My Droid X kicked the bucket and I'm looking to replace it without renewing a contract so looking on eBay and Craigslist. Are there any major issues with this phone that I need to be aware of? Are there any others that I should be looking at? I'm trying to stay in the $150-200 price range.
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Would you recommend this phone?
- Thread starter angiembfl
- Start date
wildkitten
Android Enthusiast
The only real issue with the Bionic is what all Verizon's 4G phones have suffered with at one point, 4G data drops. The Bionic is the last to get the fix, however, it seems that fix is coming soon with the ICS update. Those who have installed the leaks report very solid connections and such and though it was supposed to be released in early Q3 and then in September, the new head of Motorola did an interview where he was very open, something unusual and refreshing these days.
Personally I have loved the phone. Phone calls sound great, the speaker phone is very good and has some very good hardware in it. For me, I love the fact that you can swap the battery if need be.
BigRedGonzo
Android Expert
I have the Bionic and it is a fantastic phone. I have had zero issues since I got it last September. However, if you will read around a bit, there seem to be some Bionics that are plagued with data drops. The data drop result in an inability to gain internet access. Sometimes these resolve themselves, sometimes it requires a switch to airplane mode and back and sometimes a power cycle of the phone. Supposedly, the anxiously awaited upgrade of the Bionic to ICS is supposed to remedy this problem. Most folks that are running a leaked version of ICS report that the data drops are gone. There will be no way for you to tell if the phone from e-bay or craigslist have the data drop issue until you get it. I certainly do not want to scare you away from the Bionice, because it is an awesome device, but I would want the community to be up front with me if I were asking the question. The ICS upgrade was supposed to come during Q3 of this year, but did not happen. Google/Motorola are now saying Q4, so if you did get one with the data drop issue, is should be resolved soon. If given the option of any phone on the market now or keeping my Bionic, I would keep my Bionic. Of course, this is just my opinion. I hope this helps a bit.
BigRedGonzo
ispamforfood
Member
The biggest issue with the Bionic is that Motorola doesn't care about it anymore. They might say they do, but they don't. Even the new CEO, who is so apologetic about the disaster that has been the Bionic ICS development, can't wait to make this phone disappear.
Get something other than Motorola. They're trash.
Get something other than Motorola. They're trash.
Lars
Android Expert
I had the X (along with everything else) I would still have it but I'd rather give an employee a used phone and buy me a new one. :-D
Except as mentioned above the phone is good. Think of it as a 4G, dual core, dual camera, unlocked 7 band version of the X. (Though the quad band GSM is not easy to get working.)
Except as mentioned above the phone is good. Think of it as a 4G, dual core, dual camera, unlocked 7 band version of the X. (Though the quad band GSM is not easy to get working.)
I picked mine up about a year ago. Great phone, size, capabilities & potential. Horrible support from MotoFail & VZW. This phone could easily handle android OS thru JB & last another year or two, if it was properly supported or unlocked. Sadly, most Smartphones will experience the same lack of support as time goes on.
PowerBomb
Android Enthusiast
I pretty much agree with this. I never owned an X but the Bionic does just remind me of a better version of those devices.
As others have said, data drops and the constantly-delayed ICS Android 4.0 update are the biggest sore spots with Bionic Owners. Both can pretty much be solved if you are comfortable with installing one of the ICS leaks yourself. But if not they are saying the official update should be out by the end of the year and I think they realize if they cancel it again people will practically be ready to riot.
I'm not familiar with what else would fall into your price range when buying without a contract. You could probably get a Galaxy Nexus for around $200 or a little more. It's a mixed bag compared to the Bionic though. On one hand, having a Nexus-branded device means it runs an original version of Android without the phone manufacturer messing around with it to put their own person touch on it, and the device will get updates from Google fairly quickly. On the other hand, its camera has fewer megapixels than the Bionic (although image quality isn't all about MP), and the Bionic seems to have more options when it comes to extended batteries and other accessories.
I'm not sure if any of the RAZR models fall into your price range. If anything I'd imagine only the first RAZR that came out before they started with all the RAZR Maxx and RAZR HD models. This again would be kind of a sidestep move from the Bionic hardware wise, it's not a world of difference, although the RAZR seems to be getting updates much quicker from Motorola than the Bionic is.
