Motorola DROID BIONIC Hands-on
Share:
Before we get into some of the nitty-gritty portions of the Motorola DROID BIONIC, we have to say that for something rocking some next-gen specs, its design is rather on the bland side, when you look at something like the Motorola DROID X. There's no arguing that Motorola can make killer-looking smartphones, but they don't particularly come out to their full potential with the Motorola DROID BIONIC. Despite its all-too-common looking approach, there's still a lot to melt over since every nook and cranny is filled with something spectacular.
 |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |
In fact, your eyes will pop looking at its 4.3” capacitive qHD display, which packs a respectable 540 x 960 resolution that offers plenty of crisp details to catch your eyes initially. Secondly, we find a dual-core 1GHz processor under the hood that made navigating around the platform extremely fluid and smooth – which is something we'd expect with such a high-flying phone. Third, it's going be one of the few devices for Verizon that will be packing next-generation LTE speeds to match its swift processing prowess. Moreover, it features 512MB of the desktop-grade DDR2 variety, an 8-megapixel auto-focus camera with flash, HDMI output, and a front facing camera for video calling.
 |  |  |  |
Underneath all of the fancy, larger-than-life specs, it's powered by Android 2.2 Froyo with the unique dash of the latest MOTOBLUR interface that some have learned to appreciate. Although some might not be moved by its choice siding with Froyo from the onset, it's going to be interesting to see how quickly we find Gingerbread making the rounds for this device. Nevertheless, with a tentative early Q2 release for Verizon, anything can happen between now and then, that might quickly turn that Froyo treat in an even tastier Gingerbread dessert.
Share:
Related phones
58 Comments
8. jogutier posted on 06 Jan 2011, 19:13 2 0
I second that emotion. :) Did they mention the Mega Pixels of the front faceing camera? Anything above 1mp is good for me. I would like a 2mp atleast.
17. LionStone posted on 07 Jan 2011, 14:51 1 1
yea, in the specs it says 0.3
guess they kinda skimped on the front, oh well, Get the xoom for that
44. dbfender07 (unregistered) posted on 18 Jan 2011, 15:04 0 0
its 1.3 not 0.3
45. cellgeek82 posted on 19 Jan 2011, 14:13 0 0
One thing to remember on the camera quality, its not about megapixel, it's about how good the sensor is. Too much megapixel means more bandwidth is needed and would make the stream more choppy. VGA quality may not be ideal for taking pictures but it makes sense for video calling.
I wish higher quality video would become available too but we have to be realistic too. The sharper the video the more speed and bandwidth is needed. As young as 4G is right now we're lucky to get a front facing camera at this point.
54. Sembazuru (unregistered) posted on 23 Mar 2011, 15:09 0 0
Yes larger megapixel mean more bandwidth required, but that usually isn't an issue at the sensor level. (It might be an issue for using with video streaming for video calling though, but smart software scaling should be able to down-rez the image to fit the data pipe.) The biggest issue with more pixels on the same size sensor (or the same number of pixels on a smaller sensor) is because the pixels are getting so small they are more susceptible to electronic noise which leads to a noisy image capture. There is (for each sensor size given similar fabrication qualities) a sweet-spot that balances number of pixels to an acceptable (usually meaning soft/firmware correctable) signal to noise ratio.
While all my blathering above makes me sound like I know what I'm talking about, the above is about it. I have no idea what the physical size of the sensors being used for the front-facing cameras is, no idea what my above described "sweet-spot" is (for any sensor), nor do I know the relative fabrication qualities between the different sensor chips.
(Not to mention the quality of the lenses which would take a whole 'nother blog to discuss...)
10. Droid_X_Doug posted on 06 Jan 2011, 22:20 1 0
The BIONIC might get me to trade in my Droid X (I am off-contract in July, 2011; upgrade can be done around May, 2011).... I wonder how fast VZWs LTE network is truly going to be. They are supposed to be doing one of the initial batch of LTE implementations in my neck of the woods (San Mateo - just south of SFO on the S.F. peninsula).
Tick-tock, tick-tock :-)
12. nycfrank (unregistered) posted on 07 Jan 2011, 03:19 2 1
yea i don't think your gonna be able to upgrade. verizon is changing their upgrade policy on Jan. 16. for a jul upgrade you have to be talking about a yearly upgrade and they are getting rid of that.
they are getting rid of new every 2 also. the only thing they will have is an upgrade after 20 months on a 2 year plan and you will be able to get the phone at a promotional price.
14. redexpress posted on 07 Jan 2011, 12:53 0 2
unfortunately, nycfrank is right. you can still always choose a 1 yr contract intead of a 2 yr. which you'll be able to upgrade @ 10 months. However you will have to pay more for the phone if you do that.
28. ghost (unregistered) posted on 12 Jan 2011, 11:08 2 0
he will still be grandfathered in on annual upgrade policy eligibility. Anyone who signs on or after Jan 16 will not be able to do annual upgrades or receive NE2 credit. You will only have 2 options 1 year to upgrade in 10 months but handsets will cost more or 2 year to upgrade in 20 months and receive standard promotion pricing.
42. jspencer67 (unregistered) posted on 18 Jan 2011, 03:56 0 0
talked to someone I know at Verizon and was told that if you were due for the early upgrade sometime near (but after) the Jan 16th date that they would most likely process it for you. I was due for Feb 25th and she said that I shouldn't have much of a problem. Also they did get away with the new every 2 program but they are going to readjust the promotional pricing to reflect it....phones will be cheaper when they come out
43. vzwservesmewell posted on 18 Jan 2011, 10:26 0 0
If you were projected to have an annual upgrade in 2011 you won't lose it.
55. jogutier posted on 24 Mar 2011, 17:24 0 0
I think Verizon should suck up their loss with the lighting bolt (thunderbolt), and bring this phone out already. lol!
6. Thump3rDX17 posted on 06 Jan 2011, 13:05 2 1
LTE is GSM technology so you can get 4G anywhere there's coverage but you wouldn't be able to get any of Verizon's 3G coverage out of the country.
18. phoneexpert (unregistered) posted on 07 Jan 2011, 16:43 1 1
No way can you get 4g everywhere with Verizon yett.!!! Unless your in 1 of their major cities they offer it too!!
20. Thump3rDX17 posted on 08 Jan 2011, 03:43 0 0
i didn't say everywhere, i said anywhere there's coverage.
30. usg305d (unregistered) posted on 13 Jan 2011, 11:19 0 0
I read an article that explained LTE 4G, and the technology is a derivative to GSM and when you see LTE 4G, then all phone's are compatible on different networks. The 4G will also make multi-tasking, phone calls and scrolling the net possible for Verizon and Sprint. I think the problem is getting all the networks, well at this time, to allow each others customers on their 4G network.
4. phonefreak (unregistered) posted on 06 Jan 2011, 10:52 5 0
I'd take this over an iPhone anyday. I'll be in line for it when it finally comes out.
