What's new
DroidForums.net | Android Forum & News

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

My Personal Droid Bionic 3-part Review: Part I

kdwisdom

Member


There's a nice screenshot of my Droid Bionic's Homescreen!


The Specs:


The Meat: This zippy phone is power-packed with a dual-core 1 GHz Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 processor, 1 GB of ram (important in the functionality of applications that are running concurrently) and 32 GB of total storage (16 GB onboard, half of which is for apps and a 16GB micro-SD card to store photos, songs, and anything else)


Screen: 4.3-inch qHD 960 x 540 LCD TFT and gorilla glass covering the screen for scratch resistance and protection.


Ports & Wireless Connectivity: 3.5mm headphone jack, microUSB (for data synchronization and charging), microHDMI for connecting your HDTV, LTE (4G), CDMA (3G), Wireless B/G/N, and bluetooth 2.1 for headsets and other devices.


Navigation: GPS/aGPS with Google Maps / navigation to help when needing directions to drive somewhere!


Other: Proximity/Ambient light sensor (screen turns off when at your ear, also has option to lock screen when in pocket), accelerometer, soft buttons on the front screen (info button, home button, back button, and search button). Physical buttons: power button and volume rocker (up/down), speakerphone.


Camera: Front facing VGA camera, rear facing 8 megapixel camera with autofocus that records in 1080P.


Battery: 1735 MAH. Actual life: TBD. I've had mine on since 7:30 this morning with moderate use and I am at 80%. So if you get 4-5 hours for 20% of your phone life, you'll have 16-20 hours of it being on which in reality works. If you get up at 7:30 and go to bed at 11:30, that's 16 hours, just in time to charge it. There is also an extended battery available from Verizon that adds to this which, if you use a lot of data and watch videos/play games, may be a necessary addition to your phone.


Software / Operating System: Android Gingerbread 2.3.4 with some additional customizations from Motorola (games, apps, etc...). One app that is noteworthy is Zumocast. It is similar to Dropbox but instead of having a 'cloud' server such as Dropbox, Zumocast acts as a server from your home desktop PC and allows you to access designated folders from your mobile phone (videos, songs, documents, etc...).


Other neat capabilities: This phone comes with 'MotoPrint' which allows you to print to a nearby wireless printer (via wifi). This could be handy if you don't have a laptop but you are near a wireless printer and have a document you need to print for work.


Keyboard: You have two stock options to type e-mails and text messages with on this phone: a standard on-screen QWERTY that you touch the letter you want to type or SWYPE. Swype, in my opinion, is one of the great inventions for Droid Smartphones. I thought it would be lame and not be accurate but let me tell you, this GREATLY decreased the amount of time it takes me to write a text message and it is incredibly accurate. I love it.


Synopsis: This is a GREAT PHONE! You will not be disappointed if you buy this. It is fast, it does not lag, it is 4G capable, has a great screen (both for viewing and typing) and has a lot of expandability. If you buy this phone, I think will be in love with Android Smart Phones. They have really come a long way and have a lot of potential both by the developers at Android, Motorola, and the third-party app makers. This phone does it all: internet, video (Netflix, Youtube, etc...), e-mail, and even has IT VPN capabilities if that is your field of work.

Stay tuned: Part II of my Bionic Review will go into depth on the fine-details of the various aspects of this phone. Part II will include: a SWYPE quick-video,3G & 4G speed tests, camera tests (video, stills, and Skype/front-facing camera), processor tests, e-mail, browsing, and more of the foundational aspects of the phone.

Part III will dive even deeper and will include the following: social networking (Facebook, Twitter), Google Talk (which now includes video), widgets, bluetooth options (voice calling), COL reminder/Google Calendar, Google Maps/Navigation, Google Voice and others. If you have any requests or are curious about the functionality of this phone, ask me! I'd love to do a demonstration for you!
 
One thing that made me happy was the fact that they finally fixed the stock email app with regard to being able to empty the trash without having to select each email one at a time. This was a P.I.T.A on my OG droid since I was constantly running out of memory towards the end.
 
One thing that made me happy was the fact that they finally fixed the stock email app with regard to being able to empty the trash without having to select each email one at a time. This was a P.I.T.A on my OG droid since I was constantly running out of memory towards the end.

I agree. It has been very well updated. They took away the mark all as read though. I do like the GUI of the e-mail app much better as well.
 
Back
Top