Bionic build 5.9.901....Initial impressions......and what we know so far

[bluezdawg]

I will patiently wait for the .901 update.

I fought the urge to root, ROM, install leaked updates and am glad I did. I am very pleased with the 5.5.893 ota. Only thing that can use some work in my opinion is the camera. Nothing will ever be perfect, count me amongst the happy Bionic owners. The only thing that may force me to root is that I need the Cisco AnyConnect client for Android, which requires root (unless Cisco gets their butts in gear).

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[RK KINGKONG]

As I read through some of these post I say alot of you don't know how lucky you are. I live in Northern New Jersey, PATERSON.
Only time I ever see 4g is at home occasionally lol. Any other time it's just 3G.
Obviously I'm assuming 4GLTE isn't well set up yet in my area which makes me jealous. Because my friends with AT&T or SPRINT always have 4g.
I sometimes feel like I bought this phone with its services for no reason, paying for a service I don't get.
& let's not talk about the billboards that read "Verizon 4GLTE fastest & most reliable " WTF yeah right....

Now I'll say this since the OTA update, I'm happier with more consistent data connection rather than dropped data or none at all...

Last night I was in time square and had 4GLTE mostly rather than 3G.
So I guess the area I'm in needs 4g improvement fast....

IMO Verizon has yet to be the most reliable network

Droid Bionic / Tapatalk

 

[wilboy]

As I read through some of these post I say alot of you don't know how lucky you are. I live in Northern New Jersey, PATERSON.
Only time I ever see 4g is at home occasionally lol. Any other time it's just 3G.
Obviously I'm assuming 4GLTE isn't well set up yet in my area which makes me jealous. Because my friends with AT&T or SPRINT always have 4g.
I sometimes feel like I bought this phone with its services for no reason, paying for a service I don't get.
& let's not talk about the billboards that read "Verizon 4GLTE fastest & most reliable " WTF yeah right....

Now I'll say this since the OTA update, I'm happier with more consistent data connection rather than dropped data or none at all...

Last night I was in time square and had 4GLTE mostly rather than 3G.
So I guess the area I'm in needs 4g improvement fast....

IMO Verizon has yet to be the most reliable network

Droid Bionic / Tapatalk

We are just neighbor!..am from Elizabeth,didn't experienced yet data drops(except during the outages )I'm a happy camper and I'm happy w/ my Bionic,specially now that i'm in an upgrade path..and now running 9.901 w/ Eclipse 2.0 901 support..:happy3:

 

[rdgxray]

I have been using the 9.01 update since it came out. At 1st I thought it fixed everything, but now I notice I still have data drops. Much better than it was, but I still get them. This morning taking some pictures and camera started doing that "I have to focus for 5 secs stuff." I thought the camera was fixed, apparently not all the time. My contacts load slower now with phone not recognizing some numbers for sometime. Then poof! It will recognize them and show name and picture. I don't have a lot of contacts either. Yes I agree 9.01 is a great update, but it doesn't make the phone flawless or work 100%.

 

[nateohio]

Well I can state for a fact on my part that the 5.9.901 update actually made my Bionic slightly less performance-wise than the stock 5.5.893 OTA is..... or when it was running KIN3TX on the leaked 5.7.893...

Currently on the 5.5.893 OTA stock my Bionic is running flawlessly, absolutely not even one dropped 4G signal (not even one toggle down to 3G as yet), and the camera works very well......thus had no desire or need to flash the unofficial 5.9.901 OTA....however based off of all the high praise many were giving that unofficial OTA I decided to flash it, unfortunately for me it did not give me any better camera, no better performance of system or battery life, and has actually dropped from 4G to 3G several times...So there is nothing wrong with my particular Bionic as is evident by how flawlessly it runs on leaked 5.7.893 and 5.5.893 OTA, but for some odd reason it just does not perform as well on the 5.9.901 OTA .....so you cannot make a blanket statement that it's caused by a defective device or poor area reception

You do realize that the main issue with the bionic is that it would drop data entirely when handing off between 4G/3G/Wifi right? (A situation that seems to be addressed very well in this update, your own statement confirms that) Sounds to me like you are in a fringe 4G area and that your bionic is just doing what needs to be done to maintain data connectivity reliably.

