Bionic Reviews decent or wait till Prime?

[Stormy Knight]

It sounds like the Bionic's screen is identical to the X2's. I went to a Verizon store a couple of weeks ago to look at the X2 just to check out the screen. I was pretty disappointed. The live wallpaper was the swaying grass. Wherever the grass swayed you could see horizontal pixelation which was very noticable and distracting. The sample photos that people took with the display looked great, but the actual working screen just had a fuzziness that I just couldn't ignore. I was holding on to the hope that somehow the Bionic's display would be better but it seems that hope has been misplaced. I've been waiting for this phone since before the Etna was cancelled. I will still visit a Verizon store to look at the Bionic in person and play with it for awhile before I make my final decision, but I'm afraid what I find won't change my already made up mind.

The screen is everything to me. I don't want to be distracted. I read a lot of text from my emails and SMS. Any fuzziness is going to drive me nuts. I've been hearing that the SAMOLED screen on the Prime may also be Pentile-Matrix display and I'm hoping this won't be the case. I just want my next phone to meet or exceed the display on my Droid. I don't care about locked bootloaders or rooting. I want a sharp, fast phone with an awesome display. If you can't give me one, you won't get my business. I'm not a guy that waits for the best thing around the corner. My Droid is getting long in the tooth and needs replacing. The Bionic so far isn't fitting the bill for me. I need more info on the Prime before I start considering that as a replacement. It is an early favorite so far, but more details on the display are needed.

 

[albert001]

After having problems with the Droid X, then getting switched to Droid X2 for free for lack of droid x replacements. I am VERY happy with the Bionic. Just picked it up yesterday and so far its really great. My wife who was having the same issues I was having is really pleased with the phone. And getting it from Costco for $279 with $200 savings with all the extra accessories is definately icing on the cake.

 

[albert001]

So I was at Costco today asking about the Bionic and the verizon rep there said I could bring the Bionic back within 90 days, HOWEVER, he went on to say that Costco has NOT heard any word on whether they are even going to sell the Prime at Costco. He said they've known for months about selling the Bionic but here we are 1 month from Prime coming out and Costco still doesn't even know if they will sell it.

My point is...if you think you are bringing the Bionic back after 30 days and expecting a refund, they won't give it to you. After 14 days, you can exchange for a different phone, and if they don't sell the Prime, then you may be screwed! That's all I'm saying...

When i was there picking up my Bionic at Costco. There was a representative from Verizon. He didnt know anything about the prime and didnt think they would be releasing a new phone in a month or so. So who knows.

 

[b-jammin21]

When i was there picking up my Bionic at Costco. There was a representative from Verizon. He didnt know anything about the prime and didnt think they would be releasing a new phone in a month or so. So who knows.

If I recall correctly, Verizon reps were also playing dumb pre-release to the Bionic, saying they had no knowledge of it either. I wouldn't take any of the words from store reps to heart.

 

[dmacarth]

If I recall correctly, Verizon reps were also playing dumb pre-release to the Bionic, saying they had no knowledge of it either. I wouldn't take any of the words from store reps to heart.

I agree, but I had a rep flat out tell me they have nothing better than the Bionic coming out until "possibly" Dec. This was after he knew I wasn't buying a Bionic from them and a non-commision employee. Granted, they usually aren't in the info loop.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using DroidForums

 

[Lars]

I know a handful of people who work for Verizon, and I am always amazed at how little they know about their upcoming releases. I think unless they do independent research like we are all doing, they won't have any insider information. About a month ago I went out for drinks with one of them and I was talking about my excitement for the upcoming Bionic release, and they had no idea that 9/8 was release day. I'm not saying there aren't going to be reps who are in the know, because as we have seen on this site they can usually find insider information with a little effort, but most of them won't be any more knowledgeable than us.

 

[dparm]

Anyone who truly knows the stuff can't talk about it due to NDA. The rest of the employees will be clueless (not a put-down) because they're just regular consumers like you and I.

 

[Liderc]

Anyone who truly knows the stuff can't talk about it due to NDA. The rest of the employees will be clueless (not a put-down) because they're just regular consumers like you and I.

Exactly.

This is why you can't listen to any employee. The ones in the know can't say and the ones who don't know, say anything.

Most of the leaked info doesn't come by chance, it's done on purpose and if it isn't on purpose it's usually by a beta tester.

 

[ConqSoft]

It sounds like the Bionic's screen is identical to the X2's. I went to a Verizon store a couple of weeks ago to look at the X2 just to check out the screen. I was pretty disappointed. The live wallpaper was the swaying grass. Wherever the grass swayed you could see horizontal pixelation which was very noticable and distracting. The sample photos that people took with the display looked great, but the actual working screen just had a fuzziness that I just couldn't ignore. I was holding on to the hope that somehow the Bionic's display would be better but it seems that hope has been misplaced. I've been waiting for this phone since before the Etna was cancelled. I will still visit a Verizon store to look at the Bionic in person and play with it for awhile before I make my final decision, but I'm afraid what I find won't change my already made up mind.