I've been frustrated with the Bionic on and off and I almost want to agree with the replies above that tell you just to run from Motorola, but really as many mistakes as they have made with this phone, there isn't a whole lot else on the market that is doing any better -- at least not in this price range. If money was no problem there would definitely be a few better choices for you. But for under $200, the Bionic is pretty evenly matched with anything else you're going to get at that price. The physical device itself is great. All the features you could want. It's just getting a bad reputation because of the way Motorola and Verizon have treated this phone. The phone itself didn't do anything wrong. Even the data drop issues seem to be software related, it's not the actual phone causing the problem. It's a good device and once they get the software updated this device will still be relatively competitive for a while.
My bionic does what I want it to do. But a lot of the time I have to fight with it to accomplish that.
In my experience the call quality is good, the speaker phone is not. I have gotten all of my newsgroup activities to work. I've found the HDMI out to be useless as far as usability. With the extended battery I get about 1.5 days of use without needing to recharge. I find the wifi to be very unreliable as far as sustaining a connection.
Looking back the Samsung S2 would have been a better choice. With the release of the S3 that option is looking even better. I don't believe Moto deserves more business from me after my Bionic experience.
In my experience the call quality is good, the speaker phone is not. I have gotten all of my newsgroup activities to work. I've found the HDMI out to be useless as far as usability. With the extended battery I get about 1.5 days of use without needing to recharge. I find the wifi to be very unreliable as far as sustaining a connection.
Looking back the Samsung S2 would have been a better choice. With the release of the S3 that option is looking even better. I don't believe Moto deserves more business from me after my Bionic experience.
Lars
Android Expert
You want a bad speaker phone, try an htc for a truly worthless experience.
If you use Microsoft exchange, Motorola is the only way to go in the android world. Aosp is inadequate. Htc is ok for simple setups but Motorola has the best implementation.
If you can spring for a razr, I would do it. It is a more refined, better built phone than the bionic.
If you use Microsoft exchange, Motorola is the only way to go in the android world. Aosp is inadequate. Htc is ok for simple setups but Motorola has the best implementation.
If you can spring for a razr, I would do it. It is a more refined, better built phone than the bionic.
acejavelin
Android Expert
I would have to totally argue with on these points...
My HTC Rezound(s) and my Incredible 2 had amazing speaker phones, in a quiet environment people didn't even know they were on speakerphones... and in noisy ones they were pretty good although the Inc2 didn't get as loud as I would have liked most of the time. My son owns the Bionic and his speaker is totally crap, he is given up using because no one can understand him 95% of the time.
For the MS Exchange thing, why do you think Motorola is better than anything else here? We have a huge variety of smartphones in my office that I support and I don't see the Moto's as having any superiority in this to any other phone brands or ROM's. If I had to rate which ones were "best" in this area, Moto and HTC would top the list (flawless), followed by Samsung and Apple (occasional issues), and LG and Pantech (Yeah, don't get a Pantech for business use, the couple we have are very problematic).
The Razr's are nice phones, if you can get one go for it... although the Bionic is a solid device and at the right price would be decent investment. You could also check out Swappa (Android) Buy and sell gently used Android devices, there is a variety of phones there available that changes often... in the $150-$200 price right now for a 4G device you could grab a HTC Thunderbolt, Moto Razr, or a Samsung Charge (the Charge often goes for under $150 and is not bad device, especially if you are looking short term).
Lars
Android Expert
Glad to hear htc is making some progress on quality.
A good way to tell which exchange implementation is better, is try to move emails from the inbox to other folders or have non standard folders sync. Motorola and htc seem to be the winners there.
We share address books among multiple people, devices and computers. Basically, if I change a contact, everyone elses phone and outlook instantly updates too. I have banned htc phones from this system as there is a bug in sense that will cause random contacts to disappear in such a scenario. Aosp, moto and iphone work fine though you can't move emails in Aosp.
Iphone comes in a close second. The only thing you have to watch is if you have multiple address books and use the all contacts view you shouldn't edit or add from there because the contact will get duplicated into all address books.
A good way to tell which exchange implementation is better, is try to move emails from the inbox to other folders or have non standard folders sync. Motorola and htc seem to be the winners there.
We share address books among multiple people, devices and computers. Basically, if I change a contact, everyone elses phone and outlook instantly updates too. I have banned htc phones from this system as there is a bug in sense that will cause random contacts to disappear in such a scenario. Aosp, moto and iphone work fine though you can't move emails in Aosp.
Iphone comes in a close second. The only thing you have to watch is if you have multiple address books and use the all contacts view you shouldn't edit or add from there because the contact will get duplicated into all address books.