Thunderbolt or bionic?

[loki993]

If you'll be recommitting to 2 years, and you wait for the Bionic instead of the Thunderbolt now, isn't it possible "unlimited" data will be gone?

Sent from my Droid

If you'll be recommitting to 2 years, and you wait for the Bionic instead of the Thunderbolt now, isn't it possible "unlimited" data will be gone?

Sent from my Droid

Yup. Pretty much guaranteed the bionic will launch with tiered 4g pricing where as the bolt is grandfathered into unlimited 4g data at no additional cost above your current 3g plan.

Also, whoever said they both are locked down is right. Every Android phone except the nexus phones has a locked bootloader. There is a HUGE difference between locked and encrypted though. The tb has locked bootloader, but is not encrypted. Moto phones after the d1 have encrypted bootloaders. Hence why the bolt has been rooted and completely unlocked only days after release and the moto phones have just now, many months later, truly been unlocked.
The bionic will be locked down as tight or tighter than any previous phone considering the recent leak of the d2/x bootloader keys.

In short, bolt is locked but not encrypted and has already been cracked wide open. The bionic will be locked and probably encrypted and will take a long time to truly unlock. The bionic will be rooted quickly, but with an encrypted bootloader, custom kernels and therefore true aosp roms will be all but impossible.

I went with the bolt...

Sent from my ADR6400L

Possible yes, thats what I thought also. However now therea re at least rumors that the Bionic may hit in April, if it does that should be before Verizon goes to tiered, they said mid summer.

There will also be the Stealth that also seems the be being released in April and should have the 30 dollar unlimited 4g as well.

I was going to get the TB, but it really seems like a lot of money for whats basically an EVO 4g/inspire 4g clone. I was also under the impression that it was the only 4g phone that was releasing on Verizon until about June. Also the battery life issues worry me a bit as I get annoyed with having to charge even my Blackberry too much.

Now it seems like there will be at least one if not two phones that will be out by the end of April I can wait a month to see what comes at least. They should at least be worth a look.

 

[mthorn79]

Thunderbolt by all means! There's no way in hell I'd ever own another Motoblur device, ever! If the Bionic is rolled out non-vanilla with Motoblur installed it'll suffer the same fate as the Atrix. The Atrix seemed like it didn't even have a dual-core processor. The Inspire & T-bolt both feel like a snappier phone than the Atrix & the Bionic will share the same Tegra 2 processors.

Plus the look of the Bionic just looks really cheap & plasticy like the Atrix does, no metallic accents like the HTC phones have, which I feel add to its premium built feeling.

 

[mkjellgren]

Thunderbolt by all means! There's no way in hell I'd ever own another Motoblur device, ever! If the Bionic is rolled out non-vanilla with Motoblur installed it'll suffer the same fate as the Atrix. The Atrix seemed like it didn't even have a dual-core processor. The Inspire & T-bolt both feel like a snappier phone than the Atrix & the Bionic will share the same Tegra 2 processors.

Plus the look of the Bionic just looks really cheap & plasticy like the Atrix does, no metallic accents like the HTC phones have, which I feel add to its premium built feeling.

Agreed

Sent from my ADR6400L

 

[Haloman800]

Both have locked bootloaders. For those that thought the TB was unlocked, what would you choose now?

tb has been unlocked

Not fully. I talked with Team AndIRC, and they said it can run roms now and stuff, but isn't fully unlocked.

I'm waiting for the Bionic. The TBolt has so many faults and shortcomings.

The "only" 512mb on the Bionic wouldn't even be mentioned if the Atrix didn't have 1gb of it. It's DDR2 ram, which is more than twice as fast as the normal RAM in the tbolt.

My D1 which only has around 250ram iirc still runs perfectly with tons of widgets and multitasking, so doubling the size and the speed of the ram and adding dual core will be a huge improvement.


Sent from my Droid using DroidForums App

 

[mthorn79]

Both have locked bootloaders. For those that thought the TB was unlocked, what would you choose now?

tb has been unlocked

Not fully. I talked with Team AndIRC, and they said it can run roms now and stuff, but isn't fully unlocked.

I'm waiting for the Bionic. The TBolt has so many faults and shortcomings.

The "only" 512mb on the Bionic wouldn't even be mentioned if the Atrix didn't have 1gb of it. It's DDR2 ram, which is more than twice as fast as the normal RAM in the tbolt.

My D1 which only has around 250ram iirc still runs perfectly with tons of widgets and multitasking, so doubling the size and the speed of the ram and adding dual core will be a huge improvement.

Sent from my Droid using DroidForums App

We'll see how fast it runs with Motoblur bogging it down :>

 

[jntdroid]

I'm waiting for the Bionic. The TBolt has so many faults and shortcomings.

can you elaborate? there have been a lot of battery complaints, yes... I, personally, am having no issues with my battery, even on 4G. But it's obviously an issue... but what else?