Once again, I have not dropped to 3G involuntarily since i installed this update on the 20th, NOT ONCE! When before the update it would constantly switch and would drop the connection altogether multiple times daily. Nor have I had a dropped connection, now why would our experiences be different other than network location or hardware deficiency? Explain that.

 

[aaf709]

I'm wondering if some reception problems would either go away or appear if we stood shoulder to shoulder with another Bionic owner. We live all over the country. I'm not saying location is the sole answer, but it has to be a contributor.

 

[Mbk]

You do realize that the main issue with the bionic is that it would drop data entirely when handing off between 4G/3G/Wifi right? Sounds to me like you are in a fringe 4G area and that your bionic is just doing what needs to be done to maintain data connectivity reliably.

Once again, I have not dropped to 3G involuntarily since i installed this update on the 20th, NOT ONCE! When before the update it would constantly switch and would drop the connection altogether multiple times daily. Nor have I had a dropped connection, now why would our experiences be different other than network location? Explain that.

Wrong about the Fringe of 4G in my area...it's Honolulu and 'full-blown' 4G 'all' of the time (except per nationwide VZW problems a couple times in the past few months)...so it should not even be going to 3G, especially in my home.
5.7.893 running KIN3TX did drop once in a blue moon to 3G, but since I went back to OTA path 5.5.893 it has not once dropped from 4G...but as soon as I applied the 5.9.901 update it toggled up and down several times in one day....so what I am saying is that you basically saying that the 5.9.901 is the 'absolute' fixall of updates and if it doesn't run properly on anyones Bionic then they must have a defective device or out in the sticks coverage areas is a misconception.....

I could easily say the same thing if you are having issues with 5.5.893 while mine has 'zero' issues...maybe you have the defective device that VZW is trying to bandaide patch??...lol...just sayin

 

[wilboy]

I have been using the 9.01 update since it came out. At 1st I thought it fixed everything, but now I notice I still have data drops. Much better than it was, but I still get them. This morning taking some pictures and camera started doing that "I have to focus for 5 secs stuff." I thought the camera was fixed, apparently not all the time. My contacts load slower now with phone not recognizing some numbers for sometime. Then poof! It will recognize them and show name and picture. I don't have a lot of contacts either. Yes I agree 9.01 is a great update, but it doesn't make the phone flawless or work 100%.

Well,can't say nothing for now,this is just only my second day using 9.901,so I'm still in "observation mode"..and sorry to hear that man!!

 

[nateohio]

Wrong about the Fringe of 4G in my area...it's Honolulu and 'full-blown' 4G 'all' of the time (except per nationwide VZW problems a couple times in the past few months)...so it should not even be going to 3G, especially in my home.
5.7.893 running KIN3TX did drop once in a blue moon to 3G, but since I went back to OTA path 5.5.893 it has not once dropped from 4G...but as soon as I applied the 5.9.901 update it toggled up and down several times in one day....so what I am saying is that you basically saying that the 5.9.901 is the 'absolute' fixall of updates and if it doesn't run properly on anyones Bionic then they must have a defective device or out in the sticks coverage areas is a misconception.....

I could easily say the same thing if you are having issues with 5.5.893 while mine has 'zero' issues...maybe you have the defective device that VZW is trying to bandaide patch??...lol...just sayin

No I'm not saying it's the absolute fixall, but I am saying that in my opinion, it's not going to get any better until VZW's LTE network gets a little bit more mature. Also, how long could have possibly tested the 901 build for? Did you ever think that maybe VZW was having problems during the time you were testing? LTE is known for ebbing and flowing with issues. Yesterday morning I couldn't get my phone to pull more than 4MBit download, sitting in the exact same spot I was yesterday with the exact same signal strength, I'm now pulling a consistent 15MBit download.

I am simply saying that most issues from here on out can probably be attributed to location in the network, network load at the time, network maintenance, or a hardware deficiency in the phone itself. I think that the firmware is most likely not going to get any better, and any improvement will be attributable to improvement on the above mentioned items.

For instance, if after the last 6 days of CONSTANT 4G signal, tomorrow it toggles between 3g and 4g a few times in an hour period, what would that be attributable too in your opinion?

Answer: It would be attributable to nothing but the network.

 

[Mbk]

I am simply saying that most issues from here on out can probably be attributed to location in the network, network load at the time, network maintenance, or a hardware deficiency in the phone itself. I think that the firmware is most likely not going to get any better, and any improvement will be attributable to improvement on the above mentioned items.

