Review: Motorola Droid Bionic from Verizon Wireless

The Motorola Droid Bionic is Verizon's first 4G LTE phone with a dual-core processor.  The phone sports a 4.3" qHD screen (540 X 960) utilizing a pentile display and Gorilla glass, has 1gb of RAM and a total of 32gb of storage (16 on a built in SD card and 16 on an external SD card).  Battery life has been the bane of these 4g phones so Motorola fought back with a very large 1735mAh battery as standard.  Styling is not standout but it is hard not to like how the phone looks and feels. 

Motorola touts the Bionic as a thin phone (0.43in) but it gets noticeably thicker at the top to house the 8 megapixel autofocus rear camera which is also capable of shooting 1080p video. A single LED flash is housed next to the camera. The soft-touch rear cover feels good in your hand but seems a bit flimsy when removed to access the battery, microSD card and LTE SIM card). There is also a front facing camera presumably for video chat or self portrait although no software is supplied with the phone to make use of this feature.  At just under 6 ounces the Bionic is lightweight for a 4G phone especially in view of the large standard battery.  The power button is located along the top edge and volume rockers on the upper right edge.  They are easy to operate even though they are quite thin.

At the bottom of the front display you will find the customary capacitive Android buttons which are far enough below the display to avoid accidental pressing.  And about that front display. There are some who dislike the pentile matrix display because it can appear a bit grainy at times.  The display also suffers from poor viewing angle fade.  But, in normal use none of these shortcomings really matter.  When viewed at normal angles the display is bright with brilliant color and detailed images even when used in direct sunlight.

The Bionic utilizes Motorola's latest iteration of its Blur software although the Blur moniker is no longer attached to these phones.  The interface is attractive and snappy.  Running on top of Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread (Motorola has already indicated that it will be upgraded to Android's Ice Cream Sandwich version in the not too distant future),  the interface offers neat 3D effects as you move between panels along with a shimmering effect as you stop on a panel which is very pleasing to the eye - at least to my eye.  The application panels are pretty standard in their grid layout but the 3D effects are interesting and pleasing.

Overall, if you are a fan of Android you will probably find much to like about the Bionic's interface.  And there is no doubt that it is snappy.  Swiping through panels is fluid and without any hesitation.  This phone definitely benefits from the 1ghz dual-core processor!  The Bionic software includes all that we have come to expect from Android with contact management, calendar and multi-media apps that work well and are nicely integrated into the overall experience.  The phone also has excellent social networking integration utilizing its Social Networking app to aggregate all of your social networking content in a single application.  The phone also carries an assortment of Verizon branded apps such as VCast Music, the VCast Media Manager and VZ Navigator. 

The camera is, at best, well…….. decent.  I think it suffers more from poor software than poor hardware.  The auto-focus function is slow as is response time  when you actually press the soft-button to take a picture.  Picture quality is average  On the other hand, the video camera function is quite good!  It's 30 frames per second performance provides smooth video with very good sound quality.  The continuous auto-focus functionality helps once you have mastered how to take advantage of it.  When it comes to watching those videos you will be more than satisfied with how they look on the Bionic's screen.  Or, if you choose, you could utilize the Bionic's microHDMI port to mirror the handset to your HDTV.

Although not reviewed here you can also shell out some additional dollars to get Motorola's Webtop accessories.  Most notable of these is the lapdock which provides a more laptop-like experience including a full Mozilla Firefox browser.  There is also an HD dock and a Travel Adapter which gives you access to the webtop app by attaching the Bionic to an HDTV or monitor.

So how does it all work in the real world?  In a single word - excellent.  Call quality is superb on both ends and the handset does well in masking out background noise.  There is no distortion even when the volume is turned all the way up whether using the earpiece or external speaker.  Surfing the web is lightning fast when using Verizon's 4G network.  I saw speeds consistently in the 20-23Mbs per second download speed with 7-10Mbs upload.  Obviously, using the 3g network will be far less rewarding but still acceptable and, as Verizon's 4G coverage continues to expand this will become less and less of a consideration.  The downside is that using 4G definitely affects battery life.  If you are in an area with consistently good 4G coverage and will be doing a lot of web browsing or other activity that takes advantage of the 4G speed you will definitely want to invest in the 2760mAh extended battery that Verizon offers.  It adds bulk and a bit of weight to the phone but it greatly extends usage times.  If you order the extended battery you'll be pleased to know that the package includes a new back cover to accommodate the extra battery size.  There have also been some complaints of loss of data connection or intermittent data loss when the handset switches from 4G to 3G.  This and a few other issues will hopefully be resolved via an over-the-air update due out sometime in early November.

Unlike my Droid Incredible, the Bionic connected flawlessly via bluetooth with both my home phone system and my 2011 Chevrolet Equinox.  Call quality and overall performance over Bluetooth is excellent. 

As with the other features, GPS performance is also very good.  The Bionic GPS gives relatively quick location fixes and, when used with the provided Google Maps/Navigation program, is an excellent navigation tool.  I used it on a recent trip from New Jersey to Massachusetts (utilizing the optional and also excellent car dock) and it worked flawlessly.  I have been extremely pleased with the performance of this Google app and I use it frequently while traveling for work.  The only drawback is that it relies on a live data connection - not much of an issue in the Mid-Atlantic states where I travel with their excellent Verizon network coverage but if you live or plan to travel to an area with spotty coverage you may want to be careful.  The latest version of Google Maps reportedly includes caching ability for maps which may help but I would still be careful.  If you truly want the Bionic to replace your traditional GPS unit (which is certainly a reasonable idea), you may want to invest in another GPS app like Navigon (which is now owned by Garmin and is available from the App Market for $27.95) that stores map data in the phone's microSD card.  With 16gb of storage in the external card, the Bionic is more than capable of storing the map data along with everything else you may want to keep on the phone.  You will also want to make sure you have a car power adapter if you plan on using your phone for any extended navigation.

While we are talking about using the Bionic in your car I thought it worth mentioning a neat app that makes using the phone while driving easier and safer.  It's called Vlingo (free from the App Market).  With the recent introduction of the iPhone 4s, much was made of Apple's included Siri application which allows you to speak into the phone using normal phraseology to accomplish a variety of tasks.  While not as capable as Siri, Vlingo is a decent Android alternative.  Start the app and touch the "Speak It" button and tell Vlingo what you want to do - "Text Dave I'm on the way."  Vlingo will search your contacts for Dave and, after confirmation, will send the text message.  Other commands like calling someone from your contact list or navigating to a desired location are also easily handled by Vlingo.    You can also use Vlingo to find things like restaurants or businesses, search the internet or even check the weather.  It might not be as polished as Siri but it works very well.  Check out Vlingo in the App Market or at www.Vlingo.com.

So that's it for now.  As you might have gathered, I love my new Droid Bionic and readily recommend it to anyone considering purchasing a new smartphone on the Verizon network.  It's not cheap ($299 under contract) and it is not really a standout in anything but it does all that a smartphone should do and does it very well.

See you next time when we take a look at the Logitech Revue with Google TV.

Hello and Welcome!

Friends and family are always asking if I have tried some new tech gadget or what tech gadget would be best for them.  So I decided to put my tech experiences into words via this blog.  In the coming weeks I'll be taking a look at a variety of tech gadgets and telling you how they work for me in the real world.  Too many reviews concentrate on specifications and numbers and not enough on real world use.  But here you'll read how I use the device and how it works for me - in the real world.

Coming first will be a look at the Motorola Droid Bionic from Verizon.  So stay tuned!