 

[mthorn79]

I'm waiting for the Bionic. The TBolt has so many faults and shortcomings.

can you elaborate? there have been a lot of battery complaints, yes... I, personally, am having no issues with my battery, even on 4G. But it's obviously an issue... but what else?

I would also like an elaboration on this quote, yes, my battery sucks but its not a complaint, I have a charger at my house & office so no big deal to me. Ok so its already 'old' technology with all the dual core processor phones out, but with Sense streamlining it, it takes the lags out the usual Froyo lags.

Everything else I give 11 out of 10 stars. This thing screams.

 

[jntdroid]

mthorn didn't you say you're in DFW? if so, what part? I live work in Frisco/North Plano, and my 4G connection has been solid, as has my battery life, surprisingly

 

[mthorn79]

mthorn didn't you say you're in DFW? if so, what part? I live work in Frisco/North Plano, and my 4G connection has been solid, as has my battery life, surprisingly

I live in Garland, work in Richardson & I don't think there's been a time I've seen the toggle to 3G. I get better down/ups at work since my house is surrounded by huge canopy oak trees. Even with the trees I'm still avg. 7mbps/4mbps, 7 times faster than when I had my Inspire on AT&T.

Wish I could say my battery is just as good as yours, I've got most if not all the battery tips done to mine that I can think of. I probably use it more in the morning riding the bus than most do in the morning driving to work just checking their FB status or something. I use a good 30-45 min of solid web use in the morning which drains it quickly.

Good to hear from another DFW area user to compare!

 

[loki993]

Thunderbolt by all means! There's no way in hell I'd ever own another Motoblur device, ever! If the Bionic is rolled out non-vanilla with Motoblur installed it'll suffer the same fate as the Atrix. The Atrix seemed like it didn't even have a dual-core processor. The Inspire & T-bolt both feel like a snappier phone than the Atrix & the Bionic will share the same Tegra 2 processors.

Plus the look of the Bionic just looks really cheap & plasticy like the Atrix does, no metallic accents like the HTC phones have, which I feel add to its premium built feeling.

Both have locked bootloaders. For those that thought the TB was unlocked, what would you choose now?

tb has been unlocked

Not fully. I talked with Team AndIRC, and they said it can run roms now and stuff, but isn't fully unlocked.

I'm waiting for the Bionic. The TBolt has so many faults and shortcomings.

The "only" 512mb on the Bionic wouldn't even be mentioned if the Atrix didn't have 1gb of it. It's DDR2 ram, which is more than twice as fast as the normal RAM in the tbolt.

My D1 which only has around 250ram iirc still runs perfectly with tons of widgets and multitasking, so doubling the size and the speed of the ram and adding dual core will be a huge improvement.


Sent from my Droid using DroidForums App

I dont really understand rooting or any of that so bare with me, but I hear a lot of people complaining about motoblur. Can the phone be wiped and Vanilla android be loaded on it? Im guessing no, becasue thats probally where the locked or unlocked bootloader comes into play IM but I guess I dont understand why. I can wipe my BB and load any OS on it Id like, as long as its for that phone.

 

[brenneisec]

I dont really understand rooting or any of that so bare with me, but I hear a lot of people complaining about motoblur. Can the phone be wiped and Vanilla android be loaded on it? Im guessing no, becasue thats probally where the locked or unlocked bootloader comes into play IM but I guess I dont understand why. I can wipe my BB and load any OS on it Id like, as long as its for that phone.

Well just so you know, p3droid has been using the new blur which he says he likes a lot more. And you are correct. for example, I'm running vanilla on my Droid x. Its all up to the developers but jrummy and kejar have done amazing work with liberty rom. The locked bootloader does prohibit certain mods (mainly custom kernels) but it is possible to have stock android on these devices. No promises for the bionic though. Even tho I have faith that it will get custom roms. But it will most likely have a locked bootloader as well


Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums App

 

[HDDroid]

I had an unfortunate accident and my Droid (original version) drowned Saturday night. Was able to upgrade with Verizon and thought about the Droid X (didn't really consider the Droid 2) but with the Thunderbolt out and being 4G, I went with it. The 4g is great, the screen is nice and it seems faster. My biggest dislike is the battery life. Yesterday with a full charge and light/moderate use (surfing mainly), I was down to 10% battery life in about 4 hours. I tried charging via USB and after two hours was up to about 40% charge (light use while connected). It does get warm with use, but the droid did that as well.

Voice clarity on the phone, my wife said it was no better than my Droid. Maybe it is her iPhone that is the problem...

As for the UI of the Bolt, it is taking some getting used to. I miss some of the features of the Droid, the (. , ? !) that corrects for the space and such.

I guess with the later Droids (2, X and probably the Bionic and 3), they will come with Motoblur? Is Motoblur that bad?

As I said, the screen size is great, the 4G speed, but the battery life is what I can't stand and will probably be a deal breaker for me and I'll return the phone.