But that directly is disputed by the fact that my Bionic runs better on 5.5.893 than it does on 5.9.901.......I can understand if I were a complete noob and didn't know my head from my ass in regards to the Android systems, but your blanket statement

Some people are just impossible to please, at least 95% of the reviews for this latest update are positive. I'm absolutely convinced that those that are still having problems, either have a hardware deficiency in their device that will most likely be fixed with a replacement from verizon or their particular spot in the network sucks.

is completely refuted by my personal experience...that 5.5.893 runs better than 5.9.901 for me on my particular device and my particular area

 

[nateohio]

But that directly is disputed by the fact that my Bionic runs better on 5.5.893 than it does on 5.9.901.......I can understand if I were a complete noob and didn't know my head from my ass in regards to the Android systems, but your blanket statement
is completely refuted by my personal experience...that 5.5.893 runs better than 5.9.901 for me on my particular device and my particular area

Which leads me to ask AGAIN, how long did you test the 901 build for? I'm pretty sure that you can't properly gauge an update's quality when it comes to performance, stability, and especially battery life in less than 3 days. Seeing as how the update has only been out for about a week, I doubt that you gave it a good honest shot.

 

[Mbk]

The same applies to everyone running 5.9.901....how can you be so sure in a few days of use that all is fixed??...for me symptoms appeared immediatley upon applying 5.9.901, whereas it was completely stable and consistent running 5.5.893, so a nobrainer as far I'm concerned...


Here's what I think...there was a reason why VZW didn't actually release 5.9.901, probably because it is still laden with flaws, flaws that you and the supposed 95% luckily avoided in the couple days or so.....5.5.893 obviously isn't the last update, but to say that 'if' 5.9.901 didn't fix all of the issues still left then it must be people's devices or areas seems a little hasty....

 

[nateohio]

Still haven't answered my question, I love how you keep avoiding that one. And I have mentioned more areas than just hardware or location. Not to mention, that this is just my opinion based on what I have seen and experienced.

By the way, I've been running 901 since it was first available. So about a week. Has service ebbed and flowed? Yep. No drops though. But it has been running far superior to any other update or rom I've tried in the past.

Listen, I respect your work and development in the themes world. But testing new roms and builds is not like testing a framework change for a theme. You CANNOT honestly gauge the quality of a rom or update in a matter of a few minutes or even a few hours.

When working with themes, it either works or it doesn't. The same cannot be said for ROMS or Updates, there are too many variables that have to be taken into account. The only way to do that honestly, is with extended testing.

I won't even begin to evaluate a new build until it's been installed, battery calibrated, and running for 3 days. As you can see in the original post, I have been continually updating the OP with either new information or different opinions.

 

[Mbk]

Hahahaha... avoiding what??
there's where you're wrong.....if problems or inefficiencies appear immediately then just sitting and hoping that they'll somehow sort itself out in a few days is basically backwards thinking. You had problems running anything prior to 5.9.901 correct? why is that? My Bionic ran pretty awesome for a very long time on 5.70.893 and then now on 5.5.893 OTA, and immediately upon applying 5.9.901 data toggled up and down consistently and camera was no better and actually more grainy in dim light, took much longer to load up on reboots, and your answer is to sit on it for a few days??...give me a break...lmao...

btw, what does my theming have to do with any of this??... you saying that themers have no clue about anything else?...kinda presumptuous of you.

 

[nateohio]

Hahahaha... avoiding what??
there's where you're wrong.....if problems or inefficiencies appear immediately then just sitting and hoping that they'll somehow sort itself out in a few days is basically backwards thinking. You had problems running anything prior to 5.9.901 correct? why is that? My Bionic ran pretty awesome for a very long time on 5.70.893 and then now on 5.5.893 OTA, and immediately upon applying 5.9.901 data toggled up and down consistently and camera was no better and actually more grainy in dim light, took much longer to load up on reboots, and your answer is to sit on it for a few days??...give me a break...lmao...

btw, what does my theming have to do with any of this??... you saying that themers have no clue about anything else?...kinda presumptuous of you.

Kinda defensive are we??? Actually, I was recognizing your time, effort and knowledge that you willingly bring to the android community.

And yes, you CANNOT gauge the quality of a new build in a just a few minutes. But obviously, I'm not going to get through to you.

AND YOU STILL HAVE NOT ANSWERED MY QUESTION