The screen is everything to me. I don't want to be distracted. I read a lot of text from my emails and SMS. Any fuzziness is going to drive me nuts. I've been hearing that the SAMOLED screen on the Prime may also be Pentile-Matrix display and I'm hoping this won't be the case. I just want my next phone to meet or exceed the display on my Droid. I don't care about locked bootloaders or rooting. I want a sharp, fast phone with an awesome display. If you can't give me one, you won't get my business. I'm not a guy that waits for the best thing around the corner. My Droid is getting long in the tooth and needs replacing. The Bionic so far isn't fitting the bill for me. I need more info on the Prime before I start considering that as a replacement. It is an early favorite so far, but more details on the display are needed.

I'm looking at the swaying grass on my Bionic now and not seeing any issues. I'm guess glad I'm getting old and my eyesight is waning so I can enjoy this incredible new phone.

 

[Down2Earth]

So I was at Costco today asking about the Bionic and the verizon rep there said I could bring the Bionic back within 90 days, HOWEVER, he went on to say that Costco has NOT heard any word on whether they are even going to sell the Prime at Costco. He said they've known for months about selling the Bionic but here we are 1 month from Prime coming out and Costco still doesn't even know if they will sell it. My point is...if you think you are bringing the Bionic back after 30 days and expecting a refund, they won't give it to you. After 14 days, you can exchange for a different phone, and if they don't sell the Prime, then you may be screwed! That's all I'm saying...

The poster you quoted wasn't going to bring back his phone AFTER 30 days when: (1) Only Corporate consumers GET to return their devices for full refunds in 30 days (only via Corporate Verizon Retailers) and: (2) He wasn't going to return a Bionic to get the Charge! He was going to get the Bionic @ Costco, then eventually SELL the phone with its accessories to offset the cost of buying a Prime off contract. Make sense?

 

[tbever]

I looked at the Bionic in the VZW store today, and I have to say it was pretty sweet. Very fast, apps change instantly, no lag. The shutter on the camera was a bit slow. 4G speeds were great. I have read about some possible problems with noise using earphones during video playback, but I did not have headphones to test it with. I am sitting on the fence right now. My OG Droid from launch day Nov 2009 with SS/gingerbread has similar functionality but laggy compared to the Bionic (duh...) I can probably live with it for a few months more if necessary.

If I wait for the Prime, what will Ice Cream Sandwich bring to the Android experience that Gingerbread lacks?

 

[dparm]

Unknown as of right now. Eric Schmidt just said it's a merging of Honeycomb and Gingerbread. They don't want the disparate OSes.

 

[DamirD1984]

the waiting game is a dangerous one to play though because that next big phone will ALWAYS be on the horizon. No matter what phone you buy it's a matter of weeks or couple of months at the most till the next best thing is out. If the Bionic seems like your cup of tea I say go for it.

True that, but its something that was announced 9 months ago, and should have come out like 6-4 months ago... its kind of hard to lock down on a device that costs $299, when there have been nice comparable phones out there for months... like the atrix, galaxy s2, Evo 3d, Sensation, and some cost way less.

It's a nice phone, but not $299 nice...

 

[markwebb]

I looked at the Bionic in the VZW store today, and I have to say it was pretty sweet. Very fast, apps change instantly, no lag. The shutter on the camera was a bit slow. 4G speeds were great. I have read about some possible problems with noise using earphones during video playback, but I did not have headphones to test it with. I am sitting on the fence right now. My OG Droid from launch day Nov 2009 with SS/gingerbread has similar functionality but laggy compared to the Bionic (duh...) I can probably live with it for a few months more if necessary.

If I wait for the Prime, what will Ice Cream Sandwich bring to the Android experience that Gingerbread lacks?

Well guys and gals, I am in the same boat. I FINALLY went to my local corporate Verizon store and played with the Bionic. I was mightily impressed! It was extremely fast, responsive, just the right size, no lag, and I liked the screen. After reading numerous posts about the pentile screen, I could not find any jaggedness. Even in the notification bar, the green battery icon was NOT jagged. I am starting to believe individual phones are better than others? In fact, I even played with the Droid 3 and that screen was quite fine.

Again, could screens be different on each phone, i.e, quality issue?

My only negative feedback was price: $269 for an NE2. I paid $45 for my OG Droid new from Verizon after all of the rebates, etc. My area will be last to have 4G, probably over a year from now.

I am having trouble justifying that price.

But, I was quite impressed with the Bionic. It was lighter but it didn't feel cheap to me. Everything worked well, and yes, the camera could be better but it wasn't a deal breaker.

I may wait a few months when it is cheaper or if something better comes along...but not at $269 renewal!

 

[jroc]

Could be quality issues, or just each of us will see different. Maybe having the screen brightness lower helps, who knows.