Motorola DROID BIONIC Review

Wow! The Motorola DROID BIONIC is probably one of the best devices we’ve had the pleasure of using for phone calls. In fact, calling quality is superb on both ends of the line as we’re treated with distinctive voices with no evidence of any background noise or static muddying things up – and it helps that the earpiece is boisterous in tone too! Moreover, the speakerphone presents us with a similar experience since it doesn’t distort voices in any way.

Strangely, the handset appears to have some issues with signal strength seeing that we experienced it dropping from 4G LTE to 3G connectivity on numerous occasions – all in the same spot even. Still, even though the handset displays an average connection to the network in high coverage areas, we didn’t experience any dropped calls during our testing.

Leading the 4G LTE pack, the Motorola DROID BIONIC is packaged with one massive 1,735 mAh battery that manages to impress us by offering 10 hours of continuous voice calling on a single charge, which is spot on with the manufacturer’s rating. Setting it on ‘nighttime saver’ mode, we’re only able to get 10 hours of juice with normal usage consisting of web browsing, emailing, texting, and the occasional phone call. Honestly, it still has one vociferous appetite for sucking the juice out of the battery – meaning, you’ll need to charge this one constantly if you want it to survive through a normal working day.

Without a doubt, the Motorola DROID BIONIC is a long time in the making, but after checking all the fanfare regarding it, we’re actually not all that impressed mainly due to the fact that everything it has to offer has been done already. Sure it claims to fame as being the first 4G LTE smartphone with a dual-core processor, but when you break it down, there isn’t one sole new thing found with it.

For example, dual-core CPUs are all the rage amongst smartphones. With 4G LTE connectivity, we’ve already seen three other devices beat it to the punch. How about that new MOTOBLUR whatever interface? Well, the DROID 3 managed to nab that prestigious spot. And finally, the Motorola ATRIX 4G introduced us to the available accessories that provide Motorola’s unique added functionality with Webtop.

So you ask, what’s great about the Motorola DROID BIONIC? Well, it’s the one handset that’s actually able to combine everything perfectly into one device – thus, setting the bar in what we expect out of a top-shelf smartphone. Yes, its late arrival on the scene is preventing it from fully expressing itself as an out of this world smartphone, but if you simply look at it as regular high-end smartphone, we guarantee you won't endup disappointed. There's really a lot to like about the DROID BIONIC, even if it's advent doesn't involve arange of “firsts”. The only thing that's left to be considered is its premium price tag of $299.99, but when youfactor in the fact that it performs so competently on a number of fronts, it looks like the Motorola DROIDBIONIC justifies it.

However, if you don't feel like shelling all of that cash out right now, we should say that the tried and trueHTC ThunderBolt is still a pretty decent option. Well, it is a bit chubbier, and lacks the dual-core chipset, butif you're ready to compromise with that, it will too bless you with its expertise on the 4G LTE front.

PROS

• 4G LTE connectivity
• Fast dual-core processor
• Great calling quality
• Motorola Webtop functionality
• Shoots great looking 1080p videos

CONS

• Late arrival
• Signal strength issues
• Poor viewing angles with its display
• Expensive