Terrier Tech: Verizon’s Droid Bionic
Phone’s best feature? Speed
This week “Terrier Tech” reviews the latest in an already crowded field of Android phones, Verizon’s Droid Bionic, which debuted in late September. What makes this phone a standout is its speed, courtesy of a combination of Verizon’s 4G LTE network and a dual-core processor. What you now have is a phone that can download and work as fast as your laptop on a wireless connection.
The Bionic has been streamlined for content consumption. Websites load instantly and app download times are often measured in seconds. However, we found that 4G network speeds vary greatly, depending on what part of Boston you’re in when using the phone. On average, download speeds hovered around 7 Mbps, which may be due more to the number of smartphones now on the network than the phone itself.
The Droid Bionic offers power as well as speed. The phone’s preinstalled ZumoCast app enables you to instantly access your computer and media from virtually anywhere. The functionality existed before, but required a lot more tech savvy on the part of the user.
Apart from speed, sadly there’s little new in this latest iteration of the Droid phone, especially given its $300 price tag. There are no significant changes to the body design or functionality. Yes, the battery is bigger, offering 12 hours of standby time, but you’ll still have to recharge it every day. And while the phone’s eight megapixel camera takes true 1080p video, too often the camera has trouble focusing, resulting in blurry still images and videos. To be honest, we were hoping there would be more to separate the Bionic from the dozens of Android phones on the market.
“It’s good for a smartphone, but $300 good?” asks “Terrier Tech” host Warren Towers. “I think I’ll just get a cheaper smartphone and spend the rest on burgers.”
Want “Terrier Tech” to review a gadget? Post it in the comments section below or DM us @BUToday.
Comments & Discussion
Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.