Verizon software updates ruined my Motorola Droid Bionic

[Livin PA]

I still doubt the battery will last as long as a fresh bionic extended battery. I'm at 14 hours and still at 77%. But don't think that a brand new phone will not be glitchy either, they can be just as bad or worse than some of the older ones. And as far as being more advanced... my Bionic can run any app I want and is just as fast as the new phones because its rooted, de-bloated, zipaligned etc... IMO these phones' hardware are a good year or even two ahead of the software. I'm willing to bet if my Bionic manages to last another year that is the point where it will just start to not be able to run what I need it to.

I'm not saying don't get a new phone, you've got an upgrade to burn and you need a new phone, just saying that the Bionic is still quite viable. Also I hope you won't be losing unlimited data by upgrading, that would suck. DEFINITELY don't fall for that new crap where you put money down and then lease your phone monthly.

Well I am just going by the reviews, people have good things to say about the phones battery life and I don't hear anything about bugs. I am just trying to take the easiest course of action, I don't want a headache converting my Droid Bionic. So do you feel the process is easy or should I just get a Moto X? As for my upgrade I am taking the Verizon's operators advice. Bring both phones (My smartphone with the unlimited data and the dumb phone with the upgrade) and tell the dealer what I want to do, just let them take care of it. That will allow me to get the upgrade and keep my unlimited data, supposedly.

That's impressive, but I'm guessing that has to be with very low usage - screen time under an hour?

My extended battery Bionic would typically get me about 16 hours with pretty regularly use - 3.5 to 4 hours of screen time. My new Moto X, which is MUCH thinner, with its 2200mh battery, does a little better. I get 16 to 18 hours of usage with about 5 hours of screen time. It's still very new though, so we'll have to see how it goes over the next few weeks.

I appreciate you sharing your experiences. By the way I appreciate the Euro Trip reference in your screen name.

 

[JimmyD]

Well I am just going by the reviews, people have good things to say about the phones battery life and I don't hear anything about bugs. I am just trying to take the easiest course of action, I don't want a headache converting my Droid Bionic. So do you feel the process is easy or should I just get a Moto X? As for my upgrade I am taking the Verizon's operators advice. Bring both phones (My smartphone with the unlimited data and the dumb phone with the upgrade) and tell the dealer what I want to do, just let them take care of it. That will allow me to get the upgrade and keep my unlimited data, supposedly.

My wife and I just got a new phone for her (I still have my Bionic) and we were informed that unlimited data is no longer an option. (We use Verizon) I'm granfathered in with unlimited data currently, and I was told that I will lose the unlimited data if I upgrade to a new phone and sign a new 2 year contract. They said it will be a $10 flat fee for the month if I go over the allotted data amount in whatever plan I choose.

 

[tyseft163]

Well I am just going by the reviews, people have good things to say about the phones battery life and I don't hear anything about bugs. I am just trying to take the easiest course of action, I don't want a headache converting my Droid Bionic. So do you feel the process is easy or should I just get a Moto X? As for my upgrade I am taking the Verizon's operators advice. Bring both phones (My smartphone with the unlimited data and the dumb phone with the upgrade) and tell the dealer what I want to do, just let them take care of it. That will allow me to get the upgrade and keep my unlimited data, supposedly.



I appreciate you sharing your experiences. By the way I appreciate the Euro Trip reference in your screen name.

Well, i got VZW to allow me to upgrade a bit early after all my complaining about my BIONIC. I picked up the MOTO X. I wanted the bigger screen and awesome batter of Droid MAXX, but i reflected back on my experience with BIONIC and thought it was time to sever my ties to DROIDs, assuming that most of the problems I've noticed and attributed to the 4.1.2 OS update would more likely recur under a VZW Branded DROID than with a "almost more direct from the MFGR" Moto X.

With less than two full days with it, I can say that it is so much more snappy than my crippled BIONIC. It feels smaller and fits better in the hand. On day two, of regular screwing with it, still tweaking it in, it lasted more than 15 hrs off charger. That is much better than BIONIC with standard battery, and probably as good or better than extended battery BIONIC. It has a refreshingly noticeable lack of bloatware on it. And, i haven't even really gotten into the Touchless Controls yet (too busy with work). Hopefully, i'll be able to cope with the one CON of this device that i could think of; -limited to 16 GB Memory. And, though i think the screen is the same size as BIONIC, without all the extra material surrounding it, it appears to be larger (but i know it's not).
Only thing I'm not loving about Moto X is that there is no speed dial or the ability to start spelling a name on the dialer and have contacts start to pop up. Very strange, how this one feature that phones have had for decades is not along for the ride on this semi-stock Android OS. With all that is great about this phone, this is not a big deal. i'm sure there's an app for that.

