I think both side has equally valid points, so will see how it plays out.

 

[jinwons]

Interesting poll on SGSII vs Bionic from social networking. I hope verizon takes notice of this.

Samsung Galaxy S2 vs Motorola Droid Bionic: There Will Be Blood

 

[Asterdroid]

I didn't see anything in that article stating that only Verizon customers were polled.

If the poll is cross-carrier, of course the SGS2 is going to win.

Do you know if it was only Verizon customers polled?

 

[jinwons]

I didn't see anything in that article stating that only Verizon customers were polled.

If the poll is cross-carrier, of course the SGS2 is going to win.

Do you know if it was only Verizon customers polled?

That's good question. It doesn't specifically say they polled only verizon customers. But it says they polled folks on social networking expressing intent to buy either Bionic or SGSII. So the majority of polled sample is probably verizon customers if not all of them.

 

[rushmore]

That's good question. It doesn't specifically say they polled only verizon customers. But it says they polled folks on social networking expressing intent to buy either Bionic or SGSII. So the majority of polled sample is probably verizon customers if not all of them.

Sounds like a political polster from the news media did it

 

[redraider1]

I didn't see anything in that article stating that only Verizon customers were polled.

If the poll is cross-carrier, of course the SGS2 is going to win.

Do you know if it was only Verizon customers polled?

It was a cross carrier study so obviously the gs2 would win since the bionic is only on one carrier.

 

[redraider1]

Fascinate was Samsung's first major entry to android phone on Verizon after Moto, HTC. So they probably accepted whatever modifications verizon asked for like loading Bing, reducing storage, etc. And Charge is basically refreshed Fascinate plus LTE radio. So it's no wonder that its spec is close to Fascinate, save for improved camera, display. It was probably developed from last Fall in rush to get their first LTE phone out.

But I think it's different situation when it comes to SGSII. It's making record early sales oversea and Galaxy name is now well established in android world. Also the AT&T version (Attain) will be very close to the global version as radio is compatible. So given all this, Sammy/Verizon wouldn't make such compromise in Function as done to Fascinate. This is my opinion of course as opposed to rushmore's. I think both side has equally valid points, so will see how it plays out.

But the galaxy 1 was a huge seller too so I dont think this will be any different. I think verizon will dumb it down by either making it only 3 and loading it with a small amount of memory and have all the issues the others are having(weak wifi, gps problems, etc)

 

[redraider1]

If you believe so, then the same argument applies to Bionic as well. We all know what happened to DX2, which could have been much better if it had larger RAM, gingerbread, refined firmware, etc. If Verizon keeps doing this, then they might end up losing a lot of android fans.

Moto usually has more pull than samsung does I mean moto is the one who brought verizon a ton of customers and had a huge seller with the original droid. I think the bionic is going to be a true beast and be droid branded where they will cripple the samsung to get more sales toward the bionic and other droid branded phones.

 

[jinwons]

Moto usually has more pull than samsung does I mean moto is the one who brought verizon a ton of customers and had a huge seller with the original droid. I think the bionic is going to be a true beast and be droid branded where they will cripple the samsung to get more sales toward the bionic and other droid branded phones.

You can't deny that Motorola mobility is troubled now, but Samsung mobile division is on the rise in android game. Just because you favor them over samsung doesn't change that fact. None of their new devices so far this year was exactly hit they wished (Atrix, Xoom, DX2). They no longer have the momentum they had with first wave of Droid phones. In contrast, samsung is making huge splash with SGSII, Tab 10.1 this year. Verizon wouldn't cripple function when they know it's better to change their horse on android. Even if they request such ridiculous modification to Function, samsung wouldn't allow it this time given their stronger position this year. But what you are saying is mostly wishes in favor of Moto. So let's see what happens.

 

[rushmore]

Moto has lost their mojo and done it very quickly (the DX2 FW and poor GB update efforts confirm it). The Bionic seems just as important as the Droid 1 was for their survival, but less marketshare to take now- so less room for error. As each month passes, so does their chances.

Samsung has its own issues battling Apple, but still yearning to be Apple wannabes.

That all said, Samsung has LOTS more cash to burn for their vices.

 

[Great1]

Moto has lost their mojo and done it very quickly (the DX2 FW and poor GB update efforts confirm it). The Bionic seems just as important as the Droid 1 was for their survival, but less marketshare to take now- so less room for error. As each month passes, so does their chances.

Samsung has its own issues battling Apple, but still yearning to be Apple wannabes.

That all said, Samsung has LOTS more cash to burn for their vices.

I think Rushmore hit the nail on the head by the "Samsung has its own issues battling Apple, but still yearning to be Apple wannabes" quote. Moto is battling to get back in the hunt while Samsung is battling the big boys. Samsung has more to offer and is better suited to fight Apple then any other manufacturer.

 

[redraider1]

Too everyone that said the droid 3 and bionic wouldnt launch with gb check out the leaked specs and the article on here and see Verizon told moto tto wait to push update not because of bugs but because they want people to go buy new hardware(d3/bionic) . the article shows the oldeolder phones will get gb shortly after d3 launch. And i dont favor moto its a phone company iI have no favorites/loyalties

 

[rushmore]

Too everyone that said the droid 3 and bionic wouldnt launch with gb check out the leaked specs and the article on here and see Verizon told moto tto wait to push update not because of bugs but because they want people to go buy new hardware(d3/bionic) . the article shows the oldeolder phones will get gb shortly after d3 launch. And i dont favor moto its a phone company iI have no favorites/loyalties

That would be mega lame if the media read into the delays it was quality issues. Then again, recent firmware efforts in general for the DX1 and DX2 support quality issues.

 

[addictedtocars]

Bionic for two reasons.

1. 4G
2. Moto's build quality is better imho.

Ditto

 

[dirkbonn]

There are a few things I must have in my next phone:


1. Front facing camera

2. LTE capability

3. 4.3in screen (minimum)

4. Dual core processor

5. 1GB ram (minimum)

6. 16GB SDcard (minimum)


I'm feeling more confident that the Bionic will fit my needs, however I won't be upgrading until after the first of the year so if something bigger/faster/better is available then, that's the direction I will go.


I have an "X" now and am extremely happy with it so I have no problem keeping it until the right phone (for me) is available.