Not to hijack, but...
Now the dilemma, do I pick up a used Droid and wait for the Bionic? Will lose the potential of being grandfathered into 4G and will the Motoblur be that big of a deal to me? My wife has an iPhone 3G on ATT, so we may go shopping for a new phone for her that I'll use until the Bionic comes out. The bad thing is, I may get stuck with an iPhone 4 for the mean time. :icon_evil:

 

[mthorn79]

I had an unfortunate accident and my Droid (original version) drowned Saturday night. Was able to upgrade with Verizon and thought about the Droid X (didn't really consider the Droid 2) but with the Thunderbolt out and being 4G, I went with it. The 4g is great, the screen is nice and it seems faster. My biggest dislike is the battery life. Yesterday with a full charge and light/moderate use (surfing mainly), I was down to 10% battery life in about 4 hours. I tried charging via USB and after two hours was up to about 40% charge (light use while connected). It does get warm with use, but the droid did that as well.

Voice clarity on the phone, my wife said it was no better than my Droid. Maybe it is her iPhone that is the problem...

As for the UI of the Bolt, it is taking some getting used to. I miss some of the features of the Droid, the (. , ? !) that corrects for the space and such.

I guess with the later Droids (2, X and probably the Bionic and 3), they will come with Motoblur? Is Motoblur that bad?

As I said, the screen size is great, the 4G speed, but the battery life is what I can't stand and will probably be a deal breaker for me and I'll return the phone.

Not to hijack, but...
Now the dilemma, do I pick up a used Droid and wait for the Bionic? Will lose the potential of being grandfathered into 4G and will the Motoblur be that big of a deal to me? My wife has an iPhone 3G on ATT, so we may go shopping for a new phone for her that I'll use until the Bionic comes out. The bad thing is, I may get stuck with an iPhone 4 for the mean time. :icon_evil:

They'll more than likely have a patch for the battery in the next OTA for the T-bolt. I'm sure they know about the backlash with it & trust me they're working on it as we speak. Same thing happened with the X when it first came out. You think 10% drain is bad? lol I take the bus in the morning, about an hour treck & am on the phone the whole time, mainly on forums or checking mail/Facebook, etc. I'm at 100% charge coming from home, by the time I get to work its at 70%!! This is even after I tried the bump charge method. lol It's ok I have chargers everywhere I go so its no big deal.

IF you have to stick to AT&T because your wife is there, get the Inspire, I had it for 2 weeks & it's actually better than every phone AT&T has, including the Atrix, many Atrix & iPhone4 users have left for the Inspire. It looks exactly like this phone (better design IMO), it actually has less bugs than this phone, I never once had a force close while on the Inspire (I'm on my 4th with this phone). Only bad thing about the Inspire (for me at least) is, no kickstand, can't load 3rd party apps easily (can be done with Sideloader Wonder Machine) but its a pain, AT&T throttles their HSPA+ service so its about 10x's on avg. slower than VZ's LTE service (plus the Inspire will never be LTE capable)...and the biggest deal breaker about AT&T is they got rid of their unlimited data & if you stream anything like music or videos your 2Gb data plan will eat up quickly.

...and yes Motoblur is that bad. It's doomed the Atrix from becoming truly a groundbreaking phone. It holds back the functionality of the dual core processor, not my opinion but its been reviewed & tested. So the Bionic will probably suffer the same fate.

I'd go with the Thunderbolt just to make sure your locked to the unlimited 4G before they change it. Just some things to consider.

 

[Beka27]

Only bad thing about the Inspire (for me at least) is, no kickstand, can't load 3rd party apps easily (can be done with Sideloader Wonder Machine) but its a pain <snip>

THIS annoyed me! I went thru all the "trouble" of getting my step-son signed up for the Beta Swype program (because he really, really wants it), got the email, tried to DL it and it wouldn't go. I went thru settings to turn on "Unknown Sources"... and... it's... not there.... I'm limited on what I can "do" with his Inspire, b/c we didn't purchase it and it's not our plan (his mother's). I thought at the very least I could throw a simple .apk on tho. :icon_eek:

 

[HDDroid]

According to the "About" section in my phone, I've had 23 minutes of uptime, sent 7 text messages, checked email a couple of times in about 2 hours 47 minutes since unpluged, no surfing and have used up 30% of my battery! The display has sucked up 55%, OS 29% and the remaining is Cell stand by, 5%, Idle, 4%, Maps 4% (not sure why, GPS maybe?) and Wifi 3%. Display brightness is at about 50-60%.

Overall that is pretty light usage for 1/3 of my battery life.

Luckily I'm with Verizon and my wife is with ATT and she'll switch over to Verizon onto my account. Her iPhone 3G has to be set to 2G or she'll have dropped calls galore, and there is a weird bug that will send out 10 texts nearly instantaneously. Of course she has to fight with ATT to get a credit each month and then there is the run around with ATT saying go to Apple and Apple saying go to ATT.