Charge vs. Bionic

[Davidoo]

I had considered paying retail for the Bionic as I used my upgrade in June for the Charge.  I've posted numerous times my issues with the Charge, mainly not having the latest OS, no front facing camera for Skype, no 4G in a solid 4G area and the annoying "dead air" call issue (which is now corrected.  I had no intention of buying the Bionic today but since I went by a Verizon store I couldn't resist taking a look at it. 

I have to say I was less than impressed.  First of all, I didn't really like the look of the Bionic with the squared corners compared to the Charge.  The Charge just looks sleeker and more modern.  Secondly, the display didn't appear as good as the Charge.  they had the one in the store turned up to the brightest setting, of course, and my Charge on the auto setting looked crisper.  I pulled up the phone settings to see the signal strength as I believe some of the problems with not getting 4G or reverting to 3G and even 1X many times is due to a poor antenna on the Charge.  The store is in a solid 4G area and the Bionic had a -77db strength and so did the Charge.  Both the Bionic and Charge fluctuated between -77 and -80 as I moved them both around.  I can't address the battery life or overall speed advantage the Bionic might have with the dual core processor. 

While in the store there was a customer in there with their new Bionic asking why the phone keeps going back and forth between 4G and 3G and wanting a replacement phone.  The place was packed.  Sound familiar?

Overall I still like the look and feel of the Charge along with the fantastic screen.  If we could just get Gingerbread on this phone it would probably be something I would be glad to keep through the remaining 22 months of my contract.

[Wildman]

I don't get it from the review the device isn't to your liking but you still plan on paying almost 700.00 retail for a device you didn't really have positive things to say about.

in my opinion you shouldn't pay that much for something that you have already determined you don't like because that just going to lead to a device returning game because you bought it full retail price.

Sounds like a situation not to touch but its your call.

[Davidoo]

Wildman, I don't think you read my post thoroughly.  I said I "had considered paying retail for the Bionic" not that I was going to buy it.  This thing has been hyped for so long and once I finally saw it I just wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be and I do like some things about the Charge over the Bionic.  I may eventually buy the Bionic if it appears Verizon and Samsung keep dragging their feet on GB and I see the Bionic doesn't have its own set of problems (I'm watching the Bionic forum to see if I start seeing some of the same issues as the Charge as that might prove it is a Verizon Network issue and any other 4G phone wouldn't be any better than the Charge).  Also, the Bionic is not "almost $700" as you posted.  It is $589.99 retail.  Still a lot of money, no argument there.   

[Wildman]

I was meaning to type 600.00 not 700.00, slip od finger..  The Bionic just reminds me of a Droid 2 without a Keyboard I perferred the original design more..  But thats just me..

[Davidoo]

I agree with your analysis Wildman.  At this point I'm just going to sit tight and hope for the software update soon that may open up the full potential of this phone. 

[Trip360]

Thats what I am doing as well. Have a Charge I bought off ebay about a month ago. Had it activated for a few weeks and now Im back on my DX that I originally got on contract with. It's also a POS refurb that I am about to be exchanging again cuz it's sooo laggy and all the freezes and lock ups. But during my little DX adventure I'm guna let my charge sit until I see an update thread on these forums. If all sounds well Ill be switching back once again to join you all on that amazing phone. I say amazing because I believe it has a LOT of potential...just not now on this 2.2 software...HATED the data dropping all the time. My DX as much of a POS it is, NEVER drops data signal. CANNOT WAIT TILL THE CHARGE GETS THIS UPDATE!!! Hopefully since its taking so long to release that there will be a minimum amount of bugs. Until then Ill be watching these forums!

[HoustonHeart]

I have used the Bionic and have to agree. I am not impressed at all. THe charge has a much nicer and brighter screen. The Bionic in it's current state seems more washed out. Perhaps it is beign to used to the charge screen but I felt the same way about another phone.

As far as the dual core processor, dual core is not always best. THe type it uses does help with batter ylife believe it or not, the newer single chips (Mark 7's) have the same threadign ability but unlike a dual core, can not throttle down 1 core when not needed, saving on battery life (purpose of them). However the problem I have and why I am stickign with the charge for now, is the dual core Bionic seems to stutter in 2 of my FPS games when kickign up the second core. During cutscenes it throttles down again, then seems to throttle back up causing stuttering in game play. I seen this with a phoen with the Nvidia dual core as well. Seems liek they need to tweak the os a bit.

As far as the state of the testing of Gingerbread 2.3.4 build 7 now compelte, it shoudl be done. The last was EP1Y before the Final EP2C EE1 build going through approval. Even the 1w state was stable but still needed tweaking (the leak). It was planned for a fall update to Samsung charge and hopefully it will remain so, or be soon. It will replace alot of the rushed quarkness of the Froyo build.

[brutethunder]

I was a soak tester for the droid x and the x2, so I was wandering how one could get involved with testing or soak testing for the charge? Me and my wife both have the charge and I thought it would be a nice way to compare without rooting and using leaks.

[trparky]

Then they have some things to fix on their network because now that we have multiple phones all showing the same issue, this has got to be a network problem.  I refuse to think that all 4G phones have the same hardware/software issues, that's impossible considering they are from different manufacturers with different firmware and different development teams.

[DC5_K20Z1]

Hang in there bro, we should be getting Gingerbread soon. p3droid leaked what is said to be the official gingerbread build ep1w, and the bloated version seems to run smooth, much snappier and the quadrant scores were pretty good. The only negative of it, is that it still retaints that ugly brown and orange color scheme. I've been hearing it should be released sometime this month possibly and from a few VZW employees that it should be soon as well. I think once it is released it will improve the speed of our phones a bit and also help with data drops and better 4g/3g switching.

[cganoe]

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Davidoo wrote:

I pulled up the phone settings to see the signal strength as I believe some of the problems with not getting 4G or reverting to 3G and even 1X many times is due to a poor antenna on the Charge.  The store is in a solid 4G area and the Bionic had a -77db strength and so did the Charge.  Both the Bionic and Charge fluctuated between -77 and -80 as I moved them both around.  

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If the signal was the same, then it's obviously NOT an antenna issue. The issue to me appears to be one where the radio is switching modes (including awakening from a non-data state into a data one). It is unclear to me if the lag is a software or hardware problem, but the rumors on the update seem to suggest the new software will fix it, so I assume it is software/firmware.

If you decide to switch, I certainly would not "pay retail" for the Bionic. I'd go to the Verizon store (assuming you got it there) and demand they give you a different phone, and certainly push for a Bionic. The Charge in its current state is seriously broken, a 1-2 minute lag on both data availability and even longer for GPS lock is not acceptable on a current top of the line phone, there are thousands of users with the same problems, and I would not accept another Charge in its current state.

Personally, I'm going to wait for the update. Hardware-wise, the Charge is a great phone, and if they work out these few bugs, I think it stands up nicely to the competition, including the Bionic. I also think Samsung will have to get this update out soon if they want to remain competitive for high-end phones on Verizon.

[HoustonHeart]

3g 4g switchign seems to be inherit in 2.2 builds. With the latest builds on the beta 2.3.4 (not leaked eve ntho the 1w leak is stable) switching is flawless and reception and data handling fixed. Let's hope it is finalized and starts going out to everyone soon.

[DC5_K20Z1]

Charge for the win overthe  Bionic! I'm not a big fan of the screen for the Bionic, the build and looks of it are not my favorite...Ivstill prefer the Charge's build. Hopefully this Gingerbread update provides some much needed snappiness and makes the phone run a bit smoother!