Review Motorola Droid Bionic
The good : The Motorola Droid Bionic has a nice slim and sleek design, with a 4.3-inch qHD display and the double whammy of a dual-core processor and Verizon 4G LTE support. Multimedia features are plentiful, and business users will be pleased with its enterprise abilities like the Webtop application and solid security. We were also pleased with its long battery life.
The bad : The Motorola Droid Bionic is saddled with Motorola's custom UI, which might not be for everyone. The camera has a slight shutter lag, the display is not as sharp as we would like, and it's also quite expensive. The Webtop accessories aren't cheap.
The bottom line : The Motorola Droid Bionic is everything you want from a high-end smartphone. It's sleek, fast, and powerful, with features that will please both consumers and business users--if you're willing to pay the high price.
Editors' note: After additional testing, we decided that the Droid Bionic merits an Editors' Choice Award. We updated this review on September 9, 2011, to include the results from more-extensive testing.
We've been waiting for the Motorola Droid Bionic for so long that it's been hyped to near-mythical proportions. We first heard tell of the superphone at CES 2011, where Motorola came out with a cavalcade of powerful Android devices that included the Motorola Atrix 4G, the Motorola Xoom, and, of course, the Motorola Droid Bionic. With its dual-core processor, Verizon LTE speeds, HD video recording, HDMI port, and luscious 4.3-inch qHD display, the Droid Bionic was a pioneering handset in many ways.
Since its announcement, however, many other dual-core phones have arrived ahead of it, such as the T-Mobile G2x and Motorola's own Droid X2. The HTC ThunderBolt also beat the Droid Bionic to the punch as Verizon's first 4G LTE phone. The Droid Bionic began to lose its luster, while consumers grew even more impatient for this phone to finally arrive. Even we here at CNET had begun to question whether we would ever see the Droid that had suffered delay after delay.
Nine months later, Motorola is finally ready to give birth. And we have to admit; it was worth the wait. The Droid Bionic that Verizon will have in stores in September is remarkably different from the one we saw in January. The hardware is slimmer, sleeker, and definitely more polished. Indeed, Verizon claims that the Droid Bionic is its thinnest 4G LTE device yet. Also, while there are many dual-core smartphones and Verizon 4G LTE handsets on the market, the Droid Bionic is the first to be both. And we're glad that Motorola wisely ships the phone with Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread instead of just Android 2.2.
We've seen its features before on other handsets like the Atrix and the Motorola Photon 4G, but we are still impressed by its multimedia capabilities, enterprise-friendly applications, and the powerful Webtop application that helps turn it from a phone into a portable PC with the aid of accessories like a laptop dock. We were reluctant to embrace this overhyped handset, but in the end, we have to say we're very pleased with its power, speed, and style.
The cost of the phone is why we hesitate in recommending it. The Droid Bionic is $299.99 after a two-year contract with Verizon Wireless. If you want the laptop dock accessory, that's another $299.99, though Verizon will knock $100 off that price if you have a data plan of $50 or more per month. The HD Station dock is around $99.99, and the tiny Webtop adapter is the cheapest option at $29.99.
Design
We have to admit that the Bionic's final design was a huge surprise to us. The Droid Bionic we saw at CES 2011 was wide, bulky, and thick. Indeed, the original January prototype was probably more similar to the Photon 4G. Measuring 5 inches long by 2.63 inches wide by 0.43 inch thick, the actual Droid Bionic isn't exactly a tiny handset, either, but it's certainly much slimmer. As we mentioned earlier, Verizon claims that it is the thinnest LTE handset in its lineup.
The Droid Bionic is the thinnest 4G LTE handset yet.
Not only is it thinner, the final iteration of the Droid Bionic is also much more attractive. The glass on the display goes from edge to edge with a slight curve at the sides that results in a smooth and sleek appearance. The metallic housing and understated chin add to the phone's polished look. The back is clad in a soft-touch finish with beveled edges. Fans of the Droid series of handsets will recognize the Droid's familiar bump at the top, which adds a touch more bulk, but not much. Indeed, we actually like it, as it provides a little more grip when holding the phone. The Droid Bionic weighs in at 5.6 ounces, which we think is decent considering its size.
The 4.3-inch qHD display on the Droid Bionic is similar to the one we saw on the Droid 3. It's crisp, clear, and colorful. We enjoyed the vibrant graphics and sharp 960x540-pixel resolution. It doesn't pack as much pixel punch as a Super AMOLED display, but we still liked it. The Droid Bionic uses Corning Gorilla glass, which boasts a dual-layer antireflective coating. While it did appear a little washed-out under bright sunlight, we were still able to see what was on the screen.
What truly impressed us was how smooth and fast the navigation was. Thanks to the Droid Bionic's 1GHz dual-core processor, screens and pages just flew by as we scrolled and swiped around. We were a little bit surprised that Motorola opted for a TI processor instead of something from Nvidia, but we still thought it was fast. It definitely felt faster than phones with just a single-core processor. Certain applications like the camera and the browser did take just a touch longer to launch, but it wasn't a huge difference. Multitasking was easy and quick as well.
The user interface on the Droid Bionic is very similar to what's on the Droid 3. Both have a scaled-down version of Motoblur; you get the social-networking widgets and connected gallery, without the required log-in and setup. The main menu is the same, with side-to-side navigation instead of the vertical default. You can read more about the Droid Bionic's Android 2.3 interface in our review of the Droid 3.
Beneath the display are the four Android shortcuts for the menu, home, back, and search functions. On the right is a volume rocker; the Micro-USB port and Micro-HDMI port sit on the left spine. On the top are a 3.5mm headset jack and screen lock/power key. A front-facing VGA camera is above the display, as is a tiny notification LED. On the back is the camera with a single LED flash. This is a departure from the original Droid Bionic seen at CES 2011, which had a dual Xenon flash.
Verizon Wireless packages the Motorola Droid Bionic with an AC adapter, a USB cable, and reference material. As we mentioned earlier, you can purchase several different accessories to take advantage of the Droid Bionic's Webtop application: a laptop dock, the HD Station, or a Webtop adapter. The laptop dock is the most complete package, as it combines a screen and keyboard, along with a couple of USB ports. The HD Station lets you charge the handset and it, too, has a couple of USB ports and Bluetooth capabilities so you can use a mouse and keyboard, but you have to provide them yourself. The Webtop adapter can only be used with a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. With the HD Station and the Webtop adapter, you have to provide your own display. Other optional accessories include a car dock and a normal charging dock. All of these accessories are only for the Droid Bionic and cannot be used with other phones.
Features
Clearly the most compelling reason to get a Droid Bionic is that it combines two speedy technologies in one handset: a dual-core processor plus Verizon's 4G LTE. As we mentioned earlier, navigation certainly felt much snappier than on single-core handsets. The phone's 1GB of RAM helped boost performance, too.
But it was the Web browser where the 4G LTE speed boost was evident. Motorola packed the browser with HTML5 support and full Adobe Flash support. With most handsets, this can result in slow page loading on Flash-heavy Web sites, but not so with the Droid Bionic. We loaded up our full CNET.com page in an average of 13 seconds, with all the Flash and Java ads as well. We were actually able to play Flash videos directly in the browser, with absolutely zero buffering time. We also managed to scroll through Web pages and switch between different tabs without any lag or hesitation. In short, the marriage between the dual-core processor and 4G LTE is a very good one indeed.
Other connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth. You can also use the Droid Bionic as a mobile hot spot for up to five devices with the activation of a Mobile Broadband plan. Other features include a speakerphone, speed dial, voice commands, conference calling, Skype Mobile, and text and multimedia messaging.
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