My experience and knowledge gained from this forum was greatly appreciated. Thanks to all.
BTW, for BIONIC owners experiencing lagginess. I happened to get in touch with Motorola's Punit Soni and he referred me to one of his guys that looked into my MEI on my BIONIC. He said he could see Verizon's Vcast causing some issues for me. I never used that app, but it could have been causing much of my miserable experience with the device, as of late. Something to look at disabling, if you can, or care to.

 

[Livin PA]

My wife and I just got a new phone for her (I still have my Bionic) and we were informed that unlimited data is no longer an option. (We use Verizon) I'm granfathered in with unlimited data currently, and I was told that I will lose the unlimited data if I upgrade to a new phone and sign a new 2 year contract. They said it will be a $10 flat fee for the month if I go over the allotted data amount in whatever plan I choose.

That is what they told me at the Verizon Kiosk at my mall but the operator told me I could get the update using one of my dumb phones and once bought/activated transfer it to the line with the unlimited data free of charge.

Well, i got VZW to allow me to upgrade a bit early after all my complaining about my BIONIC. I picked up the MOTO X. I wanted the bigger screen and awesome batter of Droid MAXX, but i reflected back on my experience with BIONIC and thought it was time to sever my ties to DROIDs, assuming that most of the problems I've noticed and attributed to the 4.1.2 OS update would more likely recur under a VZW Branded DROID than with a "almost more direct from the MFGR" Moto X.

With less than two full days with it, I can say that it is so much more snappy than my crippled BIONIC. It feels smaller and fits better in the hand. On day two, of regular screwing with it, still tweaking it in, it lasted more than 15 hrs off charger. That is much better than BIONIC with standard battery, and probably as good or better than extended battery BIONIC. It has a refreshingly noticeable lack of bloatware on it. And, i haven't even really gotten into the Touchless Controls yet (too busy with work). Hopefully, i'll be able to cope with the one CON of this device that i could think of; -limited to 16 GB Memory. And, though i think the screen is the same size as BIONIC, without all the extra material surrounding it, it appears to be larger (but i know it's not).
Only thing I'm not loving about Moto X is that there is no speed dial or the ability to start spelling a name on the dialer and have contacts start to pop up. Very strange, how this one feature that phones have had for decades is not along for the ride on this semi-stock Android OS. With all that is great about this phone, this is not a big deal. i'm sure there's an app for that.

My experience and knowledge gained from this forum was greatly appreciated. Thanks to all.
BTW, for BIONIC owners experiencing lagginess. I happened to get in touch with Motorola's Punit Soni and he referred me to one of his guys that looked into my MEI on my BIONIC. He said he could see Verizon's Vcast causing some issues for me. I never used that app, but it could have been causing much of my miserable experience with the device, as of late. Something to look at disabling, if you can, or care to.

Thanks, I am glad to hear from an actual owner that the Moto X is a good phone and a improvement over the older Droid phones. I had a good experience with the original Motorola Droid and I liked my Bionic for most of the time I had it until later in it's life. I think I will just get a Moto X. I am probably going to do it in late January to early February as I am going to buy something this month that I have been planning on getting for awhile which will cost me a few hundred and the Holidays are coming up too.

 

[Graymayre]

As much as I was a loyal Moto Droid fan, I had to go with the Galaxy S4. It was the only viable upgrade, having both the removable battery and sd card as well as actual hardware upgrades. The downsides were simply it was a delicate Samsung instead of a hardy moto and that it wasn't "Droid", but those just aren't acceptable reasons when I can slap it in an otterbox commuter.

My Bionic has been retired to GPS (on the S4 wifi) and netbook/tablet with the lapdock. Works quite well now

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[Livin PA]

As much as I was a loyal Moto Droid fan, I had to go with the Galaxy S4. It was the only viable upgrade, having both the removable battery and sd card as well as actual hardware upgrades. The downsides were simply it was a delicate Samsung instead of a hardy moto and that it wasn't "Droid", but those just aren't acceptable reasons when I can slap it in an otterbox commuter.

My Bionic has been retired to GPS (on the S4 wifi) and netbook/tablet with the lapdock. Works quite well now

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

I have been thinking about going with the S4, my friend got an S3 and was telling me to get the S4. He mentions the fixed battery and lack of SD card with the Maxx plus how the S4 has a quad core processor. However from research the Maxx seems to have the best battery life of any phone on the market and no one is complaining about the lack of performance. However the SD card issue is riding on me a bit, I don't really need all that space as I don't really have a music library on my phone but I would sleep better at night knowing that if my phone got bricked my photos will still be available on my SD card. Also my friend is offering me a copy of his music library which is at 20 GB's and it would be nice to have it on my phone, in the same breath I drive a new Ford which has the navigation/infotainment system. I could just as easily upload all that music to a thumb drive and plug it into my car. I only really listen to music while driving so I can live without it on my phone.

Decisions, decisions. I have been happy with Motorola so far (Sans my Bionic getting glitchy from the software) and the toughness is important to me since I work in a "hands on" job.