Motorola DROID BIONIC

The uncertainty surrounding the Motorola DROID BIONIC has kept us thinking if the phone was ever going to hit the market. After its unveiling during CES 2011 way back in January, we are extremely glad that the phone is now finally in our hands especially since it’s the first 4G LTE smartphone with a dual-core processor. Let’s find out if the 8 month gap between its unveiling and official launch has given Motorola enough time to come up with a master class smartphone.

Design
The Motorola DROID Bionic has since the CES been almost completely redesigned, but it’s still looks good. Measuring 5.02 x 2.63 x 0.43 inches, it’s not exactly the thinnest 4G LTE phone out there but its 5.6 oz weight definitely makes it stand out among the 4G LTE category as being one of the lightest. Although it tries to give a streamlined look, it is thicker as we move to the top where the camera sensors are located reminding us of the Motorola DROID X.  However we have to give it to Motorola for making it feel really solid with its soft touch rear cover, beveled contours and tough exterior together with the metallic paint to add some class. As we have seen with the Motorola DROID X2, the Motorola DROID BIONIC also has the outstanding 4.3 inch qHD display. Under the screen are the trademark Android capacitive buttons which are rather well placed. The phone also comes with a VGA front-facing camera which will come in handy when you want to have a video chat with your girlfriend. On the left side of the phone is the micro-USB port as well as the micro-HDMI port. Meanwhile on the top is the power button as well as the standard audio jack. While there is a volume rocker button on the right of the phone, there is no dedicated button for camera. Flip the phone and you will find an 8MP camera ready to snap away. It’s better than its predecessors as it can now record videos at 1080p.

Features
The dual core processor is definitely the highlight here since it’s the first for a 4G LTE phone plus it’s also using the TI OMAP chip instead of the usual Tegra 2 chip. Thanks to the 1GHz dual core TI OMAP processor, the Motorola DROID BIONIC packs a real punch in terms of speed. The added bonus of the 1GB RAM makes the ride a smooth one. There was little or almost no lag when using various apps making it really fun to use.

Running the latest version of MOTOBLUR on Android v.2.3.4 was a smart move by Motorola since it has turned out great. Although we have seen the latest MOTOBLUR on Motorola DROID 3, but it has also been seamlessly integrated into the Motorola DROID BIONIC. Besides the fact that you get maximum customization with the size of the widgets, this resizing will automatically change the layout for you. The 3D effects that you see when moving between panels exudes brilliance as Motorola has put in some real thought into this GUI. Who isn’t into social networking these days? So Motorola has done a very neat integration with its social networking app. It puts all the social networking stuff in one place together with these cool 3D window panels that you see when you are browsing through the posts. The MOTOBLUR in the Motorola DROID BIONIC also maintains the synchronization with your Google account for its contacts app. That’s the kind of stuff you would expect, the social networking integration on the other hand, was interesting. You can now actually visit profiles, poke or also check out what your friend most recently tweeted about right from the contacts app. Although this may at first cause the contacts list to look disorganized, but the filters are there to save the day.

As we had mentioned earlier, although the 4.3 inch qHD display that comes with the phone has already been seen in the Motorola DROID X2, it is still one impressive screen. The qHD screen on the Motorola DROID BIONIC once again showed why we love it with its extremely detailed output as well the brilliant color production. Nevertheless, it’s not all a bed of roses as the same issues are still there, that is the poor viewing angles. Tilting the phone ever so slightly causes a significant fade in color.

The 8MP camera that the Motorola DROID BIONIC has is the same one that came with the Motorola DROID X2. Hence, you can expect pretty similar results. Macro shots with the autofocus lens that this camera comes with isn’t great plus the auto focusing takes a while too at times. This means you can forget about taking quick snaps one after another.  What’s new with this camera is with the video recording. It has now been upgraded to 1080p at 29 fps which obviously translated to better recordings. The audio in the videos was also clearer. The camera interface isn’t new due to the same GUI but the viewfinder provides a good view of what we are actually aiming at.

This phone is packed with some great hardware, but what makes the Motorola DROID BIONIC different from the rest of the pack is definitely the 4G LTE connectivity. So it was no doubt that data speeds were over the roof. To complement this data speeds, the web browsing experience is one that is worth a mention.  It had no issues loading web pages that other phones find too complex and at high speeds too plus the navigational controls were neat. GPS, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi are some of the other connectivity options the Motorola DROID BIONIC has to offer. To add to its greatness, it’s also one of those phones that are capable of mobile hotspot thus allowing it to share its 4G speeds to others.

The Motorola DROID BIONIC did great in terms of call quality too. Voices on both ends were clear while there was no background noise to complain about either. The speakerphone works great too. Signal strength on the other hand might pose an issue. We sometimes lost the 4G LTE connection and were left with just the 3G connection which meant slower internet speeds. Nevertheless, there was definitely no complains with the mammoth 1735mAh battery that this phone calls its own.  So you can get a day or a little bit more with average use of the Motorola DROID BIONIC.

Pros and Cons
The dual core processor in the Motorola DROID BIONIC was just sublime. Call quality was great plus the camera now shoots 1080p videos. Oh, did we mention it’s a 4G LTE phone too?

The viewing angle was a downer with the screen. It has its signal strength issues too that’s going to need some work.

Conclusion
If this review doesn’t convince you that the Motorola DROID BIONIC is a great phone, then we don’t know what will. However, there’s just one thing that might keep your hands away from getting one, its price tag.